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History · Beaver Meadows

Beaver Meadows’ post office opened in 1830, and 64% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1880.

1830first post office
0on the National Register
64%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Beaver Meadows began

When was Beaver Meadows founded?

1830

The Beaver Meadows post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1897.

First census: 502 in 18802020 census: 897196 years
Founding year: the first Beaver Meadows post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1897.The full story ↓

What stands out about Beaver Meadows’ 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 Beaver Meadows are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18897 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1995. Watch Beaver Meadows change.Old housesHalf of Beaver Meadows’ homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,030 in 1940; 897 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Beaver Meadows’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Beaver Meadows on the map, 1889 to 1995

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

Beaver Meadows on the 1889 USGS mapBeaver Meadows on the 1891 USGS mapBeaver Meadows on the 1947 USGS mapBeaver Meadows on the 1950 USGS mapBeaver Meadows on the 1969 USGS mapBeaver Meadows on the 1976 USGS mapBeaver Meadows on the 1995 USGS map1889Hazleton 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 Beaver Meadows.

The story

How Beaver Meadows came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Beaver Meadows.

Read it all →

Beaver Meadows began as a recognizable and describable landmark, a meadow where beaver dams dotted the landscape, along a well-known Amerindian Trail, known as the "Warriors' Path", and later as well known as the trail used by Moravian Missionaries traveling between Berwick and Bethlehem, then became known as a toll gate/rest stop along the Lehigh and Susquehanna Turnpike, a bridle trail and wagon road chartered in 1804 from Jean's Run near the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in the hamlet and township of Lausanne about nine miles south on the other side of Broad Mountain.

Chapters18th century19th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Beaver Meadows, 1913–1918

Passages that mention Beaver Meadows, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In 1868 he became the chief bookkeeper for W. T, Carter and Company, miners and shippers of coal, at Beaver Meadows. In association with John ]\[artyn and a number of New York capitalists, he had an interest in the opening and development of the mines now operated by Coxe Brothers and Company, near…
History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania1918 · page 438Read the page →
Read the text

In 1868 he became the chief bookkeeper for W. T, Carter and Company, miners and shippers of coal, at Beaver Meadows. In association with John ]\[artyn and a number of New York capitalists, he had an interest in the opening and development of the mines now operated by Coxe Brothers and Company, near Beaver Meadows.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Carter and Company, miners and shippers of coal, at Beaver Meadows. In association with John Martyn and a number of New York capitalists, he had an interest in the opening and development of the mines now operated by Coxe Brothers and Company, near Beaver Meadows.
History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania1913Read the page →
Read the text

Carter and Company, miners and shippers of coal, at Beaver Meadows. In association with John Martyn and a number of New York capitalists, he had an interest in the opening and development of the mines now operated by Coxe Brothers and Company, near Beaver Meadows.

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

Beaver Meadows, 1830 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830Post officeThe Beaver Meadows post office opens
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920Born hereGeorge Cheverko is born here
  6. 1930Born hereNorm Larker is born here
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 2,030
By decade

Beaver Meadows, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Beaver Meadows, PA Borough Hall, June 20252025Beaver Meadows, PA Borough Hall, June 2025USPO Beaver Meadows PA 182162016USPO Beaver Meadows PA 18216SS Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic2016SS Peter and Paul Byzantine CatholicBeaver Meadows PA Gazebo2016Beaver Meadows PA Gazebo
People over time

Beaver Meadows, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,030

Peaked at 2,030 in 1940; 897 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Beaver Meadows’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Beaver Meadows

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Norm LarkerAmerican baseball player · b. 1930
George CheverkoAmerican football player · b. 1920

Questions about Beaver Meadows’ history

What year was Beaver Meadows founded?

The Beaver Meadows post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1897.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 (4), Wikipedia, 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.