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Watsontown History by Major Fred H. Knight, 1915 |
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 26 April 2005 |
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Page 5 of 17
At that time there were no buildings north of what is now the T.G. Caldwell residence, at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets, except the residence of William Banghart, between Ninth and Tenth Streets. From Main St. to the Canal and from Fourth to Tenth St. was one large wheat field and it was no unusual site to see boys picking berries along the fence paralleling Main Street. The lands on the east side of Main Street north of Third Street were all cultivated as farm lands, there being no buildings between Third Street and what was then the Lippincott residence, later known as the Ranck residence, above Tenth Street. Later, this land as far north as Eighth Street came into the possession of Moses Chamberlain and Ario Pardee and north of Eighth Street came into the possession of S.M. Miller, who plotted it into lots and rapidly sold them to the then eager buyers. In fact, so rapid was the growth of the town at this time that from a population of 300 in the spring of 1866, it grew to a population of 900 in the spring of 1867, and your historian distinctly remembers when, in 1868, there were thirty houses in course of construction at one time.
From this time on Watsontown, for a period of fifteen years, developed so rapidly that the casual observer could a'most see changes over night.
In 1867, Fegly and Dixon built a planing mill between Fourth and Fifth Streets and operated it for a short time. This was of short duration and for a number of years remain idle until it was taken over by the Watsontown Car Mfg. Company and used by them for a foundry plant.
In the spring of 1866, the religiously disposed people of the town concluded that the holding of church services in the Old Academy building, which had been the place for all religious services for many years prior to that time, was no longer in keeping with the prosperity of the community, and that a church edifice befitting the then industrial center should be erected. This resulted in the Lutheran and Reformed Congregations erecting a Union Church, upon the site of the present Lutheran Church, the corner stone of which was laid July 15, 1866, and the exercises in connection therewith held in the old "Bill Mill" in order to avoid the heat of the burning sun. The two denominations worshiped in this edifice until 1868 when the old building was razed to the ground and the present Lutheran church erected on the old site, at the northwest corner of Sixth and Main Streets and dedicated February 20, 1887. The erection of the Union Church was followed in quick succession by the building by the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian congregations, respectively, of their houses of worship.
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Watsontown History 
