Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Blythe Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Blythe Township

Blythe Township’s post office opened in 1842, and 61% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on.

1842first post office
0on the National Register
61%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Blythe Township began

When was Blythe Township founded?

1842

The Blythe Township post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Blythe (1842), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 811184 years
Founding year: the first Blythe Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Blythe Township’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 Blythe Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Blythe Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Blythe Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1842: 184 years of Blythe Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blythe Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blythe Township’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
The story so far

Blythe Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Blythe Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Blythe Township is a township in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1846 from part of Schuylkill Township, it is named for State Legislator Calvin Blythe.

Its first post office opened in 1842. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 924 to 811 (-12%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Blythe, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Blythe
1842–1851
Cumbola
1888–today
Kaska
1897–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CumbolaKaskaSilver CreekWetherill Junction
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Blythe Township
Saint Mary's Greek CatholicSaint Paul's Lutheran

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

Timeline

Blythe Township, 1842 to 1897

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1842Post officeThe Blythe post office opens
  3. 1851Post officeThe Blythe post office closes
  4. 1888Post officeThe Cumbola post office opens
  5. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1897Post officeThe Kaska post office opens
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Blythe Township on the map, 1889 to 1891

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

Blythe Township on the 1889 USGS mapBlythe Township on the 1891 USGS map1889Pottsville 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 Blythe Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Blythe Township

Nobody well known was born in Blythe Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Tommy DorseyAmerican big band leader and musician · b. 1905
Jimmy DorseyAmerican clarinetist, alto saxophonist, bandlea… · b. 1904
Victor SchertzingerAmerican composer, film director, film producer… · b. 1888
Joseph Edward KurtzCatholic archbishop · b. 1946
F
Francis BrennanCatholic cardinal · b. 1894
W
Walter CiszekPolish-American Jesuit priest and missionary · b. 1904
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

East Norwegian TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSchuylkill TownshipIts storyB+Ryan TownshipIts storyB−Walker TownshipIts storyB−North Manheim TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Blythe Township’s history

What year was Blythe Township founded?

The Blythe Township post office opened in 1842, 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 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.