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History · Rheems

Rheems’ post office opened in 1894, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

1894first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Rheems began

When was Rheems founded?

1894

The Rheems post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 2,253132 years
Founding year: the first Rheems post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rheems’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Rheems are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rheems’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rheems’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Rheems, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rheems yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Rheems is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, between the boroughs of Elizabethtown and Mount Joy. The population was 1,598 during the 2010 census.

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,598 to 2,253 (+41%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Rheems

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

See all →
Simon CameronAmerican businessman and politician · b. 1799
Tarleton Hoffman BeanAmerican ichthyologist · b. 1846
L
Lilian WelshAmerican physician, educator, and suffragist · b. 1858
Samuel P. HeintzelmanUnion Army general · b. 1805
Alan DawsonAmerican musician · b. 1929
Florence HinkleAmerican operatic soprano · b. 1885
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

East Donegal Township7 historic placesA−West Donegal TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Rheems’ history

What year was Rheems founded?

The Rheems post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 →