Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers
How Williamstown began
When was Williamstown founded?
1865
The Williamstown post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1869.
2020 census: 1,303161 years
How historic is Williamstown?
B
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Williamstown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1869.
History grade
What drives Williamstown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Williamstown is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Williamstown’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 Williamstown’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1869 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Williamstown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Williamstown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Williamstown is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is 38 miles (61 km) northeast of Harrisburg. Formerly, anthracite coal mines and hosiery mills were located in the borough. The town takes its name from a Revolutionary War-era traveler who passed through the region and operated a sawmill nearby. Tunneling through Big Lick Mountain at the future colliery site began in 1856–57 under the Summit Branch Railroad Company, and the transportation of anthracite coal from the mine complex began in 1866 — the year the Williamstown Colliery shipped 67,643 tons in its first year of operation. The mine became a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1870s and i…
Its first post office opened in 1865. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,387 to 1,303 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Williamstown in 1907
Passages that mention Williamstown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania1907 · page 416Read the page →
Read the text
The south portion is named after its early settler, Williams, who built a grist-mill near Williamstown, also named for him. "One familiar with the picture of Bear Gap and its wild surroundings in 1832, all forest, its lofty mountains and rushing streams, no work of the hands of man apparent, no sound but the.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania1907 · page 453Read the page →
Read the text
In 1900, exclusive of the town of Williamstown, this township had a population of 1,790. Total number of schools seven; total enrollment of pupils 285. In 1903-4 the State reports gave the assessed real estate valuation of the township, proper, at $431,750..
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.
Timeline
Williamstown, 1865 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Williamstown post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1869.
How does Williamstown rank for history?
Williamstown is more historic than 57% 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.
How old are the homes in Williamstown?
63% of Williamstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (6), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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