Portage Township was cut from Washington and Summerhill Townships on March 4, 1874. On October 7, 1890, the borough of Portage was incorporated and cut from Portage Township. The Pennsylvania Railroad re-aligned the mainline from Lilly to Summerhill in the 1890s, and a new station was built on Washington Avenue. The station remained open until 1926 when a new station was built on Lee Street. The town continued to grow in size into the 1920s when it reached its peak population (4,804 at the 1920 United States Census).