Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1880.
The Wampum post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Wampum’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wampum. 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 Wampum.
Peaked at 1,189 in 1970; 559 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wampum’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Wampum yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1868. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 717 to 559 (-22%).
Passages that mention Wampum, cut from the printed page as they were published.
'The first post-office was established at Wampum about 1832, by the name of “Irish Ripple,” from the rapids in the Beaver river. It was moved back and forth between Wampum and Newport until the people of the former place had the name changed to “ Wampum,” since which it has remained there. This was about the year 1868. The name “Wampum,” is said to have been derived from a tribe of Indians who formerly dwelt there, and who wore the wampum belt.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of twenty-one years he went to Taylor Township and operated a stone quarry for David McAllister for ten years. In 1885 he came to Wampum and for three years was in the service of the Wampum Cement Company, at the end of which time he went to Chewton and worked at blacksmithing for George Hennon for fifteen
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
or “ripple,” is in the river opposite the town, and as the canal men had a “hard scrabble” to get their boats safely over it, the place received the nickname of “Hardscrabble,” by which it is now more familiarly known than by Staylesville. Some distance below, at Wampum, there is another rapid called “Trish ripple,” and from it the original post-office at Wampum. and now at Newport, took its name.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
stone quarries and coal banks in the eastern part of the township. The township contains the villages of Newport and Clinton, and the borough of Wampum, which latter was incorporated on the 19th of February, 1876. Wampum and Clinton contain a large proportion of miners and men who work in the limestone quarries
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereWilliam V. McBride is born here
In the archiveWampum PA Presby PHS617
Born hereHank Allen is born here
Born hereDick Allen is born here
In the archive1955 WPIAL State Champions Wampum Indians2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 sheet.
1925Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Wampum’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Wampum post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 (8), the Library of Congress (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, 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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