Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #756 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1880.
West Hazleton dates its founding to 1887 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Hazleton is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #756 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 West Hazleton’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
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 West Hazleton’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Hazleton. 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 West Hazleton.
Peaked at 7,523 in 1940; 5,163 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Hazleton’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of West Hazleton.
West Hazleton was founded by Conrad Horn, and it was officially established as a borough on March 12, 1887. West Hazleton gained prominence in the 19th and 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal mining community; it attracted thousands of European immigrants. The first burgess was J.W. McMurtrie; he served from 1888 to 1890.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention West Hazleton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
West Hazleton — The borough of West Hazleton dates from 1889, and as its name infers, it is to all intents the westerly section of the city of Hazleton. It is, of course, separately governed, but its prosperity and growth depends largely upon that of the city.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Tlie growth and progress of the Miners' Bank illustrates admirably the possibilities of a banking institution, soundly financed and capably managed. Incorporated on May 13, 1913, it opened for business in West Hazleton in June of the following year, capitalized at $25,000. Its capital stock has been increased by successive steps, until in January, 1928, it amounted to $200,000, paying twelve per cent on a par value of fifty dollars. Each
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 hereCarl Meinhold is born here
In the archiveChildren's Home, West Hazelton, Penna (85795)One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 West Hazleton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
West Hazleton had its own post office from 1889 to 1892.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1887, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. West Hazleton’s post office opened in 1889, and the census of 1880 counted 191 people here.
West Hazleton is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #756 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.
32% of West Hazleton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1950.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, 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.
c. 1930
2016