Make room on the shelf for another book about local history. Written by author Robin Van Auken and published by Ogden Newspapers, the parent company of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, “Sunday Grit: A Newspaper Legacy” is the fourth volume in a limited edition, commemorative series about area newspapers. Richly illustrated, the new 136-page book features
New World history is filled with tales of frontier adventure, and here in the Susquehanna Valley, one of the most interesting tales is that of "Madame" Montour and the lost village of Otstonwakin. Her life is sketchy, almost mythic, but historians have confirmed that "Madame" Montour did indeed, lead an adventurous life on the French and
The year was 1792, George Washington was unanimously re-elected President of the United States, Thomas Mifflin was serving as the first Governor of Pennsylvania, both the U.S. Post Office and the U.S. Mint were established, there were 15 states in the Union, the most recent being Kentucky, and "The Farmers’ Almanac" was published for the
Ray Keyes The man who dominated the sports scene in Northcentral Pennsylvania for more than 50 years was neither an athlete nor a sports executive but a sportswriter. That man was Ray Keyes. Although his name was inextricably linked with Williamsport and its environs for more than 50 years, Keyes was actually born
Joe Lockard One of the radar operators who vainly tried to warn about the approach of Japanese aircraft during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, died recently at the age of 85. George Elliot of Port Charlotte, Fla., died there Dec. 20. Elliot, along with Williamsport native Joseph Lockard, operated
Williamsport Trolley The most enduring and perhaps best remembered form of mass transit in Williamsport were the trolleys. Their 70-year run is still commemorated today with the running of the Herdic, Weightman and Stotz trolleys. The era of intra-city transportation began with the trolleys or streetcars in the late 1850s and early 1860s.
Peter Herdic If you wrapped Donald Trump, John D. Rockefeller, H.L. Hunt and Benjamin Franklin all into one man, you’d have Peter Herdic. He looms over Williamsport’s “Lumber Boom Era” like a colossus. Herdic arguably has left a greater imprint on the posterity of Williamsport and Lycoming County than any other man. Born
In 1926, Leal Raymond Avery and his brother, Harland Wesley "Bake" Avery, were given approximately $5,000 from their mother, Harriet "Hattie," to help start Avery $ Drycleaners in Williamsport, PA. The main plant (present-day Bull and the Barrel Tavern on High Street) was built in the winter of 1926, and operations began on Feb.
One of the most durable community institutions in the Williamsport area is The Center, formally known as the Bethune-Douglass Community Center at 600 Campbell St. The Bethune-Douglass Community Center was founded on April 7, 1918. It first operated as a branch of the YWCA in a frame house at 429 Walnut St. It
Sawdust riot. America in the 1870s was rife with labor strife and turbulence. The lumber camps and sawmills of the Williamsport area were no exception. In 1872, Williamsport’s “lumber boom” was in full flower and great fortunes were being made by a select few. Unfortunately, the great wealth did not make its
Daniel Hughes The story of the Underground Railroad in Lycoming County includes many heroic and courageous persons, but none towers over the story so literally and figuratively as Daniel Hughes. The Underground Railroad ran from the American South through the northeastern states to Canada from the 1790s until the Civil War. Because
Almost every area has its own ghostly and haunted tales. Lycoming County is no exception. Many of these spooky tales are steeped in local Native American legend and superstition. Even the area of the valley of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River has otherworldly aspects to it. The area once was known as
Russell Tavern served as the first courthouse of Lycoming County, PA. According to historians, when founder Michael Ross surveyed the 111 acres that became Williamsport, he could not have imagined that his small community would grow from a one-building village to the county seat of Lycoming. During its first 100 years, the
The following is a reprint from Grit: America’s Greatest Family Newspaper Plain Talk for a Nation January 7, 1945 The United States Army has suffered a major setback in Western Europe. This must be admitted, no matter how the terrific battle in Belgium swings from now on. The Germans have achieved a major objective, the
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
