Late May and early June have meant end of school year activities that culminate with a graduation ceremony for those who’ve completed their required courses. It is usually a happy time of year for both students and teachers.
Three quarters of a century after the photo shown was taken, Alice Cooper released his School’s Out anthem on to the 1972 pop/rock charts of the day. The available virtual and cyber learning of today seem to make the traditional school year begin to look somewhat outdated.
Youthful energy and exuberance do not change. The 13, young men and 23 young women look, generally, to be pleasant and happy. Two of the boys look to be of middle school age. The mustached fellow on the right side of the photo may have been a teacher.
The students appear to be from upper grades at a time when completing an eighth-grade course of study was common throughout Clearfield County. Lumber City, though, was fortunate enough to have a high school.
Lumber City was aptly named. It was never a city, but the giant lumbering and rafting industry made it a fine location for a developing community.
It was incorporated as a small borough that stood on the north bank of the Susquehanna River, between Curwensville and Mahaffey. State Route 969 and the Pennsylvania Railroad line later connected the town to both neighboring boroughs.
The borough grew from an early settlement in the 1830’s to well into the mid-20th century. Homesteads, churches, businesses, social organizations all thrived there. It was the site of a wooden-covered bridge that spanned the Susquehanna, and was later replaced by a metal structure.
Sawmills and the Good Fire Brick Company provided larger-scale employment. Nearby deposits of quality fire brick clay fed Lumber City’s brickyard, as it did for more than a dozen throughout Clearfield County.
Lumber City, as it was known, came to a swift end in the early 1960’s. The backwaters of the Curwensville Dam, built for needed flood control, inundated much of the town. Some homes and other structures were moved.
Others were abandoned to the rising waters. Even bodies from cemeteries had to be exhumed and moved. The small borough became much smaller, but it still remains.
The writing on the sign in front of the students in the photo appears to have been written in chalk. The developing process did not make it legible.
What is clearly shown is a generation of Lumber City youth who appear positive and upbeat. They were ready to take on what 20th-century life would hand to them.