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Pennsylvania Railroad DistrictPennsylvania Railroad District · Photo: Smallbones · CC0
–Not graded
History · Spruce Creek Township

Spruce Creek Township’s post office opened in 1829, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1923 on.

1829first post office
2on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Spruce Creek Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Spruce Creek Township began

When was Spruce Creek Township founded?

1829

The Spruce Creek Township post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Colerain Forge (1821), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 199197 years
Founding year: the first Spruce Creek Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Spruce Creek Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Spruce Creek Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1829: 197 years of Spruce Creek Township.On the map since 19235 editions of the USGS map, 1923 to 1972. Watch Spruce Creek Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spruce Creek Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Spruce Creek Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSpruce Creek tunnel.Alternate Title: Pu…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Colerain Forge, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Colerain Forge
1821–1886
Spruce Creek
1829–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ColerainPembertonSpruce Creek
Gone or out of use
Eden Hill Schoolschool

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

Timeline

Spruce Creek Township, 1821 to 1923

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1821Post officeThe Colerain Forge post office opens
  3. 1829Post officeThe Spruce Creek post office opens
  4. 1870In the archiveSpruce Creek tunnel.Alternate Title: Purviance’s stereoscopic views on the line of the Pe…
  5. 1877Born hereWilliam P. Maclay is born here
  6. 1886Post officeThe Colerain Forge post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1923In the archiveSpruce Creek PA Presby PHS579
  9. 1923On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Spruce Creek Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spruce Creek Township.

Read it all →

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Spruce Creek was the location of a large woollen mill, but is now best known as the site of Indian Caverns, which was open to the public from 1929 to 2017.

Spruce Creek is also known for its world-famous fly fishing. Although most of Spruce Creek is private fishing, the area also holds the Little Juniata River, which is open to the public. Former United States Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter and Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro Troy Polamalu have made visits to fish.

President Eisenhower visited while in office on May 9, 1953. President Carter visited several times during his term.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Spruce Creek Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s2 items
Spruce Creek tunnel.Alternate Title: Purviance’s stereoscopic views on the line of the Pennsylvania Central Railroadc. 1870Spruce Creek tunnel.Alternate Title: Purviance’s ster…Spruce Creek tunnelc. 1870Spruce Creek tunnel
1920s1 item
Spruce Creek PA Presby PHS5791923Spruce Creek PA Presby PHS579
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
Today3 recent
Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania2012Spruce Creek, PennsylvaniaSpruce Creek, Pennsylvania2012Spruce Creek, PennsylvaniaSpruce Creek, Pennsylvania2012Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania
On the map

Spruce Creek Township on the map, 1923 to 1972

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

Spruce Creek Township on the 1923 USGS mapSpruce Creek Township on the 1933 USGS mapSpruce Creek Township on the 1946 USGS mapSpruce Creek Township on the 1963 USGS mapSpruce Creek Township on the 1972 USGS map1923Tyrone 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 Spruce Creek 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.

Spruce Creek tunnel.Alternate Title: Purviance’s stereoscopic views on the line of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad
Retake this viewSpruce Creek tunnel.Alternate Title: Purviance’s stereoscopic views on the line of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, c. 1870

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Spruce Creek Township

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Pennsylvania Railroad District
Pennsylvania Railroad DistrictHugh D. and Martha S. Seeds Farm
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Railroad Bridges and Tunnels1
Georgian1
Pennsylvania Railroad DistrictRailroad Bridges and Tunnels
All 2 listings
Hugh D. and Martha S. Seeds FarmBuilding · listed 1999

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Morris TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTyrone Township3 historic placesB+Porter Township3 historic placesA−Franklin Township4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLogan Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWarriors Mark Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Spruce Creek Township’s history

What year was Spruce Creek Township founded?

The Spruce Creek Township post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Spruce Creek Township?

Two places: the Pennsylvania Railroad District (listed 1990) and the Hugh D. and Martha S. Seeds Farm (1999).

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.