Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Deer Lake

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
Deer Lake, Schuylkill Co PA 01Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Deer Lake

Deer Lake dates to 1936, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1940.

1936founded
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Deer Lake began

When was Deer Lake founded?

1936

Deer Lake dates its founding to 1936 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1940.

First census: 65 in 19402020 census: 67090 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1878.The full story ↓

What stands out about Deer Lake’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 Deer Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Deer Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Deer Lake’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

How Deer Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Deer Lake.

Read it all →

The community was founded as a resort community serving coal barons and other members of the wealthy elite of nearby Pottsville. A small summer stock theatre operated during the 1920s, in which actors such as John Kenley performed.

In 1972, Muhammad Ali set his training camp, Fighter's Heaven, in Deer Lake, and it still stands today complete with an indoor boxing ring.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Deer Lake, 1878 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Pinedale post office opens
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe Pinedale post office closes
  6. 1936
    FoundingDeer Lake is established
By decade

Deer Lake, decade by decade

Today16 recent
Jack Allen Ball Park, Deer Lake, PA, June 20252025Jack Allen Ball Park, Deer Lake, PA, June 2025Deer Lake, PA Municipal Building, June 20252025Deer Lake, PA Municipal Building, June 20252022-09-09 17 28 19 UTC minus 4 Aerial view of southeastern Schuylkill County in Pennsylvania, centered on20222022-09-09 17 28 19 UTC minus 4 Aerial view of southe…Pine Creek Bridge2015Pine Creek BridgeLake Front Dr, Deer Lake PA 022015Lake Front Dr, Deer Lake PA 02Lake Front Dr, Deer Lake PA 012015Lake Front Dr, Deer Lake PA 01Drehersville Rd2015Drehersville RdDeer Lake, Schuylkill Co PA 032015Deer Lake, Schuylkill Co PA 03Deer Lake, Schuylkill Co PA 022015Deer Lake, Schuylkill Co PA 02Deer Lake, Schuylkill Co PA 012015Deer Lake, Schuylkill Co PA 01Deer Lake Dam, Schuylkill Co PA 032015Deer Lake Dam, Schuylkill Co PA 03Deer Lake Dam, Schuylkill Co PA 022015Deer Lake Dam, Schuylkill Co PA 02Deer Lake Dam, Schuylkill Co PA 012015Deer Lake Dam, Schuylkill Co PA 01Deer Lake & West Brunswick Fire Co, Deer Lake PA 032015Deer Lake & West Brunswick Fire Co, Deer Lake PA 03Deer Lake & West Brunswick Fire Co, Deer Lake PA 022015Deer Lake & West Brunswick Fire Co, Deer Lake PA 02Deer Lake & West Brunswick Fire Co, Deer Lake PA 012015Deer Lake & West Brunswick Fire Co, Deer Lake PA 01
On the map

Deer Lake on the map, 1889 to 1891

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

Deer Lake on the 1889 USGS mapDeer Lake 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 Deer Lake.

People over time

Deer Lake, census by census

010020030040050060070019401960198020002020Peak: 687

Between 65 and 687 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Deer Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Deer Lake

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

See all →
Elisha HoffmanAmerican minister, hymn composer · b. 1839
Bill BeckleyAmerican artist · b. 1946
Elsie SingmasterAmerican novelist · b. 1879
George Samuel DoughertyAmerican law enforcement officer and writer (18… · b. 1865
M
Mike TobashAmerican politician · b. 1964
Richard EtchbergerUS Air Force NCO and posthumous recipient of th… · b. 1933
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

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

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

Questions about Deer Lake’s history

What year was Deer Lake founded?

In 1936, according to Wikidata. Deer Lake’s post office opened in 1878, and the census of 1940 counted 65 people here.

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 (16), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.