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–Not graded
History · Espy

Espy’s post office opened in 1826, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1894 on.

1826first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Espy’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Espy began

When was Espy founded?

1826

The Espy post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,620200 years
Founding year: the first Espy post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Espy’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.On the map since 18946 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1999. Watch Espy change.Deep rootsA post office since 1826: 200 years of Espy.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Espy’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEpsy Bluff, Pa. Oil Regions: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Espy on the map, 1894 to 1999

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

Espy on the 1894 USGS mapEspy on the 1947 USGS mapEspy on the 1953 USGS mapEspy on the 1969 USGS mapEspy on the 1975 USGS mapEspy on the 1999 USGS map1894Bloomsburg 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 Espy.

The story

How Espy came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Espy.

Read it all →

Espy was named after Josiah Espy, an early settler who moved to the area in 1775. Soon afterwards, in 1785, Josiah's son George moved into the area as well. In 1800, George Espy divided up the area that is now Espy into lots. The town was originally called Liberty but was officially renamed Espy in 1828 after George Espy. The first hotel in Espy was built in 1805. There used to a boatyard in Espy, but it was destroyed in 1900.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Espy, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Epsy Bluff, Pa. Oil Regions1860Epsy Bluff, Pa. Oil Regions
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.

Epsy Bluff, Pa. Oil Regions
Retake this viewEpsy Bluff, Pa. Oil Regions, 1860

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

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

AlmediaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townScott TownshipIts storyC+Main TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Espy’s history

What year was Espy founded?

The Espy post office opened in 1826, 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 →
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 the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.