Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1923 on, and the census since 1870.
Venango dates its founding to 1838 (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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Venango’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Venango yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Venango is a borough in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 210 at the 2020 census, down from 239 at the 2010 census, down from 288 in 2000.
Venango was established in 1838. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 239 to 212 (-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.
In the archiveHistoric highways of America (Volume 5) - II
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyPassages that mention Venango, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Also one other township: Beginning at the mouth of French creek, thence down the Allegheny river by the different windings thereof to where the northeast corner of the county of Butler comes on said river, thence west along the line dividing the counties of Venango and [Butler to the southwest corner of Venango county, thence north along the line dividing the counties of Venango and] Mercer to where the same strikes French creek, thence down French creek by the different windings thereof to the mouth, the place of beginning; to be called Irwin.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
to demand from the French an explanation of their designs in establishing military posts on the waters of the Ohio. This route left Mercer County entirely to the west, and may explain why settlements in Venango, Crawford, and Erie, which it traversed, preceded those formed in Mercer. There were no settlements made in it until after Wayne's victory over the Indians and the peace with them that followed in i~95- After this, in the fall of 1/95, the surveyors began their labors, followed closely by the first settlers. Benjamin Stokely now occupies the farm on which his father thus commenced the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Venango county had a larger representation in this regiment than in any other. There was one company from Northampton county, three from Allegheny, two from Westmoreland and Indiana, four from Venango, one from Lebanon, and one from Luzerne, which rendezvoused at Camp Curtin, but were soon afterward transferred to Washington, where they were mustered into service and organized into three battalions under the following field officers: David Campbell, of Pittsburgh, colonel; James H. Childs, of Pittsburgh, lieutenant colonel; James K. Kerr, of Venango, first major; Will-
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2024Venango Borough, PA post office, June 2024
2024Venango Borough, PA general store, June 2024
2024US 6-19 sb in Venango Borough, PA (3), June 2024
2024US 6-19 sb in Venango Borough, PA (2), June 2024
2024US 6-19 sb in Venango Borough, PA (1), June 2024
2024US 6-19 sb entering Venango Borough, PA, June 2024
2006US Route 6 - Pennsylvania
2006US Route 6 - PennsylvaniaEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Venango. 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 Venango.
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 Venango’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 212 and 359 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Venango’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1838, according to Wikidata. Venango’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1870 counted 318 people here.
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 (9), 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.
