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History · Eagles Mere

Eagles Mere’s post office opened in 1847, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 234 buildings. Below: 30 old photos and papers, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1900.

1847first post office
1on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
30old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Eagles Mere’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Eagles Mere began

When was Eagles Mere founded?

1847

The Eagles Mere post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1877. Two smaller post offices, Eagles Mere Chatauqua (1901) and Crestmont (1924), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 312 in 19002020 census: 148179 years
Founding year: the first Eagles Mere post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1877.The full story ↓

What stands out about Eagles Mere’s past

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

A historic districtThe Eagles Mere Historic District takes in 234 historic buildings.A town in old photos30 old photos, postcards and papers, 1890–1989.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Eagles Mere, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1847: 179 years of Eagles Mere.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 234 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
234
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Eagles Mere Historic District
Eagles Mere Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Shingle1
Queen Anne1
Bungalow1
Craftsman1
Prairie School1
Eagles Mere Historic DistrictShingle

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

By decade

Eagles Mere, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s8 items
The Lakeside1890The LakesideLake of the Eagles1896Lake of the EaglesCrestmont Inn1896Crestmont InnCrestmont Inn1896Crestmont InnCrestmont Inn1896Crestmont InnThe Laurel path and lake1896The Laurel path and lakeA view of the lake from Laurel Path1896A view of the lake from Laurel PathEagles Mere - The Lake1898Eagles Mere - The Lake
1900s14 items
Hotel Eagles Mere1905Hotel Eagles MereEagles Mere Station and narrow gauge train1905Eagles Mere Station and narrow gauge trainThe Raymond1905The RaymondWenonah Falls1905Wenonah FallsLake view1905Lake viewBathing beach1905Bathing beachThe Forest Inn1905The Forest InnStr. [Steamer] "Iroquis" Eagles Mere, Pa1905Str. [Steamer] "Iroquis" Eagles Mere, PaThe Crestmont Inn1905The Crestmont InnThe Lake Side Hotel1905The Lake Side HotelSouth Side of the Lake of the Eagles1905South Side of the Lake of the EaglesView of the lake1905View of the lakeA view of the lake1905A view of the lakeScene along the narrow gauge railroad1905Scene along the narrow gauge railroad
1920s–1930s4 items
The Swimming dock at Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania1920The Swimming dock at Eagles Mere, PennsylvaniaSecond green on the golf course1929Second green on the golf courseDry Run near Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania (71191)c. 1930Dry Run near Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania (71191)In the swim at Eagles Mere, Pa1930In the swim at Eagles Mere, Pa
1940s–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
1980s4 items
Eagles Mere Pennsylvania, July 1989 - 11989Eagles Mere Pennsylvania, July 1989 - 1Eagles Mere Pennsylvania, July 1989 - 101989Eagles Mere Pennsylvania, July 1989 - 10Eagles Mere Pennsylvania, July 1989 - 111989Eagles Mere Pennsylvania, July 1989 - 11Eagles Mere Pennsylvania, July 1989 - 121989Eagles Mere Pennsylvania, July 1989 - 12
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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Eagles Mere’s post office has been open since 1847. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Eagles Mere
1847–today
Eagles Mere Chatauqua
1901–1903
Eagles Mere Park
1903–today
Crestmont
1924–1936
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CrestmontEagles Mere Park
Gone or out of use
Crestmont Post Officepost officeEagles Mere Chautauqua Post Officepost office

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

The story

How Eagles Mere came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Eagles Mere.

Read it all →

Eagles Mere was laid out in 1877 and incorporated in 1899. The Eagles Mere Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. Eagles Mere's name literally means "the eagle's lake", the word mere being a poetic synonym of "lake".

Civil engineer Embley S. Chase came in 1886 to oversee its development as a resort town and laid the ground work. He participated in establishing its street plan, water sports carnival, ice toboggan slide, and trail system. He helped organize the borough, design its water and sewer works, electrify it, and plot the bottom of the lake. He helped design the narrow gauge railroad that once connected it to Sonestown.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Eagles Mere, 1847 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1847Post officeThe Eagles Mere post office opens
  3. 1862Born hereJoseph Marshall Francis is born here
  4. 1890In the archiveThe Lakeside
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901Post officeThe Eagles Mere Chatauqua post office opens
  7. 1903Post officeThe Eagles Mere Chatauqua post office closes
  8. 1903Post officeThe Eagles Mere Park post office opens
  9. 1905In the archiveHotel Eagles Mere
  10. 1908Born hereJohnny Bent is born here
  11. 1920In the archiveThe Swimming dock at Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania
  12. 1930In the archiveDry Run near Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania (71191)
  13. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1989In the archiveEagles Mere Pennsylvania, July 1989 - 1
On the map

Eagles Mere on the map, 1932 to 1993

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

Eagles Mere on the 1932 USGS mapEagles Mere on the 1953 USGS mapEagles Mere on the 1969 USGS mapEagles Mere on the 1993 USGS map1932Eagles Mere 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 Eagles Mere.

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.

The Lakeside
Retake this viewThe Lakeside, 1890

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Eagles Mere, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 312

Between 120 and 312 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Eagles Mere

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Johnny BentAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1908
Joseph Marshall FrancisAmerican cleric (1862–1939); bishop of Indiana … · b. 1862
Help out

Finish Eagles Mere’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

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

Questions about Eagles Mere’s history

What year was Eagles Mere founded?

The Eagles Mere post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1877.

What is on the National Register in Eagles Mere?

One place: the Eagles Mere Historic District (listed 1996).

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 (6), the Library of Congress (24), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.