Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

As I write this, my son is taking swimming lessons at the Mill Hall pool. While he’s splashing around in the water, I’m trying to be at least a little bit productive, working on an article. As I don’t have my laptop with me at the moment, I’m composing this one in my head and scribbling it down onto a notepad from my backpack, to be transcribed later. I really hope I can read my own handwriting when I type this up, as I don’t want to get any of the words inconnect.

I’m also working from memory here, as I sit in the middle of Mill Hall. So let’s see how much about Mill Hall I can do without the usual access to all of my books and documents. Things have been a little slow lately, and I’m up for the challenge.

Mill Hall lies in Bald Eagle Township, one of the earlier townships in Clinton County. Bald Eagle predates the county itself, being one of the counties that was created before 1839 when Clinton County was founded. At the time Mill Hall was founded, it was part of Lycoming County.

Local settler Nathan Harvey founded Mill Hall in 1806. From the beginning, it was a big spot for industry, and several lumber and grist mills were built there. They all lay along the sides of the road, giving the impression that it was a long hallway with mills on each side, hence the name. I have to admit, I’ve heard way more ridiculous name origins than that.

I remember reading, in Linn’s History, that local farmer J.D.L. Smith had an insect problem at one point, requiring him to dig a trench along his field to prevent the insects from spreading. I don’t recall what kind of insects, and I’m a little fuzzy on most of the details, too, because it’s been a few years since I read this. (And no, I’m not looking this up on my phone. For one thing, that would violate the spirit of this thing, and for another, it’s a cheap flip phone with no internet service.)

One thing that everyone connects with Mill Hall is Millbrook Playhouse. Now it’s a very neat little theater, and worth visiting. But in the old days, it was a dairy farm, owned by the Wilson Kistler family. Kistler, who lived at the corner of Third and Church Streets in Lock Haven, was a very active member of the community and owned a tannery. But his family also owned Millbrook, often at the time known as the “Kistler Barn.” This is where they had the first genetically bred Holstein cows.

Another interesting thing about Millbrook is that Prince Farrington used to hide his bootleg whiskey there. This doesn’t exactly make Mill Hall exclusive; Farrington hid whiskey all over the county. They didn’t call him “America’s most notorious bootlegger” for nothing. But Millbrook was one of the places he stashed his whiskey, in small hiding spots in the walls. Then he’d send his employees to the dairy farm to get “milk” and distribute it to his faithful customers.

During the height of the lumber industry, in the 1800s, there was a spot called the “Devil’s Gangway.” This was a somewhat muddy path where the lumbermen would slide logs down to get them to the creek. Amusingly, these days that “Devil’s Gangway” is known as Church Street.

The Mill Hall school burned down in 1919, though as I recall, there were no fatalities. The fire started in the basement, with a janitor attempting to get the heat started up for the day. The school was rebuilt and reopened.

That’s got to be, what, six hundred words or so? I’m not going to sit here at a picnic table counting them; I’m gonna just take it on faith.

There, I did an article, accomplishing something while I wait for the kid. Boy, I really hope I can read my own handwriting later.