# Nescopeck Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1810s

> A river-crossing township of farms, mills, taverns, horseback mail, and a new Reformed church on the Susquehanna frontier.

- Place: Nescopeck Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (41.052, -76.221)
- Years: 1810 to 1819
- Page: https://yorehistory.com/place/nescopeck-township-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1810s
- Step into it (interactive): https://yorehistory.com/?step=Nescopeck%20Township%2C%20Luzerne%20County%2C%20Pennsylvania%2C%20United%20States&at=41.0520,-76.2208&year=1815

## Looking around

You stand by the Susquehanna where Nescopeck village is taking shape around a store on the river bank[2], a blacksmith shop nearby[2], and a log hotel at the ferry[2]. Across the water, the new Susquehanna bridge[2] gives the place a hard line of timber where ferry traffic had been. Turn from the river and the township runs back along Nescopeck Creek[1], where a log gristmill[1] and sawmills[1] make settlement possible. The road out follows the old line from Nescopeck falls toward the Lehigh[1]. A little inland, men have gathered to build a schoolhouse[2], and children are taught by the quarter. In the village, a stone house built in 1817[2] stands among frame and log buildings. On Sundays the Reformed congregation uses its church completed in 1814[2].

## Work: Farms needed mills

Work was mainly clearing, planting, hauling, and milling: as across early Luzerne County, most settlement was agrarian[4], while a log gristmill[1] and sawmills[1] turned grain and timber into usable goods.

## Faith: A Reformed church rises

The strongest documented church presence in the decade is Reformed: the congregation began in 1811[2], laid a cornerstone that September, and finished its church in 1814.

## Law & power: Township men governed roads

Local power sat with elected township officers: supervisors, a clerk, and an auditor[2] were first chosen in 1806, offices that mattered for roads, taxes, and local order.

## Home & table: School by subscription

Schooling was local and paid directly: teachers were hired for three-month terms[2], and each man paid according to the number of children he sent.

## Money: A costly river bridge

The clearest local price is public infrastructure: the Susquehanna bridge cost $36,000[2] in 1816, a large investment for a small river settlement.

## Who lived here: Northampton settlers arrive

By 1807, at least two dozen named settlers[1] were recorded in Nescopeck, and the local history says they were nearly all from Northampton County.

## Roads & news: Mail came on horseback

News and letters moved slowly: Nescopeck’s first postmaster was appointed in 1811[2], and mail was carried on horseback between Berwick and Easton.

## What people feared: River and fire mattered

Flood and fire were practical dangers in this creek-and-river world: earlier mill works had been washed out by the 1786 freshet, and three mills on the Powder Hole site later all burned by accident[1].

## Year by year

- **1810** (here): The first known school in Nescopeck was taught by William Coder near Martin Frey’s residence.[2]
- **1811** (here): John Briggs Jr. became Nescopeck’s first postmaster, putting the township on a horseback mail route from Berwick to Easton.[2]
- **1811** (here): The Reformed congregation at Nescopeck laid the cornerstone of its first church on September 3.[2]
- **1812** (the country): The United States declared war on Britain, news that would have reached Nescopeck by mail, travelers, and newspapers from larger towns.
- **1814** (here): The Reformed church at Nescopeck was completed and consecrated.[2]
- **1815** (here): John Rothermel built another hotel in Nescopeck, adding to the ferry-and-road business of the village.[2]
- **1816** (here): A 1,250-foot bridge across the Susquehanna was built at Nescopeck at a recorded cost of $36,000.[2]
- **1817** (here): Christian Kunkle built a stone house in Nescopeck village and burned brick on site for its chimneys.[2]

## What the sources say

- Nescopeck Township was set off from Newport Township in 1792 and in this period still referred to a larger early township landscape than the later borough-and-township settlement. (inferred)[1]
- A road was laid out in 1787 from Nescopeck falls to the Lehigh, following nearly the later turnpike route toward Conyngham and Hazleton. (inferred)[1]
- The township took its name from Nescopeck Creek, said in the county history to mean “deep black waters” because of dark water from coal veins near its source. (inferred)[1]
- William Rittenhouse built a log gristmill on Nescopeck Creek about 1795 to encourage settlers to buy his surrounding lands. (inferred)[1]
- By 1807 at least two dozen named settlers had arrived in Nescopeck, and the local history says they were nearly all from Northampton County. (inferred)[1]
- Samuel Mifflin built a sawmill near the mouth of Nescopeck Creek in 1796, and Nathan Beach built a mill on Wapwallopen Creek near Powder Hole in 1805. (inferred)[1]
- Before 1796 residents traded at Sunbury by canoe, but Samuel Mifflin then opened a small store on the river bank at the future Nescopeck village site. (from the sources)[2]
- George Rough kept the first blacksmith shop on the river bank near the early village. (from the sources)[2]
- A man named Steiner kept the first hotel in a small log house at the ferry, John Myers built a frame hotel in 1807, and John Rothermel built another hotel in 1815. (from the sources)[2]
- A bridge across the Susquehanna at Nescopeck was built in 1816 at a cost of $36,000 and was recorded as 1,250 feet long. (from the sources)[2]
- The Reformed congregation in Nescopeck began in 1811, laid its cornerstone on September 3, 1811, and completed its church in 1814. (from the sources)[2]
- The first school in Nescopeck was taught by William Coder about 1810 near Martin Frey’s residence; the building was raised by neighborhood gatherings, and teachers were hired for three-month terms paid by parents according to children sent. (from the sources)[2]
- In 1817 Christian Kunkle built a stone house in Nescopeck village and burned brick on the ground for its chimneys and for a three-story building in Berwick. (from the sources)[2]
- John Briggs Jr. was appointed the first postmaster at Nescopeck in 1811, and mail was carried on horseback from Berwick to Easton by a carrier named Smith. (from the sources)[2]
- The first township officers were elected in 1806: Michael Weiss and Martin Hirst as supervisors, Ambrose Tille as clerk, and John Henry as auditor. (from the sources)[2]
- Luzerne County had 4,904 inhabitants in 1790 and 12,839 in 1800; the opened PHMC sheet notes that digitized 1810 population data for the county is unavailable, while 1820 counted 19,914 white residents and 113 Black residents. (from the sources)[3]
- Across early-nineteenth-century Luzerne County, most settlement was agrarian, and local blacksmiths, gristmills, and sawmills supplied necessities for farms and new clearings. (from the sources)[4]
- The village of Nescopeck stood on the site of an older Delaware town, remembered in county histories as a rendezvous during the French and Indian War. (inferred)[1]
- No local online source found here gives ordinary 1810s prices for flour, shoes, cloth, or farm day labor specifically in Nescopeck Township. (not known)
- No opened source identifies an 1810s physician, cemetery, or detailed household interior for Nescopeck Township. (not known)

## Sources

1. Nescopeck Township. Luzerne County PAGenWeb. https://www.pagenweb.org/~luzerne/patk/nescopeck.html
2. History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming Counties, Pa., Part 98. W. W. Munsell & Co., 1880. https://ldsgenealogy.com/PA/books/History-of-Luzerne-Lackawanna-and-Wyoming-counties-Pa-with-illustrations-and-biographical-sketches-of-some-of-their-prominent-men-and-pioneers-part-98.htm
3. Baseline Survey Census Research: Luzerne County. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2022. https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/phmc/documents/preservation/survey/documents/LuzerneCensusSheet.pdf
4. Early History and Regional Context of the Nescopeck Area. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?doi=a977ff0a7403a25e3c1ed311360da755b02d4ac5&repid=rep1&type=pdf

## The same place in other decades

- [Nescopeck Township in the 1800s](https://yorehistory.com/place/nescopeck-township-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1800s/md)

## Nearby, about the same time

- [Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1790s](https://yorehistory.com/place/wilkes-barre-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1790s/md) (36 km)
- [Kingston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1830s](https://yorehistory.com/place/kingston-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1830s/md) (36 km)
- [Wyoming Valley, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1820s](https://yorehistory.com/place/wyoming-valley-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1820s/md) (36 km)
- [Wyoming, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1820s](https://yorehistory.com/place/wyoming-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1820s/md) (43 km)
- [Wyoming Borough, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1840s](https://yorehistory.com/place/wyoming-borough-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1840s/md) (43 km)
- [Mauch Chunk, Carbon County, Pennsylvania in the 1820s](https://yorehistory.com/place/mauch-chunk-carbon-county-pennsylvania/1820s/md) (45 km)
- [East Penn Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania in the 1810s](https://yorehistory.com/place/east-penn-township-carbon-county-pennsylvania/1810s/md) (46 km)
- [Pittston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1840s](https://yorehistory.com/place/pittston-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1840s/md) (47 km)

---
Researched by Yore's AI historian (gpt-5.5) on 2026-10-11 from the sources listed. It is about the place and the time, not about any person. Statements marked "inferred" are conclusions, not records. Cite as: Yore, "Nescopeck Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in the 1810s", https://yorehistory.com/place/nescopeck-township-luzerne-county-pennsylvania/1810s