What were the names of the streams where the sawmills were located?
Like all creeks in Lycoming County, Larrys Creek served as an area for settlers to establish homesteads and farms. As logging became a major industry in the mid-19th century, the creek was a source of power for sawmills and other mills. The first sawmill on the creek, in what is now Mifflin Township, was built in 1799. The relatively low flow of water in the creek did not allow rafts of logs to be floated downstream to the river and the lumber boom at Williamsport (as they were on Pine Creek to the west).This and the lack of logging railroads along the creek led to the development of many small sawmills: the Larrys Creek watershed once had 53 sawmills within 22 miles (35 km) of the mouth (as well as other industries of the time). No other stream in the country had so many sawmills in so small a territory. Twelve sawmills were on the Second Fork, six on the First Fork, one each on Canoe Run and Lawshe Run, and the rest were on Larrys Creek itself. Eight were structures rebuilt on the site of previous sawmills, and only four were steam powered (the rest were water powered). The earliest of these sawmills was built in 1796 (near Seeley Run), the last in 1902 (on Lawshe Run), and by 1903 just two mills were still standing and only one of those was operating.Lumbering removed the tree trunks, but left many flammable limbs, branches, and stumps behind. On May 2, 1872, a large forest fire destroyed the villages of Carter and Gould, 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Salladasburg on Larrys Creek in Mifflin Township. There are large tracts of second growth forest and small lumber companies still operate in the watershed today.
Second Fork Canoe Run Lawshe Run Larrys Creek