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TunkhannockViaductFromAirPhoto: RussNelson · CC BY-SA 3.0
BHistory
History · Nicholson Township

Nicholson Township dates to 1875, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Bridge in Nicholson Township. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1946 on, and the census since 1880.

1875founded
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Nicholson Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Nicholson Township began

When was Nicholson Township founded?

1875

Nicholson Township dates its founding to 1875 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 586 in 18802020 census: 1,265151 years

How historic is Nicholson Township?

B

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Nicholson Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nicholson Township is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nicholson Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1875, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.2% of homes (±6.4) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 9.4 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 59%
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 Nicholson Township’s 9.4 sits above most of its state (76% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 points). Two sources give 1875.

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 Nicholson 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 Nicholson Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 945 in 1980; 696 people lived here in 2020.
★ 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.

Pierceville
1854–1892
West Nicholson
1878–1909
Starkville
1892–1909
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
StarkvilleWest Nicholson
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Nicholson Township
OakleyPedrickSaint Patricks

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

People over time

Nicholson Township, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 945

Peaked at 945 in 1980; 696 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Nicholson Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nicholson Township.

Read it all →

The borough of Nicholson was incorporated on August 23, 1875 and was named after John Nicholson, who had been Pennsylvania's comptroller general in the late 1700s.

The town of Nicholson attracted national attention during the final week of July 1986, when an escaped Bengal tiger was hunted in the area for several days. Despite air and ground searches by state police and zoo officials, the animal was never found.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Nicholson Township, 1854 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Pierceville post office opens
  3. 1875
    FoundingNicholson Township is established
  4. 1878Post officeThe West Nicholson post office opens
  5. 1892Post officeThe Pierceville post office closes
  6. 1892Post officeThe Starkville post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1909Post officeThe West Nicholson post office closes
  9. 1909Post officeThe Starkville post office closes
  10. 1915In the archiveNicholson Viaduct
  11. 1923In the archiveNicholson PA Presby PHS423
  12. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 945
By decade

Nicholson Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s8 items
Nicholson Viaduct1915Nicholson ViaductThe viaduct, D. L. & W. at Nicholson, Pa1919The viaduct, D. L. & W. at Nicholson, PaThe Lackawanna viaduct1919The Lackawanna viaductNicholson PA Presby PHS4231923Nicholson PA Presby PHS423Tunkhannock Viaduct and Lackawanna Trail. Nicholson, Pa1923Tunkhannock Viaduct and Lackawanna Trail. Nicholson, …Tunkhannock Viaduct and Lackawanna Trail. Nicholson, Pa1923Tunkhannock Viaduct and Lackawanna Trail. Nicholson, …Tunkhannock Viaduct and Lackawanna Trail. Nicholson, Pa1923Tunkhannock Viaduct and Lackawanna Trail. Nicholson, …Tunkhannock Viaduct and Lackawanna Trail. Nicholson, Pa1923Tunkhannock Viaduct and Lackawanna Trail. Nicholson, …
1930s–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
Today4 recent
Main Street nb, Nicholson, PA, April 20252025Main Street nb, Nicholson, PA, April 2025First Presbyterian Church, Nicholson, PA, April 20252025First Presbyterian Church, Nicholson, PA, April 2025US Route 11 - Pennsylvania2009US Route 11 - PennsylvaniaThe Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct, a concrete deck arch bridge on the Norfolk Southern Railway that spans Tunkhannock Creek2008The Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct, a concrete deck arch b…
On the map

Nicholson Township on the map in 1946

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nicholson Township.

Nicholson Township on the 1946 USGS map1946Tunkhannock 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 Nicholson Township.

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.

Nicholson Viaduct
Retake this viewNicholson Viaduct, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Nicholson Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Bridge in Nicholson Township
Bridge in Nicholson Township
Structures
Bridge in Nicholson TownshipStructure

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

Help out

Finish Nicholson 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
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewNicholson Viaduct: 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.

Lemon TownshipIts storyC+Benton TownshipIts storyBClinton TownshipIts storyB−Lathrop TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLenox TownshipIts storyBSpringville TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Nicholson Township’s history

What year was Nicholson Township founded?

In 1875, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Nicholson Township’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1880 counted 586 people here.

How does Nicholson Township rank for history?

Nicholson Township is more historic than 59% 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 Nicholson Township?

One place: the Bridge in Nicholson Township (listed 1988).

How old are the homes in Nicholson Township?

17% of Nicholson Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (8), 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) 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.