The Townships

By Christopher Miller

Ah, good ol’ Allison Township. Actually not all THAT old, but still – the history of this township stems back to the mid 1870s.

In May, 1876, the citizens of the 5th Ward of Lock Haven petitioned the court to create a new township, to be called Allison, and be carved from the 5th Ward.

“We are of the opinion that the erection of a new Township, according to the aforesaid lines, would be to the convenience of the inhabitants thereof, and, therefore, that in the opinion of the Commissioners, it is proper that the prayer of the petitioners should be granted and that such new Township should be erected.” So proper, that was written!

About 100 years earlier (1772), a grant was made from that famous family of Penns to Francis Allison (the namesake of the township…funny how that works). Thomas and John Penn were proprietors of the colony of Pennsylvania, and were also the sons of Bill…you know, Bill Penn. Oh, well I guess his full name of “William” is more notable than “Bill”.

This grant is actually pretty interesting to read. It included more than 1,600 acres of land which is most of the City of Lock Haven today, and property boundaries such as “a marked hickory on the north side of Bald Eagle Creek” (we all know that ol’ hickory tree), and something about perches. I guess they had a lot of birds back then?

Interestingly enough, this also included full mineral rights, something that many landowners today would have loved to have owned some 10 – 15 years ago when drill baby drill was going on. Strangely too, hunting and fishing was also granted in the deed.

“…and also free leave, right and liberty to and for said Francis Allison, his heirs and assigns, to hawk, hunt, fish and fowl in and upon any part thereof.”

The taxes then too, gee, were outrageous! They were basically due on the first day of March every year, “one penny sterling for every acre of the same, or value thereof in coin-current, according as the exchange shall then be between our said province and the city of London.”

An interesting article appearing in 1858 gives a thorough peek at the Allison (school) District, taking a look at the two schools in that area and proposing the idea of a third.

“School house No. 1 is quite an old, dark looking frame, unpainted, without blackboard…seats and desks are rather uncomfortable, being placed around walls in the old fashioned way…mud gets rather deep, about the door in wet weather…Mr. Henry Black is the teacher, and is one of the oldest teachers in the county. On commencing his school, he had to bring order out of confusion, he succeeded very well, and his pupils advanced rapidly – his class in mental arithmetic was well advanced.”

Now let’s fast forward a bit.

Allison Township had suffered from quite an identity crisis in the early days. Records say that it was first a township in the 1830s, and then was folded into the city of Lock Haven in 1870, only then in 1878 to be granted its own township again. Flip-flop-flip…a township of residents not knowing (back then) where they actually lived!

And jumping back (flip flopping?) to the issue of schools, an article appearing in 1951 had the headline Burden of Allison Township Schools Too Heavy, Says Superintendent Bartges.

A committee of township residents were pressing for annexation to Lock Haven to save them from their “school burden,” as the article stated. And then, in 1953, Lock Haven City Council voted and passed to annex a major portion of Allison Township, adding a large area to the City. But this would not be the final time that Allison Township could be in jeopardy of existing, not only in a small piece, but its entirety changing the county townships from 21 to 20.

“Because of escalating operating costs, one of Clinton County’s original 12 townships may merge with another municipality,” an article published in 1993 with the title Will Allison Township cease to exist? said. “Allison Township officials have been talking with officials from Flemington Borough and Bald Eagle Township about a possible merger.”

It was becoming too costly to effectively run the township, and not enough money was coming in from resident taxpayers to help foot the bill.

“Our Board’s decision (Bald Eagle Township) will depend on what the citizens tell us on a referendum,” the article said further. “If an agreement is reached between Allison Township and another municipality, it would be placed on the ballot for the voters in those municipalities to decide.”

Well, today, in good ol’ 2022, Clinton County still has all 21 townships with Allison Township still existing and about 200 people still residing there. At least their identity, at the time of the publishing this article, is still a resident of Allison Township.