Founding year: the first Mayfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1891.
History grade
What drives Mayfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mayfield is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mayfield’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 Mayfield’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 (±13.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1891 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Mayfield’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 Mayfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Dundaff 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 Mayfield.
People over time
Mayfield, census by census
Peaked at 3,832 in 1920; 1,763 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mayfield’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Mayfield, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mayfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mayfield is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Scranton. In the past, it contained a silk mill and a coal mining industry. The population was 1,763 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,807 to 1,763 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Mayfield in 1928
Passages that mention Mayfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Jubilee history commemorative of the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania ..1928 · page 1163Read the page →
Read the text
and later attended Stroudsburg State Normal School. He received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery at Temple University in 1918, after which he was associated with the Philadelphia Dentists of Scranton. In May, 1925, he established his present practice at Mayfield. During the World War, Doctor Gallagher volunteered for service and was stationed at a camp in Georgia throughout the war period.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Jubilee history commemorative of the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania ..1928 · page 899Read the page →
Read the text
James F. Lally left school when nine years of age and went to work in the coal mines of Mayfield as a slate picker. He advanced through the various stages of mining, finally becoming a rock contractor in the mines. During this time he was also a hotel proprietor. He was one of the organizers of the Mayfield State Bank, and is a director of that institution. He has various other business connections in the city, and_is well known as an insurance and real estate operator. In 1926 Mr. Lally was elected burgess of Mayfield, after having served as tax collector and city
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
Mayfield, 1890 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
The Mayfield post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1891.
How does Mayfield rank for history?
Mayfield is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. 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 Mayfield?
47% of Mayfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1944.
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 (1), 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.
