An 1855 map of Porter Township.
A brief “official” history of Tower City and Porter Township , Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, was produced for the centennial celebration in 1968. The second section of that history told how the governmental divisions came about.
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DIVISIONS MAKING UP PORTER TOWNSHIP
The colony of Pennsylvania was originally divided unto three counties: Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester.
Originally, Schuylkill County was a part of Philadelphia County; when Lancaster County was erected the area west of the Schuylkill River was attached to the latter. Berks County was created in 1732 and all of Schuylkill County was attached to it. In 1771, Pine Grove Township was erected consisting of that portion of Berks County north of the Blue Mountain to the Northumberland County line, an area of over 200 square miles. Mahantongo Township, in 1802 was carved out of Pine Grove Township and was later divided into Upper Mahantongo Township and Lower Mahantongo Township. The history of Lower Mahantongo Township is intimately connected with the history of our community.
TOWNSHIP DIVIDED
Porter Township remained a part of Lower Mahantongo Township until March 30, 1840, when a number of residents petitioned the Court of Quarter Sessions to divide the Township. In October 1840, the court officially created and named Porter Township.
Perhaps the principal reason for the formation of the new township was the desire of our forefathers to establish public schools for the education of their children. In 1834 the first statute establishing a public school system in the Commonwealth was adopted. Lower Mahantongo Township disapproved the establishment although a great majority of the residents of the Williams Valley were in favor.
Another compelling reason to create the new township was the neglect of the supervisors of Lower Mahantongo Township to provide new roads and to maintain those already established in the Williams Valley. We were virtually isolated from the north portion of the township by the Bog Lick and Keffers Mountains and from the rest of Schuylkill County as well. Our forefathers attempted to fulfill our educational and transportation needs by establishing a new township.
KEFFERS
Thew first village laid out by plan was Ostermanville on Keffers Summit. In 1875 the name was changed to Keffers, in honor of Joseph Keffer, an early landowner and tavern keeper.
REINERTON
Bearmont was the early name of present Reinerton. in 1870, Charlemagne Tower succeeded in having the postal department change the name from Bearmont to Tower City, under which name Reinerton was known until the establishment of a separate post office in 1894 when it was renamed Reinerton.
SHERIDAN
In 1869, Alexander Thompson subdivided his land west of Tower City into lots for sale to the influx of people lured by employment at the mines.
ORWIN
After Tower laid out his lots he wanted to make certain that others would not benefit by his intended improvement so he purchased other large tracts surrounding his town. He acquired from John Dietrich and others considerable land in and surrounding present Orwin. A part of this he laid out into lots and called it Johnstown in honor of John Dietrich.
MUIR
In 1870, George Reiner laid out a plan of lots for Reiner City, later changed to Muir. Peter Schwalm, in 1871, subdivided a portion of his farm into lots and called it the Schwalm Addition to Muir.
JOLIETT
This is the youngest of the Porter Township communities, laid out by the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company about 1915 on which it constructed company houses for employees employed in the nearby mines. Part of the village is located in Tremont Township, however.
Note: The final section of the history was entitled, Charlemagne Tower, Founder of Town [Tower City] and will be presented here within the next week.
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Text above is from the West Schuylkill Herald (Tower City), June 26, 1968, via Newspapers.com, and was also printed in the souvenir book for the Tower-Porter Centennial in 1968.
The 1855 map of Porter Township is from the map collection of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
Thanks for this. The 1968 Tower City-Porter Township Centennial Book is a great resource, and I always appreciate a chance to read parts anew and can appreciate how those who lived in the area felt somewhat isolated from the rest of the county, and perhaps neglected as a result. On a separate note, I have never found the story of how Orwin, Muir and Joliett in particular got their names. Do you or any of your Lykens Valley followers know? Finally, I am not sure the authors of the history meant it to read as it does, but I believe Pine Grove Township created in 1771 in Berks County was that part of what later became Schuylkill County west of the Schuylkill River. Brunswick, east of river, was formed in 1768. Thanks again.