Founding year: the first Tarentum post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1842.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tarentum’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tarentum is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #365 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tarentum’s overall grade.
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 Tarentum’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1842 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 →
What stands out about Tarentum’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the 1750s a Shawnee trader named Peter Chartier had briefly operated a trading post in this area.
The area that would become Tarentum was first settled in 1796 and formally laid out in 1829 by Henry Marie Brackenridge, son of Pittsburgh pioneer Hugh Henry Brackenridge. The borough was incorporated on March 7, 1842.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Tarentum developed as an industrial hub along the Allegheny River. Local manufacturers produced plate glass, bottles, bricks, steel, lumber, and paper, and the surrounding hills were mined for coal and iron ore. The borough’s location on the Pennsylvania Railroad and later streetcar lines supported its growth as a working-class river community.
Peaked at 9,846 in 1940; 4,352 people lived here in 2020.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tarentum’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Tarentum in 1889
Passages that mention Tarentum, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 147Read the page →
Read the text
ing salt. His saltworks, which were burned in 1857, were located at the village of Hite. Mr. Hite was also a pioneer oil producer and refiner. Hite is a station on the West Pennsylvania railroad, about one mile from Creighton, and two miles from Tarentum. Prior to 1866 it was only a small hamlet. On the completion of the Pennsylvania railroad it assumed more importance, and now it has, probably, a population of 500. Mining was its principal industry, but since the discovery and utilization of natural gas this has declined.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 288Read the page →
Read the text
riods he has constantly remained in Tarentum. Being a surveyor, he laid out into lots nearly the whole of the territory upon which Tarentum is now built, including both East and West Tarentum. He was largely instrumental in securing the location of the glassworks at this place; in fact, he has been an important factor in gaining for Tarentum
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 147Read the page →
Read the text
ing salt. His saltworks, which were burned in 1857, were located at the village of Hite. Mr. Hite was also a pioneer oil producer and refiner. Hite is a station on the West Pennsylvania railroad, about one mile from Creighton, and two miles from Tarentum. Prior to 1866 it was only a small hamlet. On the completion of the Pennsylvania railroad it assumed more importance, and now it has, probably, a population of 500. Mining was its principal industry, but since the dis'covery and utilization of natural gas this has declined.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 288Read the page →
Read the text
riods he has constantly remained in Tarentum. Being a surveyor, he laid out into lots nearly the whole of the territory upon which Tarentum is now built, including both East and West Tarentum. He was largely instrumental in securing the location of the glassworks at this place; in fact, he has been an important factor in gaining for Tarentum
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Tarentum, 1830 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tarentum. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908New Kensington 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 Tarentum.
Every building
Tarentum, building by building, 1891–1914
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.
The Tarentum post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1842.
How does Tarentum rank for history?
Tarentum is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #365 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.
How old are the homes in Tarentum?
58% of Tarentum’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (12), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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