The Forest Lake Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Birchardville (1825) and Forest Lake (1836), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,114190 years
How historic is Forest Lake Township?
B
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Forest Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Forest Lake Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Forest Lake Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Forest Lake Township’s overall grade.
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 Forest Lake Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Forest Lake Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Forest Lake Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Forest Lake, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in Forest Lake Township, Susquehanna County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Its first post office opened in 1836. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,193 to 1,114 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
The Forest Lake Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Forest Lake Township rank for history?
Forest Lake Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Forest Lake Township?
17% of Forest Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 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.
