Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/309

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUK COUNTIES

township, and ran it till 1852, when his nephew, Joseph Vorks, purchased it and operated it till 18O7. Larish jk Koherts, E . Cole and two of the Fritzs also operated sawmills in the period of the industr>* s palmy days. One of the most noted of the early sawmills was at Faradisc, a short distance above the H arring­ ton mill. T his was operated until 1875. Harrington’s foundry was established in 1 806 by Newton R. Harrington, at Pioneer Sio iion on Cole's creek. A sawmill was added in 1882, and the pro<luct was plow s, sleds, mill gearing, shingles and lumber. This mill is still in operation, but the product is now lim­ ited by the exhaustion of the timber. Other nuidcrn mills on this stream arc the Penning­ ton, Hartman and llow lctt sawmills, all of which at one time sverc of much importance. William Shultz operates the mill at Cirassmere Park, on the Bloomsburg & Sullivan railroad. JA M IS O N

C ITV

rh c i*oinplction of the Bloomsburg & Su l­ livan railroad 0|>cncd up the territory in the up|>cr end of the county. 1'h c terminus of the road in Sugarloaf township was called Jam ison City, in honor o f Col. K. K . Jam ison, of Fhiladelphia. who aide<l largely in financing the road. W hile the road was in process of building A. L. Fritz, Col. Jam es Corcoran and Col. John Jamison purchased three farms alK>u( a mile alx>ve Central ,nnd laid them out in lots, many o f which were sold and a num­ ber o f buildings erected 1 hereon. Soon quite a village grew up. and in 1889 a targe sawmill w as erected by (he Central l^ennsylvania Lum ­ ber Company! I.atcr a large tatmen,* was put up by Colonel Corcoran, who sod it to Thomas F . I^roctor, o f Boston. It w as subscciucnlly acquired by the KIk Tanning Company. These two plants employed numerous men and at­ tr a c t^ a still larger population, composed mostly of lumbermen and tanners and ihcir families. .A large general store was opened by .^tiltz & Company, and smaller stores and shops rapidly multiplied until the place seemed to ju stify the name o f Jam ison City. The town t>cing situated upon an elevation six Inindred feel higher than Bloomshurg, the idea was conceived by a number o f citizens of the latter town that the altitude, the cool nights, the many trout pools in the creeks, and the beautiful sccncr>* o f mountain and forest, rendered Jam ison City an ideal spot fo r a mod­ em summer resort note). So, in 1888. the Manor Rest Inn Company was formed, and upon the hillside above the town was erected

a hotel of Sw iss design, fully equipped with modem conveniences, and handsomely fu r­ nisher I. The first managers were Stiltz & Com­ pany, and the inn was o]>ened in 1890 with a great flourish. F o r some reason, however, the public did not take sufficient interest in the project to accord it a lucrative patronage and the hopes of the promoters were never real­ ized. Not long after the opening the company w as reorganized and the name of the place changed lu Procter Inn, but this had no effect, and finally in 1905 the hotel was closed, the funiiture disi>osed o f at public auction, and the building sold to Far‘in K tic, who conducted it as a hotel for a short time. He also lost money, and finally sold the building to a party who tore it down and utilized the ntalerial for building purposes elsewhere. W hm a distri­ bution W'as hnaliy made of the assets of the company the members received about ten cents un the dollar fur (heir investment. A t the time when Jam ison City w as at the height of its prosperity there were five places where liquor selling was licensed, and but one church and one schoolhouse. In addition to the extensive lumbering o|>crations carried 011 here, there were camps established at various places where the timlKr w as cut and hauled to the central mill. There it was converted into lumi>cr, the bark hcing used in the tannery. But it did not take long to work out the available timl>cr and soon there was nothing on which to support the large population, m 19 12 the mill was closed down and dismaniletl, the machinery being sent to other mills belonging to the company. The last carload o f lumber, which had l>cen cut some years before, was ship]Kd over the railroad to Bloomsburg in the .spring o f 1914. At present the tannery is still in o|>eration, ami bids fair to continue for at least five years. The |K>pulatioii is so reduced that two stores and one license<1 liquor establishment are all that the inhabitants seem to need. T IIF . C X iPrK R CK.AZI:

Between 1900 and 19 12 considerable excite­ ment was caused in (his section of the county by the rumor that there was copper to be found in Sugarloaf township. T his was partially caused by the copper craze almost universal over the United States. A company was formed in this county and considerable stock sold. With these proceeds a smelter was erected below Central and operations commence<l. Like many another project of the (>criod, the plan proved a failure, as there