Much of what was Lumber City Borough was dismantled to make room for the backwaters of the Curwensville Dam in the early 1960’s.
The borough still exists today and takes in a good bit of land area but is sparsely populated with nowhere near the buildings it once had. It is a shell of its former self.
Lumber City was once a thriving town with many typical businesses, homes and churches found, at the time, in Clearfield County, as well as surrounding family farms.
Its name honors the 19th century logging, lumbering and rafting boom that was once the driving economic engine of the communities along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
Plentiful and huge white pine, hemlock and oak trees were cleared to fill the demands of the region’s need for lumber and wood.
The 19th century Americans, especially in small communities, were “joiners.” They didn’t travel much and stayed put in their own home areas. Roads were little more that mud paths.
As a result, they often joined and bonded with church, civic and fraternal groups such as the IOOF. The International Order of Odd Fellows may sound like an “odd” name today, but it was founded upon the decent principles of “friendship, love and truth.”
Remarkably, the IOOF Lodge, shown under construction in the photo, was made of brick. It was supposed to be a permanent part of Lumber City and not a susceptible to destruction by fire as were most wooden buildings of the time.
Wooden boards were used as struts to reinforce the scaffolding and outer wall masonry during the construction. The ground floor looks to be two bays used for keeping horses and wagons.
It looks as though telegraph, phone or electrical service had recently come to Lumber City as this photo was taken. The nine young men standing atop the unfinished building look to be proud of their work.
