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History · South Heights

South Heights was first counted by the census in 1910, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1910.

1910first census
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How South Heights began

When was South Heights founded?

1910

South Heights first appears in the census in 1910. Another post office, Ethel Landing (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 365 in 19102020 census: 384116 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about South Heights’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of South Heights are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 799 in 1970; 384 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19065 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1990. Watch South Heights change.Old housesHalf of South Heights’ homes were built before 1943.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start South Heights’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

South Heights, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 799

Peaked at 799 in 1970; 384 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

On the map

South Heights on the map, 1906 to 1990

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

South Heights on the 1906 USGS mapSouth Heights on the 1953 USGS mapSouth Heights on the 1960 USGS mapSouth Heights on the 1979 USGS mapSouth Heights on the 1990 USGS map1906Sewickley 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 South Heights.

The story so far

South Heights, in brief

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

South Heights is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 384 at the 2020 census. South Heights was first known as Ethel's Landing, a docking point on the Ohio River. The name of the town was changed to Shannopin when the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad established a station there. When the name of the town was changed to South Heights, the station became known as South Heights station.

Its first post office opened in 1910. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 475 to 384 (-19%).

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

Timeline

South Heights, 1886 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Ethel Landing post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1910Post officeThe Ethel Landing post office closes
  6. 1910Post officeThe South Heights post office opens
  7. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 799
By decade

South Heights, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Shannopin UMC2014Shannopin UMCJordan Street houses in2014Jordan Street houses in
Famous people

Famous people close to South Heights

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

See all →
Pete MaravichAmerican basketball player · b. 1947
Cameron JohnsonAmerican basketball player · b. 1996
Lou ChristieAmerican singer · b. 1943
Bill HinzmanAmerican actor · b. 1936
K
Katharine WayAmerican physicist · b. 1902
Christa HarmottoVolleyball player · b. 1986
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

South Heights’s post office has been open since 1910. Another post office, Ethel Landing, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ethel Landing
1886–1910
South Heights
1910–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Shannopin Stationlocale

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.

Hopewell Township1 historic placeC+Ambridge3 historic placesA+

Questions about South Heights’ history

What year was South Heights founded?

The South Heights post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (2), 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.