Editing Williamsport, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Williamsport, Pennsylvania}}

===Early history===
[[File:PostcardWilliamsportPABizSectionAerial1919.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Aerial view of Williamsport from the early 20th century]]
[[File:Williamsport pre 1921 postcard3.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|West Third Street looking west, c. 1910]]
[[File:Williamsport pre 1921 postcard8.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Williamsport Home for the Friendless, c. 1910]]
In 1763, the Battle of Muncy Hills took place during the [[French and Indian War]]. It was a clash between the Native Americans and colonists seeking homestead sites in Native American territory.<ref name="HW_timeline">[http://www.historicwilliamsport.com/timelinenew.html Welcome to Historic Williamsport: Books by Robin Van Auken<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006040443/http://www.historicwilliamsport.com/timelinenew.html |date=October 6, 2008 }}</ref> In 1768, at the [[Treaty of Fort Stanwix]], the British purchased the land that became Lycoming County from the Iroquois Nation who controlled the lands.<ref name="HW_timeline" />

In March 1796 the first house was built in Williamsport. James Russell built his [[Public house#Inns|inn]] on what is now the northeastern corner of East Third and Mulberry Streets in downtown.<ref name="firsts">{{cite news |url=http://www.newsofyesteryear.com/archives/510 |title=Lycoming County: Williamsport Firsts |access-date=2012-02-15 |author=Robin Van Auken, Lou Hunsinger Jr. |newspaper=[[Williamsport Sun-Gazette]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209151332/http://www.newsofyesteryear.com/archives/510 |archive-date=February 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> On April 13, 1795 Lycoming County was formed from Northumberland County. It encompassed all the lands of Northumberland County situated west of Muncy Hills and was a domain of {{convert|12500|sqmi|km2}}, comprising most of north central Pennsylvania.<ref name="HW_timeline" /> In 1796 the first recorded childbirth in Williamsport was James Russell, the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Russell and grandson of James Russell of the Russell Inn,<ref name="firsts" /> and the first school was built as a one-room log addition to the building that would eventually become the first Lycoming County Courthouse.<ref name="firsts" /> In 1798 the first brick house in Williamsport was erected on Front Street, between Market and Mulberry, by Andrew Tulloh, a lawyer. The bricks were made on the banks of Grafius Run where that stream crossed Hepburn Street.<ref name="HW_timeline" />

In 1799, a [[post office]] opened at the corner of Third and State Streets in what is now downtown,<ref name="firsts" /> and the following year, a jail was constructed at the northeast corner of William and Third Streets.<ref name="HW_timeline" />  The post office was later converted to a [[Western saloon|saloon]].<ref name="firsts" />

In 1801, the town's first store was opened by William Winter on Third Street.<ref name="firsts" /> In 1831 Jacob L. Mussina established the [[Repasz Band]], the oldest brass band in America still in existence.<ref name="HW_timeline" /> On Oct. 15 1834 The [[Pennsylvania Canal (West Branch Division)|West Branch Canal]] opened and the first boat to pass through the canal en route to Jersey Shore was that of George Aughenbaugh. The first freight carried into town was iron for the foundry of John B. Hall.<ref name="HW_timeline" /> The same year the enactment of the common school law by Pennsylvania Legislature led to public education here. In May 1835, the first public schools opened in Williamsport and also the town's first bank, the West Branch National Bank.<ref name="HW_timeline" />

The [[Underground Railroad]], used by enslaved African-Americans to obtain their freedom in the 30 years before the Civil War (1860–1865) included routes from states in the South, which supported slavery, to [[Union (American Civil War)|"free" states]] in the North and Canada.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/maps/undergroundrailroad/|title=The Underground Railroad|date=2011-11-16|work=National Geographic Society|access-date=2017-05-24|language=en}}</ref> From 1830 until 1865, the underground railroad, a system of safe houses and routes for slaves escaping to freedom, operated in Lycoming County; many local abolitionists, including Daniel Hughes, served as conductors and agents.<ref name="HW_timeline" />

Based on the oral history of Mamie Sweeting Diggs (1933–2011), fourth generation descent and great-granddaughter, Hughes, was a river raftsman on the Susquehanna river who had migrated from Oswego, New York. He lived on the Muncy Indian Reservation until he acquired land off Freedom Road.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.lycoming.edu/art/underground/mamie-sweeting-diggs.html|title=Mamie Sweeting Diggs {{!}} The Underground Railroad in Lycoming County, PA|website=www.lycoming.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-05-24}}</ref>  During his trips transporting logs to Maryland, he brought escaped slaves back on foot from Baltimore, over Bald Eagle Mountain and hid them at his home and in the caves on Freedom Road.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.lycoming.edu/art/underground/sites.html|title=Williamsport/Trout Run Sites {{!}} The Underground Railroad in Lycoming County, PA|website=www.lycoming.edu |language=en|access-date=2017-05-24}}</ref>

Mamie's grandfather, Robert, helped his father, Daniel Hughes, hide escaped slaves in the caves behind their home on Freedom Road. They fed them, nursed the sick back to health and delivered them safely to the next "station", The Apker House in Trout Run.<ref name=":0" /> The Apker House was the home of Robert Fairies, abolitionist and president of the Williamsport-Elmira Railroad. The railroad ran through his property where escaped slaves were hidden in the barn and house and then loaded into railway baggage cars for the trip to Elmira, NY, the next "station."<ref name=":1" />

Mamie's grandfather, Robert passed the stories to his children, including Mamie's mother, Marion.  Marion tended the family homestead, maintained Freedom Road Cemetery (where nine black Civil War vets are buried) and passed Daniel's stories down to her children.<ref name=":0" />

In 1849, the [[Carl E. Stotz Memorial Little League Bridge|Market Street Bridge]] was built over the West Branch Susquehanna River. It was opened as a [[toll bridge]] to cover the state's costs of $23,797.<ref name="firsts" /> In 1854, a [[brewery]] opened. The brewery was sold to Henry Flock in 1865. This brewery was run by the Flock family until the 1940s. The Flocks' business survived [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] by converting to a [[dairy]].<ref name="firsts" />

In 1875, the first tower clock in the United States to sound the Cambridge Quarters (Westminster Chime) was installed at [[Trinity Episcopal Church (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)|Trinity Episcopal Church]], a gift of [[Peter Herdic]] with bells given by judge J. W. Maynard. The following year, the Williamsport Hospital opened its first facility April 1 at Elmira and Edwin Streets.<ref name="HW_timeline" />

In 1881, a state law ended racial segregation in Pennsylvania schools. By 1948, all schools in this area were integrated.<ref name="HW_timeline" /> In 1895, [[Harry Houdini]] appeared in one of his earliest performances, at the Old Fair Grounds with The [[Welch Brothers Circus]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houdini.org/houdinisinwilliamsportPA.html|title=Houdini Museum Harry Houdini attractions Williamsport Scranton Tourism, Bus Groups, School Assembly Programs|website=www.houdini.org}}</ref>

Williamsport was the birthplace of the national newspaper ''[[Grit (newspaper)|Grit]]'' in 1882. Williamsport purportedly once had more millionaires per-capita than anywhere else in the world.<ref>{{cite web|last=Meckley|first=Thad|title=Williamsport's Millionaires' Row|url=https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9780738537979}}</ref> For this reason, the area's local high school, the [[Williamsport Area School District|Williamsport Area High School]], uses "Millionaires" as its team mascot.

=== Modern history ===
[[File:WilliamsportA.png|thumb|upright=1.1|Downtown Williamsport]]
The Flood of March 17–18, 1936 caused the river to crest at 33.9'. Flood waters reached High Street. It was known locally as the Hello, Al flood because Al Glaes, operating a short-wave radio station from his home on High Street, kept the city in touch with the rest of the world after the flood disrupted electricity and telephone service.<ref name="HW_timeline" />

On June 6, 1939 the first Little League Baseball game was played on a sandlot outside Bowman Field in Williamsport. Carl Stotz conceived the idea of a Little League, and he and Bert and George Bebble managed the first three teams.<ref name="HW_timeline" /> In 1941 the U.S. entered [[World War II]] after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Williamsport native Joe Lockard, stationed on Oahu, gave warning of the impending attack based on radar readings. His readings were dismissed as American B17 bombers coming in from the mainland.<ref name="HW_timeline" /> Also in 1941 the Williamsport School Board created the Williamsport Technical Institute for high school and post-high school students. It grew into the Williamsport Area Community College, and later became [[Pennsylvania College of Technology]].<ref name="HW_timeline" />