“I know the trails”: Woman’s 1778 ride to save Muncy settlers
MUNCY – The mid-1770s were an untamed time for what would become Lycoming County. As the American Revolution raged, settlers were moving into this area of Central Pennsylvania. The Iroquois and Lenape tribes allied themselves with the British and regularly would attack the British enemies and those of European descent west of the Susquehanna River. …
Jeptha Hughes: The man who put the Hughes in Hughesville
HUGHESVILLE – In the southeastern position of Lycoming County is the borough of Hughesville, which was incorporated in 1852. However, the borough’s history goes decades before that with the purchase of the land in 1816 from a farmer named John Heap. He sold the property to Jeptha Hughes. “(Jeptha Hughes) soon…laid out a town. It…
Local scuba-diver finds a piece of railroad history in Loyalsock Creek
When a fallen steam locomotive was pulled from the waters of Loyalsock Creek in 1906, photos of the wreck showed the engine missing its smokestack; but no one ever noticed this. Not until John Smithkors found that smokestack lying in the creek more than 100 years later. It was July 2013, and Smithkors had decided…
Captured by Iroquois on an ill-fated hunting trip to Lycoming County
OLD LYCOMING – In 1780, three men ventured on a hunting party near the Susquehanna River and a run-in with the region’s renowned Iroquois Indians would change their lives forever. The Iroquois Indians, who would ally themselves with the British during the American Revolution, were a prominent tribe in the region, in addition to the…
From Monsey to Muncy: One small borough’s connection to Native American history
Where did the name Muncy come from? A writer in the book “History of Lycoming County” edited by John Megginess, said “Muncy derives its name from the Monsey tribe of Indians that once dwelt within its borders.” According to Native-Languages.org, the Monsey language, also spelled “Munsee” is “an Algonkian language closely related to American Delaware,…
The Herdic Legacy: Lumberman turns ‘sluggish’ Williamsport into ‘bustling growing city’
WILLIAMSPORT – Peter Herdic is a name that has spanned Williamsport for three centuries. He was mayor from 1869 and 1870, but his contributions are still felt today, thanks to the buildings he had commissioned to be built and the restaurant and inn that still bear his name. According to the ‘History of Lycoming County’…