USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Picture of Lycoming County, 1st ed > Part 14
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Lycoming County Boroughs
DuBoistown
Montoursville
Hughesville
Muncy
Jersey Shore
Picture Rocks
Montgomery
Salladasburg
South Williamsport
APPENDIX C Boroughs of Lycoming County
D UBOISTOWN was incorporated as a borough in October, 1878. The population in 1930 was 1,049. It was named for John DuBois, who in 1867 built a large lumber mill there. The mill burned in 1884 and was never rebuilt. Subsequently DuBois moved to Clearfield County and founded the city of DuBois.
The borough is on the south side of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River in the shadow of the Bald Eagle Mountain. Mosquito Creek, a mountain stream, flows through the town before joining the river. The early settlers called the place Wal- nut Bottom, for the heavy growth of walnut trees. Numerous Indian implements and fireplaces found by the early settlers were evidences of Indian occupation, near the town. The In- dians undoubtedly considered it a desirable spot for a village, since the trail over the mountain passed through it and crossed the West Branch at what is now Newberry, where it joined the Sheshequin Path up Lycoming Creek. It is believed that Albert Culbertson entered Mosquito Valley by this mountain path and was favorably impressed with its natural advantages. He pur- chased land on both sides of Mosquito Creek at its juncture with the river. On this tract he erected a spacious dwelling and, near the edge of the river, a sawmill. This mill he replaced with a larger one, driven by an overshot water wheel twenty-one and a half feet in diameter. Soon after the Revolutionary War Cul- bertson erected a grist mill on the bank of the river. The build- ing was strongly built, two stories high, and stood on a high stone foundation at the water's edge .- Canoes were paddled up
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close by and their cargoes of grain hoisted into the mill by a rope. Because of the quality of the flour made in his mill its popularity grew and people came laden with grain from great distances up and down the river. At the time of the Great Run- away, when the hostile Indians invaded the West Branch Val- ley.
Culbertson was compelled to flee and all of his improve- ments were destroyed. When peace again came to the valley he returned and rebuilt his saw mill and grist mill and a few years later erected a mill for pressing nut and linseed oil.
Other prominent early settlers in the district were Captain William Patterson and Samuel Caldwell. Patterson was a mem- ber of the Lycoming County bar and an accomplished fiddle player. Caldwell became an outstanding figure in the borough because of his frequent litigations in the county courts. He later purchased the Culbertson mill and erected a fine stone mansion.
HUGHESVILLE was laid out in 1816 by Jeptha Hughes, for whom the town was named. It was incorporated as a bor- ough April 23, 1852. The population in 1930 was 1,868. The first white settler on the site of the present borough was David Aspen. (See Wolf Township)
The town grew very slowly during the early days. About 1820 a grist mill was erected by Jacob Clayton. In the same year a blacksmith shop was opened by Fingley and Carson. In 1829, William Kitchen started a chair factory. The following year, Wells and Johnson began to make the famous Dearborn wagons. Robert Pursel opened a tannery in 1832. A furniture factory erected in the 1870's is now the property of J. K. Rishel Company, manufacturers of desks.
In 1818 a log school house was erected. To this crude structure, heated by a ten-plate stove, came pupils from five to eight miles distant. When the town . was incorporated as a borough, this building was torn down and a two-room brick
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View of Jersey Shore, 1854
structure erected in its place. From time to time this building has been remodeled and additions made.
Near the Newman school house, on the edge of the bor- ough, is one of the oldest graveyards in the valley. It contains the graves of the Newmans, Rynearsons, Lows and many other early settlers of the section. Though abandoned as a burial ground it is still kept enclosed and preserved.
JERSEY SHORE was incorporated as a borough March 15, 1826. It was first named Waynesburg but was changed to its present title at the time of its incorporation. The name Jersey Shore was suggested by the fact that some of the first settlers came from Essex County, New Jersey, along the Jersey Shore. The land upon which the borough now stands was in the dis-
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puted territory ruled by the "Fair Play System." It did not come under the jurisdiction of the Province until after the second treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 1784. Reuben Manning, in 1785, was the first settler. Samuel Boul followed in 1786. Boul was the first justice of the peace in the new borough.
For many years the growth of the borough was slow. Jared Irwin was the first store-keeper. About 1800, Samson Crawford established the first tannery and three years later another was started by Abraham Lawshe. A citizen of im- portance in the early life of the borough was Thomas Calvert, an Englishman by birth, who came with his parents to Wil- liamsport, in 1794, where he learned the trade of cabinetmaker under Alexander Sloan. At the end of his apprenticeship he went to Jersey Shore and established the first cabinet making business in the borough. Calvert Street in the borough was named for him.
In 1817, Solomon Bastress, who was a weaver and dyer by trade, settled in the borough. He eventually gave up this vocation and became a surveyor and scrivener. From 1827 to 1830 inclusive he was a member of the General Assembly. In 1846 he was chosen Associate Judge and served in that capacity for ten years. When Susquehanna Township was divided in 1854, a new township was named in his honor.
Today Jersey Shore is the second largest borough in the county with a population of 5,781 (1930). Its chief indus- tries include a canning factory, hosiery mill, wire manufactory and the New York Central Railroad shops at nearby Avis, in Clinton County.
MONTGOMERY was incorporated as a borough March 27, 1887. Its first name was Black Hole, changed to Clinton Mills in 1853; but when the post office was established, May 25, 1860, it was called Montgomery Station for Robert Mont- gomery who owned a carding mill in the borough. Cornelius
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Low was the first settler, in 1778. He was followed five or six years later by John Lawson and Nicholas Shaffer.
The first business enterprise was a distillery operated by P. M. Barber in 1859. He also made the first plot of the town. Among the earliest industries of Montgomery were sawmills, a carding mill, and a planing mill. In 1870 the Montgomery Machine Shop was established, which for many years did a thriving business, employing at one time about 250 men. Fur- niture manufacturing and upholstering and the manufacture of leather specialties are the present industries of the borough. The population in 1930 was 1,903.
MONTOURSVILLE was laid out by John Burrows in 1820. It was incorporated as a borough 30 years later. It received its name in remembrance of Andrew Montour, whose Indian town, "Otstuagy," was situated near the mouth of Loyalsock Creek. For many years prior to the establishment of a post office in 1831, the town was composed of two sections. The eastern part of the borough was called "Coffee Town," and the western portion was known as "Tea Town." They were so named by teamsters who while passing through on their way to Williams- port were often besieged by housewives requesting them to bring a quantity of these commodities.
The first permanent white settler was John Else, who erected the first house. Else, a carpenter-contractor, built many of the homes in early Williamsport and his services were in de- mand from Muncy to Bellefonte. Among the early settlers Gen- eral John Burrows was outstanding. As a boy of thirteen years he carried mail on horseback from Philadelphia to New York. During the Revolution he participated in many important bat- tles. After several years spent in farming and blacksmithing, he went to Muncy, where he engaged in the liquor distilling busi- ness for a time. In 1796, the year after the erection of Lycom- ing County, he was appointed a justice of the peace by Governor
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Mckean. In 1802 he was elected a County Commissioner. While a commissioner he assisted in building the first court house and hauled the bell which still hangs in its belfry from Phila- delphia to Williamsport in a wagon. In 1808 he was elected State Senator. At the end of his senate term he purchased a large tract of land near the mouth of Loyalsock Creek. This was the site of the old Indian village, Otstuagy. Except for a small plot which had been cleared by the Indians, the territory was a forest. In 1811, Burrows was appointed Major General in the Ninth Division of the Pennsylvania Militia. In 1820, with Thomas Lloyd, he laid out the borough and sold lots at fifty dollars each.
For many years lumbering was the chief industry. Later three furniture factories provided the major portion of employ- ment. Today Montoursville is a pleasant town with well-kept streets, comfortable homes and a municipally owned water sys- tem. Two silk mills, two sand and gravel plants, a Venetian blind factory and the Maintenance Division of the State High- way Department are now the chief sources of employment. A modern airport, with two large hangars and hard surfaced run- ways, is situated within the borough limits.
MUNCY's name was derived from the Monsey Indians, a tribe of Delawares that inhabited the region before the arrival of the white man. Remnants of this tribe later settled at present Muncie, Indiana.
The town was laid out in 1797 by Benjamin and William McCarty and Isaac Walton and named Pennsborough, in honor of the Penns. For years it was just a straggling village better known as "Hardscrabble." More than a quarter of a century passed before it became an incorporated borough, on March 15, 1826. On January 19, 1827 the name was changed to Muncy. Its population in 1930 was 2,419.
Of the old families who played an important part in the early days of the town were the Brindles and Petrikins. The
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early merchants and postmasters were members of the former family. William Brindle was at one time the publisher of the Lycoming County Gazette. William Petrikin, too, was a post- master, and in 1842, was appointed Major General in the Penn- sylvania Militia. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Muncy Female Seminary. The Lycoming County Normal School, organized in Montoursville in 1870 and moved to Muncy in 1877, was the first school of this type where local and district institutes were held. The school existed about sixty years and many men prominent in the affairs of the state were students or instructors there.
An important industry in the early days of the borough was the Muncy Agricultural Works. It was a thriving business in the days of fine carriage, buggies, buck boards and wagons. Clinton Guyer, inventor of a hammerless gun and the Staymen- Guyer automatic engine, operated an engine works and machine shop here for several years. Industries which constitute a major part of the present industrial life of the community are: two machine manufacturing plants, a woolen mill, and a wire rope plant.
PICTURE ROCKS on Muncy Creek about two and a half miles north of Hughesville, was incorporated as a borough Sep- tember 27, 1875. Its population in 1930 was 548. The name of the borough is derived from the crude Indian pictures painted on a ledge of rocks which rises perpendicularly two hundred feet above Muncy Creek. These pictures were objects of great cur- iosity to the first white men. It is said that Wolfs Pathway, a Seneca chief, ordered Fisher Fox, a famous Indian artist, to re- move the original pictures and in their place to depict his great victory in the Battle of Canoes. The battle occurred near Nip- penose Park on the Susquehanna. The discovery of arrowheads and other implements adds credence to the story.
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The land was first owned by Henry Rody, whose warrant bears the date of June 3, 1773. He sold it to Abraham Singer, who later conveyed it to John Tice. In 1848, A. R. Sprout and Amos Burrows of Susquehanna County purchased the land from Mr. Tice. Previous owners had erected a cabin and a saw- mill but had made little progress in the seemingly impossible task of clearing the land, which was covered with logs, rocks and brush. Sprout and Burrows established the first sash, door and blind factory in the county. As the settlement grew, other industries were founded. Some of these have been discontinued or absorbed. The present industries include furniture manufac- turing; manufacturing of excelsior and tool handles; and the making of extension and step ladders.
SALLADĂSBURG is on Larry's Creek about five miles north of its junction with the Susquehanna River. It was erected from Mifflin Township, January 12, 1884, and named in honor of its founder Jacob Sallada. Sallada, in 1837, erected the first grist mill, which he operated until 1867. About this time Sallada and Stephen Bell built another mill near the older one. Cline finally sold his mill to Good and Company, who converted it into a planing and cider mill, and a few years later he pur- chased the new mill of Sallada and Bell. This mill was de- stroyed by fire in 1887, and the site was purchased by Thomas and Brothers who rebuilt it and did a flourishing business until 1928, when it was again partially destroyed by fire. It was re- built and modern machinery was installed, and it is still the property of the Thomas family.
For some time the leading industry of the borough was a tannery established in 1848 by Robert Lawshe. In 1882 the buildings were destroyed by fire and Robert Mccullough re- built them on a larger scale. After modern machinery had been installed, the plant had a capacity of four hundred hides a day. The hides were hauled in wagons from Larry's Creek station
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and returned there by the same means. Steady employment was furnished to about one hundred men. The industry exists today only in the memory of the older inhabitants of the bor- ough. Jim's Inn Beach in the borough is one of the popular recreational places of the county for swimmers and skaters. It has a modern bath house with showers and lockers with life guards on duty during the season. The population of Salladas- burg in 1930 was 227.
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT is practically a part of the city of Williamsport, being separated only by the Susquehanna, but connected by two free bridges. It is on a low plateau that was known by early pioneers and surveyors as the "Lower Bottom" to distinguish it from the "Upper Bottom" opposite Linden. On its western boundary is the borough of DuBoistown.
The borough is cut by Hagerman's Run, which drains the northern slope of Bald Eagle Mountain and empties into the Susquehanna River. When the Williamsport Water Company located their original reservoir it was placed near the mouth of this stream, but when more water was needed the company con- structed a storage reserve farther up the ravine to be used in conjunction with its reservoir in Mosquito Valley.
Aaron Hagerman, who came to this country from Holland before the Revolutionary War, was responsible for the name of Hagerman's Run. Hagerman settled along the stream at a point near where Koch's brewery now stands. During the canal days a sizable village named Rocktown sprang up. Inasmuch as the mouth of Hagerman's Run was a popular place for "tieing up," McMichael McDonough established a tavern there. Good shad fishing in the river nearby increased the business of the place. The tavern was also at the junction of two public roads.
The initial movement towards the establishment of a town occurred when Jacob Weise bought a tract of forty acres, laid it out in town lots, and established a brick yard near McDonough's
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tavern. He later built an oil mill, which was razed when the water company erected their, reservoir. He also erected a grist mill near the Koch Brewery.
The furniture factory of George Luppert, the sawmills of Green, Sands and Company, and Valentine Luppert, and the planing mill of the latter, together with the mills of the Wil- liamsport Iron and Nail Company, brought about a second set- tlement, this one named Bootstown. The origin of the name "Bootstown" is interesting. Through George Luppert a number of Germans from Neuberg on the Rhine settled just below the Kaiser spring. Shortly after they had selected their new homes, a pair of boots was stolen from one of them. In spite of the fact that the Germans wished the town called Neuberg, news of the stolen boots spread widely and the name remained until it was amalgamated with Rocktown into the borough of South Williamsport (1886).
The population of South Williamsport grew from 2,900 in 1890 to 6,058 in 1930. Most of this increase has been due to the introduction of new industries and the growth of some of the older ones.
The old Koch Brewery still does business under the orig- inal name, though under different management. The more recent industries in the town manufacture the following: Institutional supplies, cement blocks, furniture, hardware, and silk textiles.
APPENDIX D
Williamsport
W "ILLIAMSPORT is the county seat and the only city in Lycoming County. It was laid out by Michael Ross in 1795, incorporated as a borough in 1806 and as a city January 16, 1866. Little is known of the place of origin or ancestry of its founder. Ross was born in Europe of German and Scotch parentage and came to this country when he was about ten years old. In 1772, with his mother he came to Samuel Wallis' Muncy Farms, where as a "redemptioner" he served as a sur- veyors' assistant until 1779. At the expiration of his term Wallis gave him 100 acres of land, some livestock and equip- ment. During the following fourteen years, little is recorded of Ross' activities, except his marriage to Ann Courson in 1793. By that year he had acquired the 300 acres which now comprise the borough of South Williamsport. How he came into posses- sion of this tract is not known, nor is there any record of what became of the land he received from Wallis. Tradition has it that Ross while plowing his tract in the spring of 1794 became impressed with its natural surroundings and, believing the river to be navigable, visioned a "city" or "port" on the oppo- site or north side of the stream. Imitating Cincinnatus of old, he left the plow in the field and set out to acquire the land on which the foundation of Williamsport was to be erected. On May 7, 1794, the Commonwealth patented to him a 280-acre tract. The following spring he employed William Ellis and Joseph Williams to assist him in laying out the town. The orig- inal plot extended from the river north to Brandon Park and west from Penn to Hepburn Street. It contained approximately
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111 acres, divided into 302 lots, with a public square in the center in accordance with English custom. Ross lived in an abandoned log cabin until 1800 when he erected a large brick dwelling at the northeast corner of Basin and Third Streets. Because he always believed that the Susquehanna River would eventually be made navigable and that the infant town would be the "port of entry," he reserved all fishing and ferrying rights for himself and for years after his death his heirs retained title to the land lying along the river bank between Penn and Hepburn Streets.
In 1795, the first year of Lycoming County's existence, Williamsport was chosen as the county seat. Jaysburg, a small village west of Lycoming Creek and Dunnsburg (now Dunns- town, Clinton County), were vigorously contending with each other for this honor. Dunnsburg had already set aside a plot of ground for a court house. Jaysburg had provided a jail and temporary quarters for county officials. The designation of Wil- liamsport caused a great deal of bitterness between the villages west of Lycoming Creek and that to the east. People residing west of Lycoming Creek charged Michael Ross and Judge Wil- liam Hepburn, who owned a tract of land adjoining Ross', with fraud and coercion. They were accused of transferring choice lots to friends and relatives of the commissioners appointed by Governor Thomas Mifflin to select the county seat. In 1794, Hepburn had been elected to the State Senate from Northum- berland County. As Senator he was instrumental in the creation of Lycoming County. He resigned his senatorship and was appointed the first President Judge of the new county.
The first court house was started in 1800 and completed in 1804. It was constructed on the site of the present building at a cost of $20,417.80. In 1860, the old one having become obsolete, a new one was built. It was ready for occupancy in the spring of 1861 and cost $41,030. The bell, which still hangs
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in the belfry, and the image which adorns the dome were used in the first building. The bell was brought in a wagon from Philadelphia by General John Burrows, one of the county com- missioners. It bears the inscription: "George Hedderly made me in Philadelphia Anno. Di. 1804." The image on the dome is a female figure holding the scales of justice. The clock in- stalled in the 1861 building still remains, except that the original wooden dials have been replaced by glass ones.
The first jail was started in 1799 and completed in 1801. The cost probably did not exceed $8,000. In 1867 it was so badly damaged by fire that the old building was razed and the present jail erected at a cost of $139,440.87.
At the time of its incorporation as a borough the town had less than one hundred taxable inhabitants. For some time it grew slowly, due in part perhaps to the enmities caused by the competition for a county seat. It required many years, and, in fact, a new generation, to entirely efface the bitterness resulting from this vigorous and spirited campaign. Almost fifty years after its incorporation as a borough Williamsport had a popu- lation of less than 17,000.
In 1853 Peter Herdic came to town and aroused it from its lethargy. Herdic was born at Fort Plain, New York, on December 14, 1824. Soon after his arrival in Williamsport. his dynamic personality and restless energy infused new life into the community and every branch of business and industry was renewed and invigorated. The town immediately began a period of unprecedented development and prosperity. During the next ten years, Herdic built houses, business blocks, hotels and churches. He organized bands, purchased the gas works and, failing in an attempt to purchase the water works, he con- structed a rival one. In 1864, he erected the Herdic House (later called Park Hotel), a very pretentious structure for the time, more than a mile from the business center of town. He then in-
Peter Herdic
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WILLIAMSPORT
duced the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to locate its station adjoining the hotel, built a street car line to connect the hotel with the business district and proceeded to sell building lots. From the sale of lots he was able to pay for the hotel and car line, and there were still many lots unsold. Another illustra- tion of Herdic's foresight was the purchase of a large tract of land in what is now South Williamsport. Then, as now, the Pennsylvania Railroad, in the eastern end of the city, crossed from the south to the north side of the river and, after passing through Williamsport, recrossed to the south side near the vil- lage of Nisbet. Because the bridges were frequently damaged by floods, Herdic was able to persuade the railroad company to construct a spur line through his property connecting these two points. Thus the value of his land was considerably en- hanced and he proceeded to sell factory sites and building lots. The venture was not only a financial success for Herdic, but South Williamsport, a borough of over six thousand popula- tion has grown up on the site, largely as a result of the enter- prise of this man. He built the Weightman Block on West Fourth Street and persuaded the city to construct a sewer from the present underpass at Campbell Street to the river. After its completion the "Dutch Gap Canal" as it was popularly called, provided excellent drainage for Herdic's land.
Herdic's greatest feat was gaining control of the great log boom on the river, which he and two others, Mahlon Fisher and John G. Reading, bought from Major James Perkins and others in 1857. The log boom was virtually the toll-gate of the lumber industry. He increased the tolls from seventy-five cents to a dollar and a quarter a thousand feet. Since the num- ber of logs passing through the boom in a year reached hundreds of millions of feet, the profits were enormous. The income of the company for the first eight years after the increase in tolls totaled over two and a quarter million dollars. In the course
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