Factoryville Borough Information
Factoryville Pennsylvania is located in the Endless Mountains Region of the Northeastern part of Pennsylvania.
Factoryville is in the region of the northeast known as the Northern Tier.
Christy Mathewson Statue located at Christy Mathewson Park in Factoryville PA
This marker is located at the base of the Christy Mathewson Sculpture at Christy Mathewson Park in Factoryville.
HOW FACTORYVILLE WAS BORN
Factoryville's beginning can be traced only through the history of several local families; namely, the Reynolds and Capwell families. One might expect a town named "Factoryville" to be the site of many factories, but it was named for a lone cotton mill in business for approximately two years.
The first settlers arrived around 1800. It was not until 1828 when a post office was established that the town was officially named. In 1824, the first school was built. In 1869, Keystone Academy was founded. It is now known as Keystone College and offers two and four year degree programs. Around 1850-1860 the Baptist and Methodist Churches were built.
Christy Mathewson, one of the all-time great pitchers in major league baseball, was born in Factoryville in 1880. He became a member of the Giants team in 1900 and retired from baseball in 1922. Christy Mathewson died in 1925 at the age of 45. He was one of the first five baseball players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1936, fourteen years after his death.
Factoryville is located in the scenic Endless Mountain Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Our borough got the name Factoryville from a factory that operated along the S. Branch of the Tunkhannock Creek in the 1820's. People came from miles around to have their wool woven into cloth at that factory. Only a few years after the wool factory opened it was closed down never to open again. Now in Factoryville there is a conspicuous lack of factories but the name remains.
S. Branch of the Tunkhannock Creek in Factoryville. Christy Mathewson Park.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF FACTORYVILLE
Allean Derr
Before the first settlers arrived, this whole region was wilderness covered by dense forest with trails made by the Delaware Indians running through the valley extending from the Lackawanna River to the Susquehanna River.
The first settlers to arrive here in the early 1800's were Captain Robert Reynolds and Stephen Capwell, both from Rhode Island. These men, along with their sons, journeyed three weeks by foot with few supplies to find new farming land and a better life for their families. They settled in what was known as the West Settlement, with the Reynolds' on the West side of the Tunkhannock creek and the Capwells on the East side. Here they cleared the land, built log cabins and carved farms out of the wilderness. Then they returned to Rhode Island to bring their families to their new homes.
Other families soon joined them and settled in other parts of the area. Among them were the Seaman, Wilson, Green, Wall, Gardner, Dean, Moore, Carpenter and Colvin families.
These early settlers soon established church services and schoolhouses for the education of their children. The first school, known as the Long Schoolhouse, was destroyed by fire and was later replaced with a new structure called the Square Top Schoolhouse. This building served the community not only as a school, but also as a place where church services and various town meetings were held.
When the War of 1812 broke out, these resourceful settlers built a textile factory run by water power at what is now the center of town. This was the first factory of any kind in the entire region and it made such an impression that everyone spoke of going to “The Factory.” The machinery and raw cotton were transported over rough roads from Newburgh, New York. When the war ended the business went bankrupt and ceased to operate.
A post office was established in 1828 by Dr. John Wilson, who served as the first postmaster. It was operated out of the home of Jeremiah Capwell, a mile south of the village until 1845 when it was moved to the center of the village. It was at this time that the village took on the name of Factoryville. The first general store was also built about this time.
The West Settlement was originally a part of Abington Township , but when Wyoming County was created in 1842 from part of Luzerne County , this part of the new county was set up as Clinton Township in 1843.
The Methodist Church was built in 1854, as was the Six Principal Baptist Church which is the present-day Borough building. The Baptist Church was formed in 1860 and the church building, long known as the Brick Church was completed in 1866. The churches continue to give spiritual leadership to the residents.
The coming of the Delaware , Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1850-51 was a great boost to the town. It was built from Scranton to Great Bend, with a depot at the upper end of town. This is now the Route 6-11 highway. This railroad provided the farmers and the coal industry in Scranton a means to move their products to larger cities. In order to make the railroad more efficient and profitable, the line was moved along the mountains where it reduced mileage, costly grade crossing accidents and train delays. This line resulted in the construction of two new tunnels and the building of the Tunkhannock Viaduct at Nicholson, the largest steel reinforced concrete bridge in the country.
Factoryville continued to grow and expand, and on November 12, 1883, the town incorporated. By this time the population had reached 823, and the town had seven general stores, two hotels, three doctors, a tannery and a grist mill. There was also an active military reserve unit which had built an armory in town in 1882.
In the early 1900's a two story brick schoolhouse was built which held grades one through eight. This was erected where the present Lackawanna Trail elementary school stands. Seeing a need for higher education the townspeople and members of the Baptist Association organized Keystone Academy . This was one of three higher education institutes in the state of Pennsylvania . They secured the services of Dr. John Harris as the first principal, and classes were held in the basement of the Baptist Church until the school was built. Now the school is a four year college known as Keystone College .
During the Civil War, the community responded and sent off a number of young men to fight in the Union Army. When they returned they organized a local Grand Army of the Republic Post which was a strong fraternal organization for many years.
Around the turn of the century, electric lights and telephones came to town. From 1907 until 1912 the Northern Electric Railway, an inter-urban electric transportation line, ran from Scranton through Factoryville to Montrose. As the automobile became more popular the need for this rail service dwindled and “The Peoples Trolley” stopped running in 1912.
A number of individuals native to Factoryville have gone on to become famous. The most well-known is Christopher Mathewson better known as Matty or Big Six. He was born in Factoryville in 1880, graduated from Keystone Academy and Bucknell University , and played for the New York Giants from 1901 to 1916. His accomplishment in baseball was outstanding, helping to make baseball the national pastime. During World War I he served overseas where he contacted tuberculosis. He died at an early age in 1925. Each year we honor his birthday with a week-end celebration.
Other notable figures are Dr. G. Bromley Smith, professor at John Hopkins University; H. Loren Fassett, director of the U.S. budget Office in Washington, D.C.; Dr. Mary B. Harris, superintendent of the Federal Institution for Women in West Virginia; Dr. Dora Capwell, director of Psychological Service for Pittsburgh; Dr. Ed win Kemmerer, known as The Money Doctor, a professor of international finance at Princeton University and a financial advisor to several world governments; Judge Roy Gardner of the Wyoming County Courts and Dr. Jason Petula, Penn State University, participated in teachers Arctic and Antarctic expeditions and other earth and science exploration and research projects.
Thanks Allean for the wonderful history and pictures from your archives. Allean Derr has published a History of Factoryville.
If intersted in purchasing this book please contact the Borough Office at 945-7484 and we will get you in contact with Allean.
For information about our local Factoryville Baptist Church, please visit their website, just click this link: Factoryville Baptist Church
For information about our local Factoryville Methodist Church please visit their website by clicking on link:
www.factoryvilleumc.org
Our local school district is Lackawanna Trail.
Click here to visit the school district websites
For information about events in the borough visit:
FACTORYVILLE BOROUGH ELECTED OFFICIALS
Mayor:
Gary Evans 945-0998
Council Members and their appointed committees:
Charles Wrobel- President, Co-Chair to all committees, 945-3469
Tom Davis- Vice President, Finance, 945-5222
Bill Edwards, Roads and Maintenance, 945-9673
Genevieve Evans, Sewer Authority, 945-9520
Dan Engler, Buildings and Grounds, 945-7490
Chris Bergey, Parks and Recreation, Emergency Management, 945-9651
Council meetings are the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m.at the Borough Hall.
Factoryville zoning officer: Howard Jacoby. The zoning officer is available every Thursday in his office at the Factoryville Borough Hall Building from Noon - 2 pm.
For more information about clubs and other borough organizations, sewer authority, and/or commissions please visit the Contact Borough page or click the following link: Contact us
Lackawanna Trail School Districts websites click here:
Lackawanna Trail websites
Lackawanna Trail School District Information:
Organization Description
Demographics:
The Lackawanna Trail School District, which occupies an area of approximately 73 square miles in the northeastern corner of Lackawanna County and the eastern section of Wyoming County, is one of the state's dual county districts. The district is located approximately 15 miles north of Scranton and 12 miles east of Tunkhannock in northeastern Pennsylvania. The school district was officially formed in April of 1953, with the joint high school being occupied in 1956. The original jointure was composed of the boroughs of Dalton, Factoryville, Nicholson and the townships of La Plume, West Abington, Clinton and Nicholson. Benton Township became a part of the jointure in 1964.
School Organization:
The Lackawanna Trail School District organizational structure is comprised of one Elementary Center (K-6) and a Junior/Senior High School (7-12). The Elementary Center is located on College Avenue in Factoryville, Pa. The secondary facility is situated on Tunnel Hill Road, approximately one-fourth mile off Route 11. Within these structures the educational program is organized as follows:
Primary Level--Kindergarten and Grades 1- 3, Intermediate Level--Grades 4- 6, Middle Level--Grades 7- 8, and High School Level-- Grades 9 - 12.
Professional Personnel:
The Lackawanna Trail School District employs 104 professional personnel including classroom teachers, special education teachers, guidance counselors (two secondary and one elementary), two Title I reading specialists, one Title I math teacher, two librarians, and two school nurses. Kindergarten became a full day program in the 2004-2005 school year, made possible with funding from the state's Accountability Block Grant Program.
The following administrators are employed by the district to carry out the policies of the Board of Education and oversee the educational program: Superintendent, Business Manager, Secondary Principal, Assistant Secondary Principal, Elementary Principal, Director of Curriculum and Resources, and Director of Special Education.
The district also employs 71 support staff members (including a technology coordinator, cafeteria supervisor and maintenance/transportation director). The faculty-student ratio is approximately 1:24. 69% of the professional staff hold Master's or Equivalency Degrees.
Facilities:
Approximately 1,293 students are enrolled and attend classes in the Elementary Center, which houses grades kindergarten through six, and a Junior/Senior High School for students in grades seven through twelve.
The Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center, which is located at the site of the former Factoryville Elementary School on College Avenue in Factoryville, opened its doors to students for the first time on August 27, 1991. The opening of the Elementary Center brought the students who attended Benton Elementary, Dalton Elementary, Factoryville Elementary, and Nicholson Elementary together in one centrally located school.
The Elementary Center and the renovated Junior/Senior High School are continuously maintained and promote achievement of the district's mission, goals, and student learning outcomes. Computer labs are available in each building for use by students and teachers. In addition, three mobile laptop computer labs each are located at the Elementary Center and two mobile labs are available at the Junior/Senior High School. The Elementary Center accommodates active learning experiences in art, music, dance, and theater and for “hands on” experiences in science, social studies, and environmental education.
At the middle/high school levels, facilities are provided for active learning experiences in the arts and in related areas of study, science environmental education, family and consumer science, and technology education. In addition, laboratories are available for all science planned courses. Facilities are provided for art, music, dance, and theater. Computer laboratories ensure use and application of computers and software, including word processing, database, spreadsheets, and telecommunications. Finally, the high school physical plant offers facilities for business education, foreign languages, human development/family life education, technology education, and interscholastic athletic competition.
For the past three years, including 2007, the district and both buildings have demonstrated adequate yearly progress (AYP) on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment. Graduation rate for 2005 (latest available figures) was 94.87%, up from 88.79% in 2004. Attendance rates for the Elementary Center remain fairly constant--94.68% and 94.77%.
Core Purpose
Mission
The mission of the Lackawanna Trail School District, in partnership with our community, is to provide a safe and challenging learning environment where all students will develop to their fullest potential. The educational programs provided will enable students to become productive, responsible, technologically literate, contributing members of a global society who respond effectively to an ever changing world.
Vision
Each building in the Lackawanna Trail School District has a vision statement that embodies what each building believes it must do in order to accomplish the overall mission of the school district itself. Vision statements were crafted after a review of current literature that stresses such statements should be focused, measurable, and doable.
The vision of the Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center is to provide an environment for all children that is safe, educationally progressive, and filled with experiences that will enable students to be prepared for success in secondary school as measured by state and local assessment results.
The vision of the Lackawanna Trail Junior-Senior High School is to provide an educational atmosphere where all students are safe, nurtured both academically AND socially, with access to a wide variety of challenging courses. During their high school years, students will be able to measure their acquired knowledge by achieving proficiency on standardized, as well as teacher created, assessments because of the education they receive from a highly qualified faculty. Upon fulfilling all graduation requirements, students will have then mastered the standards-based curriculum--making them fully prepared to enter college, post-secondary vocational school, the armed services, or the work force. Regardless of their post secondary choice, students will graduate being technologically literate, being able to access pertinent information, and will be able to effectively collaborate with others--making them productive citizens.
Shared Values
The purposes of schools are to:
- Teach all students to think critically and constructively
- Encourage creativity
- Help students to reach their full potential
- Provide a healthy environment that is safe and conducive to learning
- Provide a challenging learning environment
All educators should:
- Challenge and mentor students to reach their potential
- Be fair, consistent, and respectful toward their students and their peers
- Develop a lifelong desire for knowledge and learning for themselves and their students
- Stay current in best practice instructional strategies
- Incorporate current instructional technology to classroom practice
All students:
- Should contribute to the safety of the environment
- Are unique and learn in different ways and at different rates
- Are expected to be respectful toward their peers and others
- Should accept the challenge of learning
- Should adopt a healthy, risk-free lifestyle
All community members should:
- Contribute to a safe, secure, and healthy environment in school
- Enhance students' physical, emotional, and social growth
- Support the educational process, which extends into the home environment
Goals
In concert with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the Lackawanna Trail School District embraces the five performance goals that are at the core of NCLB. They are:
1) All students will reach high standards, at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading and mathematics, by 2013-2014, 2) All limited-English-proficient students will become proficient in English and reach high academic standards, at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading/language arts and mathematics, 3) By 2006-2007, all students will be taught by highly qualified teachers, 4) All students will be educated in learning environments that are safe, drug free, and conducive to learning, and 5) All students will graduate from high school. These five goals capture the essence of the educational process at Lackawanna Trail.
After a review of educational data, current research, and the requirements of Chapter 4, the district selected educational and organizational goals related to student achievement and graduation. These goals were derived from a careful analysis of the district and by a consensus of the strategic planning committee as it completed the process of evaluating the needs and strengths of the school district.
Our assessment included a review of the following:
Local data
State assessment tests (PSSA)
Standardized test data (Terra Nova Achievement Test with InView)
Demographic data, including enrollment projections and program enrollment
Staffing information
Daily attendance
District fiscal information
Curriculum and instruction information
Projected trend data on employment in business and industry
Survey of perceived needs from students, parents, and community
January 8, 2010
To the users of the Factoryville and Clinton Sewage Treatment Plant:
We have heard your concerns regarding the recent rate increase of $3.00 per month per equivalent dwelling unit. The expansion that began in 2009 will be completed in early 2010 and rates were increased to afford the expenses related to the operation and expansion including new debt to finance this project. The good news however, is that the Authority has secured approximately $2,800,000 in grant funding to offset our costs. Without this large amount of grant funding, the rate increase would have been significantly higher. Please be assured that no one on the sewer board would raise rates unless there was no other alternative.
Our troubles began in 2007 when the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) required an emergency expense which was nearly $70,000 required to pump sludge out of our lagoon and repair aeration lines. They set a deadline for completion and the promise of a fine if it was not completed promptly. From that initial catastrophic event to date, the aging of the plant coupled with additional restrictions from DEP has resulted in numerous expensive repairs to the existing plant.
By 2007 plans were under way to upgrade the plant primarily to satisfy more stringent requirements from legislation known as the Chesapeake Bay Initiative. The Chesapeake standards have placed greater restrictions on the sewage treatment process and forced the Authority to implement a different treatment process which will go online with our upgrades in March 2010. Since the upgrade was required, the Authority opted to expand the plant so that new users could be added to the system. We met with a non-profit consulting agency which recommended adding users to broaden the base that bears the cost of treatment.
We hear customers concerns about our sewer rates compared to other towns, however, there are two factors to consider. The first is that smaller communities have a smaller base of customers and unfortunately fewer people to bear the cost. And second, most communities with lower user rates have yet to implement the processes required to meet the Chesapeake Bay Initiative. They are mandated to do so in the very near future and will experience much greater percentage increases as they have so much further to go to become compliant. The January 5, 2010 edition of the Scranton Times reported a large rate increase to sewer customers in the City of Scranton and the Borough of Dunmore and the Scranton Sewer Authority blamed state and federal mandates for the increase.
Lastly, we were told numerous times throughout the upgrade process that our rates were “too low” to warrant any kind of assistance from other governmental agencies. We were told that other municipalities had much higher rates and would come first when it came to financial relief. The officials from Factoryville Borough and Clinton Township were not discouraged and applied for grant funding anyway. Our $2,800,000 in grant funding was received from four different sources that we appealed to for assistance. Our “too low” rate to warrant grants was $53.00 per month which was reduced to $43.00 per month as a result of all the grants that we received.
Please call me if you want to discuss this with you in any further detail. Our sewer meetings are on the 2 nd Wednesday of the month at 6:00 p.m. in the Factoryville Borough Hall. You are welcome there anytime. Thank you.
Sincerely, Mary Ellen Buckbee
Factoryville Borough Manager
Authority Treasurer
MATHEWSON PARK APARTMENTS
6 Maple Street, Factoryville PA
The Mathewson Park Apartments are managed
by the Wyoming County Housing Authority
This is a Senior Housing Complex
Each one bedroom apartment includes:
Fully equipped kitchen
Front door security
Wall to wall carpeting
Wheelchair accessible/adaptable
Window shades
Community room
Call 942-6155 for an application and appointment
Dedication of Mathewson Park Apartments
May 27, 2005
John Kman, places plaque on wall of new community room dedicating room to past and present members of the Factoryville Olin R. Wheelock American Legion. Jack Martin and John Jennings from the Wyoming County Redevelopment dedicated room and thanked the American Legion group for all they did to make this new apartment complex possible.
Other pages within our website....
Old postcard of Factoryville shows that we have always been a beautiful small town.
CLINTON TOWNSHIP AND FACTORYVILLE BOROUGH JOINT MUNICIPAL PARK PROJECT
Our two municipalities are working together to build a new park complex. With grants from DCNR the municipalities have purchased 29 acres of land to develop into a recreation complex. DCNR also helped with the development of this new park. The two municipalities, local businesses, civic organizations and DCNR funded an access road into the property, a multipurpose field for recreation, parking, and a detention basin to manage all the stormwater for the entire site.
Multipurpose field at the Clinton Township Factoryville Borough Joint Municipal Park. This park is located at 154 Creek Road, just across the street from the Clinton Township Municipal Building.
Thanks to all the businesses and organizations that have so generously supported this new project!