Lou’s View: SO WHERE IS CRAWFORD TOWNSHIP?
By Lou Bernard
There are twenty-one townships in Clinton County, last time I counted. I’ve done some writing and research on most of them. A few years ago, I wrote a column on Allison Township to win a bet. I literally wrote a whole book on Wayne Township. I’ve given speeches on the history of Porter Township. And Leidy, Chapman, and both Keatings fascinate me enough that I’ve written about them repeatedly.
But Crawford Township. Yeah, I’ve never really done much with Crawford Township. It’s just never grabbed my attention before. It’s just sort of there.
But things have been sort of slow lately, so let me remedy that.
Crawford Township is the second easternmost township in Clinton County—Only Greene Township extends further to the east. It’s a little north of Interstate 80, and it’s bordered by Green Township, Wayne Township, and Lycoming County. It has a population of about nine hundred and forty people, all of whom I expect to receive hate mail from after this column runs. (This would be about nine hundred and thirty-four more than both East and West Keating combined.)
Once upon a time, before Clinton County was founded, the territory was part of Limestone Township in Lycoming County. In 1839, when Clinton County was created, the area became a part of Wayne Township, and then Crawford was formed on January 14, 1841, making it a hundred and eighty years old as this column goes to print. So cheers for me, managing to remember this obscure anniversary!
It was named after George Crawford, one of the two earliest associate judges in Clinton County. That wouldn’t be the oddest name source in the county; Lamar Township is named after a Revolutionary War soldier very few people recognize, and Castanea Township comes from the Italian word for chestnuts. Pretty much the only community there is Rauchtown, founded in 1850 by Peter Rauch of Union County, who built and ran a mill there.
There are two cemeteries in Crawford Township. One is the tiny Gebhart Family Cemetery, a small graveyard on private property. It’s notable for being the resting place of Peter Pence, Revolutionary War soldier. The other is Mount Zion Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, which lies along the Pine-Loganton Road. I have, in the past, concluded that this is the most haunted stretch of road in Clinton County, because of all of the legends that have been documented along it, so that makes a cool drive between McElhattan and Loganton.
Interestingly, Crawford Township also sits on top of an apparently bottomless pit, though most people probably don’t realize it. In John Blair Linn’s “History of Centre and Clinton Counties,” he describes the discovery of a huge, underground opening, way back in 1790.
Two early settlers, John and William Winlin, were digging a well. As they progressed, they came to a flat rock in the ground, not the most unusual occurrence. It was what was underneath….Or what wasn’t….That caused the commotion.
“They commenced to dig a well, and after digging some distance came to a flat rock that resisted all further progress,” Linn wrote. “One of the workmen commenced striking upon it with a sledge, when a hole was broken through, and there appeared to be a large cavern underneath. A plummet thirty feet in length was let down without finding bottom. They became alarmed and filled it up again.”
This is really cool, and I’m tempted to go and find that big cavern myself. My wife isn’t too hot on the idea, but I have explained to her that it’s completely, one hundred percent safe-ish.
Crawford Township is apparently a cooler place than I’d realized. The most haunted road, a buried soldier, and a bottomless cavern lost to time. It sounds like a great place to explore, and I might start doing that a little more in the future. If you don’t hear from me for a while, maybe check in Crawford Township. Or under it.
