Williamsport, PA - Birthday for Dad

This past weekend, my family converged on Williamsport, PA to celebrate my dad's birthday. We chose this location as it is central to Rochester, NY where my older brother lives and southeastern PA where the rest of us live. We enjoyed a very nice dinner and as a bonus, got to explore the town beforehand.

Williamsport was incorporated as a borough on March 1, 1806, and as a city on January 15, 1866.

In the late 19th century Williamsport was known as "The Lumber Capital of the World" because of its thriving lumber industry. It also was the birthplace of the national newspaper Grit in 1882. Williamsport once had more millionaires per-capita than anywhere else in the world. For this reason, the area's local high school, the Williamsport Area High School, uses "Millionaires" as its team nickname.

The city is also the original home of Little League Baseball, founded in 1939 as a three-team league.


Millionaire Row Street Sign

The wealthy families of Williamsport lived primarily on West Fourth Street - giving that street the nickname, Millionaire Row. Today, the street is home to many huge Victorian homes - in various states of preservation. Some of them serve as apartments for students attending the nearby Pennsylvania College of Technology, others are still private homes, and yet others are professional buildings.


Hermann Munster's House?

When we arrived in Williamsport, we parked on the western end of West Fourth Street and walked back toward the center of town - this Victoria home was across the street from where we parked. I was reminded of Munster's of 1313 Mockingbird Lane when I saw this home.

942-944 West Fourth Street. "Herdic Double." Built in 1875 by architect Eber Culver. To attract families to West Fourth Street, Peter Herdic built many double houses. They typically have a mansard roof and protruding center bay with a cupola on top. Second Empire Style.

Peter Herdic (1824–1888) was a lumber baron, entrepreneur, inventor, politician, and philanthropist in Victorian era Williamsport. He was the youngest of seven children born to Henry and Elizabeth Herdic on December 14, 1824 in Fort Plain, New York. Herdic's father died in 1826 and Elizabeth Herdic remarried shortly thereafter. She was widowed again prior to 1837. Herdic attended school for just a few years while he worked on his mother's 50-acre farm. Herdic left his mother's farm in 1846.

Herdic would go on to become one of the wealthiest men in Pennsylvania and was a major figure in the development of the lumber industry throughout North Central Pennsylvania. Herdic donated large amounts of land and money to various churches in Williamsport. Peter Herdic was the inventor of the Herdic cab (a precursor to the taxi), which was a two wheeled horse drawn carriage with side seats and a rear entrance. Peter Herdic died on February 2, 1888 as the result of a concussion sustained when he slipped and fell on ice while inspecting his waterworks in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.


Notice the peacocks in the windows?

Much easier on the eye, was this home - I believe the style is called Italianate. An older gentleman was out front raking leaves and I asked if this beautiful building was his home. He replied, "It sure is!" and offered to let me and my mom take a peek inside the front door.


Eutermarks - Harrar House - 915 West Fourth Street

This house was built in 1870 by architect Eber Culver and was a wedding present for Lucy Filbert Eutermarks and purchased by the Harrar family in 1901. The original street address of 913 was considered unlucky and it was changed to 915.


Trinity Episcopal Church - 844 West 4th Street

Built in 1875 and consecrated in February 1876, it is the largest of the Episcopal churches in the city. The church was given to the parish by Peter Herdic.


Smith-Ulman House - 634 West Fourth Street

Historically known at the Smith-Ulman House and previously used as the rectory of Annunciation Church, this 1889 house with Italianate influence was built by Isaac Hobbs and is now the law firm of Raup, Wiley, and Mott.


William V. Emery House - 535 West Fourth Street

William V. Emery had Eber Culver design this handsome brick and cut stone home at 535 West Fourth Street in 1865. Emery was an associate of the Emery Lumber Company on West Third Street, which maintained a retail business for coal, ice, and lumber. Many retail lumber companies cut ice from the river in the winter and stored it in sawdust. On any warm day it was a special delight for children to chase the ice wagons, hoping to sneak a frozen sliver of the pure Susquehanna water.

There are more pictures in Flickr if you are interested in seeing them. I am working on identifying each home - but am not done yet.