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View of Mount Carmel 2Photo: Jakec · CC BY-SA 4.0
A−History
History · Mount Carmel Township

Mount Carmel Township dates to 1770, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1870.

1770founded
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mount Carmel Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mount Carmel Township began

When was Mount Carmel Township founded?

1770

Mount Carmel Township dates its founding to 1770 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 1,289 in 18702020 census: 2,500256 years

How historic is Mount Carmel Township?

A−

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Mount Carmel Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Carmel Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Carmel Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1770, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194034.4% of homes (±7.7) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder

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 Mount Carmel 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.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1770.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points).

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 →

What stands out about Mount Carmel Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Mount Carmel Township, and 13 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18896 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1974. Watch Mount Carmel Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 17,967 in 1930; 5,725 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos16 old photos, postcards and papers, 1851–1938.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Locust Gap
1870–today
Strong
1886–1974
Natalie
1892–1972
Atlas
1908–1963
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlaskaAtlasBeaverdaleConnersvilleDiamondtownDooleyvilleLocust GapLocust SummitMerrianMount Carmel JunctionNatalieShady AcresStrong
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mount Carmel Township
Holy CrossMount CarmelSaint MarysTifereth

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Mount Carmel Township on the map, 1889 to 1974

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

Mount Carmel Township on the 1889 USGS mapMount Carmel Township on the 1892 USGS mapMount Carmel Township on the 1947 USGS mapMount Carmel Township on the 1955 USGS mapMount Carmel Township on the 1969 USGS mapMount Carmel Township 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 Mount Carmel Township.

People over time

Mount Carmel Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 17,967

Peaked at 17,967 in 1930; 5,725 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Carmel Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Mount Carmel Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Carmel Township.

Read it all →

The area that would become Mount Carmel was successively part of Chester, Lancaster, and Berks counties before the formation of Northumberland County in 1772. Europeans first settled the area around 1770, and anthracite coal was discovered nearby in 1790 by Isaac Tomlinson on Broad Mountain. According to local historian Herbert Bell, the borough was named by sawmill operator Albert Bradford, who drew inspiration from the Biblical Mount Carmel in Israel, finding the elevated mountain setting comparable to the holy site.

ChaptersNotable eventsTimeline

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mount Carmel Township, 1770 to 1974

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1770
    FoundingMount Carmel Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1851In the archiveHotel, Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1861 James Fuller Queen USLOC, …
  5. 1870Post officeThe Locust Gap post office opens
  6. 1886Post officeThe Strong post office opens
  7. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1892Post officeThe Natalie post office opens
  9. 1899In the archiveMT-CARMIU LIETUVISZKA BAŽNYCZIA
  10. 20th century
  11. 1916In the archiveE. Douse (1828-1916) funeral in the Mount Carmel Item of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania on Ja…
  12. 1923In the archiveMt Carmel PA Presby PHS383
  13. 1930In the archiveAnthracite Fire Company, Mt. Carmel, Pa (79607)
  14. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 17,967
  15. 1972Post officeThe Natalie post office closes
  16. 1974Post officeThe Strong post office closes
By decade

Mount Carmel Township, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s3 items
Hotel, Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1861 James Fuller Queen USLOC, pubdom1851Hotel, Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsylva…Old Mill, Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1851, James Fuller Queen, USLOC, pubdom1851Old Mill, Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsy…Old mill at "Mount Carmel" Pa. 18511851Old mill at "Mount Carmel" Pa. 1851
1890s–1930s13 items
MT-CARMIU LIETUVISZKA BAŽNYCZIA1899MT-CARMIU LIETUVISZKA BAŽNYCZIAE. Douse (1828-1916) funeral in the Mount Carmel Item of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania on January 24, 19161916E. Douse (1828-1916) funeral in the Mount Carmel Item…Philadelphia and Reading RR Station Mt Carmel PA c 19171917Philadelphia and Reading RR Station Mt Carmel PA c 19…PostcardMt Carmel PA Presby PHS3831923Mt Carmel PA Presby PHS383PostcardAnthracite Fire Company, Mt. Carmel, Pa (79607)c. 1930Anthracite Fire Company, Mt. Carmel, Pa (79607)PostcardHigh School, Mt. Carmel, Pa (74461)c. 1930High School, Mt. Carmel, Pa (74461)Masonic Hall and post office, Mt. Carmel, Pa (79606)c. 1930Masonic Hall and post office, Mt. Carmel, Pa (79606)Methodist Church, showing parsonage, Mt. Carmel, PA (74458)c. 1930Methodist Church, showing parsonage, Mt. Carmel, PA (…Oak Street, Mt. Carmel, Pa (74460)c. 1930Oak Street, Mt. Carmel, Pa (74460)Union National Bank, Mt. Carmel, Pa (74459)c. 1930Union National Bank, Mt. Carmel, Pa (74459)Sinclair gas station, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, c. 1935-19421935Sinclair gas station, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, c. …Bird's Eye View 1 of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, 1938 by Sheldon Dick1938Bird's Eye View 1 of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, 1938…Bird's Eye View 2 of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, 1938 by Sheldon Dick1938Bird's Eye View 2 of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, 1938…
1940s–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.

Hotel, Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1861 James Fuller Queen USLOC, pubdom
Retake this viewHotel, Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1861 James Fuller Queen USLOC, pubdom, 1851

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Mount Carmel Township’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHotel, Mount Carmel, Northumberland Cou…: 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.

Cleveland Township3 historic placesAKulpmontIts storyC+Conyngham TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Cameron TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarion HeightsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCoal TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Mount Carmel Township’s history

What year was Mount Carmel Township founded?

In 1770, according to Wikidata. Mount Carmel Township’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1870 counted 1,289 people here.

How does Mount Carmel Township rank for history?

Mount Carmel Township is more historic than 82% 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 Mount Carmel Township?

34% of Mount Carmel Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1953.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (16), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.