Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #557 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the First Universalish Church of Sharpsville. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.
The Sharpsville post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1874.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sharpsville is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #557 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Sharpsville’s 2.4 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sharpsville’s history is told.
Peaked at 6,126 in 1970; 4,255 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sharpsville’s Wikipedia page.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Sharpsville.
The First Universalist Church of Sharpsville and Jonas J. Pierce House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereMarvin Pierce is born here
In the archiveSharpsville, Mercer County, Pennsylvania 1901
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereRuth M. Davis is born here
Born hereBrian L. Stafford is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sharpsville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sharpsville.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sharpsville’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Sharpsville post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1874.
Sharpsville is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #557 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
One place: the First Universalish Church of Sharpsville (listed 2003).
28% of Sharpsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1954.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1901
Date?
Date?
2022
