Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Kelayres

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Post Office, Kelayres PAPhoto: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Kelayres

Kelayres’ post office opened in 1890, and 69% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1892 on.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
69%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Kelayres began

When was Kelayres founded?

1890

The Kelayres post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 497136 years
Founding year: the first Kelayres post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Kelayres’ 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 Kelayres are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18925 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1976. Watch Kelayres change.Old housesHalf of Kelayres’ homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kelayres’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Kelayres on the map, 1892 to 1976

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

Kelayres on the 1892 USGS mapKelayres on the 1949 USGS mapKelayres on the 1955 USGS mapKelayres on the 1969 USGS mapKelayres on the 1976 USGS map1892Mahanoy 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 Kelayres.

The story

How Kelayres came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kelayres.

Read it all →

Kelayres achieved national notoriety in 1934 when local politics led to the Kelayres massacre, on election eve, November 5, 1934. Five people were killed, while at least one dozen were injured. The breaking story was played up for its political angle on election day. Local Republican boss Joseph James Bruno and six members of his immediate family were arrested and tried for the murders. Six received convictions and prison sentences. Bruno again achieved national notoriety when he escaped from jail in December 1936. He was recaptured in August 1937. They were all eventually pardoned, Joseph Bruno being the last of the family pardoned, on December 24, 1947.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Kelayres

Nobody well known was born in Kelayres itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jack PalanceAmerican actor · b. 1919
B
Benjamin BloomAmerican psychologist · b. 1913
Lou BarlettaAmerican politician · b. 1956
Richard MarcinkoNavy SEAL, Author · b. 1940
T
Tom DeMarcoAmerican software engineer, author, and consult… · b. 1940
Hubie BrownAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1933

Questions about Kelayres’ history

What year was Kelayres founded?

The Kelayres post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.