On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harveys Lake is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #935 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harveys Lake’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 Harveys Lake’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Harveys Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Harveys Lake was not officially incorporated as a borough until 1968. Prior to that, the area was an unincorporated part of Lake Township.
Historically, the first White resident in the vicinity of the lake was Matthew Scouten, who arrived in the early 1790s, but the first White settlers were the Worthingtons, who arrived in 1806.
Harveys Lake became a major resort destination in the early 20th century, attracting tourists from all over the Northeast. Hotels, cottages, boathouses, a casino, and even an amusement park were constructed around the lake. The grand Hotel Oneonta was especially prominent in the early 1900s; former United States President Theodore Roosevelt was a guest in August 1912.
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.
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.
Harveys Lake is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #935 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 Harveys Lake?
12% of Harveys Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (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.
2009