Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #254 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1850.
Lehighton dates its founding to 1746 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lehighton is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #254 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Lehighton’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.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1887Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lehighton.
At the time of the first European's encounters with indigenous American tribes, this area was part of the shared hunting territory of the Iroquoian Susquehannock and the Algonquian Lenape peoples, who were often at odds. The Lenape are also called the Delaware, after their language and territory along the Delaware River.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Carbon County - ED 13-27, …
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Carbon County - Lehighton - ED 13-…
In the archiveGnadenhutten Massacre Memorial
In the archiveLehighton station postcard
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereChristian Hackenberg is born herePassages that mention Lehighton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
from Mauch Chunk to Easton, and early in the sixties the company established its shops and yards at Packerton. Many of the employes at this place built their homes in Lehighton. On March 16, 1864, the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad Company, later absorbed by the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, was authorized to extend its line from Mauch Chunk to Easton. With the completion of this road Lehighton
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Subsequently he entered the service of the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Lehighton as a brakeman. Later he was a yardmaster and then became a conductor, being still so employed. For a time he published the Carbon County Mail, a weekly newspaper, at Lehighton.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1903 he was chosen burgess of Lehighton, while in 1909 he was returned to the same office without opposition. Mr. Morthimer was also assistant postmaster of Lehighton during Cleveland 's first term.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1903 he was chosen burgess of Lehighton, while in 1909 he was returned to the same office without opposition. Mr. Morthimer was also assistant postmaster of Lehighton during Cleveland 's first term.
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.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lehighton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lehighton.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lehighton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 267 and 6,615 people in every census since 1850.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lehighton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Lehighton’s post office has been open since 1812.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1746, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lehighton’s post office opened in 1812, and the census of 1850 counted 267 people here.
Lehighton is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #254 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.
47% of Lehighton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1942.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), 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.
1880
1907
