Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1870.
Tionesta dates its founding to 1805 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1891Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Peaked at 845 in 1940; 428 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tionesta’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Tionesta yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Tionesta is a borough in and the county seat of Forest County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 475 at the 2020 Census.
Tionesta was established in 1805. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 483 to 428 (-11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereOrizoba Spence is born here
In the archiveTionesta, Forest County, Pa. 1896
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveOverlooking Tionesta Dam from Route 66, Tionesta, Pa (79651)2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tionesta. 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 Tionesta.
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 Tionesta’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.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1805, according to Wikidata. Tionesta’s post office opened in 1830, and the census of 1870 counted 320 people here.
One place: the Shunk Farm (listed 2026).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (15), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
1896
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
2017
2015
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2009
