1767

1804

James Potter, of the Revolutionary War era, had no relation to this area. However the U.S. government needed to recognize him and they saw this as an opportunity to do so by naming Potter County after him.

1810

Potter County's total population at that time was 29 with only two households listed, that of Isaac Lyman with 22 members and that of William Ayers with with 6 members. The twenty-ninth person was Sampson Crawford.

1838

First murder committed, Joshua Jones killed his wife. He was sentenced to be hung, and escaped 10 days before his death date. His neighbor caught him and took him to where he was to be hung. Mr. Jones paid Dr. French ten dollars to bring him back to life, but naturally he didn't succeed and the doctor kept his skeleton in his office until 1911 (Austin Flood). His skull is a current exhibit at the Potter County Historical Museum.

1850

The Underground Railroad was operated by people such as John Mann. Many others also helped with the Underground Railroad.

1861

During the Civil War many men were recruited to serve in the "Bucktails Company." Only about one-half of the men and boys to enter the war came back alive to Potter County.

1872

The first Railroad in Potter County enters near Keating Summit. These five miles of railroad were the first in Potter County and now they are the last and only remaining operational tracks.

1877

The first of the many large tanneries was built in Oswayo. Many other tanneries were built later in Roulette, Galeton, Harrison Valley, Costello, and Shinglehouse.

1878

The Tidewater Pipeline was laid in Potter County. This was the first pipeline in the nation to pump crude oil overland.

1881

The first telephone line was installed from Keating Summit to Costello.

1884-1920

Lumber companies purchased land in Potter County and began to harvest lumber. Millions of acres of timber were harvested during these years, until almost all of the trees in Potter County were cut down.

1886

The Goodyear Lumber Company began sawing in Austin. This mill had a capacity of 400,000 board feet of timber a day. The combined mills in Galeton, Cross Fork and in Austin could produce over 1,000,000 board feet per day. This "lumber boom" in Potter County caused the largest population spike in the counties' history. The population rose to 30,000.

1889

Austin was destroyed by fire and later rebuilt. However, it then burned down several more times.

1899-1903

Glass plants are established in Coudersport, Shinglehouse and Roulette.

1903

The first automobile was purchased in Potter County.

1907

The first moving picture was shown in Potter County.

1910

Galeton reached its population peak in 1910 with 4027 people. To date this is the only town in the county to have reached over 4000 people.

1911

The Austin dam broke because of architectural problems and is the Counties' largest disaster. The original plans for the dam called for four feet on the top, but it ended up being only one and a half feet. The dam was not anchored well; it was only five feet down and did not reach the bedrock. In the summer of 1911, because of heavy rainfall the dam began to swell and bulge. On September 30th, a election day, the dam broke. The water gathered trees and other debris. When the onrush reached the nearby paper mill, the trees acted as battering rams and demolished the mill and the town. Seventy-nine known deaths were recorded, however many bodies were never found.

1919

This was the year that the Potter County Historical Society was founded.

1926

This year the Roosevelt Highway, know also known as, Route 6 was built.

1929

This is the year that the "great depression" began.

1941-1945

During World War II, Lyman Run and Bark Shanty became prisoner of war camps.

1942

Austin has another flood. Smethport has the highest amount of rainfall recorded in Pa with about 11 inches.

2004

Potter County Celebrates it's bicentennial.

Today

Why don't you come to Potter County and make Potter County part of your history.