Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Thornhurst Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
CHistory
History · Thornhurst Township

Thornhurst Township dates to 1878, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1922 on.

1878founded
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Thornhurst Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Thornhurst Township began

When was Thornhurst Township founded?

1878

Thornhurst Township dates its founding to 1878 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1892.

2020 census: 1,008148 years

How historic is Thornhurst Township?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1892.
History grade

What drives Thornhurst Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Thornhurst Township is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Thornhurst Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1878, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.6% of homes (±6.6) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder

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 Thornhurst 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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.6 points). Two sources give 1878.

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 Thornhurst 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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19226 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1997. Watch Thornhurst Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Thornhurst Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewPond Creek Bridge, Spanning Pond Creek …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Thornhurst Township on the map, 1922 to 1997

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

Thornhurst Township on the 1922 USGS mapThornhurst Township on the 1943 USGS mapThornhurst Township on the 1965 USGS mapThornhurst Township on the 1973 USGS mapThornhurst Township on the 1983 USGS mapThornhurst Township on the 1997 USGS map1922Stoddartsville 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 Thornhurst Township.

The story so far

Thornhurst Township, in brief

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

Thornhurst Township is a township in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,012 at the 2020 census. The area is a part of the Pocono Mountains region. The township was established in 1878 as Lehigh Township, so named for the Lehigh River. In 1996, to eliminate confusion between this and the township of the same name in Wayne County, the township changed its name to Thornhurst, the name of a community within the southern portion of the township.

Thornhurst Township was established in 1878. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,085 to 1,008 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Thornhurst Township, 1878 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878
    FoundingThornhurst Township is established
  3. 1892Post officeThe Thornhurst post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1955Post officeThe Thornhurst post office closes
By decade

Thornhurst Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Pond Creek Bridge, Spanning Pond Creek at Bear Lake Road (State Route 2016)Date?Pond Creek Bridge, Spanning Pond Creek at Bear Lake R…
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.

Pond Creek Bridge, Spanning Pond Creek at Bear Lake Road (State Route 2016)
Retake this viewPond Creek Bridge, Spanning Pond Creek at Bear Lake Road (State Route 2016)

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Thornhurst Township

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

See all →
G
George FonderRacecar driver · b. 1917
L
Laura Van GilderAmerican racing cyclist · b. 1964
J
Jacqueline BenítezPuerto Rican basketball player · b. 1997
W
Walter VictorAmerican photographer · b. 1917
E
Edwin Michael KosikUnited States federal judge · b. 1925
J
Jack BurnsAmerican baseball player · b. 1878
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Thornhurst
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Thornhurst Township
Pine GroveUnited Methodist

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.

Coolbaugh TownshipIts storyC−Buck TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClifton TownshipIts storyC+Tobyhanna TownshipIts storyC−Spring Brook TownshipIts storyC−Bear Creek TownshipIts storyDJenkins TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Thornhurst Township’s history

What year was Thornhurst Township founded?

In 1878, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Thornhurst Township’s post office opened in 1892.

How does Thornhurst Township rank for history?

Thornhurst Township is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. 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 Thornhurst Township?

12% of Thornhurst Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.