Artist J. Ray Yocum

 

J. Ray Yocum was an accomplished artist from Norry who specialized in watercolors and wood carvings. He created Christmas scenes which were displayed around King Street Park.

This view from the Shikellamy State Park Overlook hangs in the Northumberland County Historical Society in Sunbury.

Several of his paintings are in the Northumberland museum at the Borough building and several carvings are hanging in St John's Lutheran church

A veteran of World War II, Yocum painted the walls of VFW Post 298 in Danville with scenes from action in Europe and the South Pacific.

1943 Won an award for a painting of the Redman farm along the Danville Road.

Joseph Ray Yocum was born September 27th 1914, in Danville, the son of the late Joseph R. and Olive [Byer] Yocum.   According to his obituary, he was at one time employed as a commercial artist for Rea & Derricks.

1953

Painted Nativity scene for St Marks

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THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK MURALS

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There are TWO murals hidden in the old First National Bank Building, beside Lincoln Park on South front street in Milton.  Both were painted by J. Ray Yocum in 1954 (and then touched up by him after the 72 flood).

Painted in 1954

One of the murals i the "Principle industries of Milton" from the logging days on.

The second mural is "Symbolic of the growth and development of the upper Northumberland County borough."

Both are 15 x 30 feet.

Touched up after the 1972 flood

They were "protected" behind plywood when the bank was turned into a night club for a few years.  As far as I know, they are still behind plywood in that building today.

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1962

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Joseph Sr  was born December 6th 1891, the son of Adam and Mary [Geyer] Yocum of White Deer Pa.  He married Olive Beyer, and was an engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad.  Ray died in December of 1966, age 75, and is buried in Riverview Cemetery in Northumberland Pa.

When A Local Boy Navigated The Plane That Dropped The Atomic Bomb

What do Joe Lockhard from Williamsport, Ted VanKirk from Northumberland, the Ordinance Project in Allenwood,  and J. Robert Oppenheimer all have in common?  The bombing of Hiroshima.  

The Hermit Of Blue Hill -Eccentric John Mason's Leaning Tower

 

In 1839, John Mason, "The Hermit Of Blue Hill", built a tower leaning out over the Susquehanna River overlooking Northumberland Pa.  The tower was built "near the spot one sees Shikellamy, about where the top of the forehead would be seen"

It sounds like a legend, especially when you add in the details of Mason's life, his skating trips to Williamsport, and tales of him walking everywhere under an umbrella, even when it wasn't raining. However, the leaning tower really did once exist.  It's mentioned in numerous accounts from stage coach trips, rafting memoirs, newspapers, and in the book Daily Stories of Pennsylvania History, by Frederick Godcharles.  

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. "

The Puddling Mill Explosion, Northumberland 1908

An explosion at the VanAllen mill in Northumberland Pa killed 9 men, and severely injured 5.  February 3rd, 1908

The men in Northumberland went to work joyfully, arriving at 3:30am on Monday February 3rd 1908, for a 4am shift.  Many of them had been unemployed for months, even as long as a year, as there had been no work at the Iron Works.  

And then, just before 6:30am , the entire town of Northumberland trembled, as a boiler exploded at the VanAlen mill. 

 People ran from their homes, as the fire bell was sounded.  They found the entire west end of the mill to be a shattered pile of bricks, mortar, twisted iron and lumber.  Men quickly formed a rescuing party, setting to work pulling the dead and injured from the debris.  

Calhoun Boys Band,

 "His musical Inclination drew him; along with other musicians to institute the Northumberland cornet Band In 1882. 

The name of the band was changed in the 90' to the Northumberland Military Band and later, Calhoun's Band. From Calhoun's Band originated the 103rd Regimental Cavalry Band in 1917, during the World War, and later the Calhoun's Boys Band. " - Obituary of William Calhoun Sr, 1935

First "Commercial Venture" Along the West Branch, Northumberland Pa

 

1720 Map Of the Susquehanna River, by Isaac Taylor

If there's every a Susquehanna Valley Trivia Night, this would be a good question.  Where was the first "commercial venture" [store] along the West Branch?  Of course that's impossible to answer with absolute certainty, but according to Herbert Bell, in his History of Northumberland County, it was John Letorts Store, located in what is now the borough of Northumberland.

"He was a French trader, and probably carried on a thriving business with the Indians in the exchange of such commodities as a savage population could assimilate for peltries, etc. This was doubtless the initial commercial venture of the West Branch valley."

The first post office in central Pennsylvania was also located in Northumberland.

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For More Stories & History Of Northumberland [The Borough]
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2021/03/northumberland-pennsylvania.html

Find More Local History & Stories, From Nearby Towns,  Here

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

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"Northumberland's position astride the two branches of the Susquehanna made it a population center during the early settlement of central Pennsylvania. The first known white settler was James LeTort who lived at the forks in 1701; other French traders were on the site in 1728. The first permanent settler was Robert Martin, who moved from the Wyoming Valley sometime before the 1768 purchase that opened the West Branch for settlement. His log house served as tavern and hotel for surveyors and land speculators.

Laid out by John Lowden and William Patterson in 1772, Northumberland became the property of Reuben Haines, the Philadelphia brewer who owned vast tracts of land in this new frontier area. With neighboring Sunbury, laid out in the same year, Northumberland was the chief town in central Pennsylvania before the Revolutionary War. Northumberland was abandoned and its residents scattered during the Great Runaway, but with the end of the war and the gradual return of normality on the frontier, the town was reoccupied in 1784-85." - https://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Northumberland_County/Northumberland_Borough/Northumberland_Historic_District.html

Northumberland, Pennsylvania

RRPC Sketch "Northumberland From A Hill"

The borough of Northumberland, in Northumberland County, was founded in 1772.

The Whiskey Insurrection in Northumberland 

When The Northumberland Covered Bridge Burned

There's a Log Cabin In Northumberand That Was Built in 1790

The Covered Bridge, The Trolley, The Train Station, & Island Park

First Commercial Venture On The West Branch, was at Northumberland

On a 1720 map of the Susquehanna River by Isacc Taylor, Letort's store is shown at the area of what is today Northumberland.  According to Bell's history of Northumberland County: "He was a French trader, and probably carried on a  thriving business with the Indians in the exchange of such commodities  as a savage population could assimilate for peltries, etc. This was  doubtless the initial commercial venture of the West Branch valley."

Northumberland Military Band

 
Northumberland Military Band Organized 1862

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 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

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When 6 Local Men Were Pardoned By George Washington - The Whiskey Insurrection in Northumberland

Joseph Priestly & His Fizzy Water

Dr Joseph Priestly, who lived the last ten years of his life in Northumberland Pa, is known for his discovery of oxygen (he called it "dephologisticated air") Ammonia,  & Nitric Oxide.  He was an English clergyman, political theorist, and physical scientist.

And he also created Soda Pop.
Well, "fizzy water", at least.  

When The Northumberland Covered Bridge Burned

On June 3 1923, local residents lined the shores of the Susquehanna River at Northumberland and watched their 100 year old covered bridge burn.

"Bridge in the pics was built by the Penna. canal company around the late 1820's and was destroyed by fire in June1923. The Northumberland Bridge Company was formed and built the first bridge out of Norry to the island in 1813 and the island to Sunbury in 1814. John Degruchy was the president of the bridge Company, a close friend of Joseph Priestley." - From Capt. Mick

The fire was one of the most spectacular in the history of the river community.

The entire 1,000 foot bridge burned in less than an hours time.