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BHistory
History · Mount Pocono

Mount Pocono’s post office opened in 1830, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #624 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1930.

1830first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mount Pocono’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mount Pocono began

When was Mount Pocono founded?

1830

The Mount Pocono post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1927.

First census: 466 in 19302020 census: 3,089196 years

How historic is Mount Pocono?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Mount Pocono post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1927.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Mount Pocono’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Pocono is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #624 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 Mount Pocono’s overall grade.
Founding era1830, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194016.8% of homes (±9.9) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 58%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 40%

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 Pocono’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 A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1927.

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 Mount Pocono’s past

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

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1890–1900.On the map since 19196 editions of the USGS map, 1919 to 1992. Watch Mount Pocono change.Deep rootsA post office since 1830: 196 years of Mount Pocono.
★ What stands out · By decade

Mount Pocono, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s15 items
Chapel at Mt. Pocono1890Chapel at Mt. PoconoMrs. Smith's, Mt. Pocono1890Mrs. Smith's, Mt. PoconoPocono Mountain House, Pa1890Pocono Mountain House, PaMt. Pocono House, Pa1890Mt. Pocono House, PaWiscasset House, Mt. Pocono, Pa1890Wiscasset House, Mt. Pocono, PaWiscasset Glen, Mt. Pocono, Pa1890Wiscasset Glen, Mt. Pocono, PaWiscasset Pool, Mt. Pocono, Pa1890Wiscasset Pool, Mt. Pocono, PaRhododendron walk, Mt. Pocono, Pa1890Rhododendron walk, Mt. Pocono, PaMt. Pocono station, D.L. & W.R.R1890Mt. Pocono station, D.L. & W.R.RMontanesca Hotel1890Montanesca HotelMt. Pocono station, D.L. & W.R.R. Related Names- Detroit Publishing Co. , publisher Date Created Published- between 189…1895Mt. Pocono station, D.L. & W.R.R. Related Names- Detr…Detroit Photographic Company (0745)1897–1924Detroit Photographic Company (0745)Detroit Photographic Company (0760)1897–1924Detroit Photographic Company (0760)Delaware Water Gap from the Montanesca, Mt. Pocono, Pa1898Delaware Water Gap from the Montanesca, Mt. Pocono, PaMontanesca Hotel, Mt. Pocono, Pa1898Montanesca Hotel, Mt. Pocono, Pa
1900s3 items
Mount Pleasant House1900Mount Pleasant HouseWiscasset Pool, Mt. Pocono, Pa1900Wiscasset Pool, Mt. Pocono, PaNear Mt. Pleasant, Mt. Pocono, Pa1900Near Mt. Pleasant, Mt. Pocono, Pa
1910s–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
On the map

Mount Pocono on the map, 1919 to 1992

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

Mount Pocono on the 1919 USGS mapMount Pocono on the 1921 USGS mapMount Pocono on the 1943 USGS mapMount Pocono on the 1966 USGS mapMount Pocono on the 1973 USGS mapMount Pocono on the 1992 USGS map1919Pocono 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 Pocono.

Timeline

Mount Pocono, 1830 to 1931

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830Post officeThe Mount Pocono post office opens
  3. 1890In the archiveChapel at Mt. Pocono
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveMount Pleasant House
  6. 1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1931Born hereJoseph Battisto is born here
The story

How Mount Pocono came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Pocono.

Read it all →

Early 19th-century settlers used the area for lumbering. The "New Mount Pocono" post office was established in 1848. The town's name was changed in 1864 to "Forks", because of its five-way intersection where Pennsylvania Route 611 and Pennsylvania Route 940 cross and Pennsylvania Route 196 begins. The name was changed again in 1886 to "Mount Pocono". The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad provided transportation from New York City and Philadelphia. Mount Pocono quickly developed as a summer resort, advertising clean mountain air, spring water, luxury hotels and excellent fishing.

Initially, the town was part of Coolbaugh Township. In 1927, Mount Pocono borough was incorporated on its own.

ChaptersResort hotels

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.

Chapel at Mt. Pocono
Retake this viewChapel at Mt. Pocono, 1890

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Mount Pocono, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50019401960198020002020Peak: 3,170

Between 466 and 3,170 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners

Mount Pocono’s post office has been open since 1830.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Paradise Crossing

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

Help out

Finish Mount Pocono’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewChapel at Mt. Pocono: 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.

Paradise Township1 historic placeBCoolbaugh TownshipIts storyC−Pocono Township1 historic placeB+

Questions about Mount Pocono’s history

What year was Mount Pocono founded?

The Mount Pocono post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1927.

How does Mount Pocono rank for history?

Mount Pocono is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #624 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 Mount Pocono?

17% of Mount Pocono’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1984.

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 (5), the Library of Congress (13), Wikipedia, 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) 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.