Turtle Creek’s post office opened in 1832, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #185 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Turtle Creek High School and the St. Colman School. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Turtle Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1892.
History grade
What drives Turtle Creek’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Turtle Creek is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #185 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Turtle Creek’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 Turtle Creek’s 4.0 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1892.
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 Turtle Creek’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 12,363 in 1950; 5,114 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Turtle Creek’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Turtle Creek on the map, 1904 to 1979
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Turtle Creek. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Pittsburgh 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 Turtle Creek.
The story so far
Turtle Creek, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Turtle Creek yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Turtle Creek is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. The population was 5,114 at the 2020 census. George Westinghouse constructed a manufacturing plant nearby. Turtle Creek takes its name from a small stream that flows into the Monongahela River. Before white settlers arrived, there was a small village of Native Americans living there from the Turtle Clan of the Iroquois Nation. (See: East Pittsburgh and Wilmerding.)
Its first post office opened in 1832. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 5,349 to 5,114 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Turtle Creek in 1889
Passages that mention Turtle Creek, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 131Read the page →
Read the text
Turtle Creek, on the opposite side of the creek from the station of that name, on the Pennsylvania railroad, is an attractive suburban village. It is the terminus of a coal-railroad leading up Thompson's run. A portion of the town is in Wilkins township. The town came into existence after the construction of the Greensburg turnpike. This was the first postofiice in this section of country.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 131Read the page →
Read the text
Turtle Creek, on the opposite side of the creek from the station of that name, on the Pennsylvania railroad, is an attractive suburban village. It is the terminus of a coal-railroad leading up Thompson’s run. A portion of the town is in W ilkins township. The town came into existence after the construction of the Greensburg turnpike. This was the first postoffice in this section of country.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 114Read the page →
Read the text
straggling village of perhaps half a dozen houses. Wall, on the Pennsylvania railroad, fourteen miles from Pittsburgh, is the eastern terminus of suburban accommodation trains. The first postmaster, James Dempsey, was appointed February 19, 1885. There are also stations on this road at Turtle Creek, Wilmerding and Moss Side. The village of Turtle Creek is in Patton township. At Wilmerding, near Turtle Creek, very extensive works for the manufacture of the Westinghouse air-brake are in process of erection. When these are completed and placed in operation, a thrifty manufacturing village, with its nec-
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
Turtle Creek, 1832 to 1950
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.
The Turtle Creek post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1892.
How does Turtle Creek rank for history?
Turtle Creek is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #185 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.
What is on the National Register in Turtle Creek?
Two places: the Turtle Creek High School (listed 2007) and the St. Colman School (2025).
How old are the homes in Turtle Creek?
40% of Turtle Creek’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1944.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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.
1897
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1897
2009
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