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History · Big Run

Big Run’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold just one old photo of Big Run. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1822established
1old images & papers
13recent photos
107 West Main, Big Run, PA - Feb. 13, 1911, 1911 · Wikimedia Commons

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Big Run is a borough in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 624 at the 2010 census, a decline from the figure of 686 tabulated in 2000. The borough was named for the waterway of the same name.

Big Run was established in 1822. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 624 to 647 (+4%). Half of its homes were built before 1940.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Big Run yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

built from the dates on the items below
1822Established
1911107 West Main, Big Run, PA - Feb. 13, 1911Commons
1920–1999Nothing yet. Family albums go here.
Be one of the first

Start Big Run’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Big Run’s history is told.

1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old view107 West Main, Big Run, PA - Feb.…, 1911: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from Big RunWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Big Run.Meet them →
By decade

Big Run, decade by decade

1910s1 item
107 West Main, Big Run, PA - Feb. 13, 1911Commons107 West Main, Big Run, PA - Feb. 13, 19111911
1920s–
1990s
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.
📷 Add from your album
Today13 photos
Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012Big Run, PennsylvaniaCommonsBig Run, Pennsylvania2012
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Big Run is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Big Run has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is T. M. Kurtz House in Punxsutawney, 5.3 miles away.

Big Run and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Big Run. Tap a dot.
T. M. Kurtz HouseUnited States Post Office-PunxsutawneyChristian Miller HouseJefferson TheaterMcGees Mills Covered BridgeHerpel Brothers Foundry and Machine Shop

Closest to Big Run

T. M. Kurtz HousePunxsutawney · Building5.3miUnited States Post Office-PunxsutawneyPunxsutawney · Building5.3miChristian Miller HousePunxsutawney · Building5.4miJefferson TheaterPunxsutawney · Building5.4miMcGees Mills Covered BridgeBell · Structure8.6mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. T. M. Kurtz House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Big Run?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Big Run’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 107 West Main, Big Run, PA - Feb. 13, 1911 (1911) and it appears here side by side.

🔁 Retake this view · +15

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Gaskill📜 Henderson📜 Bell📜 Punxsutawney

From Wikimedia Commons (14). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

The coffee’s on

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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