“A Touch of History”
[Compiled by Richard W. Bird]
In the year 1836 the court was partitioned by inhabitants of the area and a new township was established by decree of the court in 1838. The new township was called Plunketts Creek, Plunketts Creek Township is a mountainous area located in the eastern part of Lycoming County and is about 54 square miles in size.
1838 was also the year that the first school was built at the mouth of Bear Creek in the flourishing community of Barbours Mills. At Barbours Mills (present day Barbours) there were several stores, blacksmith shops, wheelwrights, and one large hotel. Round about this same period of time there were no less than seventeen sawmills in operation in the township along with one shingle mill, one steam tannery situated on Wolf Run and one woolen factory near the head of Big Bear Creek.
In 1873 in the village of Proctor was situated one of the largest if not the largest tannery in the state. The village of Proctor was quite a bustling community with its Company Store and Company Housing.
With all of this industry throughout the township whenever the need for fire fighting came up it was usually the mill worker that met the challenge and did what they could to put the fire out, generally with poor results because of little or no equipment. But as time went on and raw materials like Timber and Tan Bark began to diminish and most of the mills closed. This left the community without much in the way of fire protection.
“A Proud Past”
The fire department as we know it today began in the minds of a few good men and women that seen a need and were willing to make the sacrifices necessary to see that need become a reality. I wonder if they realized what lay ahead as they set in motion the organization that today we know as the “Plunketts Creek Township Volunteer Fire Department”.
Located in the Village of Barbours the fire department has been active in the community since it’s inception in 1944. The first meeting was held on August 21 1944 with J. Sherman as temporary Chairman and R.H. Rhoades as secretary/treasurer. The name that was chosen was “Plunketts Creek Fire Association” among the first officers were Joseph Blair, Chief and Walter Rung, President. Before the Charter was closed in September 1945 the department listed 85 charter members that included 19 founding members.
The Founding members are listed here:
William R. Waldeisen, Jewett Shirm, Carl Rice, Elmer Maley, Wilber Maley, Walter Rung, Irvin Day, Joseph Blair, John Person, Ray D. Rhodes, Volter D. Emick, Carl Cott, Joseph Kropes, William Greenough, Clyde Kiess, Harry Woolever, Frank Baker, Clyde W. Maley, George Blair.
The fire department had its beginnings at the Joseph Blair sawmill. The departments first fire fighting equipment was received from Civil Defense. This equipment consisted of a pump, some fire hose, nozzles, and ladders. A funds drive was began to raise money to purchase a truck on which to mount the pump and equipment. All of this was kept at the Blair sawmill and a siren was mounted on the Corner store at Barbours to alert members in case of fire.
Records of 1946 to 1948 indicate the beginning of a “Woman’s Auxiliary”, Demonstration of the new fire truck, the beginning of Bingo as a fund raiser, the first recorded fire was a chimney fire at the turkey farm, the purchase of land, and the formation of a building committee.
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A New Fire Truck!!
July of 1946 saw the purchase of a new fire truck at a cost of $1800.00.
March 1947 the association purchased land from Bill Waldesen for $500.00, and in May of 1948 plans were submitted to the membership for a new fire station, and in June of 1948 construction had begun. In September 1948 the Association borrowed the amount of $6,000.00 from the First National Bank of Montoursville to finance the new building. On January 26th, 1949 the Association held “Open House” and on March 7, 1949 records the first meeting in the new building.
Artist rendering of the original fire station.
The building was to be 40’ X 90’
December 1975
“Sawmill Operation at Barbours Destroyed by Pre-Dawn Blaze”
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The sawmill is where the fire department was first housed prior to construction of the present fire station.
The sawmill property included a pallet mill
as well as an office building that were not destroyed in the blaze.