Shickshinny, Pennsylvania

Shickshinny, Pennsylvania
Borough
Downtown Shickshinny
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Luzerne
Settled	1782
Incorporated	1861
Government
• Type	Borough Council
• Mayor	Beverly Moore
Area
• Total	0.4 sq mi (1 km2)
Population  (2007)
• Total	896
• Density	2,591.2/sq mi (1,000.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Zip code	18655
Area code	570

Shickshinny is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 959 at the 2000 census, and declined to 896 in the 2007 Economic Census.

According to the book Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania by Dr. George P Donehoo the community's name likely means "Fine Stream" in a local Native American language. However, according to The Shickshinny Historical Society the name "Shickshinny" means "Five Mountains" in a Native American language. The name comes from the nearby Shickshinny Creek at which five Appalachian Mountains meet (Newport, Knob, Lee, River and Rocky).

According to "The Founding of the Shickshinny Borough," an undated Suburban News article posted on the website of the Historical and Preservation Society of the Greater Shickshinny Area, "the first permanent settler in what became Shickshinny was Ralph Austin of Connecticut. This was the period of Connecticut jurisdiction of 1782."

Geography

Shickshinny is located at 41°9′15″N 76°9′4″W (41.154044, -76.151182)Template:GR along Route 11, midway between Nanticoke and Berwick.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

2000 U.S. Census

For legibility numbers have been rounded. For more information and more accurate numbers see the [Census information for Shickshinny borough] or [American Fact Finder]

As of the 2000 United States Census, Shickshinny held 959 people, who made up 415 households and 241 families. The borough was 99% White, the remaining 1% were multiracial or unlisted. The population was approximately 47% male and 53% female, with 21% of the population below the age of 18, and 23% over the age of 65. The median age was 40.

The households occupied 415 of the 478 housing units in the borough, of these 60% were owned and 40% were rented. Out of the 415 households, 30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41% had elders over 65. About 41% of households were married, 10% had a female householder with no husband, and 42% were non-family households. 37% of householders lived alone, of which 24% were over the age of 65. The average household contained 2.3 people, while the average family contained 3 people.

A sampling of the population shows that the majority of enrolled students, 63%, were in elementary school (K-8), while 27% were in high school (9-12) and 4% in college or graduate school. The remaining were in preschool. 47% of the population, over 25 years of age, had a high school diploma while 32% did not. Out of the remaining population 21% had attended college while 9% had an associate degree or greater.

The median income for a household in the borough was $28,594, while the median family income was $36,333. The male median income was $27,273 compared to the female median income of $21,250.The per capita income for the borough was $14,880. About 9% of families and %10 of individuals incomes were below the poverty line.

Population Trends

• 1870: 1,045
• 1880: 1,068
• 1890: 1,448
• 2000: 959

History

Early History

The first white settlers that came to Shickshinny were the Austin Family and Crossley Family who came from Connecticut. For a brief time the Austin Family fled back to Connecticut during the Battle of Wyoming. They set up a farm and an inn. In 1801 Shadrick Austin bought the 256 acres (1.03 square kilometers) of land.

Other known settlers in the area were William Koons as early as 1850. Koons settled one mile from Shickshinny where the Shickshinny Creed bridge was created. The name of the area was changed to Koonsville when the post office was established. Nathan Beach, also from Connecticut, settled in 1773. The area was named Beach Haven after him.

The farm, which encompassed nearly the entire current day borough, later came into possession of Matthias Hollenbeck under the Pennsylvania claim. By descent the land came into possession his daughter, Cist Hollenback, who married Chester Butler. In 1857 upon C. Hollenbeck’s death the land was divided and sold to the proprietors of the Shickshinny company: George W. Search, Lot Search, Nathan Beach Crary and Nathan Garrison. Walter Garrison bought the corner that the modern day bank stands on. Lot Search held the position of Luzerne County treasurer in 1855 and maintained it for two years.

N. Garrison, along with Andrew J. Eldon built the first store, located outside the old storehouse, in June 1857. The store’s life was short lived when Eldon, a few months after opening, fled to China with $3,000 of Garrison’s money. It was reported that Eldon was lost in a storm at sea, having drown from the weight of gold in his pockets that drug him down. The business soon closed and was bought out by Nathan B. Crary. A drug store opened at the same time built by Jacob Cist, and run and managed by Stephen Bond.

Shickshinny Borough was organized November 30th, 1861. It was taken from Salem Township and Union township, the majority (two-thirds) being from Union. The first officers were: Burgess and Enke. The counsel was comprised of Search, Koons, Crary, Nicely and Davenport. G. W. Search became the secretary, while Slippy became supervisor. Second was Burgess, third Knor, fourth Youlls, fifth Bear, sixth Post, seventh Hughes, eight Hartman and ninth Bulkley.

Nathan Garrison was the first of the proprietors to die in 1862, survived by wife and children.

Many businesses began to spring up in the next decade. The businesses include a flour mill set up by G.W. and Lot Search in 1865, A foundry set up by Jesse Beadle, L.T. Hartman and Frederick Beach in 1866, and a planing-mill set up by Amos Hess in 1874. Two blacksmith shops were also built and run by Miner Brown and Henry Wagner. The first newspaper in the area, The Mountain Echo, was first issued in 1873, established by C. A. Boone and M. E. Walker. A post office began in the Search store, and in the 1850s was moved.

Lot Search was said to believe that at one point Shickshinny was the meeting point of over 10,000 famers to ship their goods. Shickshinny was a central hub for many reasons. A toll bridge was built in 1865 to Mockanaqua, the first of three up to 1920. An 1877 turnpike was built along the creek, heading towards Huntington Mills (modern day Route 239), another 1810 turnpike ran to Berwick and Elmira. The canal ran along the river and by 1865 was built to Nanticoke. This gave Shickshinny the advantages of both a railroad and a canal, which was built through in 1828.

Coal

Shickshinny is located at the lower end of the Wyoming Valley Coal Deposit, near a Red Ash vein that runs across the Susquehanna River near Mocanaqua.

Humphrey Davenport was employed in 1830 to prospect Nathan Beaches land. He soon discovered coal on Rocky mountain. For the next decade the coal was brought off the mountain by teams. Finally in 1840 Beach’s grandson, Dr. Darwin Crary, invented the first inclined chute to be used for the coal industry, which sent coal to the canal down the mountain. Two years later in 1842, James A. Gordon built a plane for Beach & Crary that ran for several successful years.

The mines were passed over to Truman H. Clark, and then in 1865 John M. Stackhouse and Matthew Wier purchase the mines. In 1866 Cyrus Stackhouse bought out Wier’s stock. Again in 1869 the mines exchanged hands and were bought by the Paxton Coal Company. Finally in 1873 the Salem Coal Company was formed. Under their guidance the mines produced 65,000 tones and employed just short of 200 men and boys.

Newport Mountain provided coal as well. It sits on the opposite side of the Susquehanna River and was found to poses superior coal. In 1857 roads and bridges were built to connect the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad, which lay on opposite sides of the river, as to be able to mine the Newport mountain.

A company was formed by Jedediah Irish, Jess Hart and Henry. C. Crary to build the bridge. Construction was finished in 1859 by Luther and William H. Trescott. In 1865 the bridge washed away in a flood, and was to be rebuilt by the Mocanaqua Company.

Neither the Shickshinny nor Mocanaqua mines are in service today.

Education

Northwest Area School District

Shickshinny is the home of the Nortwest Area School District whose mascot is the Ranger and whose students and teams are referred to as the Northwest Rangers.

Shickshinny, and the surrounding areas, contain three elementary schools that contribute to the student body of the Northwest Area High School. These schools are: Huntington Mills Elementary School, Hunlock Creek Elementary School, and Garrison Elementary School, the latter being located immediately in the town.

On May 11, 2010 in a 6-2 vote, the Northwest Area School Board voted to close the Garrison School. Students attending this school are to be reassigned to the Huntington Mills and Hunlock Creek elementary schools. According to a Times Leader article "[the] Garrison was one of the first schools in the district and a high school at one time. Closure of the school will also mean eliminating the Head Start program, which operates from that building."

Sports

Edward "Ed" Gayeski was a longtime coach of the Northwest Rangers basketball team, whom in his career had the most wins among all coaches in Pennsylvaina, totaling 744 wins and 195 losses (.792 PCT). Gayeski lead the team to become two-time back-to-back PIAA State Class A basketball champions in 1982-83 and 1983-84, going 65-1 in the two years. He also brought the team to 20 wins in 24 of 34 seasons, 13 league titles and 14 District Championships. Coach Edward Gayeski died in the summer of 1985.

Trivia

Shickshinny was the international headquarters of the Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem or Shickshinny Knights of Malta.sedevacantism.org

See Also

http://www.shickshinny.org - "Shickshinny.org is a community site brought to you by the members of the Business Association of the Greater Shickshinny Area."