Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cumbola. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1889Pottsville 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 Cumbola.
The story so far
Cumbola, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cumbola yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Cumbola is a Village and census-designated place located in Blythe Township, Schuylkill County in the state of Pennsylvania, United States. The community is located between the boroughs of New Philadelphia and Port Carbon along U.S. Route 209. As of the 2010 census the population was 443 residents.
Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 443 to 371 (-16%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Cumbola, 1907–1916
Passages that mention Cumbola, cut from the printed page as they were published.
he came to this country, in the year 1886. Landing at New York City, he continued on to Pennsylvania without delay, settling first at Tower City, in Schuylkill county, where he was employed for a year in the mines. Removing thence to Cumbola, he was at that location until 1895, when he settled in Pottsville and engaged in the hotel business at the corner of East Market and Railroad streets, conducting the "Sterling House." After doing business at that site for about five years he moved in 1900 to No. 6 South Centre street, where he was in the same line until his retirement in 1908. That year he built
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania ... including a genealogical and biographical record of many families and persons in the county1907 · page 122Read the page →
Read the text
han, proprietor of the Union House at Port Carbon, Schuylkill county; Lizzie, wife of Edward Flannagan, of West Virginia; and Edward V. Edward V. Doyle was educated in the schools of Cumbola and Palo Alto and in 1896 became a teacher. The following year he entered Villanova college, near Philadelphia, in which institution he spent five years, graduating in 1902 with the degree of Master of Arts. He then studied law with W. H. Shepherd, of Pottsville, and on the first Monday in October, 1905, was
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.
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), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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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