Lycoming County was created in 1795 from part of Northumberland County, although efforts to secure the land for Pennsylvania from its native
inhabitants dated as far back as the Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1768. Its name derives from a Delaware Indian word meaning ‘sandy creek.’ Lumber was the county’s driving economic force from the beginning, and Williamsport, close to the Susquehanna River, became the county seat. Its canal-based proximity to the Susquehanna gave Williamsport lumber merchants enormous control over tbe marketing of their product. So successful were they, in fact, that they built mansions known as ‘Millionaires Row’ in the center of town. Sadly, the flood of 1889 ended Williamsport’s heyday as a lumber giant. and it took the town years to recover. Today, the county is a thriving producer of electronic and metal products, and home to Pine Creek, one of the best trout fishing streams in the country. Williamsport is, of course, internationally known as the home of Little League Baseball. Lycoming County must be a nice place to live–in recent years there have been many sightings of ‘Bigfoot.’