Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1867.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Nescopeck Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nescopeck Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nescopeck Township’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 Nescopeck Township’s 25.5 sits above most of its state (83% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1786.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Nescopeck Township’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 Nescopeck Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1894Shickshinny 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 Nescopeck Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Briggsville
1867–1900
Zenith
1894–1927
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BriggsvilleZenith
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Nescopeck Township
Mount ZionSaint James Lutheran Church
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Nescopeck was first settled in 1786; it was later incorporated as a borough in 1896. By 1900, over one thousand people resided in the borough. That number would peak at 1,934 in 1960.
The borough derives its name from Nescopeck Creek, a Native American name purported to mean "black, deep, and still water".
In 2011 between September 6 and September 9, Nescopeck became one of many victims to Tropical Storm Lee. Lower-lying parts of the town that neighbored the Susquehanna River became flooded. One of the buildings that suffered damage was the Cooper House. After sitting for almost eight years, the historical building of 1817 was finally demolished on April 26, 2019.
Passages that mention Nescopeck Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania1909 · page 126Read the page →
Read the text
Nescopeck Township — Nescopeck is one of the old townships of Luzerne County. In Stewart Pierce's Annals of 1866 is the following : "Nescopeck Township was separated from Newport in 1792. Jacob Smithers, Jacob Shaver, INIartin Arner and Jacob Seyberling settled in the territory of this township in 1791, on the banks of the Nescopeck Creek, near its mouth.
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
Nescopeck Township, 1786 to 1927
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1786, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Nescopeck Township’s post office opened in 1867, and the census of 1880 counted 360 people here.
How does Nescopeck Township rank for history?
Nescopeck 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.
What is on the National Register in Nescopeck Township?
One place: the Benjamin Evans House (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Nescopeck Township?
18% of Nescopeck Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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 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.
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