In the 21st century, we can sit down at any time of the day to read the latest edition of a morning or evening newspaper. Newspaper history in the Susquehanna Valley dates back to the late 1700s.
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A Danville, Pennsylvania, man found a plug of hair inside an old apple tree in 1920. What was its purpose? Plugging illness into trees was part of older Pennsylvania folk-healing traditions. Similar remedies were used for ailments such as croup, whooping cough, asthma, seizures, paralysis, and other lingering illnesses.
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Fire that began in a stable in the city of Williamsport on the night of August 20, 1871, destroyed 45 buildings, near East Third and Mulberry streets, then one of Williamsport’s principal residential and business districts. Among the buildings destroyed was the Russell Inn, a log cabin building as seen in the photo.
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For perhaps sixty to eighty years, singing schools trained congregations to read and sing music, provided rural communities with winter entertainment, and created one of the most important courtship settings available to young people in the Susquehanna Valley.
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In the 1880s, the Bloomsburg Car Manufacturing Company in Columbia County produced an estimated four thousand railroad cars. It was a leader in the manufacture of standard railroad freight cars, small mine and colliery cars, rotary dump cars, and other materials for the railroad and mining industries.
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In an effort to boost weekend ridership, Pennsylvania trolley companies would build recreational parks. They included athletic grounds, picnic groves, amusement rides, theaters, and dancing facilities among the amenities. One such park was located in the Shamokin area of Northumberland County, developed by a local businessman and former Congressman Monroe Henry "Farmer" Kulp.
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The fur-trading industry in Pennsylvania, including the Susquehanna Valley frontier, spanned roughly from 1701 to 1763. One writer describes it as " a strange compound made up of honest men, scheming rogues, misfortunes, rich profits, fierce competition, incredible deception, Indian threats, bold risks, and untold hardships."
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In 1888, William Edwards Charles, of Middleburg, at 18, was hired to tend four mules towing two canal boats from Port Trevorton in Snyder County to New York City and back in 1888. Read Part Two of the diary, beginning July 1st of that year, detailing his experiences, including the July 4th celebration.
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At the age of 18, William Edward Charles of Snyder County, near Port Trevorton, was hired to tend four mules towing two canal boats from Port Trevorton to New York City and back in 1888. His diary entries in June and July provide insightful content on canal life as seen through his eyes.
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Even the casual follower of history has read or heard of the exploits of frontiersman Daniel Boone. His homestead is located in Berks County Pennsylvania. But his cousin, Hawkins Boone, who settled in the Susquehanna Valley, is a lesser-known name. As a defender of the local frontier, Hawkins gave his life at the Battle of Fort Freeland in Northumberland County.
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