In a message dated 8/25/03 3:32:55 PM Pacific Daylight Time, valntine@ptd.net
writes:
> That entire area was owned by a fellow by the name of Potter (thus -
> Potter County). He bought and clearcut four entire counties and floated
> the logs down the Pine Creek every spring. He would dam up the creek
> where his crews were logging and in the spring he would dynamite the
> dams to let the spring thaw waters carry the logs down to the Sesquahana
> River and down to Waterville and Williamsport.
>
> He bought the land for 3 cents an acre and gave it back to the state
> after he felled ALL the trees for a 2 cents per acre tax credit.
>
> My grandfather managed to buy over 500 acres of the Pine Creek Valley
> just north of Waterville back in the late 1940's. I played there every
> summer as a child and worked helping my grandfather on his farm in the
> summers of the late 60's and early 70's. There's still a road named
> after my grandfather a mile north of Waterville - It's marked - "West
> Lane" (His name was Robert West). His old farmhouse still stands on
> "West Field" located on the right side (traveling north on Rt44) just
> after passing over the Waterville Bridge. The house seems to be
> uninhabited and in a bit of less than perfect condition, the very large
> porch has been removed - but someone is still mowing the feild........
> His barn was next to the road and you can still see where it stood, but
> it's been gone for many years.
>
> All the rail lines in that area have been converted into hiking paths
> (Rails to Trails program), but I can still remember when the tracks were
> full of trains and the sounds of moving engines and freight cars. My
> grandfather retired from the Reading Railroad in the late 60's. After
> he retired, he would take coffee and snacks to the crews working on the
> trains passing by his farmhouse. The railroad was on the other side of
> the Pine Creek from his farmhouse so he'd either wade thru the (50-80
> feet wide) creek or walk across the Waterville bridge to meet the trains
> at 5:30am and again at 1pm. I suspect he just wanted to keep up on the
> news of his friends who still worked for the railroad. (Sorta like this
> list but without the internet).
>
Verrry Interesting, Kevin. I love local and family history. It seems to
stress the personalities and idiosyncrasies of the people, like your
grandfather,
more than macro history does.
--DAvid C.
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