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History · Blue Ridge Summit

Blue Ridge Summit’s post office opened in 1876, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1911 on.

1876first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Blue Ridge Summit’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Blue Ridge Summit began

When was Blue Ridge Summit founded?

1876

The Blue Ridge Summit post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 887150 years
Founding year: the first Blue Ridge Summit post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Blue Ridge Summit’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19114 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1985. Watch Blue Ridge Summit change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blue Ridge Summit’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blue Ridge Summit’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOverlook: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Blue Ridge Summit on the map, 1911 to 1985

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

Blue Ridge Summit on the 1911 USGS mapBlue Ridge Summit on the 1943 USGS mapBlue Ridge Summit on the 1953 USGS mapBlue Ridge Summit 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 Blue Ridge Summit.

The story

How Blue Ridge Summit came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Blue Ridge Summit.

Read it all →

John Howard McClellan writes about the history of the Blue Ridge Summit region in his book Blue Ridge Summit: The Beginnings of a Resort Area:

ChaptersGettysburg campaignOther local interest

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Blue Ridge Summit, 1896 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1896Born hereWallis Simpson is born here
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907In the archiveOverlook
  5. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1982In the archiveRolando Woods Inn, Route 16
By decade

Blue Ridge Summit, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Overlook1907OverlookOverlook1907Overlook
1910s–1970snothing yet
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
1980s1 item
Rolando Woods Inn, Route 161982Rolando Woods Inn, Route 16
1990snothing yet
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
Today3 recent
Blue Ridge Summit PA Library2012Blue Ridge Summit PA LibraryBlue Ridge Summit PA Library a2012Blue Ridge Summit PA Library aBlue Ridge Summit PA 1st Library2012Blue Ridge Summit PA 1st Library
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Overlook
Retake this viewOverlook, 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Blue Ridge Summit’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Washington Township8 historic placesA−Liberty TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Blue Ridge Summit’s history

What year was Blue Ridge Summit founded?

The Blue Ridge Summit post office opened in 1876, 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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.