Where The Valley Towns Got Their Names

Ever wonder how our local towns got their names?  Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes, even when you hear the stories behind the names, it's still a bit of a mystery.  Towns were named for European towns, Indian words,  prominent families, animals, and one local town was named after a poem.  

Montandon was originally named Cameronia, for William Cameron, but that was changed later to Montandon, either because of a watch found in a well, or for a "famous" Hugeunot Leader, or some combination of the two.

Dewart & Allenwood were both originally called Uniontown, according to local history records and the town signs.  But on the early Northumberland county maps, Dewart is shown as Eastport.  Dewart is in Northumberland County, and Allenwood is in Union County, but a bridge connected the two towns, so perhaps that's where the "Uniontown" name came from?

Montour County was named for Madame Montour, a french woman who married an Indian named Roland Montour.  She served as an Indian interpreter.
Northumberland county was named for Northumberland County England
Sunbury was named for Sunbury England
New Berlin was named for Berlin, Germany. (During WWI, there was a town meeting held to discuss changing that name)

Elysburg was named for the Ely family
Lewisburg was once Derrstown, for founder Ludwig Derr
Watsontown was named for John Watson, who founded the town.

Mazeppa was formerly known as Boyertown, but there were simply too many Boyertowns in Pa and it became very condusing.  
Postal authorities ordered the town to change their name.  The schoolmaster, Clement Edmunds, chose Mazeppa from a poem he had recently read.

Buffalo Twp is one of the biggest debates in town names.  There's a legend that a soldier named Kelly killed the last Buffalo in the valley during the American Revolution.
Another story is that a mapmaker in Philadelphia arbitraily names the creek Buffalo Creek in the 1750s.  Or, there's the version that many were traveling west and saw buffalo at the time, so when they came back to the area, they were inspired to use Buffalo when naming things.
Were there ever buffalo roaming the Susquehanna Valley?  Maybe.  No one knows for sure.

White deer was named for a legendary white deer that lived on the mountain.  Pie bald and albino deer are still seen in the area, so that one may be true.

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In 1967, the Sun Gazette published a list of Lycoming County post offices

 that existed in 1892 [75 years prior]

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Find More Local History Here

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/p/history.html