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Pleasant Gap
J. Thomas Mitchell Reviews
History of Pleasant Gap
J. Thomas Mitchell, Esq., of Bellefonte, well known authority on Centre county history gave the following interesting talk on the history of Pleasant Gap area recently before the Women's Club of that area.
I am always glad to talk on local history. It is most important in these days of unsettled world conditions that our people should realize what has happened in the past since the basic acts and inclinations of mankind are the same today as they were yesterday.
Those descendants of colonial ancestors in this country should be particularly interested in what their forefathers accomplished, but it has been forced upon my attention in recent years that many persons, who have only lately come from the Mediterranean races and of western Europe, are often stopped on the street by some of the men who talked about some article of mine published in the weekly papers.
Therefore, I am particularly please at this invitation.
In talking about local history to the citizens of Pleasant Gap, it seems most pertinent to refer to one of the nearby curiosities of this region, the "Blue Spring." This was a body of water flowing at the rate of nearly six millions of gallons each 24 hours which in recent years has entirely disappeared owing probably to the excavations around the State Fish Hatchery.
I remember when it was a clear stream about 12 feet wide and two feet deep issuing directly from the side of a low hill. This spring and the upper portion of Logan's Branch was for many years the site of the camping ground of Logan, the great Indian chief and his followers. He was the son of the former chief of the Shawnese tribe and is known to have lived in this section of Pennsylvania as early as the year 1766. We might turn next to the reason for the existence of your town. The first settlements in these mountain regions of Pennsylvania were along water routes. Bald Eagle Creek, Penn's Creek, Spruce Creek and Logan's Branch, in the order named attracted the first settlers since padding a canoe along these waters was much easier than following the Indian trails of those days. Remember, no roads existed at the beginning of the colonization of this region, and an Indian trail could only be followed by sharp eyed woodsmen.
The first road into what was to be Centre county was the one built by Reuben Haines in 1772 to haul his lumber from Penn's valley to the river at Sunbury. Two years thereafter an addition to that road was laid out as far as what was to be James Potter's "Old Fort," with a possible extension toward the Indian trail crossing Nittany Mountain by means of McBride's Gap. In the year 1779, when this section became a part of Mifflin county the "Haines Road" was continued as far as Spruce Creek Valley.
At the same time a road was authorized across the Seven Mountains and in 1790 a road was laid out from the continuation of the Haines Road around the end of Nittany Mountain through Nittany Valley to the Bald Eagle Creek. That road followed the general direction of the highway now extending from where Boalsburg now exists through Centre Furnace to Logan's Branch where it crossed that creek at about the location of the old stone house which stands on the other side of the stream near the Fish Hatchery. The first settlement in your section must have been prior to the year 1790 and was probably just south of the Fish Hatchery by a family named Connelly, since it is shown on the old Howell map of 1792. The Connellys seemed to disappear from our records in later years with one exception. As early as 1790 the stone house to which I have referred opposite the Hatchery on the west side of Logan's Branch was erected by Alexander Dunlap, who ran a tavern at that place.
Tavern licenses were only granted in those days where the proprietor could show the court that he had good stabling for the horses. This was most important since his inn was on what they then called a main highway. The condition of the bed and board for the traveling public was rarely considered, big beds were the custom and it was common to have several men in each bed. In the cold winters the guests sometimes slept on the floor in front of the kitchen fire covered with robes and blankets.
About the year 1800, when Centre county was first erected, another road was directed to be opened from the Centre Hall location across the mountain to Bellefonte. In the year 1806, by order of the court, this road was re-laid from Bellefonte to Nittany Mountain at the mouth of the "Gap" your town now covers. This road followed generally the route of the highway now existing along the east side of Logan's Branch. With the appearance of this road and the former one around the end of the mountain which joined each other at the Hatchery location all the travel from Penn's Valley and the Ferguson township section of the county followed these routes. To picture conditions in the early years before the formation of our county we must bear in mind that the first settler was Andrew Boggs who built a cabin near Milesburg in 1769. For the 15 years following there were probably not more than a dozen families in Bald Eagle Valley. Penn's Valley began to open for settlement in 1772 with the building of the Haines road, and during the years prior to the Revolution was the most populous part of the county. It was not until 1784, when iron ore was discovered near Centre Furnace, that Nittany Valley began to secure its share of colonists. In 1785 William Lamb bought a large tract of land that included what was to be Bellefonte town. John Patton and Samuel Miles started the first charcoal-iron furnace in 1792, calling it "Centre Furnace." Philip Benner made his famous trek from Chester county with 92 persons in his train and started "Rock Forge" ironworks in 1793.
The accomplishments of these two men of course increased the Nittany Valley settlement as villages soon grew up around the two iron plants. Miles Patton and John Dunlop started "Harmony Forge" at Milesburg in 1795, to be followed by the building of "Bellefonte Forge" by Dunlop in 1796 and his furnace at "Logan" in 1798. Of course this started a rush of settlers to these sections. While the colonists were allowed to manufacture iron they were not permitted to reforge it or to construct beams or tools. Under the new republic this grew into the most important industry of the day.
With the finding of iron-ore so much superior in quality to the heretofore found in this country the mountain valleys of this state came into their own, within a dozen years this population had furnished not only great ironmasters but actually great judges, congressmen, and a senator of the United States. The possession of forged iron made its owner rich in the days when only a few hundred dollars promoted the man to the upper-class of its citizenry.
These iron operations had to obtain their ore, charcoal and limestone by way of roads, hence the ironmasters pushed the building of these highways to the best of their ability, and as they had the money of the community their wishes were usually carried out. These plants were also forced to transport their finished product either across or around Nittany Mountain to Sunbury, or to try to cross the Seven Mountains to Lewistown. This latter route was the most desired route since iron brought high prices in the Pittsburgh market. By the year 1800, when the county was erected, the Pleasant Gap section was at the junction of the two main roads used by the iron plants and conditions of living had greatly changed. Nittany Valley, including Half Moon Valley, from Stormstown to Zion, began to be dotted with cultivated farms and at least two settlements had been definitely established in lower Nittany Valley. The Indian tribes had practically disappeared. James Potter, the younger son of the great general who at one time had been Vice-president of Pennsylvania under its first constitution, had improved the "Old Fort" house established by his father and had erected at least three houses and a new mill at Potter's Mills. Aaronsburg, Millheim, Spring Mills, Centre Hall and Earlysburg had appeared as towns in Penn's Valley and a government post office was placed in Aaronsburg, the first in the county. Howard, Milesburg and a grouping of houses around what was to be Unionville were to be found in the Bald Eagle Valley, as well as settlements all along the "Officers' Surveys." Among Milesburg's inhabitants were to be found such names as Samuel Miles, a colonel in the Revolution and a former mayor of Philadelphia, Richard Miles, his brother, also a captain in that war, Joseph Green, the architect and carpenter who constructed both Centre Furnace and Milesburg Forge, and the sons of Samuel Miles who afterwards became prominent in the county, as well as Roland Curtin, the future ironmaster of that valley and the father of our late governor. The county seat in its five years of existence had grown into a village of some two hundred people. It was continually visited by Gen. Philip Benner, probably the greatest of our early ironmasters, as well as by Andrew Gregg, then the congressman from our district. Its own citizenship included such names as Col. James Dunlop, his son, John, the ironmaster, Capt. James Harris, in 1801 a state senator from this district, William Lamb, its first settler, James Smith who owned all the land west of Spring Creek in that neighborhood, William Petrikin later one of the county officials, John G. Lowrey for years treasurer of the new county, and Robert T. Stewart, a lawyer, who later joined John Lyon in the iron firm of Lyon, Stewart & Co. With this influx of men [of] distinction and ability the new county at once assumed an extraordinarily prominent place in the councils of the Commonwealth. Together with the great ironmasters such as Patton, Benner and Dunlop, one of the less than ten congressmen from Pennsylvania was Andrew Gregg.
Samuel Miles was then a state senator and James Harris a representative in the General Assembly. Jonathan Walker, Charles Huston and Robert T. Stewart were among the practicing attorneys. With the increase of the iron plants there was probably more wealth concentrated within fifteen miles of the county seat than in any other county seat west of the cities of Reading and Lancaster.
During these years the territory between Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap was practically neglected but with the completion of the furnace at Logan in 1798 land began to be taken up in the southern part of Spring Township and farms were developed in your neighborhood. From 1800 to 1820 the effect of the iron industry was felt in another way. These plants owned many thousands of acres purchased merely for the hardwood timber necessary for charcoal burning, much of which was along the northern side of Nittany. Hundreds of wagon loads of charcoal were hauled to the different furnaces and many homes sprang up along the roads used for that purpose. Several of the letters of that time mention the charcoal burner's shacks along the route. Many of them may have been placed in the location now covered by your town.
Some time prior to 1820 an unusual state of circumstances had arisen. Two men, Lewis and Connelly, the latter having been a descendant of the Connelly family we first talked about, formed a band of robbers who had their main hideout about where the "Boy Scout" camp now exists in the Seven Mountains. They held up several individuals crossing the mountain between Pleasant Gap and Lewistown and finally began to stop loaded wagons in that section. A sheriff's posse chased them for miles and captured the gang, both leaders being killed in the final fight. A few years before that time stage routes had been established from Sunbury to Bellefonte. These stages were pulled by at least four horses and later an extra team was kept at the nearest toll-gate approaching each mountain. A stage trip was a rough journey since the horses were urged to gallop on the level roads to make up for the slow movement they were forced to take on their mountain trips. Sometimes when they came to a marshy piece of road and the going was hard the cheaper class passengers who were seated on the top of the vehicle were asked to get off and occasionally to help push it along.
By 1822 the demand for a better route to the Juniata Valley were so importune as to initiate the construction of the turnpike from Bellefonte to Brown's Mills, now called Reedsville. It abandoned the water route and cut straight across the hills. One of the first toll-gates then in use was located opposite what I have always known as "Noll's Store," and later was moved a couple hundred yards to the south up the mountain. With the appearance of what was called a good road several buildings were erected along its length. I believe the eastern part of your town was then laid out in a plot called "Harrisonville." John Blair Linn, in his extremely valuable history of this county, seems to think that the first house to be erected in Pleasant Gap was in 1845. Perhaps that was the time when the town first received that name. I feel that many buildings of some nature came into being prior to that time.
There must have been a gate house by the year 1825 when the turnpike began its operations. It is known that John Swaney built the original one and he must have had a stable to care for the horses. The original gate house was finally called the "Green Tree Tavern." It later became the property of William Riddle and passed from his hands into those of Gottlieb Hagg, who built a distillery adjoining it. Of course in the early days there was no such thing as a temperance organization. Practically everyone, even the ministers and elders of the church, used some form of strong drink in the cold weather with their unwarmed houses. Cabins or houses built of hewn logs must have existed in various places along the roads to the mountain which were replaced during the 1840's with more permanent structures. Mr. Linn does speak of James Hamilton who lived in 1824 in the stone tavern built by Alexander Dunlap. He also refers to John Furey who owned a farm in your section in 1826 and he writes at some length of George Lonbarger and his family who first settled at the head of Logan's branch in 1829 and then moved to the north side of Nittany where your town is now situate. During the years just prior to the naming of Pleasant Gap three newspapers appeared in our midst, the Bellefonte Patriot, the Centre Democrat and Der Centre Berichter, the latter being published in Aaronsburg, and printed entirely in German. These were also the years when temperance societies began to be organized. They were, of course, endorsed by the managers of the iron plants to keep their men from too much indulgence, however, from the letters of those years they did not affect the habits of the bosses. In 1835 came the adoption of the public school system, which, however, did not go into full effect until the year 1839. At that time the papers announced that barely five percent of the population of Pennsylvania could read and write. This was particularly the reason why the early constitution and laws of our country limited the qualification of our voters to the possession of land or of a certain amount of money. Politics were rampant in those days with the rising of the Anti-Masonic party and the subsequent existence of the Know-Nothing party. The first came about because certain Masons were supposed to have killed a member who wrote a book about their lodge secrets, the second party arose to combat the influence of the swarms of Catholic- Irish who were fleeing from famine in their land. Political opinions were then personally resented by each man's opponents. All parties then were branches of the dominant Democracy which swept into power under Andrew Jackson; besides the regulars there were the Democratic-Republicans, the Anti-Masons, the Know-Nothings and the Whigs.
The erection of Clinton county in 1889, which took all our territory south of the West Branch, was the cause of bitter personal strife even in the legislative halls. The temperance societies were so strong they even ran a temperance ticket, and John Thompson of Half Moon Valley, as a temperance advocate, came very close to beating the regular Democratic nominee for sheriff. These were also the days of militia organizations and companies of troops, riflemen and cavalry were formed in every section of the county. From 1846 to 1848 our young men were anxious to join the war with Mexico. Several of our militia companies volunteered as a body but none were accepted. However, a few of our individual citizens, like John Irvin Gregg, a son of the Senator, did get into the scrap, when Gregg began his famous military career. In 1849 many of our residents attempted the long trip to the newly discovered California gold fields. One of these men, John Bilger, the former owner of the "Centre Democrat," was elected as the first Governor of that new state in 1850. In the same year that his younger brother, William, who had also work on the same paper in Bellefonte, was elected Governor of Pennsylvania.
By 1840 Spring Township had nearly 1800 residents and almost 2500 by the next ten years, and many homes had been built along the road leading to the top of Nittany Mountain. By that time Centre had assumed a leading place among the counties of the Commonwealth on account of its great iron industries. It had furnished a Senator of the United State in the person of Andrew Gregg. Andrew Gregg in 1823 and James Irvin in 1847 had both been nominated for Governor although neither was successful. Henry Petrikin was the leading Democratic politician of those years and always occupied one of the official sinecures. Thomas Burnside, John Mitchell, William W. Potter and John Blanchard had been some of our congressmen. Charles Huston and Thomas Burnside were successively Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
It would take more time than I am allowed tonight to describe the growth of your town in the last hundred years. It has been wonderful to see how it has grown and the real beauty not only of your homes but of your location. I will close simply by referring to the fact that our own progressive citizens started to exploit the marvelous vein of limestone extending along your mountain. This business alone, when completely developed, should, in the next quarter century, see Pleasant Gap as one of the largest communities in our commonwealth. I am going to take this opportunity to urge that your club consider the project of writing a history of Pleasant Gap. You have among your membership a lady fully competent to undertake such a work in Mrs. George Magargel.
Old letter, church records, store books, the newspapers of the period would be valuable sources, and Mr. Linn's history should give your historian a start. This might cost a little money but would be well worth the while to your children and grandchildren.
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