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Welcome to Sylvan ...

Sylvan is located in Franklin County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Sylvan, you might consider that their post office opened in 1837.

Sylvan is 490 feet [149 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Sylvan lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Sylvan: 717 & 223<3>

Communities Also Named Sylvan ...

While we believe that this Sylvan is located in Franklin County, we know of another 2 Pennsylvania communities named Sylvan. Those communities are located in the following counties: Allegheny and Perry County.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there are 16 communities that are also named Sylvan - they are located in Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ontario, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sylvan.

Communities near Sylvan ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Sylvan.

  • Hagerstown
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hagerstown is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagerstown
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,918 people
    • Former name for Hagerstown:
    • Hager's Town
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hagerstown <4>
  • Greencastle
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Williamsport
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Mercersburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Hancock
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hancock is located in Washington County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,522 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hancock <4>
  • McConnellsburg
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Funkstown
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Bath
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bath is located in Morgan County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 587 people
  • Clear Spring
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Hedgesville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Sylvan. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Sylvan.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Sylvan. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sylvan.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Sylvan. See our Newspapers Page for Sylvan.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Sylvan ...

Looking for more information about Sylvan? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Sylvan, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Sylvan.

Adding Sylvan to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Sylvan in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Sylvan was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Sylvan post office opened in 1837. The Sylvan post office closed in 1953.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Sylvan.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties, including Franklin, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Sylvan - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 717 code has been Overlayed with the 223 area code. New phone numbers in the Sylvan area will be assigned with one of these codes: 717 or 223. As a result, placing a call in the Sylvan area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/