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History · Shippingport

Shippingport’s post office opened in 1870, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Shippingport’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Shippingport began

When was Shippingport founded?

1870

The Shippingport post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1910.

2020 census: 160156 years
Founding year: the first Shippingport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1910.

What stands out about Shippingport’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Shippingport’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shippingport’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shippingport’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewShippingport Atomic Power Station, On O…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Shippingport, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Shippingport yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Shippingport is a borough in western Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Ohio River. The population was 160 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Shippingport is home to the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station, and formerly the Bruce Mansfield Power Plant and Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the world's first full-scale atomic electric power plant devoted exclusively to peacetime uses.

Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 214 to 160 (-25%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Shippingport, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Shippingport Atomic Power Station, On Ohio River, 25 miles Northwest of PittsburghDate?Shippingport Atomic Power Station, On Ohio River, 25 …
Today4 recent
Shippingport, PA Municipal Building, May 20242024Shippingport, PA Municipal Building, May 2024PA 168 nb entering Shippingport, May 20242024PA 168 nb entering Shippingport, May 2024Green Valley United Methodist Church2014Green Valley United Methodist ChurchPennsylvania State Route 1682012Pennsylvania State Route 168
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.

Shippingport Atomic Power Station, On Ohio River, 25 miles Northwest of Pittsburgh
Retake this viewShippingport Atomic Power Station, On Ohio River, 25 miles Northwest of Pittsburgh

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Shippingport

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

See all →
Pete MaravichAmerican basketball player · b. 1947
Ruth Crawford SeegerAmerican composer · b. 1901
Shane DouglasAmerican professional wrestler and promoter · b. 1964
Joe LetteriAmerican visual effects artist · b. 1957
Darrelle RevisAmerican football player · b. 1985
T
Tony DorsettAmerican football player · b. 1954
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Shippingport’s post office has been open since 1870.

Gone or out of use
Shippingport Nuclear Powerplantlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Shippingport
BethlehemChristler Family

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Raccoon TownshipIts storyCGreene TownshipIts storyCIndustry1 historic placeA−Potter TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Shippingport’s history

What year was Shippingport founded?

The Shippingport post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1910.

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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (1), 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.