Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

There are a lot of misconceptions about there, in our local history. Things that people believe that are completely, provably untrue. County founder Jeremiah Church was not an attorney or a drunk, the Fallon Hotel was not moved from Farrandsville, and Queen’s Run was not named after the Queen of Spain. There’s a bunch of those.

Here’s another one. I get people coming up to me all the time and saying,”Well, you know, Avis used to be called Oak Grove.”

No, it didn’t. That is definitely a misconception, and the people of Oak Grove would not be happy with you for saying that.

A newspaper article from 1939 referred to the founding of Avis and Oak Grove as a “bitter dispute.” The area was a fairly big railroading spot, like Renovo, which is how Oak Grove came about—In response to the heavy railroad traffic there, the Oak Grove Land Company formed to lay out the community and build shops there. S.R. Peale was the president, and T.M. Stevenson was the secretary. Originally, this was in the northern part of what is now Avis.

By 1897, Oak Grove applied for a post office. The government, aware that there was already one Oak Grove post office in Pennsylvania, granted the post office, but insisted on the name “Center Oak.”

About a year later, the Cochran Land Company of Williamsport came in and laid out Avis a little bit to the south, applied for a post office, and were granted the Avis post office. President Henry Cochran named the new community after his daughter, Avis Cochran.

The two communities did indeed have a rivalry for a time, with residents of both working for the railroads. The railroad company built a long, high wall between the two communities, sort of like a miniature Berlin Wall. This made it considerably more difficult to live in one community and work in the other, forcing employees to walk clear to the end of the wall, turn around, and head back twice a day.

Around that time, the Harris Land Company was formed to sell more plots, and was roundly ignored. The people of Oak Grove and Avis had enough going on with their own battles and didn’t need a third land company to deal with.

Between 1902 and 1907, Oak Grove more or less stagnated while Avis grew bigger and better. Avis added a park and a water line, which was financed by the mayor of Lock Haven, James Jefferis. In 1903, Avis added a telegraph station and acquired a millinery shop. A jewelry store, hotel, barber, and drug store soon followed.

The citizens of Avis, over on their side of the wall, took pride in their community. In early 1908, a petition circulated to make Avis a borough, and all but two of the local people signed it. The petition was granted by Judge Harry A. Hall, incorporating Avis into a borough on May 5, 1908. On June 8 of the same year, the first election of borough officers was held, because every official community needs a few politicians.

Avis grew, and expanded, adding a sewer system, a bank, and new schools and shops. Over time, it grew enough to overtake Oak Grove, which had pretty much given up the fight. The wall came down, and what had once been Oak Grove was ceded into Avis, making one thriving community.

The Great Depression more or less halted the progress that Avis was making, leaving the community to stay where it was, size-wise. By this point, Avis had entirely swallowed the property where Oak Grove had stood, leaving Oak Grove as nothing but a historical note, often incorrect. As I mentioned, the people of Oak Grove wouldn’t be thrilled to hear that Avis had once carried their name. They’re all dead now, however, so they don’t complain too much.