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Shanksville main street2Photo: Aude · CC BY-SA 2.5
–Not graded
History · Shanksville

Shanksville dates to 1798, and 62% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1920.

1798founded
0on the National Register
62%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Shanksville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Shanksville began

When was Shanksville founded?

1798

Shanksville dates its founding to 1798 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 260 in 19202020 census: 199228 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1832.The full story ↓

What stands out about Shanksville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Shanksville’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 342 in 1950; 199 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19145 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1994. Watch Shanksville change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1798: 228 years of Shanksville.
★ What stands out · The story

How Shanksville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Shanksville.

Read it all →

Christian Shank, a German immigrant, built a cabin on Stony Creek in 1798, later building a grist mill and two saw mills in the vicinity. Emmanuel Shaffer opened a store at the site in 1828, and the following year Shank laid out the town of Shanksville. The town was the home of John Suhre, a Union army private who was fatally wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg and whose last days are described in Louisa May Alcott's short novel Hospital Sketches. The Shanksville post office was opened in 1874. Shanksville was incorporated as a borough on January 25, 1913.

ChaptersSeptember 11 attacks

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Shanksville, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 342

Peaked at 342 in 1950; 199 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shanksville’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Shanksville on the map, 1914 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shanksville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Shanksville on the 1914 USGS mapShanksville on the 1944 USGS mapShanksville on the 1971 USGS mapShanksville on the 1981 USGS mapShanksville on the 1994 USGS map1914Windber sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Shanksville.

Timeline

Shanksville, 1798 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1798
    FoundingShanksville is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1832Post officeThe Shanksville post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 342
  8. 1980In the archiveCrowd at an event at the temporary memorial to the victims of United Flight 93
By decade

Shanksville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s6 items
Crowd at an event at the temporary memorial to the victims of United Flight 931980Crowd at an event at the temporary memorial to the vi…Flight 93 memorial soon after the September 11, 2001 crash, located in the field where the plane crashed near Shanksvil…1980Flight 93 memorial soon after the September 11, 2001 …Memorial to the brave souls of Flight 93 that crashed1980Memorial to the brave souls of Flight 93 that crashedFlight 93 memorial soon after the September 11, 2001 crash, located in the field where the plane crashed near Shanksvil…1980Flight 93 memorial soon after the September 11, 2001 …Informal tributes posted at the first, temporary memorial site1980Informal tributes posted at the first, temporary memo…Part of an informal memorial to the victims of United Flight 93, which crashed in a nearby field after passengers fough…1980Part of an informal memorial to the victims of United…
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Crowd at an event at the temporary memorial to the victims of United Flight 93
Retake this viewCrowd at an event at the temporary memorial to the victims of United Flight 93, 1980

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Shanksville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Shanksville

Nobody well known was born in Shanksville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Augustine B. KelleyAmerican politician · b. 1883
Rush ClarkAmerican politician · b. 1834
F
Frank NicholsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1889
J
John PatrickAmerican football player · b. 1919
J
Joe KrivakAmerican football player and coach · b. 1935
Joe MuhaAmerican football player · b. 1921
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Shanksville’s post office has been open since 1832.

Gone or out of use
Shanksville Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Shanksville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCrowd at an event at the temporary memo…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Shanksville’s history

What year was Shanksville founded?

In 1798, according to Wikidata. Shanksville’s post office opened in 1832, and the census of 1920 counted 260 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.