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History · Lewistown

Lewistown’s post office opened in 1851

Most of Lewistown was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1911 on.

1851first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Art Anderson · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Lewistown began

When was Lewistown founded?

1851

The Lewistown post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 458175 years
Founding year: the first Lewistown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lewistown’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lewistown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19115 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1985. Watch Lewistown change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lewistown’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Lewistown on the map, 1911 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lewistown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lewistown on the 1911 USGS mapLewistown on the 1944 USGS mapLewistown on the 1953 USGS mapLewistown on the 1971 USGS mapLewistown on the 1985 USGS map1911Emmitsburg sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lewistown.

The story

How Lewistown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lewistown.

Read it all →

The Lewistown Volunteer Fire Company was established in 1970, when the community purchased the first diesel engine in the county. Today, the fire department has six different apparatus: Engine Tanker 224, Engine 221, Tanker 22, Brush 226, Utility 22 and Ambulance 229. The fire station is staffed by volunteers from the community and two paid employees of the county.

On June 23, 1863, General John F. Reynolds' I Corps marched through Lewistown on their way to Gettysburg in pursuit of the Confederate army.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lewistown, 1851 to 1960

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Lewistown post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1936Born herePaul S. Stull is born here
  6. 1960Post officeThe Lewistown post office closes
By decade

Lewistown, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Eaton Fish Hatchery - panoramio (5)2014Eaton Fish Hatchery - panoramio (5)Masser at Mountaindale2013Masser at MountaindaleOld Frederick Road in Maryland2012Old Frederick Road in MarylandOld Frederick Road in Maryland (2)2012Old Frederick Road in Maryland (2)Fish Hatchery2012Fish HatcheryEast on Mountaindale Road2012East on Mountaindale Road
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lewistown had its own post office from 1851 to 1960.

Lewistown
1851–1960
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Mount Prospect Estates
Gone or out of use
Lewistown Milllocale
1cemetery inside Lewistown
Mount Prospect Hill

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lewistown’s history

What year was Lewistown founded?

The Lewistown post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.