USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Picture of Lycoming County, 1st ed > Part 15
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A PICTURE OF LYCOMING COUNTY
of his business career, Herdic became owner or controller of all the principal enterprises in Williamsport. He organized the Lumbermen's National Bank, operated sawmills, started a rub- ber works, owned a brush factory, a nail works in South Wil- liamsport, the gas plant, the upper water works, the Maynard Street bridge, the West Branch Gazette and Bulletin, the Herdic House (now Park Hotel), and great tracts of coal lands, be- sides other extensive tracts of land and scores of dwellings. He had Williamsport incorporated as a city in 1866 and was the "power behind the throne" in having Newberry annexed to Williamsport. During the panic of 1873 he went into volun- tary bankruptcy. At the time of his financial collapse his lia- bilities were approximately $1,000,000. But for his untimely death February 2, 1888, it is very probable that he would have again become a potent factor in the further development of his adopted city. Within five years after his failure, the property turned over to his creditors was valued at more than $2,000,000. Herdic's business tactics were often the object of severe criti- cism. He had faults, but his virtues probably exceeded them. He gave freely to the poor and to every community enterprise. He built the beautiful Trinity Episcopal Church and presented it to the congregation. He gave lots for the Congregational Church, the Church of the Annunciation, the First Baptist Church, the First Evangelical Lutheran and contributed gen- erously toward building the Jewish Synagogue. To Peter Herdic, more than to any other man, belongs the credit of awakening the sleepy little country town that was Williams- port in 1853 and transforming it into a thriving city. At the time of Herdic's arrival the town's population was less than 2,000 but by 1860 it had grown to nearly three times that number.
Since the 1860's the city's growth has been continuous. After the forests had been- divested of their timber, other in-
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WILLIAMSPORT
dustries took the place lumbering had occupied. There are about ninety manufacturing plants in the city, with an annual payroll of almost $8,000,000. The population, including immediate environs, is approximately 55,000 persons. The city has a modern business district, with office buildings, stores and hotels. There are more than sixty churches, representing almost every denomination.
Splendid educational facilities are provided. Williamsport Dickinson Seminary furnishes an opportunity for higher studies. This recognized co-educational institution maintains college preparatory courses and also has two years of studies paralleling the freshman and sophomore years in a liberal arts college. The public school system of the city includes one senior high school, three junior high schools and eleven elementary schools. Total enrollment for the 1938-1939 term was 8,775 pupils with 293 teachers and instructors. There also are two Roman Catholic high schools and two parochial elementary schools with a total enrollment of approximately 1,000 students. Three business schools, maintaining accounting and secretarial courses, also are located in the city.
The Williamsport Hospital, an institution of 275 beds, is one of the best equipped in the state. A nurses' training school also is connected with the hospital. There also is a well equipped private hospital in the city.
The James V. Brown Library, the only large size free public library in Lycoming County, has complete facilities for the reading needs of the city's inhabitants. In addition to the main building, the library maintains two branches, one in the western part of the city and one in Montoursville. The inaugu- ration this year (1939) of a county-wide traveling circulating library has brought a wide variety of reading material to the rural population. Funds for this purpose are provided by the county with State aid. A truck is used for the distribution of
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Williamsport Dickinson Seminary and Junior College
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WILLIAMSPORT
books in charge of a librarian. The project is administered by the Board of Directors of the James V. Brown Library.
Two daily newspapers, the Gazette and Bulletin and the Williamsport Sun, are published in the city. Williamsport also is the home of Grit which has the largest circulation of any weekly newspaper in the United States, 600,000 copies.
Residents have excellent recreational facilities at their dis- posal. There are two city parks, twelve playgrounds and five athletic fields, in addition to a nine-hole municipal golf course and a number of tennis courts. Swimming is provided in near- by streams. The Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association also have swimming pools in their buildings which are fully equipped to care for the needs of their members and guests.
Approximately sixty per cent of the homes in the city are owned by the occupants. The newer residential districts are in the Vallamont and Grampian sections in the northern part of the city, where winding drives traverse the foothills overlooking the river valley. Faxon and Kenmar, suburbs to the east of the city, also are fast-growing residential areas.
QUESTIONS - WILLIAMSPORT
1. When was Williamsport laid out?
2. Who was Michael Ross?
3. Who was Peter Herdic?
4. What did Herdic do for Williamsport?
5. How many manufacturing plants are there in Williamsport?
6. What opportunities in education are offered in Williamsport?
Bibliography
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Clark, John S. Selected Manuscripts, Relating to the Aborigi- nal. History of the Susquehannas; ed. by Louise Welles Murray. (Publications, v. 1) Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, F. Dorrance, sec., 69 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 1931.
Cooper, H. C., Jr. Twentieth Century Bench and Bar. Chi- cago, Brothers and Company. 1903. 2 v.
Commercial Reference Map of Lycoming County. Washing- ton, D. C., Capital City Map Company. 1931.
Community Trade Association. Statistical Reports and Pam- phlets, Williamsport, Pa. 1939.
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Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania. Indian Forts Commission. Report of the Commission to locate the site of the frontier forts of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, Pa., State Printer. 1896.
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A PICTURE OF LYCOMING COUNTY
Gazette and Bulletin. Library Files. Williamsport, Pa.
Godcharles, Frederic A. Pennsylvania: Political, Governmental, Military and Civil. New York, American Historical Society. 1933. 5 v.
Daily Stories of Pennsylvania. Milton, Pa. the Author. 1924.
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Hazard, Samuel. comp. Pennsylvania Archives. vol. 1, Phila- delphia, Joseph Severns and Company. 1852.
Hrdlicka, Ales. Physical Anthropology of the Lenape or Dela- wares and of the Eastern Indians in General. Wash- ington, D. C., Bureau of American Ethnology. 1916. (Bul. 62.)
Jenkins, Howard M. ed., Pennsylvania, Colonial and Federal, a History, 1608-1903. Philadelphia, Pa. Pennsyl- vania Historical Publishing Association. 1903. 3 v. Landis, David H. A Brief Description of Indian Life and In- dian Trade of the Susquehannock Indians. Lancaster, Pa. 1929. Reprinted from Lancaster New Era and Lancaster Intelligencer.
Lloyd, Thomas W. History of Lycoming County. Topeka- Indianapolis, Historical Publishing Company. 1929. 2 v. Lycoming County Agricultural Extension Association. Statis- tical Reports and Pamphlets. Williamsport, Pa. 1938- 1939.
Lycoming Democrat. Library Files. Williamsport, Pa.
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Meginness, John F. Lycoming County, Its Organization and Condensed History for One Hundred Years. Chicago, Brown, Runk and Company. 1892. Otzinachson or a History of the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna. Williamsport, Pa., Gazette and Bulletin Printing House. 1889.
Menges, Franklin. Soils of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, Pa. 1914. (Pennsylvania Agricultural Department.)
Morgan, Lewis H. League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee, or Iro- quois. new edition. N. Y., Dodd, Mead and Com- pany. 1904.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State Manual. Harrisburg, Pa. Bureau of Publications. 1937.
Pennsylvania. Department of Forests and Waters. Map of Tiadaghton State Forest. Harrisburg. Pa. 1938.
Pennsylvania. Department of Internal Affairs. Genealogical Map of Counties of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, Pa. 1931.
Pennsylvania. Department of Internal Affairs, Bureau of Sta- tistics. Eighth Industrial Directory. Harrisburg, Pa. 1935.
Carrow, Goldsmith Day, D.D. Introduction of Methodism into Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Philadel- phia, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. vol. 12 (1888.)
Shoemaker, Col. Henry W. Susquehanna Legends: Collected in Central Pennsylvania. Reading, Pa., Bright Printing Company. 1913.
Sipe, Chester Hale. The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania. Har- risburg, Pa., Telegraph Press. 1929.
Smithsonian Institution. Annual Report. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office. 1928.
Stewart, D. J. History of Lycoming County. Philadelphia, Pa., J. B. Lippincott and Company. 1876.
Sullivan, Mark. Our Times: the United States 1900-1925. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons. 1926. 2 v.
United States. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, Agri- culture. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Of- fice. 1935.
Williamsport Sun. Library Files. Williamsport, Pa. Wood, Dr. T. K. Now and Then. Published at Muncy, Pa. 1868-1939.
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