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History · Nuangola

Nuangola’s post office opened in 1898, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1910.

1898first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Nuangola’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Nuangola began

When was Nuangola founded?

1898

The Nuangola post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1908.

First census: 124 in 19102020 census: 666128 years
Founding year: the first Nuangola post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1908.The full story ↓

What stands out about Nuangola’s past

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

On the map since 18916 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1990. Watch Nuangola change.
★ What stands out · On the map

Nuangola on the map, 1891 to 1990

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

Nuangola on the 1891 USGS mapNuangola on the 1947 USGS mapNuangola on the 1950 USGS mapNuangola on the 1969 USGS mapNuangola on the 1976 USGS mapNuangola on the 1990 USGS map1891Wilkes-Barre 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 Nuangola.

The story

How Nuangola came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nuangola.

Read it all →

The name Nuangola probably derives from an Algonquian language, which was spoken by the indigenous Native Americans of the area (most likely the Delaware (Lenape), the region's largest tribe. Some Nanticoke and Shawnee also lived there at the time). According to legend, a Native American maiden named Nuangola is believed to have drowned in the lake. Another account says that Nuangola is a Native American word (probably from an Algonquian language) for "Three-Cornered Lake" or "Triangular Lake." Early settlers named its this, but the name was changed to Nuangola to avoid confusion with other towns in Pennsylvania. It has also been suggested that Nuangola means "people of the north."

ChaptersOrigin of nameIncorporationGrove Theatre

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Nuangola, 1891 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1898Post officeThe Nuangola post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1930In the archiveBathing at Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (75224)
By decade

Nuangola, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s5 items
Bathing at Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (75224)c. 1930Bathing at Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (75224)East side, Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (75223)c. 1930East side, Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (75223)Grove Theatre at Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (65420)c. 1930Grove Theatre at Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (65420)Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (65421)c. 1930Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (65421)Red Rocks, Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (75222)c. 1930Red Rocks, Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (75222)
1940s–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
Today2 recent
Nuangola Lake, PA from south, Feb. 20252025Nuangola Lake, PA from south, Feb. 2025Nuangola Municipal Building2015Nuangola Municipal Building
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.

Bathing at Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (75224)
Retake this viewBathing at Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania (75224), c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Nuangola, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 726

Between 87 and 726 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Nuangola

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

See all →
Nick AdamsAmerican actor and screenwriter · b. 1931
Walter TewksburyAthletics competitor · b. 1876
Russell David JohnsonAmerican television and film actor · b. 1924
Paul KanjorskiAmerican politician · b. 1937
E
Eusebius J. BeltranAmerican Roman Catholic prelate · b. 1934
R
Regina BuggyField hockey player · b. 1959
Help out

Finish Nuangola’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 viewBathing at Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania …: 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.

Rice TownshipIts storyC−Slocum TownshipIts storyB−Hanover Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Nuangola’s history

What year was Nuangola founded?

The Nuangola post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1908.

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 (7), 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.