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Lavelle Elementary School, Main Street looking west, Village of Lavelle, Schuylkill County, PennsylvaniaPhoto: Cropped from a public domain photo of the Lavelle Elementary School in Lavelle, Pennsylvania, c. early to mid-1900s, that was cropped for fair use from photos from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS, c. 1934) that were released to the public domain by the U.S. Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.pa1893.photos/?sp=1 · Public domain
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History · Lavelle

Lavelle’s post office opened in 1881, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Cropped from a public domain photo of the Lavelle Elementary School in Lavelle, Pennsylvania, c. early to mid-1900s, that was cropped for fair use from photos from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS, c. 1934) that were released to the public domain by the U.S. Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.pa1893.photos/?sp=1 · Public domain
Quick answers

How Lavelle began

When was Lavelle founded?

1881

The Lavelle post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 708145 years
Founding year: the first Lavelle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lavelle’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 Lavelle are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18896 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1974. Watch Lavelle change.Old housesHalf of Lavelle’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lavelle’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lavelle’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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On the map

Lavelle on the map, 1889 to 1974

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

Lavelle on the 1889 USGS mapLavelle on the 1892 USGS mapLavelle on the 1947 USGS mapLavelle on the 1955 USGS mapLavelle on the 1969 USGS mapLavelle on the 1974 USGS map1889Catawissa 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 Lavelle.

The story

How Lavelle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lavelle.

Read it all →

During the early 1860s, a significant percentage of residents in Schuylkill County were engaged in mining. Among those operating collieries in 1862 were John Denison whose Keystone Mines employed more than two hundred men at its facility northeast of the area that would later become the village of Lavelle. During the early 1880s, the community that had grown up around that mine was known as Salome. It had been named after Salome (Hepler) Bolich, the wife of the Rev. Michael Bolich, a Baptist preacher who ministered to local residents. As the scattered resident population grew to become a hamlet, the eastern end of the community adopted the name of Rocktown while the western end continued to be known as Salome. Sometime around 1870, a powder mill was erected nearby and began producing black powder for use in the explosives used by miners.

Chapters1900sMid-1900sLate 1900s2000s

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.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Lavelle

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

See all →
E
Ellen Albertini DowAmerican actress · b. 1913
J
Janet AsimovAuthor, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst · b. 1926
E
Eddie CostaAmerican jazz musician; pianist and vibraphonist · b. 1930
Emil SeidelAmerican politician · b. 1864
W
William J. WaltersheidAuxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese … · b. 1956
Frank BolickAmerican baseball player · b. 1966

Questions about Lavelle’s history

What year was Lavelle founded?

The Lavelle post office opened in 1881, 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 →
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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 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.