History · Summit Hill

Summit Hill’s post office opened in 1832, and 63% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #184 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Summit Hill High School. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1890.

1832first post office

1on the National Register

63%homes built before 1940

3old photos & papers

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Summit Hill’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Summit Hill began

When was Summit Hill founded?

1832

The Summit Hill post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1880.

First census: 2,816 in 18902020 census: 3,120194 years

How historic is Summit Hill?

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Summit Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1880.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Summit Hill’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Summit Hill is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #184 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 National Register listings lowest.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Summit Hill’s overall grade.

Founding era1832, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194063.0% of homes (±4.3) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A⁺National Register1 listing, 3.2 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%

NewerOlder

Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 82%

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 Summit Hill’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1880.

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 Summit Hill’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.On the map since 18897 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1993. Watch Summit Hill change.Old housesHalf of Summit Hill’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 5,567 in 1930; 3,120 people lived here in 2020.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Summit Hill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Summit Hill’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 viewSummit Hill switchback station: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Summit Hill on the map, 1889 to 1993

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

1889Hazleton 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 Summit Hill.

The story

How Summit Hill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Summit Hill.

Read it all →

Anthracite coal was discovered on the ridgeline of Sharpe Mountain (now known as Pisgah Mountain) in 1791 by a hunter. News of the find led to the founding of the Lehigh Coal Mining Company, which in 1792 began exploring the area in earnest and buying up promising land. Coal was found in 1794 by Phillip Ginter along the northeast-to-southwest-running ridgeline of Pisgah Mountain lying several hundred feet below the ridge on the north slope in an area that became the boroughs of Summit Hill and Lansford.

Summit Hill High School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Summit Hill in 1918

Passages that mention Summit Hill, cut from the printed page as they were published.

between Hanto and this place, furnishing easy access to the outside world, all contributed to the rapid growth of Lansford and operated to draw life away from the parent town of Summit Hill. During 1870-71, the construction and repair shops and the offices of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Coml^any… — **History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania**1918 · page 214Read the page →
Read the text
between Hanto and this place, furnishing easy access to the outside world, all contributed to the rapid growth of Lansford and operated to draw life away from the parent town of Summit Hill. During 1870-71, the construction and repair shops and the offices of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Coml^any were removed from Summit Hill to Lansford, further emphasizing the tendency alluded to.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Many of the Lansford churches were established as missions by the churches of Summit Hill. First among the number was the First Baptist church, founded about 1872. Its first building stood where the West Ward school house now stands. In 1888 the church was torn down and rebuilt on the present locat… — **History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania**1918 · page 220Read the page →
Read the text
Many of the Lansford churches were established as missions by the churches of Summit Hill. First among the number was the First Baptist church, founded about 1872. Its first building stood where the West Ward school house now stands. In 1888 the church was torn down and rebuilt on the present location.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Summit Hill, 1832 to 1930

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

19th century
1832Post officeThe Summit Hill post office opens
1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1890In the archiveSummit Hill switchback station
20th century
1923In the archiveSummit Hill PA 1st Presby PHS585
1930CensusPopulation peaks at 5,567

By decade

Summit Hill, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1920s3 items

c. 1890Summit Hill switchback station

1923Summit Hill PA 1st Presby PHS585

1923Summit Hill PA St Pauls Reformed PHS586

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

Today4 recent

2025Summit Hill, PA municipal building, June 2025

2023Panther Valley High School, PA, Aug. 2023

2013Hazard St, Summit Hill PA 02

2013Hazard St 141

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.

Retake this viewSummit Hill switchback station, c. 1890

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Summit Hill

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2001

Summit Hill High School

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Renaissance Revival1

Late 19th Century Revival1

20th Century Revival1

Summit Hill High SchoolRenaissance Revival

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

People over time

Summit Hill, census by census

Peaked at 5,567 in 1930; 3,120 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Summit Hill’s post office has been open since 1832.

Hamlets and corners on the map

Bloomingdale

11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Summit Hill

First Presbyterian ChurchGrand ArmyNew Saint Michael's CatholicOld Saint Michael's CatholicSacred Heart Polish National ChurchSaint John the Baptist Byzantine CatholicSaint John's Slovak LutheranSaint Joseph's CatholicSaint Joseph's CatholicSaint Mary's Russian OrthodoxSaint Peter and Saint Pauls' Catholic

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lansford1 historic placeA⁺Nesquehoning2 historic placesA Mahoning TownshipIts storyC⁺Jim Thorpe8 historic placesA⁺Tamaqua4 historic placesA⁺

Questions about Summit Hill’s history

What year was Summit Hill founded?

The Summit Hill post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1880.

How does Summit Hill rank for history?

Summit Hill is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #184 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 Summit Hill?

One place: the Summit Hill High School (listed 2001).

How old are the homes in Summit Hill?

63% of Summit Hill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.

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 (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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