Peter Herdic Today we take for granted smoothly paved streets for our vehicles to safely travel on but it was not always so. For many years, before the advent of asphalt paved streets, streets could be a muddy, rutted horror, particularly in the spring and in the fall.One of the first attempts to change
"Knowledge is power. To a nation it is wealth. To individuals it is a virtue."These are the words of arguably the most remarkable man to ever preside over a Lycoming County courtroom. That man was Thomas Cooper. He was a bundle of contradictions. On the one hand he was a brilliant and enlightened man who
Throughout history, the question of how to punish criminals has been answered quite differently. Throwing the misdeed-doer in jail has not always been the solution. Corporal punishment, forced labor, and social ostracism were methods more often used in medieval Europe, in England and colonial America. But by the 18th century, the first prisons in
Executions weren't always such a subject of controversy. Individual counties handled the grim task themselves in many cases. Lycoming County was no exception to this but, surprisingly, the first hanging conducted under the auspices of the county judiciary did not occur until 1836 some 41 years after the county was organized in 1795.
A bell has begun ringing in downtown Williamsport recently – and it is one that has been silent for some time. The Lycoming County government maintenance department has repaired the bell in the tower at the courthouse by correcting some corrosion issues with the piston that rings the bell. The hourly chime that you
One of the most picturesque towns in the western part of Lycoming County is Salladasburg. It also is the home of the noted Cohick's Trading Post, a Lycoming County institution.Captain Jacob Sallade founded Salladasburg in 1837, laying out lots for the town and building Lutheran and Presbyterian churches there. Larry's Creek Bridge Located on Larry's
One of the most influential political movements in America and in Lycoming County in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the Prohibition movement. Lips That Touch Liquor Shall Not Touch Ours, satirical photograph of teetotaller women, still from c. 1890s movie filmed in Edison's Black Maria studio The guiding light for this movement
Saturday will be the Lycoming County United Way's annual Day of Caring. It is a day in which volunteers perform various types of needed work at many of the United Way's member agencies' facilities.The Lycoming County United Way has been in the business of caring for more than 80 years, beginning in 1922 as the
When most people think of Peter Herdic they think of an industrialist, a wheeler-dealer and entrepreneur who had much with the development of Williamsport as a major economic center. Most people don't think of him as a transportation innovator.According to an article in the Fall 1973 edition of the Journal of the Lycoming County Historical
It is no accident that one of the main centers of the Underground Railroad in Lycoming County was the Pennsdale-Muncy area. This was an area in which many members of the Society of Friends or “Quakers” lived. In fact there was, and still is, a Quaker Meeting House there. Members of the Society of Friends
The Grand Army of the Republic was an organization of Civil War veterans located in towns and cities throughout the Northern States of the Union. It was the Civil War equivalent of the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars.Muncy had the second largest G.A.R. Post in Lycoming County. These posts were named for various
When you look at your coins with the inscription “In God We Trust,” know that a former President Judge of the Lycoming County Courts was responsible. That judge’s name was James Pollock, whose career would span a broad canvas of public service. Born in Milton on September 11, 1810, he was educated at the
The arrival of the railroads in Lycoming County came fairly early but it was somewhat tentative.The first railroad in the Williamsport area was the Williamsport and Elmira Railroad, which was incorporated by the Pennsylvania legislature on June 9, 1832. But it would not be until 1839 that the railroad was fully operational.According to an article
Civil War Soldiers' Monument in Muncy Cemetery. Lycoming County, like other areas across the North, answered President Abraham Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion by the Confederate states with great patriotic fervor. Within 12 days of the Confederates firing on Fort Sumter, Lycoming County mustered three companies consisting
The following is a reprint from Grit: America’s Greatest Family Newspaper A Renovo Mystery Dec. 15, 1882 A newsboy delivers Grit to a rural customer. RENOVO -- Patrick Shelly, a well-known citizen who held the positions of the town council, high constable, and tax collector, was found dead along the water's edge of
An obscure state senator from Lycoming County may have played a pivotal role in helping to gain President Abraham Lincoln re-election in the tough election campaign of 1864. That state senator's name was Henry Johnson. Henry Johnson Henry Johnson was born in Newton, New Jersey, on June 12, 1819. He came from
There were numerous Lycoming County soldiers held prisoner by the Confederates during the course of the Civil War. Charles A. Rubright is one of the most notable examples. Rubright was born in Prussia on May 14, 1842. He and his family moved to America in 1845, settling in Jarrettsville, Maryland. Rubright's father died in
One of the most important men of vision and entrepreneurial skill that helped to develop Williamsport and Lycoming County into a major center of commerce was Major James H. Perkins. His foresight and boldness helped to make Williamsport the “Lumber Capital of the World” in the mid- and late-nineteenth century.Perkins was born at South Market,
