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History · Friendsville

Friendsville dates to 1819

Most of Friendsville was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1850.

1819founded
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Friendsville began

When was Friendsville founded?

1819

Friendsville dates its founding to 1819 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 185 in 18502020 census: 101207 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓

What stands out about Friendsville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Friendsville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 223 in 1870; 101 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1819: 207 years of Friendsville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Friendsville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Friendsville, census by census

01002001850190019502000Peak: 223

Peaked at 223 in 1870; 101 people lived here in 2020.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Timeline

Friendsville, 1819 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1819
    FoundingFriendsville is established
  3. 1820Post officeThe Friendsville post office opens
  4. 1870CensusPopulation peaks at 223
  5. 20th century
  6. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Friendsville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Friendsville.

Read it all →

Friendsville was founded in 1819, and named for the fact a large share of the first settlers were Quakers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Friendsville in 1873

Passages that mention Friendsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.

ern half of Brooklyn; that of Jessup from the western part of Bridgewater and the eastern part of Eush ; and, from Choconut,, more than half was taken to constitute Apolacon. The borough of Friendsville was incorporated in 1848. Ararat was only a settlement of Harmony and Clifford, and afterwards o…
History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania1873 · page 35Read the page →
Read the text

ern half of Brooklyn; that of Jessup from the western part of Bridgewater and the eastern part of Eush ; and, from Choconut,, more than half was taken to constitute Apolacon. The borough of Friendsville was incorporated in 1848. Ararat was only a settlement of Harmony and Clifford, and afterwards of Jackson and Gibson, and then of Herrick and Thomson, until 1852,.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ern half of Brooklyn; that of Jessup from the western part of Bridgewater and the eastern part of Rush ; and, from Choconut, more than half was taken to constitute Apolacon. The borough of Friendsville was incorporated in 1848. Ararat was only a settlement of Harmony and Clifford, and afterwards of…
History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. from a period preceding its settlement to recent times, including the annals and geography of each township... Also a sketch of woman's work in the county for the United States sanitary commission, and a list o1873 · page 35Read the page →
Read the text

ern half of Brooklyn; that of Jessup from the western part of Bridgewater and the eastern part of Rush ; and, from Choconut, more than half was taken to constitute Apolacon. The borough of Friendsville was incorporated in 1848. Ararat was only a settlement of Harmony and Clifford, and afterwards of Jackson and Gibson, and then of Herrick and Thomson, until 1852, when its various transmigrations were terminated in its promotion to a township.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
"Montrose, Harford, Uniondale, Franklin, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Rush, Forest Lake, Friendsville and Forest Lake, West Harford, Lawsville, Center, Dimock (two societies), Friendsville, West Auburn, Clifford, Springville, Auburn, East Bridgewater, and Little Meadows aid societies ha…
History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania1873 · page 590Read the page →
Read the text

"Montrose, Harford, Uniondale, Franklin, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Rush, Forest Lake, Friendsville and Forest Lake, West Harford, Lawsville, Center, Dimock (two societies), Friendsville, West Auburn, Clifford, Springville, Auburn, East Bridgewater, and Little Meadows aid societies have sent to the Sanitary Commission, 1247 shirts, 174 sheets, 588 pair drawers, 720 pillows, 755 pillowcases, 212 arm slings, 291 dressing gowns, 247 pairs slippers, 342 pairs socks, 1913 towels and handkerchiefs, 126 quilts and blankets, 295 bottles of wine, 71 gallons of wine, 1 keg of wine, 1 cask of wine, 28 gallons

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
“Montrose, Harford, Uniondale, Franklin, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Rush, Forest Lake, Friendsville and Forest Lake, West Harford, Lawsville, Center, Dimock (two societies), Friendsville, West Auburn, Clifford, Springville, Auburn, East Bridgewater, and Little Meadows aid societies ha…
History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. from a period preceding its settlement to recent times, including the annals and geography of each township... Also a sketch of woman's work in the county for the United States sanitary commission, and a list o1873 · page 590Read the page →
Read the text

“Montrose, Harford, Uniondale, Franklin, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Rush, Forest Lake, Friendsville and Forest Lake, West Harford, Lawsville, Center, Dimock (two societies), Friendsville, West Auburn, Clifford, Springville, Auburn, East Bridgewater, and Little Meadows aid societies have sent to the Sanitary Commission, 1247 shirts, 174 sheets, 588 pair drawers, 720 pillows, 755 pillowcases, 212 arm slings, 291 dressing gowns, 247 pairs slippers, 342 pairs socks, 1913 towels and handkerchiefs, 126 quilts and blankets, 295 bottles of wine, 71 gallons of wine, 1 keg of wine, 1 cask of wine, 28 gallons

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.

By decade

Friendsville, decade by decade

Today4 recent
St. Francis Xavier Church, Friendsville, PA, April 20252025St. Francis Xavier Church, Friendsville, PA, April 20…Friendsville, PA post office, April 20252025Friendsville, PA post office, April 2025Friendsville, PA cemetery, April 20252025Friendsville, PA cemetery, April 2025St. Francis Church2009St. Francis Church
On the map

Friendsville on the map, 1943 to 1978

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

Friendsville on the 1943 USGS mapFriendsville on the 1967 USGS mapFriendsville on the 1978 USGS map1943Le Raysville 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 Friendsville.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Choconut TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townForest Lake TownshipIts storyBMiddletown TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townApolacon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Friendsville’s history

What year was Friendsville founded?

In 1819, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Friendsville’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1850 counted 185 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (4), Wikipedia, 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 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.