Around Town: A Unique Tour of Clinton County

By Christopher Miller

Okay, so this week’s Around Town feature is neither a person, place, or organization. Rather, it is a general tour of Clinton County in all of its majesty and amazement! This week’s column begs me to ask you, the reader, this question: where will you go next?

Around every corner of this county lurks something new to be discovered. Much like that history guy who also writes columns weekly…Lou something-or-other…I too have some hideaway tidbits of information about our “huge tracts of land” that we call a county.

In all seriousness, Lou Bernard (the other history guy who writes for The Record) and I are great friends. I have known him for close to a decade already and we jokingly call each other out in our columns here and there.

The Library Map
When the all-clear is given to re-enter the local public library, take a peek at the old map of Clinton County hanging on the side wall near the Large Print book section. The northeast corner of the map looks a bit…off. In fact, there is a large triangular-shaped portion that does not belong to us anymore. Was this an error when the map was created? Perhaps it was a piece of land that was being disputed between Lycoming, Potter, and Clinton. Hey Lou – do you have an answer for this?

The Keating Hotel
Though destroyed by fire in 1965, The Keating Hotel located in the village of Keating in far western Clinton County was once a great resort-like structure rivaling modern hotels in much larger cities. In fact, early newspapers from the late 1800s advertised the hotel as being a “health retreat” where the folks from big cities can come and enjoy a simple life in the mountains of north central Pennsylvania. Something very interesting to note would be a notation that was left behind in John Blair Linn’s “History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania,” otherwise known as a local history research text of sorts. This note says, “in the year 1858 an engineer employed by the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad found a very curious stone, on which was cut some very

singular characters…the stone was flat, and was found under the ledge of rocks nearly opposite the Keating Hotel.” Now it is worthwhile to mention that the rock does not exist at the location anymore because it was supposedly carefully packed and forwarded to the home of the discoverer. Nevertheless it is always important to remember that we were not the first inhabitants of this great land we call home.

‘Scootac
Above Tangascootac Creek in modern-day Beech Creek Township lay the remains of four mining camps known as Peacock, Rock Cabin, Revelton, and Eagleton. Though all but lost to history, the only things to remain that would most likely be covered by leaves and thick vegetation would be the stone foundations of the village buildings. Abandoned today, these villages most likely housed hundreds of workers as they went forth to mine one of our country’s greatest resources: coal.

Leidy
Going off of the theme of natural resources, the Leidy area is well known today for the natural gas industry that flourishes here. Known to the Native American Indians, this great area has been a hotbed of energy exploration for more than 70 years. This is very evident by taking a drive around the township and driving the circle from Route 120 to Tamarack and back down Route 144. Dorcie Calhoun surely knew where to drill that well that turned Renovo into an energy boom town in the early 1950s.

Sugar Valley
The rolling hills of Sugar Valley contain some of the finest fertile farmland in Clinton County. The name Sugar Valley is derived from the rich abundance of Sugar Maple trees discovered there at its earliest settlement. It is also known today as the county’s largest settlement of Amish who operate many fine business establishments.

Lock Haven University
Walking around campus, one will easily notice the massive bell structure on the lawn in front of Stevenson Library at the intersection of North Fairview Street, Water Street, and Susquehanna Avenue. Stand back quite a few feet from it so you can glance at the weathervane on top of the bell Carillon. Do your eyes deceive you, or is that a steam locomotive perched on top? What does the locomotive have to do with the college? Rumor has it, and I heard this more than 10 years ago, that before the Carillon was decided on, there was a small movement interested in placing a train car, or a caboose at the site instead. Though no train car was ever placed there, the idea was not totally disregarded and permission was granted to have the weathervane.

Renovo
While perusing an old Renovo history book long ago I found an interesting tidbit of information. Supposedly, and somebody please tell me if you know otherwise, there was an unwritten law in the borough that stated no building in Renovo will be allowed to be taller than the steeple of Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church.

My Grandmother Wore Woolrich…
…and she was darn well proud of it! It is hard to imagine my grandmother, who would have been 102 this year, as a hunter. When she passed away in 2009 we dug through boxes of old pictures to put together a small

slideshow of her life. We were all pleasantly surprised to see the old hunting pictures with a gun slung over her shoulders, and Nan (as the grandkids called her) sporting the iconic Woolrich Buffalo Check. Supposedly when she hunted with my grandfather in the Pocono’s, she always wanted to stop and shop in the stores in Stroudsburg but was too embarrassed to be seen downtown in public in her hunting attire.

Nelsonville
So much is unknown in East and West Keating Township which makes it much more alluring to adventurers and researchers such as myself. Nelsonville as it was called was a small grouping of buildings built by the Nelson family who inhabited the area. Seth Nelson, the self-proclaimed Panther hunter and his family resided in the area and left behind a small cemetery that appears to be decently kept to this day. Seth is buried here and most likely scattered around the area would be the bones of his Panther kills.

The above pieces are just a sampling of what can be found here in Clinton County. New information is being found every day in our local libraries and newspaper archives.

What will you find next that could turn local history on its head?