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History · Three Springs

Three Springs’ post office opened in 1820, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1870.

1820first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Three Springs began

When was Three Springs founded?

1820

The Three Springs post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1843.

First census: 189 in 18702020 census: 448206 years
Founding year: the first Three Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1843.The full story ↓

What stands out about Three Springs’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Three Springs are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1820: 206 years of Three Springs.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Three Springs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Three Springs’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Three Springs, 1820 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1820Post officeThe Three Springs post office opens
  3. 1852Born hereJames Monroe Miller is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Three Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Three Springs.

Read it all →

The narrow-gauge East Broad Top Railroad was constructed through the community in 1874. A small yard and station were located here, and a tank farm and scrap yard were serviced. The tracks have been out of service since 1956 but are still in place and owned by the railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Three Springs, decade by decade

Today5 recent
PA 994 wb in Three Springs, Aug. 20242024PA 994 wb in Three Springs, Aug. 2024PA 994 wb entering Three Springs, Aug. 20242024PA 994 wb entering Three Springs, Aug. 2024PA 994 wb approaching PA 747, Aug. 20242024PA 994 wb approaching PA 747, Aug. 2024Grace UM Church, Three Springs, PA, Aug. 20242024Grace UM Church, Three Springs, PA, Aug. 20242021-10-27 14 51 59 View north along Pennsylvania State Route 747 (Church Street) at School Street in20212021-10-27 14 51 59 View north along Pennsylvania Sta…
On the map

Three Springs on the map, 1939 to 1973

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

Three Springs on the 1939 USGS mapThree Springs on the 1940 USGS mapThree Springs on the 1966 USGS mapThree Springs on the 1973 USGS map1939Orbisonia 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 Three Springs.

People over time

Three Springs, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 501

Between 189 and 501 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Questions about Three Springs’ history

What year was Three Springs founded?

The Three Springs post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1843.

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 (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.