Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers
How Spring Brook Township began
When was Spring Brook Township founded?
1862
The Spring Brook Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Spring Brook (1862) and Maple Lake (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,748164 years
How historic is Spring Brook Township?
C−
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Spring Brook Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Spring Brook Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spring Brook Township is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #1,012 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spring Brook Township’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 Spring Brook Township’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Spring Brook Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spring Brook Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1889Scranton 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 Spring Brook Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Spring Brook
1862–1915
Maple Lake
1892–1911
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Maple LakeQuinlan CornersRockdaleSpring BrookTooley Corners
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Spring Brook Township
Maple Lake MethodistMaple Lake United Methodist ChurchSpringbrook
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Spring Brook Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Spring Brook Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Spring Brook is an unincorporated community in Spring Brook Township in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. Spring Brook is located at the intersection of state routes 502 and 690, southwest of Moscow.
Its first post office opened in 1862. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,768 in 2010, 2,748 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Spring Brook Township, 1862 to 1915
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Spring Brook Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Spring Brook Township rank for history?
Spring Brook Township is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #1,012 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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 Spring Brook Township?
3% of Spring Brook Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
