Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 225 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1850.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tunkhannock is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs put Tunkhannock near the top nationally; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tunkhannock’s overall grade.
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 Tunkhannock’s 1,375 sits above most of its state (98% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 225 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.3 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Tunkhannock’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Tunkhannock, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Tunkhannock yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Tunkhannock ( tuhng-KA-nuhk) is a borough and county seat of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Wilkes-Barre, Tunkhannock is in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. In the past, lumbering was carried on extensively. Today, many residents are employed by the Procter & Gamble plant in nearby Washington Township. As of the 2020 census, the borough population was 1,766. The name Tunkhannock is derived from the Minsi-Len'api term Ptuk'hanna'unk, which means "Bend-in-river-place", especially to the town's west, upstream at the radical bend called "The Neck". Modern Tunkhannock, Wyoming County, The Tunkhannock Histori…
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,836 to 1,767 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every building
Tunkhannock, building by building, 1884–1911
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.
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.
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.
Tunkhannock is among the most historic 1% 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.
What is on the National Register in Tunkhannock?
One place: the Tunkhannock Historic District (listed 2005).
How old are the homes in Tunkhannock?
62% of Tunkhannock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), 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.
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
2007
