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Gavin Siegfried History Hippie, Laporte, PA (2026)

07/21/2026

Please join me on Saturday July 25 at 6:00 PM for a special history talk at Lincoln Falls Wesleyan Church! Unearthing the Story of the Underground Railroad in Sullivan County! 🪏⛏️🚂🛤️

07/13/2026

Monday Morning Musings: Sullivan County Summary

The Wilderness & The Wyalusing Path

Before the first European explorers arrived, the rugged mountains that became Sullivan County served as shared hunting grounds. No permanent Native American settlements have been found to date. Instead, nearby residents followed game into these hills, residing here only a few months at a time to harvest the land's bounty. Cutting north and south through the wilderness, the Wyalusing Path served as a vital corridor, connecting the North and West Branches of the Susquehanna River and allowing different tribes to access the game needed to subsist.

Early Pioneers & Wartime Industry

The late 1700s brought the first permanent settlers along the Little Loyalsock Creek at Millview. These pioneers hewed roads and established farms, paving the way for future neighbors and economic development. In the days leading up to the War of 1812, international embargoes spurred rapid industrial growth in the territory:

The Rogers Woolen Mill: Erected at the fork of the Loyalsock and Little Loyalsock Creeks (present-day Forksville).

The Lewis Glass Factory: Established in what is now Eagles Mere.

Both industries rose directly out of the geopolitical conflicts with Britain, anchoring the county's early economy.

The Vision of Michael Meylert

In 1847, Secku Meylert filed a petition to formally establish Sullivan County. Facing failing health, he named his son, Michael Meylert, executor of both his 33,000 acres of land and the creation of the new county. Michael succeeded on both fronts. He donated the land for a central park and courthouse right in the heart of the new territory, establishing the county seat and founding the town of Laporte.

Elected to the House of Representatives in the 1850s, Michael Meylert sponsored the bill that created the Muncy Creek Railroad (later the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad). Though it wasn't fully realized until 1893—after his lifetime—it eventually became the vital economic artery he had envisioned. Meylert's development of a tannery, saw mill, hotels, spurned the fledgling economy.

The Lumber & Coal Boom

By the early 1860s, the nation’s demand for natural resources exploded. The great lumber boom began with splash dams pushing massive timber down-river to waiting sawmills. Tanneries were quickly erected or expanded in Laporte and Thorndale, followed by a surge of major lumber companies. Between the 1870s and 1890s, the county's industrial footprint expanded rapidly:

Two additional tanneries opened in Hillsgrove and Muncy Valley.

The town of Lopez emerged as a massive regional railroad hub.

Coal mining operations expanded across the county.

Through the early 1900s, dozens of lumber villages sprouted and vanished. Thousands of lumberjacks, bark peelers, blacksmiths, and laborers from across the globe arrived to cut timber, build bridges, and supply raw materials to America's rapidly growing cities. By the 1920s, the forests echoed with the sounds of sawmills, railroads, factories turning out clothespins and barrel staves, stone quarries, and booming hotels.

Hardship, Conservation, & Community Spirit

The Great Depression brought industry to a halt, leaving behind a landscape stripped bare by decades of intensive logging. The Roosevelt Administration responded with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). These young men, just 16-18 years old, replanted the clear-cut forests and constructed the infrastructure for Worlds End State Park, Ricketts Glen State Park, and thousands of acres of state game lands.

While economic hardships forced many families to leave the area to find work, the community’s deep-rooted spirit never wavered. When World War II broke out, local residents answered the call. Per capita, the tiny town of Lopez sent more volunteers to the war effort than almost any other community in the entire nation.

Today: A Living Artistic Tradition

The post-war rise of American automobile culture gradually drew full-time residents toward urban opportunities, continuing a long-term population decline. Yet today, that very same car culture brings hundreds of thousands of visitors back to our ridges.

Sullivan County now proudly hosts two of the most visited state parks in the Commonwealth, alongside tens of thousands of acres of protected public lands. Just like the shared hunting grounds of centuries past, these spaces draw people from all the diverse "tribes" of our modern nation to gather on shared ground.

Our generations-old traditions of community spirit, hospitality, and generosity are as vibrant today as they have ever been.

Please Join Me Saturday Morning at 9:00 AM in the Lake Mokoma parking lot for a special presentation on the history of the lake!

07/09/2026

Saturday, July 18th, at 9:00 AM, I will be hosting a very special, FIRST TIME, History Walk at Lake Mokoma. This will be a very easy, road based half mile, there and back again excursion to see some of the history of the Lake. THIS IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND FREE! I will make a donation ask for the Laporte Enhancement Committee at the end of the program, donations are gratefully accepted but certainly not required!! I really hope to see many people there!

We will be meeting at the Lake Mokoma Beach Parking Lot at the corner of Hill Street and Mokoma Avenue.

07/06/2026

Monday Morning Musings:

Forksville and Forks Township

The first permanent settlers in what became Sullivan County were Powell Bird, William Molyneux, and John Warren in 1794. Part of a surveying party for Samuel Wallis of Muncy—who owned a vast stretch of wilderness between the Loyalsock and Muncy Creeks—these three men built a supply cabin at the forks of the Loyalsock and Little Loyalsock Creeks. They soon established their own permanent homesteads in and near the present-day village of Millview, and many descendants of these three pioneer families still call the area home today.

In 1797, Thomas Huckle purchased 400 acres of land from Wallis. Sadly, Huckle passed away just a year later. Unable to pay the remaining balance on the loan, his widow surrendered most of the land back to Wallis. In 1801, Samuel Rogers purchased 150 acres of that original Huckle tract.

Samuel Rogers and his sons were skilled weavers from England. By 1802, they had prepared a cabin and brought their wives and children to the Forks. They first built a sawmill, and by 1810, the family developed a Woolen Mill on the bank of the Loyalsock Creek. As the business grew, the Rogers family encouraged locals to raise sheep alongside their regular livestock to supply wool for cloth manufacturing. By the outbreak of the War of 1812, the mill was bustling; the Rogers family had built up to ten tenant homes and was actively providing kersey cloth to the United States military.

Though a devastating flood wiped out their operations in 1816, the community’s resilience shone through that same year with the er****on of Sullivan County's very first schoolhouse at Forksville. In 1826, Samuel’s son, Jonathan Rogers, rebuilt the woolen mill on the original site, continuing operations sporadically until another flood discontinued operations permanently.

As time went on, Forks Township's population flourished, welcoming a steady progression of English, German, and Irish settlers. The village of Forksville grew in tandem with the township, officially incorporating as a borough in 1880.

Today, just as in the past, lumbering and agriculture form the backbone of Forks Township, while a thriving general store, post office, gas station, volunteer fire company, and local inn and tavern form a bustling community centered around the borough. Spanning the Loyalsock since 1850 is the iconic Forksville Covered Bridge, masterfully constructed by Sadler Rogers—a descendant of the pioneering Samuel.

As the host of one of Sullivan County's earliest industrial efforts and the proud gateway to Worlds End State Park, Forksville's rich history is defined by a deep thread of hospitality. Today, this historic community proudly welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

06/29/2026

Monday Morning Musings: A Brief History of Laporte.

Founded in 1847, Laporte came into existence when a stake was driven into the ground to mark the geographic center—and future courthouse site—of the newly formed Sullivan County. Michael Meylert worked doggedly to establish the county, and its seat, Laporte, was the crown jewel of his achievements. To ensure its success, he hurriedly built hotels, a tannery, and a general store. The man donated more than $13,000 and the land, a small fortune in the mid nineteenth century, to build the 3 story, original courthouse, later replaced in 1894. Meylert brought in specialized craftsmen, such as carpenters William Fancher and Isaac Lamareaux, to convert the wilderness into a livable borough. Meylert opened new roads, constructed his own palatial home, and sold off lots, envisioning this mountaintop paradise as the central hub of Sullivan County.

Industrial Growth and the Rise of Lake Mokoma

In the early 1860s, Meylert sold his tannery to the Thorne MacFarlane Company, sparking a period of rapid industrial development. Ahead of its time in employee relations, the company piped fresh water directly to its tenant homes and paid higher wages than its competitors.

As the town grew, local leaders looked toward the future. In 1888, anticipating the arrival of the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad, a group of prominent citizens dammed Lake Mokoma and built the picnic pavilion still in use today, to capitalize on the coming tourism boom. This ambitious group included:

James MacFarlane, partner in the tanning company
Thomas Jefferson Ingham, Sullivan County's President Judge
Ellery Ingham, an attorney
William Mason, a surveyor
Clinton Lloyd, an attorney from Williamsport

Their vision was realized in 1893 when the railroad finally reached Laporte.

Challenges and Modern Resilience

From the 1890s through the roaring 1920s Laporte had a second growth. Two new churches were built, many new homes, and a whole new section of town was opened by the Lake Mokoma company. The town faced a major setback in 1926 when the Lake Mokoma dam burst, devastating the Mill Creek valley and Loyalsock Creek with severe flooding. The disaster, compounded by the loss of the tannery, the onset of the Great Depression, and World War II, triggered a steady decline in the local population.

Today, Laporte holds the distinction of being one of the smallest county seats in the United States. Despite its size, it remains a vibrant residential community, kept brilliant and thriving by the Laporte Enhancement Committee, the Laporte Volunteer Fire Company, Sullivan County Elementary and High Schools, the local post office, a bank, a cozy coffee shop, a pub, and the historic county courthouse.

06/15/2026

Monday Morning Musings:

This is a piece I wrote for an upcoming publication. I'm actually proud of how this one turned out. Please enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing this!

Muncy Valley: The Gateway to Sullivan County

Nestled in the scenic valley of the Muncy Creek between North and Keystone Mountains lies Muncy Valley, the historic gateway to Sullivan County. Long before the first European settlers arrived, this landscape was defined by the Wyalusing Path—an ancient, vital Native American trail that cut through the rugged mountains to connect the North and West branches of the Susquehanna River. Following the natural corridor of the Muncy Creek, this path served as a crucial highway for trade, communication, and travel, famously used in 1772 by Moravian Bishop John Ettwein and a group of 200 Lenape and Mohican Christians journeying westward.

It is here, where Trout Run (the natural outlet of Hunter’s Lake) empties into the Muncy Creek, that the modern story of the valley began. In the early 1800s, pioneering families like the Edkins, Taylors, and Littles were enticed into this wilderness. They cleared the rugged land to establish farms, built the area's first roads, and laid the groundwork for early industrial ventures.

Growth and the Railroad Era

In the late 1860s, anticipating the arrival of the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad, local farmer Robert Taylor sectioned off part of his land to establish a village. Around the same time, L. R. Bump started a small tannery, and together they founded the settlement originally known as Muncy Bottom.

By the early 1880s, when the railroad tracks finally reached the bustling settlement, the village officially adopted its permanent name: Muncy Valley. During this prosperous era, the thriving village boasted a deeply active Methodist Church and a three-grade elementary school.

The Roaring '20s and Modernization

During the roaring 1920s, Muncy Valley became a hub of local modernization. The banks of Trout Run were lined with large pipes, directing rushing water to turn the turbines for the Eagles Mere Electric Company factory.

The surrounding landscape also became a major draw for travelers. One of the nearby mountain peaks featured a popular observatory offering nearly 360-degree panoramic views, while the newly constructed highway featured numerous scenic pull-offs for visitors to marvel at the rushing waters of Trout Run.

A Lasting Community Spirit

The closing of the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad during the Great Depression marked the end of an era, but not the end of the village's tight-knit bond. After enduring the hardships of the Depression and seeing many of its young men volunteer for World War II, Muncy Valley began a steady population decline.

Today, Country Friends Cafe, the local Post Office, and the Muncy Valley Volunteer Fire Company keep the village's vibrant community spirit alive, serving residents for miles around.

For the many families who spend their vacations in Sullivan County, this charming enclave remains a sentimental landmark—the final village of Sullivan County, warmly beckoning goodbye as they journey home.

06/11/2026

Leading adventures around Sullivan County is kind of my thing! I happen to love it! I met Barclay Mountain Co. while leading a history walk in Mountain Ash Cemetery. I love what they do! I love how they get people out, about, and having fun with each other! For that reason, I requested a referral link! Now you can support both Barclay Mountain Co and me by purchasing anything from their store through this link!

https://www.barclaymountain.com/?ref=GAVIN

Purchase any product using this link and I get a 20% commission! Sport your favorite Sullivan County Sticker and a bit goes to me to continue my historical preservation efforts!

05/14/2026

2026 Attendance Report

Total: 219

April 11: Endless Mountains Heritage Region Masonry Workshop Jakersville Historical Presentation #1
33

April 18: Endless Mountains Heritage Region Masonry Workshop Jakersville Historical Presentation #2
36

May 13: Dushore Lions Club
31

June 6: Endless Mountains Heritage Region guided hike and campfire session
9

July 12: Eagles Mere Museum travel series, trains, Lake Mokoma
20

July 18: Lake Mokoma, LEC
40

July 25: Underground Railroad in Sullivan County for the Library
50

This will be updated as my season continues

05/04/2026

Monday Morning Musings:

Finding bias.

The first photograph shows a particular paragraph, written by a very influential, and well researched author, but defines the bias of the writer.

This author, is a Black man, and his history was written with the intention of highlighting the contributions of free Blacks on the Underground Railroad. He wrote detail rich stories about how freed slaves helped fugitives escape and make their way to freedom. This is not a fictionalized or inflated history, it's an excellent read and the writer knows his stuff, it's a great source.

However, upon deep research, I can't find King Tompkins anywhere in the annals of Sullivan County History. In fact, I haven't found King Tompkins anywhere...

Beyond being insulted that our little county only got a three sentence paragraph to cover a deep seated tradition that started before Sullivan County was founded, I became confused. Who was King Tompkins?

I dug in.

I started researching the Underground Railroad to familiarize myself with the stories I'd been told growing up. I went to Facebook, asked questions, found more sources, and corroborated some of the stories, some have not been corroborated yet, and either LaPorte did a good job covering its own tracks, or was a hotbed of abolitionism, with many folks providing material help only, to the folks who were physically harboring fugitives, or was uninvolved entirely.

The Genesee Road was the "Main Line" of the Underground Railroad in Sullivan County. Starting in the South Western portion and working its way North, Northeast through the Western and Northwestern townships, from Shrewsbury, to Hillsgrove, along Elk Creek through Elkland, and into Fox townships. From Lincoln Falls, the Underground Railroad route seems to split, passengers could go towards Shunk and Canton, or through Elkland into Southern Bradford County, and on to Towanda.

The Snells in Hillsgrove were known to maintain a station in Hillsgrove. Lincoln Falls was known to host a station. Marshall Battin near Shunk was a known Conductor, and Ellen and Joel McCarty of the Shunk area were likely the brains behind the operation here in Sullivan County. Ellen was likely a Station Master, with Conductors, Agents, and Stations under her management.

Through all my research, I have not found anyone by the name of King Tompkins. I have however, studied the 1872 map of Sullivan County extensively. Upon tracing the route 1,000 times, I noticed that just about at the Lincoln Falls area, there are two farms right next to each other denoted. A King farm, and a Thompkins farm.

It's my belief that this author, failed to research Sullivan County correctly, he did write letters to every historical society in Pennsylvania, maybe Sullivan failed to respond before the publication, or maybe he got a short note saying, follow the old Genesee Road, leading him to the King Thompkins revelation. He wanted to showcase Black Conductors in every county in the state. It's possible, he didn't find the info he was looking for, so he took a shot at creating a character to benefit his motives.

King Tompkins is an example of author bias.

This is why we can't trust history to AI, because AI would likely cite this source to provide info to researchers, and AI, is not educated in history. We need real historians to research history, because we are trained to study the history of the history, as well as the history, to give you real information, and w**d out bias.

Thanks for reading and supporting real history.

04/13/2026

2026 is starting out BIG! On Saturday I was honored to present the history of Jakersville to a sold out crowd of 25 people! This Saturday, I get to present to another group! For these presentations I've volunteered for the Endless Mountains Heritage Region, an organization that I'm on the board of directors of. Thank you to all the attendees and the EMHR for hosting this outstanding event! Looking forward to Saturday!

Photo credit: Rachel Flad

Gavin Siegfried History Hippie

07/21/2026

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