News of Yesteryear and Historic Williamsport is a section of the web site by Robin Van Auken dedicated to educating and entertaining visitors of all ages with stories and illustrations of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and its surrounding towns.

Surface Collecting in the Montoursville

Archaeology Finds: Miscellaneous Points, Adze, Etc. The shared artifacts were found locally by Hunter Duffield. Hunter has been surface collecting in the Montoursville area and Dick Snyder called me and asked that I give him a hand. So let's look at the pictures. Picture 1 is a couple of Archaic points the [...]

2020-12-03T12:01:47-05:00By |Archaeology, News of Yesteryear, Tom 'Tank' Baird|
Read More

‘Lost’ History of Andrew Montour in Perry County

“They were driven from the lands on which they had settled and on April 18, 1752, Andrew Montour was commissioned by the governor to settle and reside upon these Indian lands, the Indians on July 2, 1750, having petitioned for such occupation, and arrangements having been made with them for such occupation at a place [...]

2021-03-11T10:56:32-05:00By |Tom 'Tank' Baird|
Read More

Plum Tree Massacre and Iroquois War on Colonial Expansion

The date was June 10th, 1778. In the east, the Revolutionary War raged and colonial forces under General George Washington were seeing key victories producing a turning point in the conflict. People living here in what would become Lycoming County PA were also part of that war. They were fighting for their lives against an [...]

2021-03-11T10:56:17-05:00By |Tom 'Tank' Baird|
Read More

The Widaagh Monument in Antes Fort

So, what does a forty-five-foot tall, forty-one-ton monument on private land, the Susquehannock Indians, an ex-bank president in Indian dress-up, and a magical place called Lockabar have in common? Well, historian Carl Becker once said it best, "history is an imaginative creation" and that tongue-in-cheek remark never bore more truth than the story of the [...]

2021-03-11T11:02:56-05:00By |Tom 'Tank' Baird|
Read More

I’m a Grit Salesman – Read the First Issue for Free!

Grit’s Happy Ambassadors: Its 30,000 Boy Salesmen February 1962 “Here’s your copy of Grit, Mrs. Jones.” Every week similar welcomed words are echoed hundreds of thousands of times from coast to coast by an army of eager, bright-faced boys. They are the happy ambassadors for America’s Greatest Family Newspaper. Actually, Grit’s distribution through the Little [...]

2021-03-11T11:48:15-05:00By |News of Yesteryear|
Read More

Water Tower Square Once Home to C. A. Reed Paper Products

One of the most thriving commercial office and warehousing locations in the Williamsport area is the Water Tower Square at 1000 Commerce Drive, near the foot of Chestnut Street in Williamsport. It occupies the site of the former C.A. Reed Paper Products Company. C.A. Reed Paper Products Company was a flourishing part of Williamsport’s [...]

2017-06-12T16:34:17-05:00By |Lou Hunsinger Jr., News of Yesteryear|
Read More

Lycoming Remembers Muncy Abolition Riot

Arrival of Europeans in Africa, by Nicolas Colibert (1750 - 1806). Engraving after a drawing by Amédée Fréret, Paris, 1795 made to celebrate the first abolition of slavery on 4 February 1794 . By Lou Hunsinger Jr. Williamsport Sun-Gazette The issue of the abolition of slavery excited great passions throughout the United States [...]

2018-07-14T17:50:58-05:00By |Lou Hunsinger Jr., News of Yesteryear|
Read More
Go to Top