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East Stroudsburg, PennsylvaniaPhoto: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0
AHistory
History · East Stroudsburg

East Stroudsburg dates to 1738, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #138 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Its Register listings are the East Stroudsburg Railroad Station and the East Stroudsburg Armory. Below: 10 old photos and papers from 1923 on and the census since 1880.

1738founded
2on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
13famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From East Stroudsburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How East Stroudsburg began

When was East Stroudsburg founded?

1738

East Stroudsburg dates its founding to 1738 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,162 in 18802020 census: 9,669288 years

How historic is East Stroudsburg?

A

More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1868.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives East Stroudsburg’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, East Stroudsburg is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #138 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of East Stroudsburg’s overall grade.
Founding era1738, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194032.9% of homes (±6.7) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register2 listings, 2.1 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 93%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 87%

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 East Stroudsburg’s 2.1 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1738.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 East Stroudsburg’s past

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

Older than the countryEstablished in 1738, 38 years before the Declaration of Independence.Famous sons and daughtersJayson Terdiman, Shelby Starner and 11 more were born here.Old housesHalf of East Stroudsburg’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Timeline

East Stroudsburg, 1738 to 1988

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1738
    FoundingEast Stroudsburg is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1856BuiltEast Stroudsburg Railroad Station is built
  5. 1868Post officeThe East Stroudsburg post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1923In the archiveEast Stroudsburg 1st Presby PHS179
  8. 1946In the archiveW.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a12503
  9. 1946Born hereDavid Cortright is born here
  10. 1952Born hereBob Stetler is born here
  11. 1984Born hereShelby Starner is born here
  12. 1988Born hereJayson Terdiman is born here
Famous people

13 famous people were born in East Stroudsburg

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

See all →
J
Jayson TerdimanAmerican luger · b. 1988
S
Shelby StarnerAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1984
David CortrightAmerican peace studies scholar · b. 1946
B
Bob StetlerAmerican soccer player · b. 1952
Kyshoen JarrettAmerican football player, coach, and executive · b. 1993
J
James MungroAmerican football running back · b. 1978
The story

How East Stroudsburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of East Stroudsburg.

Read it all →

In 1737, present-day East Stroudsburg was settled by Daniel Brodhead, a judge from Marbletown, New York, who acquired a 1,000-acre lot of land on and around where Lehigh Valley Hospital–Pocono Hospital currently stands at 206 E. Brown Street in what then was Bucks County and now is Monroe County along the east bank of Brodhead Creek, then known as the Analomink River. The property was known as Dansbury Manor. Moravian missionaries, residing in Bethlehem to the town's south, often traveled through Danbury Manor on the way to Dutchess County, New York and other northern locations.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

East Stroudsburg, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1940s10 items
East Stroudsburg 1st Presby PHS1791923East Stroudsburg 1st Presby PHS179East Stroudsburg PA ME and Presby PHS1861923East Stroudsburg PA ME and Presby PHS186W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a125031946W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, P…W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a125041946W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, P…W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a125051946W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, P…W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a125061946W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, P…W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a176411946W.C. Wicks, residence on Route 1, East Stroudsburg, P…W.C. Wicks, residence, Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a192401946W.C. Wicks, residence, Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pen…W.C. Wicks, residence, Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a192411946W.C. Wicks, residence, Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pen…W.C. Wicks, residence, Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a192421946W.C. Wicks, residence, Route 1, East Stroudsburg, Pen…
1950s–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
Today7 recent
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania2009East Stroudsburg, PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania2009East Stroudsburg, PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania2009East Stroudsburg, PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania2009East Stroudsburg, PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg2008East StroudsburgEAST STROUDSBURG ARMORY, MONROE COUNTY2008EAST STROUDSBURG ARMORY, MONROE COUNTYFlickr - Nicholas T - Decommissioned2006Flickr - Nicholas T - Decommissioned
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.

East Stroudsburg 1st Presby PHS179
Retake this viewEast Stroudsburg 1st Presby PHS179, 1923

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in East Stroudsburg

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
East Stroudsburg Railroad Station
East Stroudsburg Railroad Station, built 1856East Stroudsburg Armory
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Tudor Revival1
East Stroudsburg Railroad StationQueen Anne · Built 1856
East Stroudsburg ArmoryTudor Revival

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

People over time

East Stroudsburg, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 11,922

Between 1,162 and 11,922 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Help out

Finish East Stroudsburg’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEast Stroudsburg 1st Presby PHS179: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Smithfield Township1 historic placeC+Stroud TownshipIts storyC−Arlington HeightsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStroudsburg4 historic placesA+

Questions about East Stroudsburg’s history

What year was East Stroudsburg founded?

In 1738, according to Wikidata. East Stroudsburg’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1880 counted 1,162 people here.

How does East Stroudsburg rank for history?

East Stroudsburg is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #138 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.

What is on the National Register in East Stroudsburg?

Two places: the East Stroudsburg Railroad Station (listed 1980) and the East Stroudsburg Armory (1991).

How old are the homes in East Stroudsburg?

33% of East Stroudsburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1963.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.