Most of Penn Lake Park was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1967. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1980.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Penn Lake Park. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Wilkes-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 Penn Lake Park.
The community was founded in 1938, after ice salesman Albert Lewis used the lake to chip out his product. In 1946, Harry and Mary Goeringer bought the lake — and the 800 acres around it — from Lewis. They built a house by the lake; they later divided the rest of the land into parcels. It became a borough in 1976, when Penn Lake Park applied for a state grant because the lake's dam needed a major repair.
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 (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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