Cummings 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 264 at the 2020 census, down from 273 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, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. Cummings Township is home to Little Pine State Park and Upper Pine Bottom State Park.

History

Cummings Township was formed in 1832 from parts of Mifflin and

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

townships. It was named for John Cummings, who was an associate judge in the local court system at the time. Early industry in the county included quarries of

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

and

building stone Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rock (geology), rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings and other structures, like bridges. A ...

and lumber. The Little Pine Creek and Pine Creek valleys in Cummings Township were used by the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

and Algonkian tribes as a hunting ground. Historians believe that there may have been a

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

village and burial ground just to the north of Little Pine State Park on Little Pine Creek. By the mid 19th century the demand for lumber reached the Upper Pine Bottom area, where white pine and hemlock covered the surrounding mountainsides. Lumbermen came and harvested the trees and sent them down Pine Creek to 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 Susquehanna Boom and

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

s at Williamsport. James and John English were the first to build a sawmill in the Little Pine area. They built two sawmills in 1809 on Little Pine Creek. In 1816, the village of English Mills sprang up around the two sawmills. The lumber era at Little Pine lasted until 1909, when the last log raft was floated down Little Pine Creek. Remnants of the lumber era can be seen today in and around the park. Waterville is the most significant population center in Cummings Township. Michael and Henry Wolf arrived in the area from Berks County in 1817. They helped to establish Waterville by building a sawmill and clearing some land for farming. A post office was established in Waterville in 1849. Other early business establishments were two stores and a hotel, which stands today. Tiadaghton State Forest lands were acquired by the state by the early 1900s. The site which became the Upper Pine Bottom State Park was the "Upper Pine Bottom Class B Public Campground" by 1924 (Class B Public Campgrounds were on secondary highways and had a lean-to shelter for camping). During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the

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built a pavilion at the site in 1936, but it is no longer extant. The park was not officially transferred from the Bureau of Forests to State Parks until 1962.

Geography

Cummings Township is in western Lycoming County and is bordered by Gallagher Township in

Clinton County Clinton County may refer to: *Counties named for George Clinton, first and third Governor of New York, and later the fourth Vice President of the United States: **Clinton County, New York ** Clinton County, Ohio *Counties named for DeWitt Clinton, ...

to the west, McHenry Township to the northwest, Pine Township to the north, Cogan House Township to the northeast, Mifflin Township to the east, and Watson Township to the south.

Pennsylvania Route 44 Pennsylvania Route 44 (PA 44) is a -long state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route, which is signed north-south, is designated from Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania, Interstate 80 (I-80) and Pennsylvania Route 42, PA 42 in Buckhor ...

passes through the western part of the township, following Pine Creek south from Waterville and the side canyon of Upper Pine Bottom Run west from Waterville. PA 44 leads south to

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 ...

and northwest to Coudersport. Pennsylvania Route 414 runs north up Pine Creek from Waterville, leading to Slate Run and to Morris. 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 0.81%, are water. The township lies entirely in the Pine Creek drainage basin. Little Pine Creek, one of Pine Creek's major tributaries, has its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

with Pine Creek in the unincorporated village of Waterville. Cummings Township contains two Pennsylvania state parks. Little Pine State Park is on Little Pine Creek and Pennsylvania Route 4001, northeast of Waterville. Upper Pine Bottom State Park is on Upper Pine Bottom Run and

, west of Pine Creek and west of Waterville. Portions of Tiadaghton State Forest are also located in the township.

Waterville

Waterville is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in the dense woods of the

Glaciated Allegheny Plateau The Glaciated Allegheny Plateau is that portion of the Allegheny Plateau that lies within the area covered by the last glaciation. As a result, this area of the Allegheny Plateau has lower relief and gentler slopes than the relatively rugged Un ...

in south-central Cummings Township. It lies in the deep valley of Pine Creek, Pine Creek Gorge, at the mouth of Little Pine Creek.

travels through Waterville, heading south-southeastward along Pine Creek to the borough of

. The city of Williamsport, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Lycoming County, is southeast of Waterville.DeLorme. ''Pennsylvania Atlas & Gazetteer''. 8th ed. Yarmouth:

DeLorme DeLorme Publishing Company is a producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company's main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and rec ...

, 2003, pp. 49, 50. .

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 355 people, 153 households, and 106 families residing in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 5.2 people per square mile (2.0/km²). There were 400 housing units at an average density of 5.8/sq mi (2.2/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 99.72%

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 ...

and 0.28%

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 ...

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.28% of the population. There were 153 households, out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.2% 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, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.69. In the township the population was spread out, with 20.8% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 107.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.3 males. The median income for a household in the township was $38,594, and the median income for a family was $42,292. Males had a median income of $33,125 versus $21,250 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 $18,626. About 6.2% of families and 5.5% 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 none of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Townships in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1784 1784 establishments in Pennsylvania