Two miles west is Salem; Row’s Church, log, built, 1780, modernized in 1897. In Kreamer is the old brick hotel used for special sessions of court before 1855, for cases in immediate neighborhood; a short distance in the field stands the old block house, erected before 1781, where white settlers gathered in defense against Indians. One mile farther west, in 1781, Indians killed five members of the Stock family. Ten miles west from Selinsgrove is Middleburg, county seat; 498 feet above sea level; population 984; laid out in 1800. In Glendale Cemetery is grave of Hon. George Kreamer, nephew of Governor Snyder, and member of the Legislature, 1812-13; member of Congress, 1823-27; also grave of Captain Frederick Evans, member of State Legislature, 1810-11, a defender of Fort McHenry, Baltimore, where, in 1814, the “Star-Spangled Banner” was written by Francis Scott Key.
On the banks of Stump’s Run is shaft monument to soldiers and sailors of this country who fought in the different wars; erected in 1904, by county commissioners; Soldiers’ Memorial Building, open to the public, is near the Lutheran Church; it was dedicated 1908; interior lined with marble, names of all soldiers and sailors of Snyder County are preserved within its walls, John F. Stetler, architect. Wooden bridge across Middle Creek, in good repair, is said to have been built in 1808 by John Aurand. Two miles west of town are the Hassinger Lutheran Churches, General Council east, present building erected in 1871, third on original site, first building in 1785; a split occurred, and the General Synod members built, in 1782, a quarter mile west; present church, in 1915.
Almost due south is Paxtonville, 510 feet above sea level; has wooden bridge over Middle Creek, built in 1851, John Bilger, builder; and ruins of Beaver blast furnace, once busiest industry in Middle Creek Valley, erected by Hon. Ner Middleswarth, the Kern Brothers and John C. Wilson, 1848-56; it was operated until 1866, power secured from a 200-foot head of water, running over two overshot wheels, one over the other. Westward is farm of Ner Feese on which gold and silver were discovered. Beavertown; population 525; 651 feet; originally Swifttown, named for John Swift, who had the land patented in 1760; was residence of Hon. Ner Middleswarth from 1792; he was reëlected thirteen times member of Legislature, twice speaker of the House—in 1828 and 1836; member of Congress, 1853-55; his last public service was that of associate judge. Beaver Springs, elevation 591 feet, laid out in 1806, early chief industry, ore mines. Scenic beauty from Shade Mountain, a long ridge, summit near Beaver Springs, 1672 feet above sea level. McClure, six miles west, is where folding houses are manufactured; the largest ever made was produced here, and shipped to South America.
Cameron County
LXVI
CAMERON COUNTY
FORMED March 29, 1860; named in honor of Hon. Simon Cameron, state senator at that time. Situated among the spurs of the Alleghenies, altitude varies from 794 feet to 2100 feet above sea level. The Sinnemahoning Creek and its tributaries drain three quarters of the county into the Susquehanna; along these waters, roads were cut and towns built for the extensive early lumbering and tanning operations; primeval forests of hemlock, oak, cherry, elm, and some of the finest white pine in the state. Beds of coal and fire clay still await development. Salt spring and a mineral spring of rare medicinal value are near Sizerville. The county is now largely given up to the manufacture of high explosives, nitro-gelatine, smokeless powder, gun cotton, picric acid; in 1915 there was a merger of four powder companies who created a plant of vast proportions, over one hundred buildings, extending from the edge of Emporium, for over a mile, along the banks of Driftwood Creek.
Emporium, county seat; population 3036; incorporated 1861; altitude 1031 feet above sea level; first settled in 1811, as Shippen, name changed through deference to an old tradition; in 1785, an agent of the Holland Land Company, owning large territories in Pennsylvania and New York, removed the bark from a tree where the town now stands, and carved the word, “Emporium.” A typical mountain town, the streets follow the winding way of Driftwood Stream, or climb the mountain side where magnificent views of scenic grandeur await the beholder. Best architecture, the Episcopal Church, brown stone, English chapel design, Cram & Ferguson, of Boston, architects, built in 1901; other denominations have modern brick buildings. The large brick courthouse, built, 1890, is in a park on the hillside, overlooking the town; in the grounds is monument to soldiers of the Civil War.
Cameron, in 1889, one hundred coke ovens, “beehive” design, were built here to coke the coal in the near-by hills, for the blast furnace at Emporium; now abandoned, and today mountain wild flowers blossom along the row of silent hearths. Sterling Run; in this quaint village belongs the honor of the first church in the county, Presbyterian, “The Pine Street Church,” erected in 1826, so-called in consequence of the old Pine Street Church, Philadelphia, contributing funds to pay the workmen and buy the windows; the lumber and much of the construction being donated by the pioneers; built of hewn pine logs, chinked with plaster of moss and mud, and fastened with hand-wrought nails, this little chapel endures, while those who shaped it sleep in the little churchyard at its threshold.