John,
That entire area was owned by a fellow by the name of Potter (thus -
Potter County). He bought and clearcut four entire counties and floated
the logs down the Pine Creek every spring. He would dam up the creek
where his crews were logging and in the spring he would dynamite the
dams to let the spring thaw waters carry the logs down to the Sesquahana
River and down to Waterville and Williamsport.
He bought the land for 3 cents an acre and gave it back to the state
after he felled ALL the trees for a 2 cents per acre tax credit.
My grandfather managed to buy over 500 acres of the Pine Creek Valley
just north of Waterville back in the late 1940's. I played there every
summer as a child and worked helping my grandfather on his farm in the
summers of the late 60's and early 70's. There's still a road named
after my grandfather a mile north of Waterville - It's marked - "West
Lane" (His name was Robert West). His old farmhouse still stands on
"West Field" located on the right side (traveling north on Rt44) just
after passing over the Waterville Bridge. The house seems to be
uninhabited and in a bit of less than perfect condition, the very large
porch has been removed - but someone is still mowing the feild........
His barn was next to the road and you can still see where it stood, but
it's been gone for many years.
All the rail lines in that area have been converted into hiking paths
(Rails to Trails program), but I can still remember when the tracks were
full of trains and the sounds of moving engines and freight cars. My
grandfather retired from the Reading Railroad in the late 60's. After
he retired, he would take coffee and snacks to the crews working on the
trains passing by his farmhouse. The railroad was on the other side of
the Pine Creek from his farmhouse so he'd either wade thru the (50-80
feet wide) creek or walk across the Waterville bridge to meet the trains
at 5:30am and again at 1pm. I suspect he just wanted to keep up on the
news of his friends who still worked for the railroad. (Sorta like this
list but without the internet).
Kevin V.
John.Deikis@med.va.gov wrote:
>I was glad to leave the density of east coast life, but boy do I miss those
>Pennsylvania country roads! Sounds like a great excursion. Can you imagine
>all that area was completely clearcut in the late 19th century for lumber
>and later to make it easier to get in and out of the oil fields. My
>90-year-old father-in-law told me when he was kid and went hunting up there,
>it was unusual to even SEE deer. By the 1960's (and years of reforestation
>and tree-hugger activism), he was getting a buck every season and got a bear
>one year. That's pretty wild country now-- great for hunting, backpacking,
>motorcycle touring, and, of course, LBCs. I'm jealous!
>
>JohnD
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