From Clarks Summit’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Clarks Summit began
When was Clarks Summit founded?
1878
The Clarks Summit post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1911. Another post office, Clarks Green (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 92 in 18802020 census: 5,107148 years
How historic is Clarks Summit?
C+
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Clarks Summit post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1911.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clarks Summit’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clarks Summit is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #855 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clarks Summit’s overall grade.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clarks Summit’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1911.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Clarks Summit’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clarks Summit. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1889Scranton 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 Clarks Summit.
The first settler in the area currently known as Clarks Summit was William Clark. Clark had fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill during the Revolutionary War, and as payment for his military service, he was issued 800 acres (3.2 km2) of Pennsylvania land by Congress. Because of disputes between Pennsylvania and Connecticut over the area of land that is now northern Pennsylvania (resulting in the Pennamite–Yankee War), the land deed issued to Clark was deemed invalid by the Luzerne County land grant office. Clark had no choice but to pay for the land himself. In March 1799, Clark and his three sons moved into a log cabin in the Abington wilderness, located on what is currently the Clarks Green Cemetery. The first school was built in 1893 and was destroyed by fire two years later. The village of Clarks Summit and an adjacent tract of land were incorporated into the Borough of Clarks Summit…
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.
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.
The Clarks Summit post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1911.
How does Clarks Summit rank for history?
Clarks Summit is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #855 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Clarks Summit?
20% of Clarks Summit’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1966.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), 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.
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