Beavertown Borough, a Brief Overview (Cont.)

With progress ever on the march the log houses were supplanted by more modern buildings. And so with the individual craftsmen, small factories specializing in a standardized product, supplanted the one man shops. The products of local industries before the turn of the century were: plows, bells, matches, furniture, hydraulic rams, staves, leather and gloves as well as the many hand crafts.

Beginning in 1907, automobiles and trucks were manufactured in a small way, some of which can still be seen in the William Penn Museum in Harrisburg, and in Lewistown.

Industries in the near past were a silk mill, shirt factory, brick plant, potato chip factory and a planing mill having a combined total, of approximately 400 employees. Organizations today are the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Fire Company with Ladies Auxiliary and Home and School Club. One of the most beautiful rose gardens in the state, dedicated as a war memorial, attracts visitors from great distances.

Beavertown is most fortunate in having a municipally owned water system the big source of which is an amazing aquifer well field. For more than 75 years the Big Bear spring on Shade Mountain and Lupfer Run fed an above ground reservoir. As a supplementary source of water for emergencies, a deep well drilled near the old reservoir proved to be an excellent investment. It is still available to our citizens today.

Population at last census: 877

To be continued

Question and Answer

Q: When was Beavertown laid out as a community?

A: In 1810, the famed surveyor, Frederick Evans of Middleburg drew up the first and the original town plot and plan. Shortly after this, he went to Baltimore as a captain of Army Engineers to build Fort McHenry in the harbor there. He was a hero during its bombardment and was promoted to Lt. Col. Therefore, in 2010 Beavertown will celebrate its official bicentennial.