LXIV MONTOUR COUNTY
Reading edition
FORMED May 3, 1850; named for Catharine Montour; surface hilly; traversed by several barren ridges. Muncy Hills lie along the northwest border, while down the river for miles stretches the Montour Ridge, furnishing quantities of best iron ore; there is also finest limestone; and much fertile land, drained by the Chillisquaque and Mahoning creeks. Chief industries are iron and steel production, and manufactories. Here, it is said, the first “T” rail was made, in 1844, and the first cannon in the United States, made of anthracite iron, was cast at the foundry in 1842.
Danville, county seat; population 6952; was settled in 1790; beautifully located, it nestles between Bald Top and Blue Hill. Mahoning Creek, named after a tribe of Indians who peopled this part of the country, flows through the town, which is built on part of the tract of land surveyed on warrant of John Penn to John Lukens, Surveyor General of the United States, dated, January 31, 1769. A bridge built by the state in 1904 is one-quarter mile long and connects Montour with Northumberland County; at its entrance is River Front Park, laid out in 1912, with concrete walks, flower beds, and fountain. Market Street Park, center of town, has an electrically lighted fountain. Memorial Park, a beautiful knoll, was formerly the burial ground of the Presbyterian Church; in 1908 it was laid out as a park with flower beds, and is kept up by the council and public-spirited citizens; the Soldiers’ Monument is here, with two cannon of the Civil War near.
Courthouse, Georgian, built in 1871. Jail built, 1892, architect, J. H. Brugler, has modern equipment, and for months at a time is empty. Among the fifteen churches, the most notable in architecture is Christ Memorial, Protestant Episcopal, fourteenth century, English Gothic; massive architecture, native limestone of varied tints, with Ohio stone for the traceried windows. The Thomas Beaver Free Library. Young Men’s Christian Association with gymnasium and swimming pool; George F. Geisinger Memorial Hospital; and State Hospital for the Insane, constructed by S. S. Schultz, M.D., corner-stone laid by Governor Geary in 1869, are all important buildings, among the best equipped and most modern in the state. Washingtonville is site of Fort Bossley, on the Chillisquaque Creek.