te inci ani Da ni a a, TOBY’'S CREEK Sunday, October 10, 2004 la Toby's Creek Our hidden resource Editor's Note: In preparing this news package, I thought it would be informative to walk the entire length of Toby's Creek in the Back Mountain, from its source on a hillside in Dallas Township to its final highway crossing at the Luzerne line. To simplify the description, I've designated only an eastern and western side of the creek. For these purposes, the eastern side would be on the right to someone traveling into the Back Mountain from Wilkes-Barre. By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff A walk along Toby’s Creek is as much a journey through time as it is through space. On the way from its source to the Susquehanna River the stream is alter- nately wild and controlled, neat and sloppy, natural and artificial. Its modest beginning provides little indication of the powerful force it will become as it moves inexorably toward the Wyoming Valley. Topographical maps show the stream starting on the northwest side of Country Club Road in Dallas Township, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Unlike other waterways, this one is not born from a pond or swamp, but simply emerges from the side of a hill. And sure enough, that’s exactly what it does, bubbling up from the ground be- hind a stately colonial home at 420 Coun- try Club Road. Judging by the old spring house built over it, and the attractive, stone-rimmed pool that is its first stop just a few feet below, inhabitants of the house have taken advantage of the cool flow for decades. The baby creek tumbles off the hillside into a marshy area, some of which has been corralled into two small ponds, be- A trek with nature, man and fore resuming its plunge to the valley floor. Once it leaves the ponds and crosses under Country Club Road, the flow pass- es alongside a swamp where in the spring spindly pines look down on fiddlehead ferns and wild violets. | Its first tributary emerges from another spring that has softened the ground be- neath a tall oak, toppling it in the middle of a forest where the only evidence of hu- man intervention is the remains of a chil- dren’s fort. The upturned roots of the massive tree now provide a foothold for wild bushes, and the water that flows from beneath them is thick with dark green algae. At this stage Toby’s Creek is a bucolic stream, maybe four feet across with low, gradually sloping banks. It soon crosses under another roadway, Continued on page 7 history 5 The first small tributary into Toby's Creek emerges from beneath a fall- en tree in woods between Country Club Road and Lake Street in Dallas Township. Powerful forces shaped creek and the land around it By M.B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent From its geological foundations to its current con- dition, Toby’s Creek is an integral part of the Back Mountain terrain. The path Toby’s Creek takes from its source near Irem Temple golf course to its final destination, the Susquehanna River, although random in appearance, was actually determined thousands of years ago and is the result of a series of episodes of alternating gla- cial and interglacial periods. The most recent glacial activity in our area occurred approximately 20,000 years ago during the late Wisconsin Glaciation stage. Glaciers are sheets of moving ice, some hundreds or even thousands of feet deep. Whether they are ad- IEE vancing or retreating, “The largest pollutant the landscape is af we are putting into fected by the very dy- ; ; namics of the glacier. the river iS probably The jce particles with- soil sediment. Our in the glacier are flow- topsoil is flowing ing down slope con- down past us.” tinuously. The ice on Dr. Brian Mangan the bottom and sides Founder and director of The of the glacier freeze onto loose rock and Susquehanna River Institute soil and carry them along. Sand and grav- el thus frozen onto the glacier abrade the landscape much like sandpaper works on wood. Boulders fixed in the ice cut deep gouges in the bedrock and loosen even more material, which is then picked up by the glacier. “The bedrock for the area of Toby’s Creek is in the Catskill Formation of the Devonian System,” said Bri- an Oram, Dallas, a registered professional geologist who has served as director of the Center for Environ- mental Quality at Wilkes University since 1989. “This type of bedrock is characterized by shale, clay stone, siltstone, sandstone, and conglomerate. Groundwater runs through these bedrock planes.” Like most other small streams, Toby’s Creek is cre- ated by springs and weeps of this underground water. Where the groundwater rises indiscriminately and flows over the land into a channel, it is said to weep, and springs result when the groundwater confined in aquifers comes to the surface at outcroppings in the bedrock. “The water moves along what is called secondary porosity, which is formed by fissures and cracks in the bedrock,” said Oram. “It gives the impression that there are underground rivers but that’s not the case. It is that some of the fractures are more inter- connected than others.” The geological characteristics of the soil composi- tion in the Toby’s Creek watershed have a direct im- pact on the water quality. There can be very rapid changes in water quality in our area. “Our streams are more vulnerable to the effects of acid mine drainage, general rainfall and storm water runoff,” said Oram, who is also a partner in B.F. Environmen- tal. The firm provides expert testimony on water quality, and consults on development of water sup- plies and the impact of well drilling. The creek gains water during high water periods . and loses water during dry spells. The area surround- ing a creek has a great deal to do with how well the creek is able to handle those differences. The peren- nial vegetation that grows alongside a creek, called a riparian buffer, acts as a natural obstacle and filter to help control the water that flows downstream. Soil sediment, and lawn and agricultural chemicals, are trapped, changed or used by the vegetation for growth, reducing the volume of pollutants that make their way downstream. : “The largest pollutant we are putting into the river is probably soil sediment,” said Dr. Brian Mangan, founder and director of The Susquehanna River Insti- tute, and director of the environmental program at King’s College. “Our topsoil is flowing down past us.” Increased development in the Back Mountain di- rectly affects the flow of water in Toby’s Creek. Im- permeable surfaces like parking lots, rooftops, and even manicured lawns cause rain to just run off the land, rushing to creeks and rivers without benefit of soaking into the surface and recharging the under- ground aquifers. “Something as simple as a roof and a driveway can have such a big effect if you put enough of them to- gether,” said Mangan. “People have to be mindful of the watershed.” T The rise and fall of commerce Once, mills of all types lined the banks of Toby's Creek. By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent As early as 1773, residents of Wyoming Valley recognized the poten- tial afforded them by the rushing wa- ters of Toby’s Creek. The fall of the stream from Dallas to Luzerne exceed- ed 500 feet and showed that the water could provide a substantial source of power. Consequently several sawmills and gristmills were erected along its path. Early dirt roads seemed to follow the mills from one place to another, as peo- Dates TWP) ple needed them for early footpaths |! uiaZe 30: R0cts to an Inch and horse and mule trails to haul raw § 8.2 Mort materials to the mills and finished {7s goods to market. IY \ + gf eian no A | DATTAS over 18 od m Dallas Villag was then Branchville, the area was re- named Trucksville after William Trucks, a skilled carpenter and mill- wright.” Along with his many mills, Jacob Rice also opened one of the ear- liest general stores in the Back Moun- tain. Through the years, there were many mills along Toby’s Creek. Al- though all of them cannot be listed, they include a gristmill and sawmill owned by Elisha Swift and put into operation as early as 1776 in Kingston Township. In the early 1790s, Zachari- , ah Hartsouf purchased land along . Toby’s Creek and built an oil mill to manufacture linseed oil, and in 1805 Hartsouf erected a carding machine at his ‘gristmill to break and card wool into rolls. For many years that area in 1811, Henry Buckingham brougs. . the first paper mill to the valley along To operate the mills, small dams were made and located above where the mills were built, and the water was directed into water wheels by wooden flumes or sluices. The forests, rich in good timber, provided all of the raw materials necessary to construct the flumes and wheels. The wheels were 12 to 16 feet in diameter and three types were in gener- al use. The overshot wheel was a series of buckets on the circumference of the wheel. When the buckets were filled, the wheel revolved, mov- ing the main shaft of the mill. The breast wheel led the water into a gate controlled flume at the back of the wheel above the axle and was operated by the speed and weight of the water. The turbine wheel had a series of openings where the water entered and left. It was also known as a flutter-box. Because it was so ex- pensive to maintain, only one, the Rice sawmill at Shavertown, was used along Toby’s Creek. The overshot wheel was the most com- mon because of its efficiency. When the early settlers arrived in the Back The remains of an early mill founda- tion loom over Toby's Creek just below the Harris Hill Road Bridge. This map, dated 1873, shows the location of a sawmill and mill pond in Dallas Borough. This would later be the site of the Hildebrant-Frantz gristmill. Mountain, or the country back of Kingston Mountain, items made within the household met ‘most of their needs. Gradually, due in part to the water power of Toby’s Creek, in- dustries began to emerge in the form of local mills and factories to produce much-desired goods and jobs outside the home and off the farm. There were sawmills, gristmills, oil mills, plaster mills, carding mills, fulling mills, paper mills, foundries, tanneries, blacksmith shops and the like. (Carding is the process of combing or brushing textile fibers while fulling is the process of cleansing, shrinking and thickening the cloth.) “The early prime movers and shakers of the Back Mountain were Jacob Rice and William Trucks, who ran mills along the creek in those early days,” said Louise Hazeltine, a Trucksville resident who lives near the creek. “When the first post office was created in what Toby’s Creek. Toby’s Creek afforded the residents of Wyoming Valley, and the Back Mountain in particular, a natural source of power and therefore a piece of the Industrial Revolution. By har- nessing the water power, they were able to re- move some of their daily chores from thei homes and farms and into mills and factories that could produce goods in a less grueling manner. Mills of all kinds operated for decades, employing people and providing goods that were needed by the ever-increasing population. Toby’s Creek provided a very good supply of water to the early mills, but the very act ¢ building the mills and felling the timber’ stripped much of the forestry and lessened the supply of consistently running water once held intact by the lush vegetation. The waters | of the creek became undependable and the surrounding land became victim to floods and | droughts. While other areas, not depending on water power, were becoming more prosperous, the area along Toby’s Creek soon fell behind. The Hildebrant- Frantz mill, on Mill Street in Dallas Bor- ough, 1916. The build- ing was lat- er turned into a roller skating rink. Records, references abound, but little hard evidence remains Various historical resources contain infor- mation about early mills along Toby’s Creek and elsewhere in the Back Mountain. According to the Internet web page, “Luzerne County, Pa Town Histories,” The first sawmill in Kingston Township was James Sutton’s, “on Tobey creek, built 1778.” In Dal- las Township, “Judge Baldwin built on Tobey creek, in 1813, his sawmill. In 1818 Christian Rice built his sawmill on the same creek. The place descended to his son, Capt. Jacob Rice. This mill was in use until 1875.” A town history donated by Sharon Freeman to the web page says that in Dallas Borough, “Albert Lewis, lumber king of this region, has here a saw and planing mill. Another large similar establishment is owned by A. Ryman & Co. There are in the place 3 general stores, 1 hardware store, an elegant hotel that is much patronized as a summer resort. Gregory & Heitsman’s merchant mill is quite an insti- tution of the place.” In his “History of Dallas,” D.A. Waters writes that, “Probably before 1796, two broth- ers, Benajah and Joshua Fuller built the first sawmill and the first gristmill on that branch of Tobys Creek now called Huntsville Creek ... The sawmill burned in 1805 and was immedi- ately rebuilt.” Waters also writes, “Jared Baldwin, a Revo- lutionary veteran, built a sawmill in 1796 at Huntsville and was a family partner in a grist- mill built in 1799-1800.” Stewart Pearce, who published Pearce’s An- nuals of Luzerne County, said in 1866 there were eight sawmills in Dallas Township. Ralph L. Hazeltine wrote a section titled, “Some Notes on the Use of Water Power Along Toby’s Creek” in the Proceedings and Collections of the Wyoming Historical and Ge- ological Society, 1970, Volume XXIII. He describes a number of mills, the earliest having been constructed on the lower reaches of the creek, in what is now Luzerne and Courtdale. In the late 18th and early 19th cen- tury, that area was part of Kingston Township. Often referring to prior written histories, Hazeltine writes that between 1804 and 1807, William Trucks built a gristmill and sawmill “at the falls of the creek, where the water dropped some 15 feet from a rocky ledge.” This location is just below the present Harris Hill Road bridge, and the remnants of a stone foundation are still evident on the western bank of the creek. According to Hazeltine’s account, in 1815 Philip Shaver built the first mill on the main branch of the creek above Trucks’ mills. Writ- ing in 1886, William P. Ryman placed Shaver’s mill “on the site where the old mill now stands near the residence of Lewis R. Shaver. . Ryman mentions two sawmills, erected in the 1830s “on the northernmost branch of the north fork of Toby’s Creek,” which had to be abandoned because the creek was too small to provide sufficient power. Hazeltine writes that in 1841-42, two broth- ers, Abram and Richard Ryman, built a water- powered sawmill on Toby’s Creek one-half mile below Dallas village. They built a steam) i powered mill near the water-powered mill in 1852 and ran both of them until 1870. was known as Hartsouf’s Hollow. Al ; $i!
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers