Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Mount Gretna

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Mount Gretna

Mount Gretna dates to 1889, and 60% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 172 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1900 on.

1889founded
1on the National Register
60%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mount Gretna’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mount Gretna began

When was Mount Gretna founded?

1889

Mount Gretna dates its founding to 1889 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1899.

2020 census: 193137 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1899.The full story ↓

What stands out about Mount Gretna’s past

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

A historic districtThe Pennsylvania Chautauqua Historic District takes in 172 historic buildings.Old housesHalf of Mount Gretna’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 172 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
172
each building in a district counts
first listed
2015
Pennsylvania Chautauqua Historic District
Pennsylvania Chautauqua Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
Pennsylvania Chautauqua Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2015

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Mount Gretna came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Gretna.

Read it all →

Pursuant to a letter written by Hugh Maxwell, an official of the Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad, and sent by him to the Lebanon County Historical Society "and read before them on April 26, 1901", the name "Mount Gretna" was suggested by his wife, subsequently adopted by the board, and "On September 21st 1883 that name appears in public print for the first time in the Lebanon Daily News."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mount Gretna, 1889 to 1912

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889
    FoundingMount Gretna is established
  3. 1899Post officeThe Mount Gretna post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveAndy's Garage, Kauffman House, Mt. Gretna, Pa
  6. 1912In the archiveNational Guard camp, Mt. Gretna, (Pa.), 1912
By decade

Mount Gretna, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s6 items
Andy's Garage, Kauffman House, Mt. Gretna, Pa1900Andy's Garage, Kauffman House, Mt. Gretna, PaMt Gretna locomotivec. 1906Mt Gretna locomotiveThrough the woods on the narrow gauge, Mt. Gretna, Pa1906Through the woods on the narrow gauge, Mt. Gretna, PaThrough the woods on the narrow gauge, Mt. Gretna, Pa1906Through the woods on the narrow gauge, Mt. Gretna, PaNational Guard camp, Mt. Gretna, (Pa.), 19121912National Guard camp, Mt. Gretna, (Pa.), 1912National Guard camp, Mt. Gretna, (Pa.), 19121912National Guard camp, Mt. Gretna, (Pa.), 1912
1920s–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.

Andy's Garage, Kauffman House, Mt. Gretna, Pa
Retake this viewAndy's Garage, Kauffman House, Mt. Gretna, Pa, 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Mount Gretna

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

See all →
Sam BowieAmerican basketball player · b. 1961
Betty HarteAmerican actress · b. 1882
Derek FisherAmerican baseball player · b. 1993
Samuel P. HeintzelmanUnion Army general · b. 1805
John M. ThomeAmerican-Argentine astronomer · b. 1843
B
Bill PattonAmerican baseball player · b. 1912
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Mount Gretna’s post office has been open since 1899.

Gone or out of use
Mount Gretna Post Officepost office

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

Help out

Finish Mount Gretna’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 viewAndy's Garage, Kauffman House, Mt. Gret…: 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.

South Londonderry Township2 historic placesB+Timber HillsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWest Cornwall Township1 historic placeA+Mount Gretna Heights1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mount Gretna’s history

What year was Mount Gretna founded?

In 1889, according to Wikidata. Mount Gretna’s post office opened in 1899.

What is on the National Register in Mount Gretna?

One place: the Pennsylvania Chautauqua Historic District (listed 2015).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.