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History · Leola

Leola’s post office opened in 1896, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1850 on.

1896first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Leola’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Leola began

When was Leola founded?

1896

The Leola post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 7,465130 years
Founding year: the first Leola post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
The story so far

Leola, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Leola yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Leola is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes the unincorporated communities of Leola, Leacock, and Bareville, and prior to 2010 was known as the Leacock-Leola-Bareville census-designated place. Originally named "Mechanicsburg", its present name is a portmanteau of "Leacock" and the "Glenola" train station that once served the town. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 7,214.

Its first post office opened in 1896.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Leola, 1850 to 1982

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - ED 36-1…
  3. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - Upper Leacock -…
  4. 20th century
  5. 1938In the archiveHeller's Salem Reformed Church near Leacock, PA, 1938 by Sheldon Dick
  6. 1982In the archive"ETHYL BRAND OF ANTI-KNOCK COMPOUND" "ETHYL GASOLINE CORPORATION NEW YORK, U.S.A." - Atla…
By decade

Leola, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1880s3 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - ED 36-143, ED 36-144, ED 36-145, ED 3…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Penns…1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - ED 36-149, ED 36-150, ED 36-151, ED 3…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Penns…1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - Upper Leacock - ED 36-148, ED 36-14918801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …
1890s–1920snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1930s1 item
Heller's Salem Reformed Church near Leacock, PA, 1938 by Sheldon Dick1938Heller's Salem Reformed Church near Leacock, PA, 1938…
1940s–1970snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1980s2 items
"ETHYL BRAND OF ANTI-KNOCK COMPOUND" "ETHYL GASOLINE CORPORATION NEW YORK, U.S.A." - Atlantic Ethyl pump, Rt. 23, Leola…1982"ETHYL BRAND OF ANTI-KNOCK COMPOUND" "ETHYL GASOLINE …Atlantic Ethyl pump, Rt. 231982Atlantic Ethyl pump, Rt. 23
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - ED 36-143, ED 36-144, ED 36-145, ED 3…
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - ED 36-143, ED 36-144, ED 36-145, ED 3…, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Leola’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Leola

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

See all →
Jonathan GroffAmerican actor and singer · b. 1985
Floyd LandisAmerican road racing cyclist · b. 1975
Beth BehrsAmerican actress · b. 1985
Taylor KinneyAmerican actor and model · b. 1981
Todd YoungUnited States Senator from Indiana · b. 1972
Robert SmithUnited States Secretary of the Navy · b. 1757
Help out

Finish Leola’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Upper Leacock Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Leola’s history

What year was Leola founded?

The Leola post office opened in 1896, 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 Wikimedia Commons (6). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.