Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1809.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Nescopeck’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nescopeck is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nescopeck’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’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 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 (±9.1 points). Two sources give 1786.
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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections1893 · page 132Read the page →
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C. F. Hill writes of the noted Indians: " Joseph Nutimus was a Delaware Indian and chief of the tribe known as the Fork Indians, and later in life was known as Old King Nutimus, who for many years was at the mouth of the Nescopeck creek, where the town of Nescopeck now stands. The term of his occupation of Nescopeck was between the years of 1742 and 1763. The earliest reference to him is made by James Logan, Esq., in a letter bearing date, Stenton, August 4, 1733, to Thomas Penn, Esq. , in which he speaks of an unexpected visit from Nutimus and his company, with a present, and apprehends trouble, and closes by stating, "that they left a bag
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections1893 · page 133Read the page →
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No doubt Nutimus was both reluctant and slow to obey; but in due time we find him and his people located at Nescopeck, which place, if he took the most convenient route, he reached by the path which led from the Lehigh gap, in the Blue mountain, across the Mauch (3hunk mountain, crossing the Qnakake valley and the Buck mountain west from Hazleton, near Audenried, passing near the famous Sugar-loaf in Conyngham valley, to the mouth of the Nescopeck creek, where he settled on the present site of the town of Nescopeck, on a level fertile soil, the forest being of such a character as to yield readily to the Indian method
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A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania1909Read the page →
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The southern line of Luzerne County crosses the Susquehanna River at Nescopeck Village, cutting the Nescopeck bridge diagonally, about midway. The first bridge to span the river at this point was erected in 1816. It was carried away by flood in 1836, and in the next year was rebuilt, an important undertaking, for it was 1,250 feet long. In the days of canals, it seems that the "total business of the people" of Nescopeck was canaling, the adults being owners and masters of canal boats and the boys driving the mules that towed them. Later, Nescopeck became an important railroad junction, a branch
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A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time1909 · page 776Read the page →
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the bounds of the Susquehanna Purchase, and within thirty miles of Wilkes-Barr£. The "Manor of Dundee," containing 3,520 acres, surveyed by Charles Stewart, Deputy Surveyor, on Wyalusing Creek ; 311 acres surveyed to John Fourman, on the south side of Nescopeck Creek ; 327 acres to Edward Thatcher, on Nescopeck Creek ; "Antigua," containing 322 acres, surveyed to Isaac Coxe, Jr., on Nescopeck Creek, "two miles east of the Indian path leading from the mouth of Nescopeck Creek to Fort Allen" (see page 237, Vol. I) ; "Ballyrean," contain-
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, 1786 to 1926
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’s post office opened in 1809, and the census of 1880 counted 360 people here.
How does Nescopeck rank for history?
Nescopeck is more historic than 63% 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 Nescopeck?
36% of Nescopeck’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (6), 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), 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.
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