Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1926 on, and the census since 1850.
The Youngsville post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Youngsville is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns. 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 Youngsville’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: 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 →
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 Youngsville’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Youngsville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1824. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,729 in 2010, 1,726 in 2020.
Passages that mention Youngsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Matthew Young for whom the town of Youngsville was named, pitched his tent on the present site of Youngsville in 1796, he laid out the town and prophesied that it would one day be a large town.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Boroughs. — Warren borough was incorporated by an act of the State Legislature approved April 3, 1832, its original area being three hundred acres, or in other words the inlots of the town as laid out in 1795. Youngsville was incorporated September 4, 1849; Columbus, March 19, 1853; Tidioute, June 7, 1862, and Clarendon, early in 1882.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1293. BYRON J. Jackson, of Youngsville, pa., b. December 8, 1838, in Youngsville; d. September 1, 1899, in Youngsville; m. September 8, 1864, in Youngsville.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The county commissioners then serving, viz. — Erastus Barnes, of Sheffield, Alden Marsh, of Youngsville, and Melancthon Miles, of Farmington, at once took measures to make the fund of the Rouse estate practically beneficial. They bought a farm of four hundred acres, i. e., two hundred and fifty acres from John McKinney, and one hundred and fifty acres from James Short, adjoining the pleasant little village of Youngsville, on the Brokenstraw Creek, at a cost of $13,500. The tract stretches across the valley, is well watered.
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 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Youngsville. 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 Youngsville.
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 Youngsville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 363 and 2,211 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Youngsville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Youngsville post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Youngsville is more historic than 73% 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.
35% of Youngsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (6), 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.
2007
2003
2003
2003
2003
