The Townships

By Christopher Miller

Not many townships in Clinton County contain a village that was originally laid out in the late 1700s.

“A patent was granted to William Dunn, the grandfather of Judge Dunn, for the land where Dunnsburg now stands, which was laid out by him in 1792 and called by his name,” was recorded in the book Historical View of Clinton County. Now you might see that “Dunnsburg” does not currently exist, by that name anyway. But “Dunnstown” is alive and well in modern-day Woodward Township.

In fact, this book states that Dunnsburg/Dunnstown was intended to be the county seat of Lycoming County, but it was not taken. Aside from the mention in this book an actual account of this cannot be proven, but it is interesting to think that my “home township” could have been a Williamsport.

Present-day Woodward Township was first organized in 1841, established in 1871, and named in honor of George W. Woodward, then President Judge of that district who passed on in 1858 “at the advanced age of 84 years.”
Now the locals who are happy to call the township “home” know well enough that it is quite hilly and contains very little level land with the exception of what lies along the river.

Historical View of Clinton County made specific mention of Thomas Cummings, a (long since passed-on, I think?) resident of the township was a cabinet maker who made the first ballot box used in Woodward Township, which was a “very fine piece of workmanship.” It is safe to assume that voting is a very serious and active activity in the township.

Long before the settlers who called Dunnsburg home, there was an Indian town that stood on the site occupied by the town. “Traces of their village were perceptible long after the arrival of the whites, and some of the oldest inhabitants remember the little hillocks where the corn grew,” was written in the local history book.

At one time, Woodward Township was well-supplied with valuable minerals such as fire clay, potter’s clay, coal, and iron ore.

Now one cannot mention Woodward Township without a mention of Swissdale, or the “German Settlement,” which was then known as a dreary wilderness without a house or hut or even a road, except for a few hunter’s paths. This place was settled in 1825 by John Feller, John Witchey, and Nicholas Suter who came from Switzerland.

It is important to note that John Feller and 17 men built the first house here, “split the boards, put on the roof, and put in the windows and door all in one day.”

Further south of Swissdale lies the little village of Lockport, or so a sign tells us today what used to be. “It was laid out by a Nathaniel Hanna at a very early day, but the date cannot be ascertained, but dates about the same as the city of Lock Haven.” Lou Bernard of the Ross Library tells me, the writer, that there once was a two story outhouse in Lockport. How that structure could possibly work still confuses me!

An interesting article from January 1956 details how Woodward Township had become a boom town resulting in “the building of many new homes, taking hundreds of residents beyond the boundaries of Lock Haven City” and who gave rise to a new citizenry “made up of people who work in the city but live in their own homes in the country.”

It wasn’t until after the second World War that Woodward Township grew by leaps and bounds, so great that the township was faced with new problems such as the need to install a new sewer system in Lockport and Dunnstown.

A newspaper reported that “Lock Haven residents discovered Dunnstown soon after the Constitution Bridge was built in 1938…it was high above the river providing a fine view and at the same time offering security in time of flood,” and that the bridge made the community “convenient to the city.”

So whether it is city life you crave across one of the bridges or a taste of the country, you can feel at home here in Woodward Township. Close enough to the city, yet far enough away from the hustle and bustle.