The Mooresburg Hotel

 

The Mooresburg Hotel was one of the first buildings in Mooresburg.

The Bloomsburg Ferry

 
The Bloomsburg Ferry

The ferry was operated by a frenchman by the name of LaFountain.  "youngsters called him 'Frenchie' and he did not like it."

"There were times when a flat boat were used, but the row boat was the more frequent form of transportation. A bell near the ferry was used by prospective passengers to hurry the ferryman to his job."

The Ride To Collect His Bones - Mad Anthony Wayne

Mad Anthony Wayne's Ghostly Ride To Find His Missing Bones

"One tale, dear to every yarn-spinner in these historical parts, tells of "The Rider of the Night," a shadow man on a shadow horse. Believers say the phantom is Mad Anthony Wayne, - brilliant Revolutionary War fighter, whose statue graces Valley Forge Park." It is said that the ghost rider gallops across Pennsylvania, between his two graves, looking for his lost bones.

The truth of Mad Anthony's two graves may be even spookier than than the fiction. 

Pursel Store Fire, 1909 Bloomsburg

On November 10, 1909, a fire destroyed one of the oldest stores in Bloomsburg, the Purcel building at the corner of Main and Market streets.

When Babe Ruth Came To Williamsport

 
From left to right: Dutch Ruether, Babe Ruth, Jack Scott, Jack Tee and Harry Hesse

 (Oil City, PA 10/27/1923 - the day after the group visited Williamsport)

Run For The Diamonds - Berwick's Thanksgiving Marathon

The Annual Berwick Marathon was held for the first time in 1908.  The Run For The Diamonds, occurring on Thanksgiving Morning has been an annual tradition, only missing two years during WW1.

Benton Covered Bridge

 

Spanning Fishing Creek At Benton Pa

================
An Index Of Covered Bridges In The Susquehanna Valley
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-covered-bridges-index.html

Zaners Covered Bridge

Spanned a branch of Fishing Creek at Zaners Pa

Replaced by New Iron Concrete Bridge in 1941

================
An Index Of Covered Bridges In The Susquehanna Valley
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-covered-bridges-index.html

Boene Covered Bridge

 
Boene Covered Bridge
Over Fishing Creek Near Danville

================

An Index Of Covered Bridges In The Susquehanna Valley
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-covered-bridges-index.html

Mordansville Covered Bridge

Mordansville Covered Bridge
10 Panel Burr Arch Truss Bridge
Spanning Little Fishing Creek on Robbins Road

Columbia County Pa

================

An Index Of Covered Bridges In The Susquehanna Valley
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-covered-bridges-index.html

Stillwater Covered Bridge

 

Stillwater Covered Bridge

 N41 09.120 W76 22.036

 is single span Burr Arch with a total length of 168 feet. It is on Fishing Creek Road over Fishing Creek Branch in Stillwater. This historic bridge was built in 1849 and is currently closed to motor traffic.

Columbia County Pa

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An Index Of Covered Bridges In The Susquehanna Valley
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-covered-bridges-index.html

The Mainville Covered Bridge

 Mainville Covered Bridge, 1946

Burr arch 10 panel truss bridge over Catawissa Creek on Mountain Road

Columbia County, Pa
Destroyed by the 1972 Flood

================

An Index Of Covered Bridges In The Susquehanna Valley
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-covered-bridges-index.html

The Millville Covered Bridge

Bridge Over Fishing Creek At Millville

================

An Index Of Covered Bridges In The Susquehanna Valley
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-covered-bridges-index.html

Stoes Silver Cornet Band

Stoe's Silver Cornet Band

===============
 Recently  I was given access to a collection of old band photos.  Rather than stick them in a folder for later, I'm going to put them all online quickly, and then I can come back and fill in the histories at a later date.

Find the Index Of Band Photos Here
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/11/bands-in-susquehanna-valley.html

When The Susquehanna Valley Had A Canal - The North Branch

The North Branch Canal was built in 3 segments.

The first segment  was begun in 1828 and completed in 1831.  It ran 55 miles from Northumberland to Nanticoke Falls.  

In 1834, the 17 mile Wyoming Extension began, running past Wilkes Barre to Pittson.

An additional extension of 97 miles from Pittston to the New York State line was completed in 1856.

Clover, The Oldest Horse In The World

 
Clover, The Oldest Horse In The World
Lived in Catawissa Pa

"At the age of sixteen he was just a horse with his  greatest days apparently behind him and with little about his pain-racked frame to indicate that he had won almost a score of races cm the dirt tracks of neighboring New York-state In much palmier days - But the greatest and by far the happiest days for the animal were ahead of him lie lived for almost two score years after that to attain an ago of almost fifty-three to be heralded as the oldest horse in the world to ride I short-in state-up New York's Broadway to attract thousands to Madison Square Garden : and to become' an attraction! for which Ringling Brothers offered $10000 for one season of travel." - Bloom Press, 1940

Lapackpicton, Old Profile Rock in Danville

 

• Profile rock, Old Lapackpicton, on the Susquehanna near Danville, Pa.

The Daily Item, 1934

"Indian legends also cluster about the streams and hills of Montour County, Columbia's small but beautiful and fertile western neighbor. Lapackpicton is the hero of some of these. His name is preserved through its association with a bold cliff on the right bank, near Danville, which bears a fancied resemblance to a stern Indian face."

Lovers Leap

"Catawissa has its Lover's Leap—a striking ledge of rock, where it is said Minnetunkee, daughter of the Delaware chief, Lapackpicton, met her death. Her father caught her there with a lover whom he did not favor. He fell over the precipice into the river, and she threw herself after him. But if every story of a "lover's leap" along the Susquehanna is to be accepted , leaping precipices must have been an industry that seriously interfered with the growth of the Indian residents."

From  Seeing Pennsylvania, by John Thomson Faris · 1919

This is very similar to  Indian Rock near Catawissa - and I can't decide if they are the same spot or not?  I know they look very different, but the mountain may have been changed when the road was added?  I just don't know.

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2021/09/indian-head-rock-profile-rock-catawissa.html

Here's another view, showing what may be the first photo at the top, and the second, more pronounced figure, at the bottom

1839 Transportation Map

A closer look at the Central Susquehanna Valley as portrayed on the 

1839 Map of New Jersey and Pennsylvania exhibiting the post offices, post roads, canals, rail roads, &c.

Map Key

Note: My intention is to come back later and list the canal routes and railroad routes depicted on this map.  But for now, here are closer views of the map:

The Canal At Northumberland PA - Where West Met North

 
The Canal at Northumberland, Northumberland County Pa

"Here met two famous channels of trade, with the Port of Sunbury on the opposite east bank of ..the river and the  [canals] West Branch Division and North Branch Division tied into one at a basin. "

Watsontown Boot & Shoe

The Watsontown Boot and Shoe Company. 

" The factory of this company was originally established by Joseph Hollopeter, William Wagner, Samuel Caldwell, Frederick Heilman, D. C. Hogne, Samuel Miller, George Burns, and Silas Kirk in connection with the Watsontown Steam Tannery. The business of the tannery and shoe factory was jointly conducted by the same firm until 1872, when the present factory building, a three-story brick structure on the east side of Main street between Second and Third, was erected. After experiencing several changes of ownership it became the property of Ario Pardee, the present owner, who was also at one time individual pro- prietor of the factory. The Watsontown Boot and Shoe Company was formed in 1885, and is composed of H. F. Algert and Edward Waldschmidt. Eighty operatives are employed." - Bells History of Northumberland County, 1891

Northumberland Democrat, August 12 1870

Mary Wiley Staver , Jersey Shore Authoress

 

New And True

Rhymes and Rythms

and Histories Droll

For  Boys and Girls 

from Pole to Pole

Written by Mary Wiley Staver of Jersey Shore

Published October 1891

The Excelsior - Fanny Heddens Hotel in Washingtonville

Fanny Heddens Hotel, Washingtonville, PA

James T. Heddens, a tailor, opened the  Excelsior Hotel in Washingtonville  in 1837.  He operated the hotel, in addition to his tailoring business', for 40 years.   Following his death, his wife Fanny continued to manage the hotel. Fannie was one of the most popular hotel keepers in the county and the “Fannie Heddens Hotel” saw many diners, arriving on horse and buggy from Danville and Bloomsburg. In  1906 the hotel was purchased bby E.E. Freymeyer who continued to operate it until it closed in 1920.

The original frame building was replaced by a brick building, which burned down around 1891.  The hotel was rebuilt at the same location, and still stands today.  

The Siren Of The Loyalsock

Legend has it that along the Loyalsock Creek  near Williamsport, if you look to the trees, you may spot a young Indian girl.  Beware, and do not be lured in by her beautiful voice, for she is responsible for the deaths of many who have attempted to raft the waters.

Henry Shoemaker, Pennsylvania Folklorist & Historian

Henry Shoemaker at Restless Oaks, his McElhatten Estate,  1913 

along with Ramsden Rex, his English-bred Russian wolfhound.

Henry Wharton Shoemaker (February 24, 1880 – July 14, 1958) was a prominent American folklorist, historian, diplomat, writer, publisher, and conservationist.

 "Shoemaker preserved settler-versions of what were claimed to be some of the last surviving oral stories of the American Indians of Pennsylvania—the Lenni Lenape, the Iroquois, Shawnee, Susquehannock, Tuscarora, Oneida, and others."

 - Tom Shakely

A brilliant & prolific folklorist, Shoemaker  traveled all throughout Pennsylvania, recording the legends & folklore,  as he believed those stories are part of our history. Yes, perhaps, he also  embellished those stories,  and added to them.  He came under much criticism for that during his own lifetime, but it is exactly what any story teller of old would have done, as they told these stories around the fires, to the next generation.     

Shoemaker is also responsible for a large majority of the historical markers placed in our area, and he often led historical tours through the valley.  Unfortunately, he also had historical markers erected for events that most likely never happened, making it difficult to trust any of the history he presents. [Two examples come to mind - the marker for the Green Massacre in Sugar Valley, and the Tiadaghton Elm Declaration - neither event likely occurred, both have historical markers, thanks to Shoemaker.]  

The Panthers Of Clinton County

The Pennsylvania Lion - Or Panther

"When I was a boy, in the sixties, I can remember when  old Jim David, the surveyor, with his long staff, would stalk into Lock Haven with a burlap bag full of panther kittens over his shoulder. His coming was always the delight and wonderment of the small boys. I understood that he secured the young panthers in the Beech Creek region of  Clinton County".— A. S. Mackey, 1919.

Capering Ghost In Cemetery & The Headless Man, Debunked

 Capering Ghost In Cemetery,

 Headless Man Recall Old Days 

(Written for The Daily Item by Dr. Charles M. Steese) 

March, 1953

The Falls Along Ketchum Run

Three Of The Waterfalls Along Ketchum Run

Saturday we hiked the Ketchum Run Trail, and part of the Loyalsock Trail, near the High Knob Overlook.  This is an absolutely gorgeous hike in the fall!  There are 4 waterfalls in a roughly 4 and a half mile round trip hike, but we got there late and could only confidently hike to three of the falls before we we worried about losing daylight on our way out.  We made it out just in time to drive over to the High Knob overlook and see the sunset there.  

It's not an easy hike, but it's not too difficult either.  If you hike regularly, this will be no challenge.  But there are some water crossings (our feet definitely got wet) and there are some narrow edges, a few trees to climb over and around..  It's a hike, not a walk. 

The Art Of Matt Rusnak, Knoebels Full Time Artist

"Matt Rusnak might be called the Leonardo da Vinci of Knoebels Amusement Resort. While working at the park for more than 20 years, the 78-year-old Mount Carmel resident — who describes himself as an artist, engineer, sculptor and historian — has designed and created signs, characters, logos, historical paintings, murals and even a replica of the clock tower and bell that stood atop the former Eagle Silk Mill in Shamokin"   - The News Item, Sept 2003.

EMRR - The Eagles Mere Railroad

"The Eagles Mere Railroad was built in 1892 to transport visitors. Eight miles long, this narrow gauge railroad ran from Sonestown, in a valley to the east, to Eagles Mere.

During much of its 35 years of operation, the railroad ran four round trips each day during the summer. No passenger service was offered between September and June and for a number of years freight trains ran year-round. But by 1924 cars were increasing in popularity and only one passenger train was operated on weekdays and there was no scheduled service on Sundays. In that year, only 2,133 passengers used the line, down significantly from previous years.

On Nov. 16 1926, the worst rainstorm in the history of Sullivan County washed out the railroad's Bully Run trestle, and repairs were not made.  Two ears later the line was sold to a Williamsport scrap dealer."

 From an article entitled The Town That Time Forgot  - By Richard Funk

Wenonah Falls Along The Eagles Mere Railroad

 

Wenonah Falls, Sullivan County Pa

October 2 2022 - Today I got to see a waterfall I never expected to be able to see - Wenonah Falls, along the old Eagles Mere Railroad line in Sullivan County Pa.

This is private property. Today was a one time, limited group tour that involved permission from 3 land owners and each of us signing 2 waivers. It was a Walk In Penns Woods event, one of more than 50 organized walks across the state of Pennsylvania on the first Sunday in October.