Founding year: the first Freeland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Freeland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Freeland is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #664 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Freeland’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 Freeland’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 B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.9 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 Freeland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Joseph Birkbeck, the founder of Freeland, was born near Brough, in the county of Westmorland, England, on May 2, 1802. He and his wife Elizabeth came to America in 1844. After acquiring land from Edward Lynch the same year of his arrival, Birkbeck built a log cabin in a small valley between modern-day Freeland and Upper Lehigh. The next settler, Nathan Howey, purchased land from Birkbeck and built a frame house just west of Birkbeck's log cabin.
Passages that mention Freeland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania1909 · page 274Read the page →
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ties he made numerous friends who were loth to. part with his services as he moved on to more important centers, to which opportunity and increasing skill called him. In 1902, the town of Freeland was fortunate in thai Dr. Redelin settled in that year in that town, where he has ever since been in general practice, the while his popularity and the demands for his services have increased manifold" In addition to his large private practice, he
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections1893Read the page →
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land and laid out the village and offered lots on favorable terms to settlers. Backing his judgment, he at once built for himself the building known as the " Old Homestead," opposite the postoffice. He named it Freehold, and this name continued until they came to name their postoffice, when it was changed to Freeland. The "point" had already grown to such importance that a postoffice had been granted and considerable business was flowing in and out of the place. However, there was no rush of capital here, nor was there a marked inflow of people. But Mr. Donop was active in sounding the advantages of the place and he offered lots for $10 bills
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A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania1909 · page 115Read the page →
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in 1840. The hamlet that took his name was at one time of greater importance than Whitehaven. Morrison operated saw and gristmills on Pond Creek, and employed much labor in lumbering. Joseph Birkbeck was the first settler in the Freeland District. He came in 1844, and built a house just north of the Freeland Borough line. His tract extended northward, and when mines were opened at Upper Lehigh, Mr. Birkbeck platted a village, which he called South Heberton. Upper Lehigh has absorbed most of the pioneer village. The former is a "company town" ; it was platted in 1865 for the mining company,
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History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections1893 · page 565Read the page →
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One of the best public institutions of Freeland being the water works. It was incorporated July 20, 1883, the incorporators being the following officials: President, Joseph Birkbeck; treasurer, Thomas Birkbeck; secretary, F. Schilcher. The works were commenced and completed in 1883, and the water was turned on in November of that year. The main supply is from two artesian wells, one on the east of town and one on the north. These furnish the finest granite-water, cool, and the freest from animal matter of any attainable waters. From the engines the water is pumped to the top of the hill west of town, where is one of the finest arranged
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.
Timeline
Freeland, 1876 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Freeland’s history
What year was Freeland founded?
The Freeland post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Freeland rank for history?
Freeland is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #664 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.
How old are the homes in Freeland?
53% of Freeland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
c. 1930
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