History of Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Williamsport
was incorporated as a borough
on March 1, 1806, and as a city on January 15, 1866. The city is the original home of Little League
Baseball, founded in 1939 as a three-team league.
In the late 19th century, when Williamsport was known as "The Lumber Capital of the World" because of its thriving lumber
industry, it also was the birthplace of the national newspaper Grit
in 1882. Williamsport once had more millionaires per-capita than anywhere in the world. The area's local high school, the Williamsport Area High School, uses The Millionaires as its mascot.
Michael Ross was born in Scotland
on July 12, 1759. He and his mother migrated across the Atlantic Ocean in 1772 and landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. They became indentured servants to Samuel Wallis, known as the "Land King" of the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley. Wallis had extensive holdings in Muncy Township
. Wallis brought Michael Ross and his mother to Muncy Township where Ross was trained as a surveyor
's assistant. Michael Ross must have made a good impression upon Wallis, since Wallis gave Ross 109 acre (0.44110774 km²) of land and a favorable letter of recommendation. Ross quickly became a successful surveyor and farmer
. He was able to use his profits to purchase 285 acres (1.2 km²) of land along the West Branch Susquehanna River
, between Loyalsock
and Lycoming Creek
s. This land originally called "Virginia" was to in time become Williamsport, the county seat
of Lycoming County.
William Hepburn was in County Donegal
, Ireland in 1753. He migrated to the Thirteen Colonies
in 1773 or 1774. Hepburn lived in the Sunbury
area for a short time before moving up the West Branch Susquehanna River to what is now Duboistown
where he worked for Andrew Culbertson in digging the race for Culbertson's Mill. Hepburn also joined the local militia
. During the American Revolution
, the West Branch Valley came under attack from Loyalist
and Indian forces. These attacks were known as the Big Runaway
in 1778 and the later Little Runaway in 1779. Hepburn rose to the position of colonel
and was the commanding officer at Fort Muncy, Samuel Wallis' fortified home in Muncy Township. Hepburn, reportedly, gave the orders to Robert Covenhoven and Rachel Silverthorn to spread the word of the impending attacks. Following the Big Runaway, Hepburn kept a permanent connection with the Covenhoven family by marrying, Crecy Covenhoven, the sister of Robert. Hepburn also bought 300 acres (1.2 km²) of land, to the west of Ross' holdings. His land, known as "Deer Park", combined with Ross' "Virginia" would eventually become Williamsport.
. Although Muncy was and still is in Lycoming County it was not considered as an option for county seathood, possibly due to its proximity to the southern and eastern borders of the county. Jaysburg's buildings were sufficient enough to serve as the first courthouse and jail
in the history of Lycoming County. It seemed to be the most logical place for establishing a county seat and many of its residents were quite sure that their town would indeed be the county seat. This was not to be. The county seat was awarded to a new community across the creek and Jaysburg soon disappeared from the map and its land was absorbed by the new city of Williamsport.
One of the first county judges, William Hepburn, owned the land on the opposite shore of Jaysburg that was known as Deer Park. Another land speculator, Michael Ross owned 285 acres (1.2 km²) of land in what is now the central part of Williamsport. Ross had laid out a town on his property and a few homes were being built. Ross and Hepburn would team together to create Williamsport from land that was swampy and thought to be uninhabitable by the Susquehannock
s who had originally inhabited the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley. Ross wanted to sell his properties and rightly believed that they would quickly sell if his town was made county seat. Hepburn desired for political power, had little money by which to gain that power, but had a lot of land, land that could also be sold if Williamsport were to become the county seat.
The citizens of Jaysburg saw the attempts by Hepburn and Ross as a threat and they fought back. They believed that Jaysburg was much better suited to be the seat of government. It was already well established and held the higher and drier land. They firmly believed that Williamsport would be frequently flooded and that the swamps would carry deadly diseases. The Jaysburgers sought to prove their point by sending an affidavit to the state capital stating that the land was prone to flooding and thereby unsuitable to be the county seat. A resident of Northumberland
wrote a sworn affidavit that he had once "tied up" his boat on a point of land on what is now East Third and State Streets in downtown Williamsport. He accessed it by way of a "gut" or an arm of the river that backflowed into the land. The affidavit was the proof that the Jaysburg interests needed to discredit Williamsport as a possible location for the county seat. Hepburn and Ross heard of this potentially financially devastating document and sought to have it destroyed before it reached the state government. It is supposed that men working for Hepburn and Ross met up with the messenger bearing the affidavit at the Russell Inn on the corner of East Third and Mulberry Streets in Williamsport and got him intoxicated. Then they are said to have cut open his saddle bags and made off with the documents. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/pa/county/lycoming/history/Chapter-13.html
The state commissioners by this time had begun to grow very weary of the rivalry between Jaysburg and Williamsport. They began to consider a third possibility for the county seat, a new village that was further up the West Branch Susquehanna River west of the mouth of Pine Creek
in what is now Clinton County
. The town of Dunnsburg even went as far as offering, free of charge, lots on which to build the buildings that would be required by the county government. It appeared as if the state commissioners would choose neither Williamsport nor Jaysburg, instead choosing the outpost of Dunnsburg. This is when Judge Hepburn and Michael Ross set out their plan that ultimately led towards Williamsport being named the county seat.
Hepburn convinced Ross to offer lots of his property to the state commissioners for the building of a county courthouse
and jail. This he believed would induce the state commissioners to give the seathood to Williamsport. Ross is stated to have had litte interest in politics, but being a good businessman was interested in selling his land. Ross agreed to Hepburn's suggestion and the lots were offered to the state commission. The state commission accepted the lots and Williamsport was finally named the county seat
of Lycoming County.
When Williamsport was established as the county seat it was little more than a few cabins spread here and there in the aforementioned swampy areas. Jaysburg served as the de facto
county seat for several years after Williamsport was "officially" named the seat of government for Lycoming County. This delay became a cause for concern to the residents of county and the state government in Philadelphia
. The county commissioners delayed in constructing a courthouse and jail in Williamsport until 1799. The jail was finally opened in 1801. Next the commsissioners approved the construction of the county courthouse in Williamsport. Construction also began in 1800 and work was completed in late 1804, nearly ten years after Williamsport was named the county seat.
is opened on what is now the site of Calvary United Methodist Church on West Fourth Street.
1786 - The first house was built in Williamsport. James Russell built his inn on what is now the corner of East Third and Mulberry Streets in downtown. It served as the first courthouse in Williamsport.
1796 - The first recorded childbirth in Williamsport was James Russell the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Russell and grandson of James Russell of the Russell Inn.
1796 - The first school is built as a one room log addition to the building that would eventually become the first Lycoming County Courthouse. Caleb Bailey was the first teacher.
1799 - The first post office
is built at the corner of Third and State Streets in what is now downtown. The post office was later converted to a saloon.
1875 - The first tower clock to sound the Cambridge Quarters is installed at Trinity Episcopal Church (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
(1824–1888) was a lumber baron
, entrepreneur
, inventor, politician, and philanthropist
in Victorian era
Williamsport. He was the youngest of seven children born to Henry and Elizabeth Herdic on December 14, 1824 in Fort Plain, New York
. Herdic's father died in 1826 and Elizabeth Herdic remarried shortly thereafter. She was widowed again prior to 1837 when she moved her family to Pipe Creek, New York near Ithaca
. Herdic attended school for just a few years while he worked on his mother's 50 acres (202,343 m²) farm. He left his mother's farm in 1846 and arrived in Lycoming County later that same year and settled in Cogan House Township
. Herdic would go on to become one of the wealthiest men in Pennsylvania. He was a major figure on the development of the lumber industry throughout North Central Pennsylvania. Herdic donated large amounts of land and money to various churches, for example, Trinity Episcopal Church (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
. Peter Herdic is the inventor of the Herdic
cab, a precursor to the taxi
. It was a two wheeled horse drawn carriage
with side seats and a rear entrance. Peter Herdic died on February 2, 1888 as the result of a concussion sustained when he slipped and fell on ice while inspecting his waterworks
in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
.
was a system of cribs in the West Branch Susquehanna River
designed to hold timber
in the river until it could be processed at one of the nearly 60 sawmill
s along the West Branch Susquehanna River between Lycoming
and Loyalsock Creek
s in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
in the United States. The boom was constructed in 1846 under the supervision of James H. Perkins.
A boom is "a barrier composed of a chain of floating logs enclosing other free-floating logs, typically used to catch floating debris or to obstruct passage". The Susquehanna Boom extended seven miles (11 km) upstream from Duboistown
to the village of Linden in Woodward Township
. The boom was constructed by creating a series of man-made islands known as "cribs". These cribs built of local mountain stone and sunken timber were stretched diagonally across the river, beginning on the south side near Duboistown and ending on the north side near Linden. The boom was made of 352 separate cribs that were 22 feet (7 m) high. The boom was opened and closed at the upper end by a device known as a "sheer boom." It was 1000 feet (304.8 m) long and was controlled with a hand-powered windlass
. The sheer boom gathered the logs into the main boom that was capable of holding up to 300000000 board feet (707,921.1 m³) of logs. The lower end of the boom was where the logs were sorted. The mills in Williamsport, South Williamsport
, and Duboistown each had their own distinctive brand burnt into the logs. The men working at the end of the boom would sort the logs according to their corresponding brand and float them into the correct holding pond along the bank of the river. During the height of the lumber industry in Lycoming County, 1861–1891, the various mills produced 5500000000 board feet (12,978,553.5 m³) of lumber. Williamsport became one of the most prosperous cities in Pennsylvania and in the United States. Men like James H. Perkins, Peter Herdic
, and Mahlon Fisher became millionaire
s while many of the men who actually worked in the river struggled to survive on the wages paid to them by the lumber barons.
based in Loyalsock Township and Williamsport He was the owner of a barge
on the Pennsylvania Canal
and transported lumber
from Williamsport
on the West Branch Susquehanna River
to Havre de Grace, Maryland
. Hughes hid runaway slaves in the hold of his barge on his return trip up the Susquehanna River
to Lycoming County where he provided shelter on his property near the Loyalsock Township
border with Williamsport before moving further north and to eventual freedom
in Canada. Hughes' home was located in a hollow or small valley in the mountains just north of Williamsport. This hollow is now known as Freedom Road having previously been called Nigger Hollow. In response to the actions of concerned African American citizens of Williamsport, the pejorative
name was formally changed by the Williamsport City Council in 1936.
Grit
was a newspaper founded in 1882 as the Saturday edition of the Williamsport, Daily Sun and Banner. In 1885, the name was purchased for $1000 by 25-year-old German immigrant Dietrick Lamade, who established a circulation of 4000 during the first year. He operated from a third-floor single room, moving down to a storefront location in 1886, establishing a weekly circulation of 20,000 by 1887.
With rapid expansion, a horse-drawn wagon of Remington typewriter
s was delivered to the Grit offices in 1892. Displaying news and features aimed at rural
America, Grit climbed to a weekly circulation of 100,000 by 1900, following an editorial policy outlined by Lamade during a banquet for Grits employees.
A familiar newspaper in small towns across the United States for over a century, Grit became a national institution. By the time of its 50th anniversary in 1932, 400,000 people bought the newspaper each week. That number had increased to 500,000 by 1934. Lamade, who retired in 1936, died in 1938, and his son, George Lamade, became the editor with grandson Howard Lamade, Jr. serving as Grits production manager. Another son, Howard J. Lamade, was vice president, and also served as a top executive with Little League Baseball
, helping to build it into a national institution. The main stadium used for the Little League World Series
, built on land donated by the Lamade family, is named Howard J. Lamade Stadium
in his memory. Grit went to a tabloid format in 1944.
Grit was a pioneer in the introduction of offset printing
. It was one of the first newspapers in the United States to run color photographs, with the first full color picture (of the American flag
) appearing on the front page in June, 1963. At its peak in 1969, Grit had a total circulation of 1.5 million weekly copies.
For decades Grit had published both a national edition and a local edition. The local edition was the Sunday newspaper for Williamsport and Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
, and was circulated in 13 other counties in north-central Pennsylvania as well. This edition stopped publication in the early 1990s (and only then did the Williamsport Sun Gazette
begin producing a Sunday paper).
owned by C.M. Baker on what was then called Black Horse Alley, now known as East Church Street, just east of Williamsport's downtown
. Strong winds blowing from the south caused the fire to spread very quickly. The fire which began at 8:00 p.m. spread to the north and west. It consumed what was known as "Center Square" at the intersection of East Third and Mulberry Streets.
The Great Fire of 1871 caused more than $300,000 worth of damage. It was the worst fire to ever hit the downtown area in terms of area burned. The local landmarks that were damaged or destroyed by the fire included an old log building at the corner of Third and Mulberry, the Russell Inn, this inn served as the first courthouse
in Williamsport and the Wayne Train Station where an entire train of ten to fifteen cars and its engine was burned. Business destroyed by the fire included a confectionery shop, a millinery
and the Wavery House Inn. In addition to destroying several business many private homes of some of the leading citizens were destroyed by the fire. One church, the Mulberry Street Methodist Episcopal church was destroyed. It had just been rebuilt after having been destroyed by another fire just three years earlier.
The competing fire department
s of Williamsport made the situation surrounding the fire. The various fire departments competed with each other for the honor of fighting the fire and the money that went with successfully putting the fire out. They competed for access to the hydrants and even fought one another for the water that was needed to fight the fire was the fire raged around them and spread over many city blocks.
The exact cause of the fire has never been found. All that is known for sure is that it started in that stable on Black Horse Alley. In the immediate aftermath of the fire many "theories" about the cause of the fire abounded. One theory pointed to disgruntled Confederate
sympathizers or infiltrators. The followers of the Southern cause were implicated in setting the fire as vengeance for their loss in the American Civil War
which had just ended 6 year prior. Another theory placed the blame on newly arrived European immigrants. These immigrants were cited as possible arsonists because of their religious beliefs. They had remained at home while the "leading citizens" of Williamsport were temporarily out of town attending a revival
camp meeting
.
The Great Fire of 1871 was far from the last fire to destroy parts of downtown Williamsport, but it was the most devastating and controversial. The fire destroyed many historical landmarks and exposed a bias towards newly arrived European migrants that was fairly common throughout the United States during the Industrial Revolution
.
had come true.
The first Little League game took place on June 6, 1939. Lundy Lumber defeated Lycoming Dairy 23-8. Lycoming Dairy came back to claim the league championship. They, the first half season champions, defeated Lundy Lumber the second half champs in a best of three season ending series. The following year a second league was formed in Williamsport and from there Little League Baseball grew from a three teams in a small Pennsylvania town to an international organization of nearly 200,000 teams in every U.S. State and over 80 countries all around the world.
, Hart Building
, Millionaire's Row Historic District
, City Hall
, Williamsport Armory
, and Old City Hall
are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...
was incorporated as a borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
on March 1, 1806, and as a city on January 15, 1866. The city is the original home of Little League
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...
Baseball, founded in 1939 as a three-team league.
In the late 19th century, when Williamsport was known as "The Lumber Capital of the World" because of its thriving lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
industry, it also was the birthplace of the national newspaper Grit
Grit (newspaper)
Grit is a magazine, formerly a weekly newspaper, popular in rural areas throughout the United States during much of the 20th century. It carried the subtitle America's Greatest Family Newspaper. In the early 1930s, it targeted small town and rural families with 14 pages plus a fiction supplement...
in 1882. Williamsport once had more millionaires per-capita than anywhere in the world. The area's local high school, the Williamsport Area High School, uses The Millionaires as its mascot.
Founding fathers
The founding fathers of Williamsport were Michael Ross and William Hepburn. Both men played a great role in the formation of Lycoming County and the establishment of Williamsport as the county seat.Michael Ross was born in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on July 12, 1759. He and his mother migrated across the Atlantic Ocean in 1772 and landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. They became indentured servants to Samuel Wallis, known as the "Land King" of the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley. Wallis had extensive holdings in Muncy Township
Muncy Township, Pennsylvania
Muncy Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 1,059 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.The unincorporated village of Pennsdale is located here...
. Wallis brought Michael Ross and his mother to Muncy Township where Ross was trained as a surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
's assistant. Michael Ross must have made a good impression upon Wallis, since Wallis gave Ross 109 acre (0.44110774 km²) of land and a favorable letter of recommendation. Ross quickly became a successful surveyor and farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
. He was able to use his profits to purchase 285 acres (1.2 km²) of land along the West Branch Susquehanna River
West Branch Susquehanna River
The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the extension of the main branch, with the shorter West Branch...
, between Loyalsock
Loyalsock Creek
Loyalsock Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located chiefly in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States...
and Lycoming Creek
Lycoming Creek
Lycoming Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States.-Geography:...
s. This land originally called "Virginia" was to in time become Williamsport, the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Lycoming County.
William Hepburn was in County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland in 1753. He migrated to the Thirteen Colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
in 1773 or 1774. Hepburn lived in the Sunbury
Sunbury, Pennsylvania
Sunbury is a city in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, just downstream of the confluence of its main and West branches. The population was 9,905 at the 2010 census...
area for a short time before moving up the West Branch Susquehanna River to what is now Duboistown
Duboistown, Pennsylvania
Duboistown is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,280 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
where he worked for Andrew Culbertson in digging the race for Culbertson's Mill. Hepburn also joined the local militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
. During the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, the West Branch Valley came under attack from Loyalist
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
and Indian forces. These attacks were known as the Big Runaway
Big Runaway
The Big Runaway occurred in 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, when settlements throughout the West Branch Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania in what became the United States were attacked by Loyalists and Native Americans allied with the British...
in 1778 and the later Little Runaway in 1779. Hepburn rose to the position of colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and was the commanding officer at Fort Muncy, Samuel Wallis' fortified home in Muncy Township. Hepburn, reportedly, gave the orders to Robert Covenhoven and Rachel Silverthorn to spread the word of the impending attacks. Following the Big Runaway, Hepburn kept a permanent connection with the Covenhoven family by marrying, Crecy Covenhoven, the sister of Robert. Hepburn also bought 300 acres (1.2 km²) of land, to the west of Ross' holdings. His land, known as "Deer Park", combined with Ross' "Virginia" would eventually become Williamsport.
Selection of Williamsport as the county seat
The selection of Williamsport as county seat was a major controversy in the early history of Lycoming County. It involved a bitter rivalry between an old frontier town and an upstart town that was built on a swamp. The first commissioners and officers of Lycoming County had their first offices and held their first court in Jaysburg (now part of the Newberry section of Williamsport). Jaysburg was on the western side of Lycoming Creek on a high piece of land. The land to the east of Lycoming Creek was known as "Deer Park" and was quite swampy. Jaysburg was at the time the only sizeable village west of MuncyMuncy, Pennsylvania
For other places named 'Muncy', please see Muncy .Muncy is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The name Muncy comes from the Munsee Indians who once lived in the area. The population was 2,663 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania...
. Although Muncy was and still is in Lycoming County it was not considered as an option for county seathood, possibly due to its proximity to the southern and eastern borders of the county. Jaysburg's buildings were sufficient enough to serve as the first courthouse and jail
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
in the history of Lycoming County. It seemed to be the most logical place for establishing a county seat and many of its residents were quite sure that their town would indeed be the county seat. This was not to be. The county seat was awarded to a new community across the creek and Jaysburg soon disappeared from the map and its land was absorbed by the new city of Williamsport.
One of the first county judges, William Hepburn, owned the land on the opposite shore of Jaysburg that was known as Deer Park. Another land speculator, Michael Ross owned 285 acres (1.2 km²) of land in what is now the central part of Williamsport. Ross had laid out a town on his property and a few homes were being built. Ross and Hepburn would team together to create Williamsport from land that was swampy and thought to be uninhabitable by the Susquehannock
Susquehannock
The Susquehannock people were Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries from the southern part of what is now New York, through Pennsylvania, to the mouth of the Susquehanna in Maryland at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay...
s who had originally inhabited the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley. Ross wanted to sell his properties and rightly believed that they would quickly sell if his town was made county seat. Hepburn desired for political power, had little money by which to gain that power, but had a lot of land, land that could also be sold if Williamsport were to become the county seat.
The citizens of Jaysburg saw the attempts by Hepburn and Ross as a threat and they fought back. They believed that Jaysburg was much better suited to be the seat of government. It was already well established and held the higher and drier land. They firmly believed that Williamsport would be frequently flooded and that the swamps would carry deadly diseases. The Jaysburgers sought to prove their point by sending an affidavit to the state capital stating that the land was prone to flooding and thereby unsuitable to be the county seat. A resident of Northumberland
Northumberland, Pennsylvania
Northumberland is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,714 at the 2000 census.-History:Northumberland was founded in 1772. The land that became Northumberland was purchased from the Iroquois in the first Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768, and the...
wrote a sworn affidavit that he had once "tied up" his boat on a point of land on what is now East Third and State Streets in downtown Williamsport. He accessed it by way of a "gut" or an arm of the river that backflowed into the land. The affidavit was the proof that the Jaysburg interests needed to discredit Williamsport as a possible location for the county seat. Hepburn and Ross heard of this potentially financially devastating document and sought to have it destroyed before it reached the state government. It is supposed that men working for Hepburn and Ross met up with the messenger bearing the affidavit at the Russell Inn on the corner of East Third and Mulberry Streets in Williamsport and got him intoxicated. Then they are said to have cut open his saddle bags and made off with the documents. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/pa/county/lycoming/history/Chapter-13.html
The state commissioners by this time had begun to grow very weary of the rivalry between Jaysburg and Williamsport. They began to consider a third possibility for the county seat, a new village that was further up the West Branch Susquehanna River west of the mouth of Pine Creek
Pine Creek (Pennsylvania)
Pine Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. The creek is long...
in what is now Clinton County
Clinton County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 37,914 people, 14,773 households, and 9,927 families residing in the county. The population density was 43 people per square mile . There were 18,166 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile...
. The town of Dunnsburg even went as far as offering, free of charge, lots on which to build the buildings that would be required by the county government. It appeared as if the state commissioners would choose neither Williamsport nor Jaysburg, instead choosing the outpost of Dunnsburg. This is when Judge Hepburn and Michael Ross set out their plan that ultimately led towards Williamsport being named the county seat.
Hepburn convinced Ross to offer lots of his property to the state commissioners for the building of a county courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
and jail. This he believed would induce the state commissioners to give the seathood to Williamsport. Ross is stated to have had litte interest in politics, but being a good businessman was interested in selling his land. Ross agreed to Hepburn's suggestion and the lots were offered to the state commission. The state commission accepted the lots and Williamsport was finally named the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Lycoming County.
When Williamsport was established as the county seat it was little more than a few cabins spread here and there in the aforementioned swampy areas. Jaysburg served as the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
county seat for several years after Williamsport was "officially" named the seat of government for Lycoming County. This delay became a cause for concern to the residents of county and the state government in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. The county commissioners delayed in constructing a courthouse and jail in Williamsport until 1799. The jail was finally opened in 1801. Next the commsissioners approved the construction of the county courthouse in Williamsport. Construction also began in 1800 and work was completed in late 1804, nearly ten years after Williamsport was named the county seat.
City "firsts"
1778 - The first purpose built cemeteryCemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
is opened on what is now the site of Calvary United Methodist Church on West Fourth Street.
1786 - The first house was built in Williamsport. James Russell built his inn on what is now the corner of East Third and Mulberry Streets in downtown. It served as the first courthouse in Williamsport.
1796 - The first recorded childbirth in Williamsport was James Russell the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Russell and grandson of James Russell of the Russell Inn.
1796 - The first school is built as a one room log addition to the building that would eventually become the first Lycoming County Courthouse. Caleb Bailey was the first teacher.
1799 - The first post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
is built at the corner of Third and State Streets in what is now downtown. The post office was later converted to a saloon.
1875 - The first tower clock to sound the Cambridge Quarters is installed at Trinity Episcopal Church (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
Trinity Episcopal Church (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
Trinity Episcopal Church is an historic church located in north-central Pennsylvania, at 844 West Fourth Street, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Built in 1875 and consecrated in February 1876, it is the largest of the Episcopal churches in the city. Preservation Williamsport includes the church on its...
Peter Herdic
Peter HerdicPeter Herdic
Peter Herdic was a lumber baron, entrepreneur, inventor, politician, and philanthropist in Victorian era Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. He was the youngest of seven children born to Henry and Elizabeth Herdic on December 14, 1824 in Fort Plain, New York. Herdic's...
(1824–1888) was a lumber baron
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
, entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, inventor, politician, and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
in Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
Williamsport. He was the youngest of seven children born to Henry and Elizabeth Herdic on December 14, 1824 in Fort Plain, New York
Fort Plain, New York
Fort Plain is a village in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 2,288. The village is named after a fort built during the American Revolution....
. Herdic's father died in 1826 and Elizabeth Herdic remarried shortly thereafter. She was widowed again prior to 1837 when she moved her family to Pipe Creek, New York near Ithaca
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
. Herdic attended school for just a few years while he worked on his mother's 50 acres (202,343 m²) farm. He left his mother's farm in 1846 and arrived in Lycoming County later that same year and settled in Cogan House Township
Cogan House Township, Pennsylvania
Cogan House Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 974 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
. Herdic would go on to become one of the wealthiest men in Pennsylvania. He was a major figure on the development of the lumber industry throughout North Central Pennsylvania. Herdic donated large amounts of land and money to various churches, for example, Trinity Episcopal Church (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
Trinity Episcopal Church (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
Trinity Episcopal Church is an historic church located in north-central Pennsylvania, at 844 West Fourth Street, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Built in 1875 and consecrated in February 1876, it is the largest of the Episcopal churches in the city. Preservation Williamsport includes the church on its...
. Peter Herdic is the inventor of the Herdic
Herdic
A herdic is a type of horse-drawn carriage, used as an omnibus, invented by Peter Herdic of Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in 1881....
cab, a precursor to the taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
. It was a two wheeled horse drawn carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
with side seats and a rear entrance. Peter Herdic died on February 2, 1888 as the result of a concussion sustained when he slipped and fell on ice while inspecting his waterworks
WaterWorks
WaterWorks is a water park owned by Cedar Fair, located at the back of Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. When it debuted in 1992, it was originally named Hurricane Reef...
in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Huntingdon County. It is located along the Juniata River, west of Harrisburg, about halfway between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, in an agricultural and fruit-growing region, with valuable forests and deposits of...
.
Susquehanna Boom
The Susquehanna BoomSusquehanna Boom
The Susquehanna Boom was a system of cribs and chained logs in the West Branch Susquehanna River, designed to catch and hold floating timber until it could be processed at one of the nearly 60 sawmills along the river between Lycoming and Loyalsock Creeks in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the...
was a system of cribs in the West Branch Susquehanna River
West Branch Susquehanna River
The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the extension of the main branch, with the shorter West Branch...
designed to hold timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
in the river until it could be processed at one of the nearly 60 sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s along the West Branch Susquehanna River between Lycoming
Lycoming Creek
Lycoming Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States.-Geography:...
and Loyalsock Creek
Loyalsock Creek
Loyalsock Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located chiefly in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States...
s in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
-Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Plateau:Lycoming County is divided between the Appalachian Mountains in the south, the dissected Allegheny Plateau in the north and east, and the valley of the West Branch Susquehanna River between these.-West Branch Susquehanna River:The West Branch of the...
in the United States. The boom was constructed in 1846 under the supervision of James H. Perkins.
A boom is "a barrier composed of a chain of floating logs enclosing other free-floating logs, typically used to catch floating debris or to obstruct passage". The Susquehanna Boom extended seven miles (11 km) upstream from Duboistown
Duboistown, Pennsylvania
Duboistown is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,280 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
to the village of Linden in Woodward Township
Woodward Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Woodward Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 2,397 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
. The boom was constructed by creating a series of man-made islands known as "cribs". These cribs built of local mountain stone and sunken timber were stretched diagonally across the river, beginning on the south side near Duboistown and ending on the north side near Linden. The boom was made of 352 separate cribs that were 22 feet (7 m) high. The boom was opened and closed at the upper end by a device known as a "sheer boom." It was 1000 feet (304.8 m) long and was controlled with a hand-powered windlass
Windlass
The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder , which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt...
. The sheer boom gathered the logs into the main boom that was capable of holding up to 300000000 board feet (707,921.1 m³) of logs. The lower end of the boom was where the logs were sorted. The mills in Williamsport, South Williamsport
South Williamsport, Pennsylvania
South Williamsport is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,412 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, and Duboistown each had their own distinctive brand burnt into the logs. The men working at the end of the boom would sort the logs according to their corresponding brand and float them into the correct holding pond along the bank of the river. During the height of the lumber industry in Lycoming County, 1861–1891, the various mills produced 5500000000 board feet (12,978,553.5 m³) of lumber. Williamsport became one of the most prosperous cities in Pennsylvania and in the United States. Men like James H. Perkins, Peter Herdic
Peter Herdic
Peter Herdic was a lumber baron, entrepreneur, inventor, politician, and philanthropist in Victorian era Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. He was the youngest of seven children born to Henry and Elizabeth Herdic on December 14, 1824 in Fort Plain, New York. Herdic's...
, and Mahlon Fisher became millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
s while many of the men who actually worked in the river struggled to survive on the wages paid to them by the lumber barons.
Daniel Hughes
Daniel Hughes was a conductor in the Underground RailroadUnderground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
based in Loyalsock Township and Williamsport He was the owner of a barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
on the Pennsylvania Canal
Pennsylvania Canal
Pennsylvania Canal refers generally to a complex system of canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and other infrastructure including, in some cases, railroads in Pennsylvania...
and transported lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
from Williamsport
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...
on the West Branch Susquehanna River
West Branch Susquehanna River
The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the extension of the main branch, with the shorter West Branch...
to Havre de Grace, Maryland
Havre de Grace, Maryland
Havre de Grace is a city in Harford County, Maryland, United States. Located at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of the Chesapeake Bay, Havre de Grace is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which was first named Le Havre de Grâce, meaning in French "Harbor of Grace." As...
. Hughes hid runaway slaves in the hold of his barge on his return trip up the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
to Lycoming County where he provided shelter on his property near the Loyalsock Township
Loyalsock Township, Pennsylvania
Loyalsock Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 10,876 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
border with Williamsport before moving further north and to eventual freedom
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
in Canada. Hughes' home was located in a hollow or small valley in the mountains just north of Williamsport. This hollow is now known as Freedom Road having previously been called Nigger Hollow. In response to the actions of concerned African American citizens of Williamsport, the pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
name was formally changed by the Williamsport City Council in 1936.
Grit
Grit (newspaper)
Grit is a magazine, formerly a weekly newspaper, popular in rural areas throughout the United States during much of the 20th century. It carried the subtitle America's Greatest Family Newspaper. In the early 1930s, it targeted small town and rural families with 14 pages plus a fiction supplement...
was a newspaper founded in 1882 as the Saturday edition of the Williamsport, Daily Sun and Banner. In 1885, the name was purchased for $1000 by 25-year-old German immigrant Dietrick Lamade, who established a circulation of 4000 during the first year. He operated from a third-floor single room, moving down to a storefront location in 1886, establishing a weekly circulation of 20,000 by 1887.
With rapid expansion, a horse-drawn wagon of Remington typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
s was delivered to the Grit offices in 1892. Displaying news and features aimed at rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
America, Grit climbed to a weekly circulation of 100,000 by 1900, following an editorial policy outlined by Lamade during a banquet for Grits employees.
A familiar newspaper in small towns across the United States for over a century, Grit became a national institution. By the time of its 50th anniversary in 1932, 400,000 people bought the newspaper each week. That number had increased to 500,000 by 1934. Lamade, who retired in 1936, died in 1938, and his son, George Lamade, became the editor with grandson Howard Lamade, Jr. serving as Grits production manager. Another son, Howard J. Lamade, was vice president, and also served as a top executive with Little League Baseball
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...
, helping to build it into a national institution. The main stadium used for the Little League World Series
Little League World Series
The Little League Baseball World Series is a baseball tournament for children aged 11 to 13 years old. It was originally called the National Little League Tournament and was later renamed for the World Series in Major League Baseball. It was first held in 1947 and is held every August in South...
, built on land donated by the Lamade family, is named Howard J. Lamade Stadium
Howard J. Lamade Stadium
Howard J. Lamade Stadium is a baseball stadium in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Each year, it hosts the Little League World Series, along with Little League Volunteer Stadium. Lamade Stadium was built in 1959 and holds 40,000 people, most of whom sit on the outfield berms...
in his memory. Grit went to a tabloid format in 1944.
Grit was a pioneer in the introduction of offset printing
Offset printing
Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface...
. It was one of the first newspapers in the United States to run color photographs, with the first full color picture (of the American flag
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
) appearing on the front page in June, 1963. At its peak in 1969, Grit had a total circulation of 1.5 million weekly copies.
For decades Grit had published both a national edition and a local edition. The local edition was the Sunday newspaper for Williamsport and Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
-Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Plateau:Lycoming County is divided between the Appalachian Mountains in the south, the dissected Allegheny Plateau in the north and east, and the valley of the West Branch Susquehanna River between these.-West Branch Susquehanna River:The West Branch of the...
, and was circulated in 13 other counties in north-central Pennsylvania as well. This edition stopped publication in the early 1990s (and only then did the Williamsport Sun Gazette
Williamsport Sun Gazette
The Williamsport Sun-Gazette newspaper's history.The newspaper now known as the Williamsport Sun-Gazette was founded in 1801 as The Lycoming Gazette. This nation was only 25 years old at the time and there were only 131 residents in Williamsport. The newspaper was started in a building in what is...
begin producing a Sunday paper).
Fire of 1871
Williamsport was devastated by a fire on August 20, 1871. The headlines of the local newspapers called it a "Terrible Conflagration" and a "Great Fire." The fire was started in a stableStable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
owned by C.M. Baker on what was then called Black Horse Alley, now known as East Church Street, just east of Williamsport's downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
. Strong winds blowing from the south caused the fire to spread very quickly. The fire which began at 8:00 p.m. spread to the north and west. It consumed what was known as "Center Square" at the intersection of East Third and Mulberry Streets.
The Great Fire of 1871 caused more than $300,000 worth of damage. It was the worst fire to ever hit the downtown area in terms of area burned. The local landmarks that were damaged or destroyed by the fire included an old log building at the corner of Third and Mulberry, the Russell Inn, this inn served as the first courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
in Williamsport and the Wayne Train Station where an entire train of ten to fifteen cars and its engine was burned. Business destroyed by the fire included a confectionery shop, a millinery
Hat
A hat is a head covering. It can be worn for protection against the elements, for ceremonial or religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status...
and the Wavery House Inn. In addition to destroying several business many private homes of some of the leading citizens were destroyed by the fire. One church, the Mulberry Street Methodist Episcopal church was destroyed. It had just been rebuilt after having been destroyed by another fire just three years earlier.
The competing fire department
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
s of Williamsport made the situation surrounding the fire. The various fire departments competed with each other for the honor of fighting the fire and the money that went with successfully putting the fire out. They competed for access to the hydrants and even fought one another for the water that was needed to fight the fire was the fire raged around them and spread over many city blocks.
The exact cause of the fire has never been found. All that is known for sure is that it started in that stable on Black Horse Alley. In the immediate aftermath of the fire many "theories" about the cause of the fire abounded. One theory pointed to disgruntled Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
sympathizers or infiltrators. The followers of the Southern cause were implicated in setting the fire as vengeance for their loss in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
which had just ended 6 year prior. Another theory placed the blame on newly arrived European immigrants. These immigrants were cited as possible arsonists because of their religious beliefs. They had remained at home while the "leading citizens" of Williamsport were temporarily out of town attending a revival
Revival meeting
A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held in order to inspire active members of a church body, to raise funds and to gain new converts...
camp meeting
Camp meeting
The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in Britain and once common in some parts of the United States, wherein people would travel from a large area to a particular site to camp out, listen to itinerant preachers, and pray...
.
The Great Fire of 1871 was far from the last fire to destroy parts of downtown Williamsport, but it was the most devastating and controversial. The fire destroyed many historical landmarks and exposed a bias towards newly arrived European migrants that was fairly common throughout the United States during the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
.
Little League Baseball
Carl Stotz, a resident of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, founded Little League Baseball in 1939. He began experimenting with his idea in the summer of 1938 when he gathered his nephews, Jimmy and Major Gehron and their neighborhood friends. They tried different field dimensions over the course of the summer and played several informal games. The following summer Stotz felt that he was ready to establish what became Little League Baseball. The first league in Williamsport had just three teams, each sponsored by a different business. The first teams, Jumbo Pretzel, Lycoming Dairy and Lundy Lumber were managed by Carl Stotz and two of his friends George and Bert Bebble. The men joined by their wives and another couple formed the first ever Little League Board of Directors. Stotz's dream of establishing a baseball league for boys to teach fair play and teamworkTeamwork
Teamwork is action performed by a team towards a common goal. A team consists of more than one person, each of whom typically has different responsibilities....
had come true.
The first Little League game took place on June 6, 1939. Lundy Lumber defeated Lycoming Dairy 23-8. Lycoming Dairy came back to claim the league championship. They, the first half season champions, defeated Lundy Lumber the second half champs in a best of three season ending series. The following year a second league was formed in Williamsport and from there Little League Baseball grew from a three teams in a small Pennsylvania town to an international organization of nearly 200,000 teams in every U.S. State and over 80 countries all around the world.
Historic buildings
The Peter Herdic HousePeter Herdic House
Peter Herdic House is a historic home located at Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1855-1856, and is a 2 1/2-story, brick building, coated in stucco in the Italian Villa style. It features three bay windows on each floor and a distinctive cupola atop the roof...
, Hart Building
Hart Building (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
Hart Building is a historic commercial building located at Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1895, and is a three-story, steel frame building measuring approximately 80 feet by 50 feet. Exterior decorative elements include pressed brickwork, terra cotta, carved stone,...
, Millionaire's Row Historic District
Millionaire's Row Historic District
Millionaire's Row Historic District is a national historic district located at Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. The district includes 263 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site in a residential area of Williamsport. The buildings date as early as 1855, and are representative of...
, City Hall
U.S. Post Office (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
U.S. Post Office, now known as Williamsport City Hall, is a historic city hall located at Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It was built between 1888 and 1891, and is a 2 1/2 to 3-story building, with a 2-story addition and 6-story tower. The exterior is faced with rough-faced gray...
, Williamsport Armory
Williamsport Armory
Williamsport Armory is a historic National Guard armory located at Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It consists of a main armory building and separate auxiliary building. The main armory building has a two-story , brick administration section in the Art Deco style, with an attached...
, and Old City Hall
Williamsport City Hall
Williamsport City Hall, now known as Old City Hall, is a historic city hall located at Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1894, and is a four-story building of yellow brick trimmed in stone, with molded brick ornamentation and terra cotta columns. It is in an eclectic...
are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.