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History · East Smithfield

East Smithfield’s post office opened in 1825, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and old-book passages.

1825first post office
0on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How East Smithfield began

When was East Smithfield founded?

1825

The East Smithfield post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name.

201 years
Founding year: the first East Smithfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about East Smithfield’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of East Smithfield’s homes were built before 1952.Deep rootsA post office since 1825: 201 years of East Smithfield.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start East Smithfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how East Smithfield’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

East Smithfield, in brief

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

East Smithfield is an unincorporated community in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community is 8.5 miles (13.7 km) southwest of Athens. East Smithfield has a post office with ZIP code 18817.

Its first post office opened in 1825.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about East Smithfield in 1905

Passages that mention East Smithfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.

and feeling he could no longer do the work required on the place, in 1898 he leased the farm, still retaining ownership and supervision and moved to the village of East Smithfield, where he is now, in 1904, conducting a dry goods and grocery store. He has two children; Richard Lark, born April 23, …
Historical sketch of the family of Michael Presbury Bird of Roxbury, Massachusetts, a pioneer of East Smithfield Pennsylvania, in 1801, to which is added a brief history of the Sumner family, who were also pioneers of East Smithfield, Pa.1905 · page 29Read the page →
Read the text

and feeling he could no longer do the work required on the place, in 1898 he leased the farm, still retaining ownership and supervision and moved to the village of East Smithfield, where he is now, in 1904, conducting a dry goods and grocery store. He has two children; Richard Lark, born April 23, 1885, Helen Frances, born December 11, 1892.

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.

By decade

East Smithfield, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Books from the Library of Congress (IA historicalsketch00lcbird)Date?Books from the Library of Congress (IA historicalsket…Book
Today6 recent
East Smithfield, Pennsylvania2009East Smithfield, PennsylvaniaEast Smithfield, Pennsylvania2009East Smithfield, PennsylvaniaEast Smithfield, Pennsylvania2009East Smithfield, PennsylvaniaEast Smithfield, Pennsylvania2009East Smithfield, PennsylvaniaEast Smithfield, Pennsylvania2009East Smithfield, PennsylvaniaEast Smithfield, Pennsylvania2009East Smithfield, Pennsylvania
On the map

East Smithfield on the map, 1939 to 1969

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

East Smithfield on the 1939 USGS mapEast Smithfield on the 1942 USGS mapEast Smithfield on the 1957 USGS mapEast Smithfield on the 1969 USGS map1939Sayre 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 East Smithfield.

Famous people

Famous people close to East Smithfield

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

See all →
Carlyle BlackwellAmerican silent film actor, director, and produ… · b. 1884
P
Pat BallardAmerican composer · b. 1899
Todd BodineRacecar driver · b. 1964
Clark Moses LeibleeAmerican athlete · b. 1877
H
Henry P. DavisonAmerican banker and philanthropist · b. 1867
Wells SpicerAmerican judge · b. 1831

Questions about East Smithfield’s history

What year was East Smithfield founded?

The East Smithfield post office opened in 1825, 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 →
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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 (7), 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.