Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

One notable fact about Clinton County is that we’ve had some connection with every form of transportation over the years. We began with a lot of participation in the lumber rafts and canals. As the railroads grew to prominence, Clinton County excelled there, as well. With Piper Aviation coming to town, we participated heavily in the flight industry. Hell, we’ve even had moments in space travel—-Local woman Sue McKnight went to school with John Glenn.

And the automotive industry? Well, sure, that too.

Let me introduce you to the Beech Creek Truck And Auto Company.

A group of local men formed the Beech Creek Truck And Auto Company in 1915. Paul Smith of Galeton held the patents, and George Hess of Beech Creek was heavily involved in the company. The company was chartered in May of 1915.

Now, it’s been said the four-wheel drive was invented in Beech Creek. That’s oversimplified, and not quite accurate. It would be more accurate to say that enormous advancements were made to four-wheel drive in Beech Creek with the invention of a certain truck.

The truck, which was a slightly odd-looking piece of work, was designed with a very strong (for the time) four-wheel drive. An article said it had “four cylinders, four-wheel drive and four-wheel steer, six speeds forward and two reverse, and could travel through water forty inches deep.” Now, aside from the water part, which sounds cool, I’m not exactly sure what most of that means. I’m one of those guys who knows nothing about cars—I’m overextended trying to oil my bike chain. When a bunch of guys are standing around admiring a flashy, speedy car, I’m standing there like,”Yeah, and I like how it’s….bright red, I guess.”

The truck retailed for $3,850, which is all the money in the world by today’s standards. It was hailed as a great opportunity for the economy of Beech Creek, which was a good attitude but turned out to be untrue. The truck simply never caught on.

In one incident, the company brought one of the trucks into Lock Haven for a demonstration. To accurately show off the four-wheel drive, they drove it up the courthouse steps. It was impressive, but unfortunately, they performed this trick in front of a gathered crowd of farmers, who commented that their horses could already do that.

In the end, something like two and a half trucks were made before the company went out of business. Manufacture of the trucks required some serious raw materials and skilled labor, both of which were found to have prohibitive expenses. The company went out of business about 1920.

I’ve heard that there’s still one of the truck bumpers on display out in Beech Creek Township, and I’ve often seen photos of the trucks. (Sadly, nobody seems to have thought to take pictures of the truck being driven up the courthouse steps.) I’ve also heard unproven rumors of one of the trucks still in existence, stored in someone’s barn maybe, somewhere out of the county to the north.

On the one hand, I want to blow that off and say it would never happen, not possible. On the other hand, finding that thing would be a fascinating quest. The remaining truck, if it exists, would be a really cool mystery to solve. I’d kind of love to think that there’s still a Beech Creek truck surviving out there someplace, after over a hundred years.

Maybe that’s my new thing. Maybe I’ll try to hunt it down. If I can find it, maybe I can even drive it up the courthouse steps as a reenactment. I’m pretty sure even I can handle that.