2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 41 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1840.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1800.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Waterford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Waterford is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Waterford’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 Waterford’s 323 sits above most of its state (93% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 42 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1795.
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 (±9.0 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 Waterford’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Waterford, building by building, 1895–1911
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.
1895Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Waterford, 1795 to 1929
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Waterford is said to contain the only statue of George Washington wearing a British uniform, but in reality, he had been sent by the Governor of Virginia and is wearing the uniform of an officer in the Virginia Militia. In December 1753, at age 21, Washington was asked by Governor Dinwiddie to carry a British ultimatum to the French on the Ohio frontier. Washington delivered the message at Fort Le Boeuf in present-day Waterford. The message, which went unheeded because he delivered it to the wrong person, called for the French to abandon their development of the Ohio Country to the south. The two colonial powers were heading toward worldwide conflict, the Seven Years' War, known as the French and Indian War in North America.
Passages that mention Waterford, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Nelson's biographical dictionary and historical reference book of Erie County, Pennsylvania1896Read the page →
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The leading public roads are the old Erie and Waterford turnpike, the Erie and Waterford plank, the Colt's Station, the Waterford and Wattsburg, the Flats road to Mill Village, the Waterford and Meadville pike, the old State road to the Ohio line, the Edinboro and Waterford., the Waterford and Meadville plank, the Waterford and McKean, the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Erie county, Pennsylvania1884 · page 672Read the page →
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Waterford Station, or East Waterford, on the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad, a mile east of the Diamond in the borough, and nineteen miles from Brie City, consists of one station building, one hotel and grocery combined, a sulky rake factory, a warehouse and ice house, a schoolhouse, with graded school, a Catholic Church, about a dozen good dwellings and nearly the same number of shanties for railroad employes. The railroad company have stock yards at this point, and it is one of the most important stations on the line for shippifig cattle and produce. A great many spikes, bullets, cannon balls and
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History of Erie county, Pennsylvania1884 · page 671Read the page →
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The important bridges are aa follows: Over French Creek, the Newman covered bridge, on the Wattsburg & Waterford road. Over LeBceiif Creek, the Himrod bridge, on the cross-road from Greene to the plank road; the Benson, near the sink-hole; the Lattimore, on the Colt Station road; the two of the P. & E. Railroad, one at the Greene line and the other near Waterford Station; the Station, on the Station road; the Judson, on the Flats roads, and the Outlet bridge on the Meadville pike. All of the above are wooden, and all are open with the exception of the Newman and station bridges.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Nelson's biographical dictionary and historical reference book of Erie County, Pennsylvania1896 · page 366Read the page →
Read the text
The principal highways are the Erie and Meadville plank roads, the plank road from Waterford to Drake's Mills, Crawford county; the old Waterford road, the road from Cranesville to Waterford, the State road from Lockport through McLane to Waterford, and the Sherrod Hill road from Edinboro to Cussewago. The old Waterford road was estab-
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.
By decade
Waterford, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
In 1795, according to Wikidata. Waterford’s post office opened in 1800, and the census of 1840 counted 403 people here.
How does Waterford rank for history?
Waterford is more historic than 96% 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 Waterford?
Two places: the Eagle Hotel (listed 1977) and the Waterford Bourough Historic District (1990).
How old are the homes in Waterford?
34% of Waterford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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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