Woodward Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in Lycoming County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. The population was 2,043 at the 2020 census, down from 2,200 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. It is part of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Woodward Township was formed on November 23, 1855, by dividing Anthony Township. It is named for Apollos Woodward, an associate judge in Williamsport at the time. The population of Woodward Township was 817 at the 1890 census, and had grown to 2,200 as of the 2010 census. The township, which is bisected by Quenshukeny Run, is semi-rural in nature. The northern parts of the township are less heavily populated than the southern sections, which lie on

U.S. Route 220 U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a spur route of US 20. It runs in a north–south layout in the eastern United States, unlike its parent route as well as conventionally even-numbered highways, which run east-west. US 220 extends for ...

and serve as a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

for Williamsport and

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

. When Woodward Township was first settled by migrants from

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it was outside the boundaries of the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

. These settlers were not under the rule or protection of the colonial government in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Together they formed their own form of government that was administered by a group of pioneers known as the

Fair Play Men The Fair Play Men were illegal settlers (squatters) who established their own system of self-rule from 1773 to 1785 in the West Branch Susquehanna River valley of Pennsylvania in what is now the United States. Because they settled in territory clai ...

. These early settlers banded together to provide law and order to a land that was wild and dangerous. Brattan Caldwell, a native of

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

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, migrated to the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

in 1770. He arrived in Philadelphia and from there moved to Lancaster County. He joined with other pioneers and followed the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

and its West Branch into the frontier. Caldwell and the other settlers arrived in what is now Woodward Township in 1772. They cleared land along the river and its tributaries. Caldwell married Elcy Hughes in the winter of 1775 on the south side of the river in Nippenose Township. This part of the

West Branch Susquehanna Valley The West Branch Susquehanna Valley of central Pennsylvania, United States, in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, is the low-lying area draining into the West Branch Susquehanna River southeast of the Allegheny Front, northeast of the Bald Eagle ...

was under the jurisdiction and protection of the colonial government of Pennsylvania. The Hughes were married by a Northumberland County justice of the peace. It was the first marriage to take place in the settlements west of

Lycoming Creek Lycoming Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Tioga and Lyco ...

. In the Revolutionary War, settlements throughout the Susquehanna valley were attacked by

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

and Native Americans allied with the British. After the

Wyoming Valley battle and massacre The Battle of Wyoming, also known as the Wyoming Massacre, was a military engagement during the American Revolutionary War between Patriot militia and a force of Loyalist soldiers and Iroquois warriors. The battle took place in the Wyoming Valle ...

in the summer of 1778 (near what is now

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) and smaller local attacks, the "

Big Runaway The Big Runaway was a mass evacuation in June and July 1778 of White settlers from the frontier regions of North Central Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War. It was precipitated by a series of raids against local settlements on th ...

" occurred throughout the West Branch Susquehanna valley. Settlers fled feared and actual attacks by the British and their allies. Homes and fields were abandoned, with livestock driven along and a few possessions floated on rafts on the river east to Muncy, then further south to Sunbury. The abandoned property was burnt by the attackers. Some settlers soon returned, only to flee again in the summer of 1779 in the "Little Runaway".

Sullivan's Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign) was a United States military campaign under the command of General John Sullivan during the American Revoluti ...

helped stabilize the area and encouraged resettlement, which continued after the war. Brattan Caldwell and his family fled to Lancaster County and did not return to their land until after Sullivan's Expedition. Caldwell obtained legal rights to the land he had settled in 1784 following the second

Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Province of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotia ...

. Linden is the only village in Woodward Township. It sprung up as a

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

during the construction of the

Pennsylvania Canal The Pennsylvania Canal, sometimes known as the Pennsylvania Canal system, was a complex system of transportation infrastructure improvements, including canals, dams, Lock (water transport), locks, tow paths, Navigable aqueduct, aqueducts, and vi ...

. The contractors building the canal built the shanty town for the laborers who were building the canal.

Geography

Woodward Township is southwest of the center of Lycoming County and is bordered by Anthony Township to the north, Lycoming Township at the northeast corner, Old Lycoming Township and the city of Williamsport to the east, the

West Branch Susquehanna River The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the ex ...

to the south (with Susquehanna Township south of the river), and Piatt Township to the west. The township contains the unincorporated communities of Glosser View, Linden, and Pine Run. The township offices are in Linden.

crosses the southern part of the township as it travels the

valley. The highway leads east to Williamsport and west to

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

, the state capital, is to the south. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the township has a total area of , of which are land and , or 4.13%, are water. The township is drained by the West Branch Susquehanna River and three tributaries: from west to east, Pine Run, Quenshukeny Run, and Daugherty Run.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 2,397 people, 946 households, and 693 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,010 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.25%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.75%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.17% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.08% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races.

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or Latino of any race were 0.17% of the population. There were 946 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.92. In the township the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.3 males. The median income for a household in the township was $35,398, and the median income for a family was $38,750. Males had a median income of $30,345 versus $19,500 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $15,659. About 6.8% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

* {{Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Townships in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1772 1772 establishments in Pennsylvania