COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES Qf^anizeil in 1893 by Rev. F . A . W eicksel and Uie cburch was built in 1899 at a cost o f $5,000. The parsonage, o f concrete block construction, was built in 19 10 at a cost o f $3>ooo and is modern in every respect. 'Fhe niembershiu of this church is now sinal), but in the days of the operating of the mines here the number of nicmbcr.> w as large. Rev. Milton M . D ry was the last pastor o f this church, in 19 13, the con gregation now depending on su|ip1ies. The elders a r e : Emanuel Levan, W . F . Rhoads, (saiah K reishcr, Harr)* W right, Sylvester J . Beaver, Charles Heaver, Reuben A . iteavcr, James M iller, Wilson Yoder. The M idvaltey mines Nos. 1 and 2 arc situ ated a short distance aliovc A ristcs and fu r nish the hulk of the population with employ ment. T hese mines, as well as the railroad line to the town, are owned by the Lehigh Valley R ailroad Company. 5S4A1XFR TOWNS
B yrn esville is a cluster o f houses on the hill below Centralia, once called the "U pper Shanties.” It is populated by persons o f Irish descent w ho work m the mines. Below here, at the site of the abandonetl Repellier mines, arose another settlement, called Ccrmantoum, from the first fam ilies o f that nationality who built homes there in 1857. T he Irish have complete control now. Both of these settle ments have the usual preponderance o f saloons. Locustdole is only partially in Columbia county, most o f it being in Schuylkill and Northumberland counties. T h e first building here w as erected in 1836 by George C. Potts & Co., fo r an office. In the follow ing year the colliery w as opened, with I. L . Beadle as man ager. T h ere w as a hotel near here in 1840, operated by Jaco b Brisel. The first store keeper w as A . S . Morchcad, o f Pottsville, in 1859.
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S t. Joseph’s Roman Catholic church o f Locustdalc w as moved across the street in 19 14 in order to get into Columbia county and the diocese of Harrisburg. Father Connaghan, the pastor, raised funds for the moving and for the erection of a fine parsonage. SCHOOLS
T he first schoolhouse in this township was built in 1840 at the site o f A ristcs. It had few pupils and soon p.asscd into disuse. T h e next schoolhousc w as built in 18 5 1 at Germantown by A lexander W . Rea. T he school building at Centralia w as erected in 1858 a s a general place of meeting as well as a temple o f learn ing. T h e first Locustdalc school w as opened in 1859 by John Wagner. There are eight grades to the schools of Centralia and 3 1 1 scholars in attendance. In the township outside the borough there arc eighteen schools, attended hy 644 scholars. The great n u jo rity of these children are o f foreign parentage. The school directors o f Centralia borough a r c : Samuel Cartwright, Nfichacl Madden, H. J . H effner, John J . Reilly, Edw ard V. Dempsey. The school directors o f Conyngham town ship a r c : Richard K ane, W. J . Fcnncssy, Martin Monahan, Hiram W atson, Anthony Mohan. P0PUL.AT10N
T he population o f Conyngham township in i860 w as 1,3 2 6; in 1870. 1, 9 ^ : in 18 8 0 .2 .18 3; in 1890. 2.739; in «9<». .>.037; in 19 10 . 3,127. T his is the only township that h.as shown a steady gain in population in late years. T h e population o f Centralia w as 1.340 in 18 7 0; 1.509 in 18 8 0 : 2.761 in 1890; 2.048 in IQOO; 2,429 in 19 1(1
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