390
COI.UMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIKS
W hite H all at one time supported a Prim i tive Methodist Church, but it ong ago passed into oblivion. N ew Bethel Evangelical Church stands on the hill a short distance west o f W hite Hall. It is a fram e building, erected in 1887, and the congregation is se rv H by pastors from Washingtonville. S t. Jam e s' Roman Catholic Church congrction w as organized in 1888, by Rev. M ik a e l O’ Reilly, o f Danville. In December o f that year a fram e church, 30 by 40 feet, built at a cost o f $1,70 0, located about two miles from the village o f Exchange, w as dedicated to St. Jam es. The congregation w as small, but devoted, and served by the rectors of the Danville Church. In 1900 Father A. M . Fccscr, rector of the Convent and Home of the Sisters o f Christian Charity, Danville, look personal chaige of the Exchange Church. In 1909 the present church w as huilt in the village, at a cost o f $7,000, and dedicated Oct. 20th o f that ye ar by Bishop J . W . Shanahan, o f Harrisburg.
f
SCHOOUS
John Rea was the first school teacher in W hite Hall. H is class ,isscmblcd in a fram e ‘ structure which occupied the site of the pres ent brick school building. Exchan ge Halt and school w as built and opened to the public in 1874. The building cost $ 1,3 0 0 . and w as erected under the super vision o f Stephen C. Ellis, Patrick Dcnnin and l>r. M cH enry, who acted as a building com mittee. The first teacher to ser'c in the school w.as .Augustus Truckm ltlcr. The hall has long lieeii tenanted by various fraternal orders and w as originally owned by tw'cnty-eight stockholders who invested in .and constructed the edifice. T he first school in Church H ill district. N o. 6. w as huilt in 1849. and w as subsequently tom down to be replaced by a more m odem structure. T he school directors o f .Anthony township are Patrick Dennin. Sam uel H ilner, I-evi F o rt ner, .Alien W atson. W illiam EIHs.
C H A P T E R XII C O O P E R T O W N S H IP T h is is one o f Montour county's smaller townships. Its southern boundary is the river, ,'ind on the cast is (he <lividing line be tween Montour and Columbia county. T he soil of the township is rough, the contour hilly, and its greatest natural resource, {)crha(>s. the mineral deposits. Iron ore and limestone have been found in abun<lant quantities. North o f Cirovania He l.lm cstonc kilns, active years ago. but com paratively idle since the cessation of the operations of the Gro%‘e Iron W orks ,at Danville .several decades ago. It is popularly supposed that the hrst resi dents of the township were a fam ily by the name o f K rum, a numlicr o f whose dc.sccndants are stilt living in the township. T he Fousts and Crom leys, also, are mentioned as tiring the original .settlers of the district. OROVA.NI.A
T his little sctllemeiU grew up arountl the quarries o f limestone operated in form er times by G rove Brothers fo r their furnaces in Dan ville. The limestone stratum here dijw very abruptly and the workings arc fa r into the
depths o f Montour Ridge. .A tunnel w as form erly used to deliver the stone at the track of the Cataw issa railroad, but is now ab an doned. The quarries arc only partially w orked now. A fte r the closing of the furnaces .it D an ville the pro|Krty o f G rove Brothers w as sold in jjartition to Jam es E . Reichert. A ft e r Reichert's death .Alonzo M auser leased the quarries and later liought them. H e is now the only operator at G rovania. but other w ork ings are in use near here by Charles Sum m ers an<l Calvin Kastner. T he abandoned jiowerhouse of the Colum bia & Montour Electric Railroad Com pany is located at G rovania. and is now used fo r stor age puqioscs. since the power fo r that Hne has been brouglit from Harwood. T he storekeeper and postmaster at G ro vania is C. D. tiarrisoii. The fine farm and dairy o f T . E . H yde is located near the town, ju st on the line o f Columbia county. Betivecn H yde’s farm and the village is the station of the Philadelidiia & Reading (once the C a ta w issa) railroad. .At the extrem e western end of the tow n
bv
V .
