The Lehman Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Silkworth (1884) and Meeker (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 3,346194 years
How historic is Lehman Township?
B−
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lehman Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Lehman Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lehman Township is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #737 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lehman Township’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 Lehman Township’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
What stands out about Lehman Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lehman Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Harveys Lake 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 Lehman Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Lehman
1832–today
Silkworth
1884–1912
Meeker
1888–1905
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LehmanMeekerSilkworth
Gone or out of use
Countryside AirportairportLehman Airportairport
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lehman Township
Good ShepherdIdetownLehman CenterOur Lady of Mount CarmelResurrection of the Lord Polish National ChurchSaint AnnsSaint Stephens
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Lehman Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lehman Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lehman is an unincorporated community in Lehman Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community is located along Pennsylvania Route 118, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west-southwest of Dallas. Lehman has a post office with ZIP code 18627, which opened on January 18, 1826.
Its first post office opened in 1832. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,508 to 3,346 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Lehman Township in 1909
Passages that mention Lehman Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania1909 · page 125Read the page →
Read the text
Lehman Township — The territory taken from Dallas Township, in 1829, to form a new township took the name Lehman Township, in honor of Dr. William Lehman. Its history begins tragically before settlement proper began.
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
Lehman Township, 1832 to 1916
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Lehman Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lehman Township rank for history?
Lehman Township is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #737 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 Lehman Township?
11% of Lehman Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
