Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

So, I have a talk coming up. I’m going to be talking about the history of Flemington. Normally I do these things from memory, which as you can imagine, has a somewhat varied success rate. I’ve found that the easiest way for me to commit something to memory is to write a column on it, so here we are. You readers are my practice run.

Both chronologically and historically, Flemington has sort of a strange starting point. The community was founded in 1814, and incorporated as a borough in 1864, exactly fifty years later. That means in 2022, it turns either 158 or 208, depending on your interpretation. Math is not my thing, not even close, but I managed to pull this one out of nowhere.

Clinton County was founded in 1839, and before that, the territory was part of Lycoming and Centre Counties.

Flemington was right on the dividing line, and the oldest house in Flemington sits on Canal Street, just down from the community building called the Red-Eye Center. Once upon a time, the county line ran right through that house, and at one point, it’s said that there was a wedding held there with the bride and groom in the same room, but two different counties. (I’ve heard the same story about a completely different house in another township, by the way. Maybe the story got around, or maybe weddings on the border were a very popular thing in the 1820s.)

In 1870, the borough was added as part of Lock Haven, and stayed that way for eight years, until the Flemingtonians revolted. In 1878, it was taken out of Lock Haven and made into Flemington again. But, according to John Blair Linn’s History of Centre and Clinton Counties, it was never re-incorporated as a borough. This means that Flemington either has two starting dates, or three, or none, again depending on your interpretation, and just writing this down is giving me a migraine.

I have referred to the citizens of Flemington as “Flemingtonians,” but that’s not exactly right, and I wouldn’t be entirely shocked if they lynched me for it. The correct term is “Red-Eyes,” which is how the citizens of Flemington refer to themselves. Some say it was due to fights with the Mill Hall boys, some say it was the drunkenness of the canal operators, and some say it was smoke from the factories. Nobody knows for sure. The term has been in use for well over a century, and yet, nobody has any idea where it came from or what it means. (And let’s not have anyone sending me nasty e-mails claiming that you and you alone know the true origin of the name. Plenty of people say that, and they all tell me different stories.)

Some say that it stems from the canals and the taverns, when the raft operators would stop and drink until their eyes turned red. Some say it comes from fights between the Mill Hall kids and the Flemington kids, when the Mill Hall youths would go home with red eyes from losing the fights. I’ve heard other, stranger explanations, and I refuse to commit to any one of them. It boils down to this: Nobody knows.

There is a cemetery in Flemington that dates back to 1840. The original plan was a cemetery and a church, but during construction of the church, one of the workmen had a fatal accident. The idea of building a church was abandoned, and they removed the building materials and simply made the property a cemetery.

So, hey, thanks for giving me a moment to do my little practice session here. I probably have this committed to memory now, which means that not only am I ready for my talk, but everyone I know is going to be hearing about Flemington for the next month. Friends and acquaintances, you’re welcome.