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    Muncy
    Muncy
    Muncy
    Ebook165 pages39 minutes

    Muncy

    By Muncy Historical Society

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    About this ebook

    Muncy, a small river town founded shortly after the French and Indian War, was the earliest European settlement in the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna River. By 1769, land speculator Samuel Wallis had acquired more than 7,000 acres, so he sold much of this land to pioneers in search of a better way of life. By 1772, the West Branch Canal made Muncy a business thoroughfare and lumber boomtown. Like most Pennsylvania river towns, Muncy suffered great loss in the flood of 1889, which also devastated Johnstown. Another massive flood in 1894 sounded the death knell for the canal system. The railroad, which superseded the canal system throughout the United States, kept the local industry alive, although the port businesses disappeared. Through vintage postcards, Muncy depicts the varied past of this quiet town.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateDec 13, 2006
    ISBN9781439634479
    Muncy
    Author

    Muncy Historical Society

    Robin Van Auken, an anthropologist and author of eight books on regional history, teaches American archaeology at Lycoming College. The Muncy Historical Society keeps the town's spirit alive with home tours, quilt shows, antique fairs, and an active archaeological dig and is in the process of developing the Muncy Canal Heritage Park and Nature Trail.

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      Book preview

      Muncy - Muncy Historical Society

      barns.

      INTRODUCTION

      The postcards collected in this book represent a brief period in the history of Muncy, a borough in north-central Pennsylvania. One of the earliest settlements in the West Branch Valley, Muncy and its residents were participants in some of the most significant historic events in the making of the American frontier, including the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.

      Explorers recognized its importance because of its proximity to the Susquehanna River and the numerous Native American trails that crisscrossed the landscape. Pioneers cleared land, planted crops, and built cabins as early as 1752, hoping to farm and trade with the Munsee Indians who lived nearby.

      In 1797, brothers Benjamin and William McCarty and Isaac Walton laid out the town of Pennsborough. Derisively nicknamed Hardscrabble, the small village grew slowly. Pennsborough was incorporated as a borough on March 15, 1826, and then, on January 19, 1827, the name of Pennsborough was changed to Muncy.

      John P. Schuyler and Joshua Alder purchased 50 acres that became known as Port Penn. The neighborhood would first be dissected by the West Branch Canal and later the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. Both the canal and railroad would be important to Muncy’s growth. Manufacturing flourished, and the small community supported a variety of trades, products, and businesses.

      Photographic postcards from the Golden Age of Postcards (1898 to 1918), however, cannot depict this early history, and even Muncy’s pre-Civil War era is represented by nostalgic landmarks such as abandoned canals and buildings.

      Muncy is segregated into four chapters. The first chapter, Society, is filled with postcards of the Muncy Historical Society, the conserver of Muncy relics, area churches, and schools. Muncy was home to two extraordinary institutions: the Muncy Seminary for young ladies, which opened in 1841, and the Muncy Normal School, a pioneer teachers’ institute.

      The second chapter, Neighborhoods, features postcards of Muncy’s residential areas and its bustling downtown. Quaintly dubbed the Williamsburg of Pennsylvania, Muncy is home to many beautiful and historic homes of Victorian-, Georgian-, and Federal-style architecture. Its annual Historic Homes Tour, sponsored by Muncy Historical Society, lures visitors from neighboring states eager to step into buildings and houses designed by world-famous architects. Muncy’s St. James Episcopal Church is an example of the Gothic Revival that was introduced by architect Richard Upjohn, who also rebuilt Trinity Church in New York City.

      The third chapter, Business and Industry, is replete with postcards and photographs of Muncy’s earliest mercantiles and factories, some of which still exist and keep the town employed.

      Historically Muncy was an ideal community for commerce and industry. Located on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, Muncy developed a thriving lumber industry complete with saw and planing mills. Timber raftsmen moving logs down the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake River often stopped at Muncy. They frequented the taverns and hotels, and certainly kept area distilleries in business.

      The West Branch Canal became a great business thoroughfare, and its chief exports locally were hogs, wheat, flour, lumber, leather, and whiskey. At the time, there were 13 distilleries in the area with an output of 1,500 gallons per day. The canal ended in town at the Muncy Woolen Mills. Nearby, Muncy’s Main Street began to fill with shops and industry.

      There were carriage makers, an iron foundry, broom makers, dry goods stores, drugstores, a newspaper office, hotels, restaurants, and even an opera house whose second floor held the town’s billiard room. A hospital was also established. If Muncy had a Golden Era, this pre–Civil War period was it.

      When the railroad eventually replaced the West Branch Canal, the Reading Railroad installed a depot in Muncy. Several of the postcards herein contain messages that mention train travel.

      Some of the more popular and artistic postcards of this era are tradecards. These advertising cards were issued before 1900, and storekeepers gave them away in products or with the purchase of a product. One of the most aggressive merchants in Muncy to use these cards was W. H. Harman, who sold boots and shoes. These cards were whimsical by nature and often featured children or animals.

      The fourth chapter, The River, contains many of the earliest postcards. These cards predate most of the images in this

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