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A+History
History · Stroudsburg

Stroudsburg dates to 1799, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #75 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 180 buildings. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1840.

1799founded
4on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Stroudsburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Stroudsburg began

When was Stroudsburg founded?

1799

Stroudsburg dates its founding to 1799 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1840.

First census: 407 in 18402020 census: 5,927227 years

How historic is Stroudsburg?

A+

More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1802.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Stroudsburg’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stroudsburg is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #75 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stroudsburg’s overall grade.
Founding era1799, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194042.7% of homes (±8.0) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register4 listings, 186 historic buildings, 316 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 98%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 93%

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 Stroudsburg’s 316 sits above most of its state (93% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 186 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 points). Two sources give 1799.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Stroudsburg’s past

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

A historic districtThe Academy Hill Historic District takes in 180 historic buildings.On the map since 18917 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1992. Watch Stroudsburg change.A town in postcards18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1884–1913.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1923, drew every building in Stroudsburg.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 listings protect 186 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
186
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Monroe County Courthouse
Monroe County CourthouseStroud MansionKitson Woolen MillAcademy Hill Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque1
Queen Anne1
Colonial Revival1
Craftsman1
Monroe County CourthouseRomanesque
Stroud MansionBuilding
Kitson Woolen MillBuilding
Academy Hill Historic DistrictQueen Anne

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

On the map

Stroudsburg on the map, 1891 to 1992

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

Stroudsburg on the 1891 USGS mapStroudsburg on the 1936 USGS mapStroudsburg on the 1943 USGS mapStroudsburg on the 1953 USGS mapStroudsburg on the 1968 USGS mapStroudsburg on the 1973 USGS mapStroudsburg on the 1992 USGS map1891Delaware Water Gap 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 Stroudsburg.

By decade

Stroudsburg, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s16 items
Stroudsburg 18841884Stroudsburg 1884Richard Puryear, lynched in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in 18941894Richard Puryear, lynched in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania…Broadheads Creek Bridge1898Broadheads Creek BridgePostcardEnd of First Horse Shoe Curve, Looking up Mountain with Car on 9% Grade, Stroudsburg and Delaware Water Gap Scenic Rail…1898End of First Horse Shoe Curve, Looking up Mountain wi…PostcardBroadheads Bridge1905Broadheads BridgeMain Street1905Main StreetMonroe County Court house1905Monroe County Court housePanoramic view of East Stroudsburg, Pa., and Second and Third Streets, Stroudsburg, from the "Knob"1906Panoramic view of East Stroudsburg, Pa., and Second a…PostcardPanoramic view of East Stroudsburg, Pa., and Second and Third Streets, Stroudsburg, from the "Knob"1906Panoramic view of East Stroudsburg, Pa., and Second a…PostcardPanoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Colbert's Hill1906Panoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Colbert's Hi…PostcardPanoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Colbert's Hill1906Panoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Colbert's Hi…PostcardPanoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Crowley's Heights1906Panoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Crowley's He…PostcardPanoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Crowley's Heights1906Panoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Crowley's He…PostcardPanoramic view of East Stroudsburg, Pa., and Second and Third Streets1906Panoramic view of East Stroudsburg, Pa., and Second a…Panoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Crowley's Heights1906Panoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Crowley's He…Panoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Colbert's Hill1906Panoramic view of Stroudsburg, PA., from Colbert's Hi…
1910s2 items
092-43.LK--Proposed concrete sidewalks--Crystal Street--Stroudsburg, PA1911092-43.LK--Proposed concrete sidewalks--Crystal Stree…Malta Temple (NBY 973)c. 1913Malta Temple (NBY 973)Postcard
1920s–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
The story

How Stroudsburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stroudsburg.

Read it all →

Stroudsburg was laid out by Colonel Jacob Stroud in 1799. Stroud's family founded Stroudsburg in the mid-18th century, and the town was incorporated on February 5, 1815.

Stroudsburg was the location of the lynching of Richard Puryear in March 1894. A Black railroad worker accused of murdering a white storekeeper, Puryear was lynched by a mostly white mob after he escaped from prison. Despite a grand jury investigation, no one was charged or convicted for Puryear's murder.

In the late 20th century, the Academy Hill Historic District, Kitson Woolen Mill, Monroe County Courthouse, and Stroud Mansion were each listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Chapters18th century19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Stroudsburg, 1799 to 1911

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1799
    FoundingStroudsburg is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1802Post officeThe Strouds post office opens
  5. 1803Post officeThe Strouds post office closes
  6. 1803Post officeThe Stroudsburg post office opens
  7. 1884In the archiveStroudsburg 1884
  8. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1894In the archiveRichard Puryear, lynched in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1894
  10. 20th century
  11. 1905In the archiveBroadheads Bridge
  12. 1911In the archive092-43.LK--Proposed concrete sidewalks--Crystal Street--Stroudsburg, PA
Every building

Stroudsburg, building by building, 1885–1923

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Stroudsburg fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Stroudsburg 1884
Retake this viewStroudsburg 1884, 1884

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Stroudsburg, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0001850190019502000Peak: 6,361

Between 407 and 6,361 people in every census since 1840.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Stroudsburg’s post office has been open since 1803. Another post office, Strouds, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Strouds
1802–1803
Stroudsburg
1803–today
18001910today
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Stroudsburg
Burial Ground of FriendsDansburyLaurelwoodStroudsburg

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

Help out

Finish Stroudsburg’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStroudsburg 1884: 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.

Stroud TownshipIts storyC−Arlington HeightsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Stroudsburg2 historic placesA

Questions about Stroudsburg’s history

What year was Stroudsburg founded?

In 1799, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Stroudsburg’s post office opened in 1802, and the census of 1840 counted 407 people here.

How does Stroudsburg rank for history?

Stroudsburg is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #75 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.

What is on the National Register in Stroudsburg?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Monroe County Courthouse (listed 1979, the first), and 1 historic district, the Academy Hill Historic District, with 180 contributing buildings. 186 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Stroudsburg?

43% of Stroudsburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1951.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.