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Goldsboro, PA Keystone Marker cropPhoto: Goldsboro, PA Keystone Marker.jpg: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States derivative work: GrapedApe · CC BY-SA 2.0
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History · Goldsboro

Goldsboro dates to 1850, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 79 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1870.

1850founded
1on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Goldsboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Goldsboro began

When was Goldsboro founded?

1850

Goldsboro dates its founding to 1850 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 310 in 18702020 census: 932176 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1842.The full story ↓

What stands out about Goldsboro’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.A historic districtThe Goldsboro Historic District takes in 79 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Goldsboro’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFallout shelter sign. Goldsboro, Pennsy…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

1 listing protects 79 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
79
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Goldsboro Historic District
Goldsboro Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Italianate1
Mansard1
Queen Anne1
Richardsonian Romanesque1
Gothic Revival1
Goldsboro Historic DistrictGreek Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Goldsboro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Goldsboro.

Read it all →

In 1734, John Day and Nathan Hussey, Quakers from New Castle County, Delaware, obtained land grants (called Bluntson Licenses) for land on which Goldsboro now stands. They became official in 1736, when the Penn Family made a treaty with the Iroquois Confederacy and purchased land in what became northern York County. John Day's land included virtually all of present day Goldsboro, and he built a mill right next to Fishing Creek as early as 1740. Nathan Hussey's land included present day South Goldsboro and Cly, and he opened a ferry across the Susquehanna River, where the early settlers would have crossed to their newly purchased land.

ChaptersThe American Lightweight ChampionshipEtymology of the name "Etters"Three Mile Island Nuclear Disaster

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Goldsboro in 1886

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

ligent Quaker, from New Castle County, Del, who, in 1749, became one of the commissioners to lay off York County, obtained a grant for land on which the village of Goldsboro now stands, and a short distance above he opened a ferry across the Susquehanna. In 1743 a road was opened from Walnut Bottom…
History of York County Pennsylvania From the Earliest Time to the Present1886Read the page →
Read the text

ligent Quaker, from New Castle County, Del, who, in 1749, became one of the commissioners to lay off York County, obtained a grant for land on which the village of Goldsboro now stands, and a short distance above he opened a ferry across the Susquehanna. In 1743 a road was opened from Walnut Bottom, now in Cumberland County, then in Lancaster

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
who, in 1749, became one of the commissioners to lay off York County, obtained a grant for land on which the village of Goldsboro now stands, and a short distance above he opened a ferry across the Susquehanna. In 1743 a road was opened from Walnut Bottom, now in Cumberland County, then in Lancaste…
History of York County, Pennsylvania1886Read the page →
Read the text

who, in 1749, became one of the commissioners to lay off York County, obtained a grant for land on which the village of Goldsboro now stands, and a short distance above he opened a ferry across the Susquehanna. In 1743 a road was opened from Walnut Bottom, now in Cumberland County, then in Lancaster County, through Fishing Ci-eek Valley, to Hus-

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and erected a building, in which he and his brother-in-law, the late G. Washington Kister, opened a store of general merchandise at Goldsboro. This was about the time of the building of the Northern Central Railroad. In the year 1851, Mr. Frazer, taking advantage of an excellent opportunity, erecte…
History of York County, Pennsylvania1886Read the page →
Read the text

and erected a building, in which he and his brother-in-law, the late G. Washington Kister, opened a store of general merchandise at Goldsboro. This was about the time of the building of the Northern Central Railroad. In the year 1851, Mr. Frazer, taking advantage of an excellent opportunity, erected a large and commodious warehouse at

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Goldsboro Sandstone Quarry. — During the year 1850, or thereabouts, Mr. Symington, of Baltimore, opened a sandstone quarr}', about two miles west of Goldsboro. After a little prospecting he found a large vein of the most valuable sandstone, which he quarried and shipped to his native city for build…
History of York County Pennsylvania From the Earliest Time to the Present1886Read the page →
Read the text

Goldsboro Sandstone Quarry. — During the year 1850, or thereabouts, Mr. Symington, of Baltimore, opened a sandstone quarr}', about two miles west of Goldsboro. After a little prospecting he found a large vein of the most valuable sandstone, which he quarried and shipped to his native city for building purposes. George Betz came in posses-

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

Goldsboro, 1842 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1842Post officeThe Etters post office opens
  3. 1850
    FoundingGoldsboro is established
  4. 20th century
  5. 1952Born hereGreg Gross is born here
  6. 1979In the archiveFallout shelter sign. Goldsboro, Pennsylvania
  7. 1984On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Goldsboro, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s4 items
Fallout shelter sign. Goldsboro, Pennsylvania1979Fallout shelter sign. Goldsboro, PennsylvaniaGoldsboro, [Pennsylvania]. Cooling towers in background1979Goldsboro, [Pennsylvania]. Cooling towers in backgrou…Goldsboro, PA and TMI1979Goldsboro, PA and TMILooking at strip chart with local [resident]1979Looking at strip chart with local [resident]
1980s–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
Today8 recent
Goldsboro, PA Church of God, July 20252025Goldsboro, PA Church of God, July 2025Goldsboro, PA Borough Offices, July 20252025Goldsboro, PA Borough Offices, July 2025Goldsboro PA 2022-11-052022Goldsboro PA 2022-11-05Goldsboro PA 2022-11-05 32022Goldsboro PA 2022-11-05 3Goldsboro PA 2022-11-05 22022Goldsboro PA 2022-11-05 2Goldsboro PA 2022-11-05 (cropped)2022Goldsboro PA 2022-11-05 (cropped)Goldsboro, PA Keystone Marker crop2013Goldsboro, PA Keystone Marker cropGoldsboro, PA Keystone Marker2009Goldsboro, PA Keystone Marker
On the map

Goldsboro on the map in 1984

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Goldsboro.

Goldsboro on the 1984 USGS map1984Harrisburg sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Goldsboro.

Every building

Goldsboro, building by building, 1908–1913

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.

Goldsboro fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Fallout shelter sign. Goldsboro, Pennsylvania
Retake this viewFallout shelter sign. Goldsboro, Pennsylvania, 1979

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Goldsboro, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 952

Between 310 and 952 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Newberry Township2 historic placesB−Londonderry Township1 historic placeB−

Questions about Goldsboro’s history

What year was Goldsboro founded?

In 1850, according to Wikidata. Goldsboro’s post office opened in 1842, and the census of 1870 counted 310 people here.

What is on the National Register in Goldsboro?

One place: the Goldsboro Historic District (listed 1984).

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.