Ricketts is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 that was established as a lumber mill company town

Company town

A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...

 in Sullivan

Sullivan County, Pennsylvania

Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population is 6,428. Sullivan County was created on March 15, 1847, from part of Lycoming County and named for Charles Sullivan, leader of the Pennsylvania Senate...

 and Wyoming

Wyoming County, Pennsylvania

Wyoming County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was created in 1842 from part of Luzerne County. Its county seat is Tunkhannock.-Geography:According to the U.S...

 counties, in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Ricketts was built in 1890 along Mehoopany Creek

Mehoopany Creek

Mehoopany Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Sullivan and Wyoming counties, Pennsylvania, in the United States.Mehoopany Creek rises on the plateau of North Mountain and flows northeast, joining the Susquehanna in the community of North Mehoopany, approximately upstream of the...

 in both Colley Township in Sullivan County and Forkston Township in Wyoming County for 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 of the Trexler and Turrell Lumber Company. It was named for Robert Bruce Ricketts, who owned most of the land and timber around the village, and who was a partner in the company with Harry Clay Trexler

Harry Clay Trexler

Henry Clay Trexler was an American industrialist who built a business empire in Allentown, Pennsylvania.- Early life :...

, J.H. Turrell, and others. Ricketts had 800 inhabitants at its peak and extended into the northernmost section of what is now Ricketts Glen State Park

Ricketts Glen State Park

Ricketts Glen State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Columbia, Luzerne, and Sullivan counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. Ricketts Glen is a National Natural Landmark known for its old-growth forest and 24 named waterfalls along Kitchen Creek, which flows down the Allegheny...

. Rail lines were built to the mills at Ricketts, including the Bowman Creek branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad

Lehigh Valley Railroad

The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...

which opened in 1983. The mills closed in 1913 when the lumber was exhausted and the last house was torn down in the 1930s.