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To view an enlargement of any illustration place the cursor on the illustration and left click your mouse Formation Dates
Covington Twp - 1818
was formed from Wilkes-Barre Township while part of Luzerne County. The area of the original township embraced all the lower portion of the county below Scranton. Chronological Dates 1820 - "Cobb Road" is chartered and completed in 1827. It remained a toll road until January 1855 1848 - 1850 - Gravity Railroad built in little under two years. First coal car traversed it length, from Port Griffith to Hawley, a distance of 45 miles in May, 1850. 1876 - Blue Shutter Restaurant built - originally a general store from 1881 to 1903 1890 - Elmhurst Reservoir built - inundated a shingle factory - chair factory and a saw mill. Cemetary was moved. |
Prior to 1840 or thereabouts the area today known as Roaring Brook Township was uninhabited, or practically so. Much of the land in the western part of the township was purchased in the early 1840's from the Bank of North America of Philadelphia by the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Company. This land was supposed to be underlaid with valuable iron ore. The iron company began an operation not far from the present Lake Scranton and was known as "Ore Mine Spring". A little village sprang up around the works. The ore, however, proved practically useless and in a few years the operation was abandoned and the settlement fell into decay. 
Before and after the Drinker Turnpike was built the township had very little settlement. When the turnpike was made passable the men employed on it moved along with the work. The Drinker Turnpike was built through the area around 1827, connecting with the Philadelphia and Great Bend Turnpike. Colonel Henry W. Drinker, with state aid, linked Providence (Scranton) with New York City. Traveling by stage by way of Stroudsburg this trip reportedly took three days. The town known today as Elmhurst is said to have been first settled on by a man named Meade and called by his name. But there is no record found prior to 1847, except that of Barney Carey, who lived near where the Cobb Road joined the turnpike. He was the toll gate keeper on the Drinker Turnpike and is probably the earliest settler in the township. There was a ledge on the side of the mountain nearby that became known as "Barney's Ledge." He thought that there was a silver mine there and he laid claim to the ledge. Not too far from the toll gate was a spring called "Indian Spring" which was surrounded by trees said to be carved with many names and initials of settlers fleeing the Wyoming Massacre. The early history of Roaring Brook Township is so interwoven with that of present day Elmhurst Township, that to present a faithful picture of one, material must be largely drawn upon the other. In fact, during the beginning of the 18th century, the village of Dunnings was the most populated portion of Roaring Brook Township. Much of the active history of Roaring Brook Township centers in and around Dunnings 
Gilbert Dunning bought all the land in and around the village in 1847 and was the first settler in the village. He raised the first crops and built the first frame house. During the same year John C. Dunning built a log house. John S. Finch, S.S. Welsh, and W. B. Edwards also settled in the village. Isaac Depew located south of the village. These men settled and worked at building a lumber manufacturing community. There is a tannery and a store owned by J.H. Snyder, a Baptist church, a school-house, two hotels, the blacksmith shops of B. E. Whitman and Partridge, the carriage and coffin factory of W.B. Edwards and the planning-mill of C.C. Clay. Banks - There were no banking houses. Moscow and Dunmore were the nearest banking towns. Churches - Methodist Episcopal
- The first preaching service in Roaring Brook was in 1853, by a Methodist minister, at the house of J.M. Stevens whose place was at Forest Hill, about a mile below Dunnings. In the summer, services were held in the school-house on the Cobb road, and at the house of J.M. Stevens during the winter. Churches - Baptist - A baptist congregation was organized in 1869 in the school house in dunnings The first church established was organized March 19, 1869, by Rev. J. C. Sherman, a Baptist minister. The first meeting was held in the school house, and there the Baptist church of Dunning Was organized. In 1870 they dedicated their own house of worship, lot and edifice being the gift of Eugene Snyder. The first superintendent of the Sunday school was Phineas Tuthill.This church was organized March 19th, 1869, in the district school-house at Dunning, by Rev. J. C. Sherman. Eugene Snyder, Phineas Tuthill, Stephen and Elizabeth Vail, E.G. Hamilton, A.L. and M.A. Burns, R.B. Wallace, S.E. Snyder and T.Secor were the members. The church edifice and lot were donated by Eugene Snyder, and the building was dedicated in 1870. The furniture was provided by the ladies of the church. The church and furniture cost $2,500. The pastors since Mr. Sherman have been Revs. George C. Craft, Charles M. Fower, C.W.O. Nyce, P.S. Brewster and I.P. Fergens. The value of the church property is $2,500. The membership of the society is 30. The first superintendent of the Sunday-school was Phineas Tuthill, who had 60 scholars. The present superintendent is C.C. Clay, and there are 70 pupils. Churches - Roman Catholic Roman Catholics in the village and township early on went to Dunmore or Moscow to church. Glen Home - The first and for a long time the only resident physican in Roaring Brook Twp was Dr. A. P. Gardner whose farm and residence, "Glen Home" was situated about one mile south of Dunnings. "Glen Home" was a show place in the 1870 and 1880. Post Office The post office was established in 1858 with D. J. Peck as the first postmaster and kept the office in the tannery office. Hotel The first hotel was built by Harrison RhodesThe last named hotel, at the depot, was built in 1872 or 1873 by Crockett Robinson and was owned and kept by Jacob Grman, who purchased it from Truxell, of Wilkes-Barre, in 1875. George Slote kept the hotel built by Rhodes until it was burned. Saw Mills The whole region was a virgin forest abounding with hemlock and pine. Saw mills were soon erected along the Roaring brook, and where water power could not be procured steam saw mills were built. Gilber Dunning built the first water power saw mill there. The next was built by Peck & Stevens, further down the stream. They later sold out to Dr. Benjamin H. Throop, who built two mills at Throopville. Store The first store was built by Strong & Robinson, who also operated the tannery and the next by Eugene Snyder, who also had a store at Dunning Tannery In 1856, a portion of the "Dunning property" was purchsed by A.M. Maynard, for tannery purposes. It was built in 1857 or 1858, by L. Maynard. He subsequently sold it to Major E.P. Strong and D.T. Peck, Esq., trading as Strong Robinson & Co. It was then sold to Shultz, Southwick & Co., of New York. This tannery was 350 feet in length, 40 feet wide, and had an addition of 150 feet. It was capable of converting 50,000 raw hides annually into leather, worth over $200,000. Tavern Three public houses cater to the traveling and thirsty public. A settlement sprung up at the foot of Mt Cobb Road. Hunter Range is a settlement of a tavern, a one room School, and a few homes. The pioneer tavern was at "Hunter Range," a mile below Dunning, at the intersection of the Cobb road with the turnpike. This place was once famed for trout fishing, the tavern for its whisky, and was a place of resort for the early settlers on rainy days. The next tavern was built by Harrison Rhodes at Dunning. It was burned a few years later. It stood opposite the Railroad House. When the lumber development of the region, known as Roaring Brook, was at its height in the last 1860s and very early 1870s an agitation arose to secure a township charter. This was granted by the Luzerne County Court May 24, 1871. Land to form the township was taken out of Dunmore Borough, Jefferson and Madison townships. James Locklin and Joshua S Miller were the first justices in the township.With the passing of the timber supply these industries all fled and Dunning morphed into a community of homes and farms. In addition to Dunning there were additional small settlements located throughout the township
"Forest Hill" was a hamlet about a mile south of Dunning where the Forest Hill Cemetery is located. The first monument was that of Charles Thompson, who died March, 1875. Here also was the only grist-mill in Roaring Brook Township - it was owned by J.M. Rhodes, and was built in 1876. Mr Rhodes also has a saw-mill, a store and a blacksmith shop at Forest Hill. The first school house was built in 1855 and was known as the Forest Hill schoolhouse. "Simenson" was located west of the center of the township on Spring Brook Road in the southwestern part of the township. A school, a boarding house and several homes populated the area. Hazard School was the last school to remain open in Roaring Brook. It was closed in 1927 and the children were transported to the newly-built school in the borough of Elmhurst. Another settlement was located just off Route 590 on a road to the left, just opposite the now-closed-iron bridge onn the upper end of the reservoir. This one room school, the Oak Run School, was closed in 1921.
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