Sonestown is a former unincorporated village in what is now Davidson Township, Sullivan County, in the

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Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

History and notable features

In 1843, George Sones built a sawmill and founded Sonestown, an unincorporated village within what is now Davidson Township in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. This occurred before Sullivan County was formed from part of

Lycoming County Lycoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 114,188. Its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. ...

on March 14, 1847. ''Note'': Davidson Township was formed in 1833 from part of Shrewsbury Township while both were still part of Lycoming County. A bridge was then erected in 1850. During the late nineteenth century, Sonestown "boomed like crazy" as the county's lumber industry grew. The village was home, at that time, to a plant that manufactured staves for barrel making. The

Eagles Mere Railroad The Eagles Mere Railroad was a narrow gauge railroad in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, built in 1892 to connect the resort of Eagles Mere with the standard gauge Williamsport and North Branch Railroad at Sonestown, away by rail. It was leased t ...

(1892-1928), a

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

line providing rail access to the resort town of Eagles Mere, also had its southern terminus in Sonestown. Although the town had a

clothespin A clothespin (US English), or clothes peg (UK English) is a fastener used to hang up clothes for drying, usually on a clothes line. Clothespins come in many different designs. Design During the 1700s laundry was hung on bushes, limbs or lin ...

factory that operated roughly from 1903 to 1929, it lost almost all of its industrial capacity by the 1930s. As of 1996, Sonestown had a population of roughly two hundred; most commuted to work in Muncy, Montoursville, and Williamsport. In 1996, the village had a few stores, an inn with a restaurant, which attracted tourists and hunters. The village gives its name to

Sonestown Covered Bridge The Sonestown Covered Bridge is a covered bridge over Muncy Creek in Davidson Township, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania built around 1850. It is long and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1980. ''Note:'' This include ...

, which is south of the village on Route 220.

References

{{Sullivan County, Pennsylvania 1843 establishments in Pennsylvania Populated places in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania