Lake Erie, Franklin, & Clarion Railroad
Clarion, Pennsylvania
Note:
This is an article that appeared in The Clarion News sometime in late 1971. It was sent to me by Ruth A. (Showers) Skinner. Although it is incomplete, if I should be able to obtain the original article, I will add the sections that are missing.
Summerville, Clarion Railroad was start of Waterson
(The following history of Waterson was compiled and submitted to The Clarion News by Ruth Showers and Vern Rhoades).
At the turn of the century the families living in the vicinity of what is now the village of Waterson were the M. Grant Showers family and his brothers, Alexander and Wakefield, Charles McMahan and family, Blanche and Elizabeth McMahan and the John Sherry family, the Solomon Rhoades, the Wilson McKees, Archibald George and his wife and the Peter Reinsel family.
In the year 1903 the Pittsburgh, Summerville and Clarion Railroad Company built the railroad from Summerville to Clarion which was the start of Waterson. They located the depot and a siding at that point naming it Waterson.
The years of 1904 and 1905 were busy ones as the railroad built three houses east of the tracks: M. Grant Showers built the store building and W.T. Craig and son of Limestone built a warehouse by the siding where they had grain shipped in and stored and also shipped out flour and feed.
Joseph Craig of Mechanicsville built a corral along about the same time and shipped out cattle and sheep by the car load. Both the warehouse and corral are long gone.
M. Grant Showers was the first station agent for a very short time and then went into the merchandise (section of article missing)...
Edgar Ballentine from Summerville was the first maintaince or way foreman for the RR and lived in one of the company houses. The other house was occupied by Joe Recchio and his son, Frank.
At the time the people around the vicinity of what was to become Waterson had to go to Day City for their mail except the Showers family and the McMahans who were at the end of the Clarion route.
They got their mail at Mechanicsville, called Frampton Post Office. The railroad brought the post office to Waterson and it was located in the Showers store and called Showers Post Office due to the fact there was already a post office in Pennsylvania named Waterson.
This being a railroad post office, the railroad agent had to deliver the mail. The Day City office previously got the mail by stage coach. The railroad caused the coach to be discontinued and the mail was then taken from Waterson by carrier to the Day City office.
The first carrier was Jacob Holster who delivered the mail sacks on horseback but this was not very satisfactory. The job was then given to William Jordon who made two round trips a day until the office was closed at Day about 1910 or 11.
In the early winter of 1905 and 1906, two steam shovels and four small locomotives were shipped in and unloaded at Waterson and moved by their own power over country roads.
One shovel and two engines, called dinkey engines, went to Limestone and the others to Reidsburg to be used in the building of the L.S. & M.S. Railroad later becoming the New York Central R.R.
Cement powder and dynamite was unloaded and stored in the Craig warehouse and hauled by horse and wagon to Limestone. After the railroad was completed the Craig warehouse was done away with and after Mr. Rankin's death the stock corral was removed.
About 1905 or 1906 two young men, George J. Howe and Norman A. Rea, from Scotch Hill, purchased the store building and contents from M. Grant Showers.
At about the same time, Showers built a dwelling house nearby and rented the same for a couple of years. It was purchased by Joseph Dills about 1912. This place was occupied by the Dills family until Mr. Dills' death Aug. 1, 1971 and was then sold to Bernard Aaron.
About the year 1906 the Balentine family left Waterson and William Shea Sr., replaced him as (section of article missing)...
(article continues)... Brocious was replaced by Sam Potter and was foreman until the railroad discontinued their section at Waterson.
The year of 1906 Oscar Morrison was transferred to Clarion and Jay Johnston was named station agent. The Johnstons also lived in the railroad company house. He was agent until 1911 when the company discontinued the office.
About 1907 or 1908 Howe and Rea built a dwelling on the side of the store. Howe then married Mary Thompson from Mechanicsville and they lived in the new house.
Rea soon after married Kitty Servey after which Howe bought Rea's share of the store and the Reas went to Clarion.
About 1909 or 1910 Howe laid out lots on the ground bought from Mr. Showers and built three houses on the north side of the Waterson Road. He then sold a (section of article missing)...
(article continues)... He also built a house north of the store building which he rented to Ben Hannah. Others who built homes in the town were Eugene Cyphert, Merrit McKee, Peter Aaron and Carey Rader.
About the year of 1909 or 1910 the railroad company changed hands and became the L.E.F.& C. and dismantled the dance pavilion and other buildings at Nolan Park there and built five small houses on their ground east of the railroad at Waterson for rent.
No one lived in them for any length of time. The deep mines are gone and the houses, owned by the railroad, are all long gone too.
About the year 1906 the people of Waterson Road decided they wanted telephones so they called a meeting and held it at the railroad station.
They appointed a committee of four men to build the line from Day City to Mechanicsville, M.G. Showers, secretary and treasurer, John Fleming, John Smith and Solomon Rhodes. The company was held privately for several years. Each patron of the company held a share of stock which was sold at $10 a share. The line was built by the share holders donating most of the labor. The company was later sold to the Redbank Telephone Company.
An item of interest remembered by Charles Servey of Mechanicsville was the gas development which caused a lot of excitement. (section of article missing)...
