Its Register listings are the Fort Roberdeau, the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Jacob Isett House and Store. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1860.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tyrone Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tyrone Township’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 Tyrone Township’s 46.5 sits above most of its state (86% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1851.
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 (±5.6 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Tyrone Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Tyrone Borough Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
On May 30, 1893, a train carrying employees and animals belonging to the Walter L. Main Circus derailed at an embankment resulting in the deaths of five circus employees, plus many animal casualties. Many unharmed animals escaped from the wreck and were reported across the countryside for months after the wreck, most notably, a woman who escaped a Bengal tiger, but lost her cow in the attack. A memorial now stands at the site.
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 Tyrone Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Altoona 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 Tyrone Township.
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.
Retake this viewTyrone, Blair County, Pennsylvania 1895, 1895
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Tyrone Township’s page.
In 1851, according to Wikidata. Tyrone Township’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1860 counted 741 people here.
How does Tyrone Township rank for history?
Tyrone Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. 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 Tyrone Township?
Three places: the Fort Roberdeau (listed 1974), the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church (1978) and the Jacob Isett House and Store (1997).
How old are the homes in Tyrone Township?
24% of Tyrone Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1971.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.
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