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History · Exeter Township

Exeter Township dates to 1884, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1890.

1884founded
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Exeter Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Exeter Township began

When was Exeter Township founded?

1884

Exeter Township dates its founding to 1884 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 790 in 18902020 census: 625142 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1828.The full story ↓

What stands out about Exeter Township’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18935 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1994. Watch Exeter Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Exeter Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewOld Daniel Boone homestead, pioneer's b…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Exeter Township on the map, 1893 to 1994

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

Exeter Township on the 1893 USGS mapExeter Township on the 1946 USGS mapExeter Township on the 1969 USGS mapExeter Township on the 1976 USGS mapExeter Township on the 1994 USGS map1893Pittston 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 Exeter Township.

The story

How Exeter Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Exeter Township.

Read it all →

The name Exeter derives from the ancient city of Exeter in Devon, England. Numerous other places in Canada and the United States have also been given the same name.

In 1769, settlers from Connecticut began making their homes in the Wyoming Valley of Northeastern Pennsylvania but came into conflict with settlers from Pennsylvania during the Pennamite–Yankee Wars.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Exeter Township, 1828 to 1922

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe Falls post office opens
  3. 1874Post officeThe Lockville post office opens
  4. 1884
    FoundingExeter Township is established
  5. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1907Post officeThe Lockville post office closes
  8. 1922In the archiveOld Daniel Boone homestead, pioneer's birthplace in Pennsylvania, may be turned into muse…
By decade

Exeter Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Old Daniel Boone homestead, pioneer's birthplace in Pennsylvania, may be turned into museum1922Old Daniel Boone homestead, pioneer's birthplace in P…
1930s–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
Date unknown3 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey, Stanley Jones, Photographer April 8, 1936 TYPICAL STAIRS. - Elisha Atherton Coray M…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Stanley Jones, Ph…Elisha Atherton Coray HouseDate?Elisha Atherton Coray HouseElisha Atherton Coray Mill, Sutton's CreekDate?Elisha Atherton Coray Mill, Sutton's Creek
Today4 recent
Exeter, PA borough hall, July 20232023Exeter, PA borough hall, July 2023Gober's Deco Lounge2017Gober's Deco LoungeHouse Exeter Boro PA2016House Exeter Boro PABattle of Wyoming Marker2011Battle of Wyoming Marker
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.

Old Daniel Boone homestead, pioneer's birthplace in Pennsylvania, may be turned into museum
Retake this viewOld Daniel Boone homestead, pioneer's birthplace in Pennsylvania, may be turned into museum, 1922

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Exeter Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,955

Between 790 and 5,955 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

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

Falls
1828–today
Lockville
1874–1907
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LockvilleWest Falls

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Falls TownshipIts storyBWest FallsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorthmoreland TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Exeter Township’s history

What year was Exeter Township founded?

In 1884, according to Wikidata. Exeter Township’s post office opened in 1828, and the census of 1890 counted 790 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 (5), the Library of Congress (3), 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.