The following is quoted from Thomas Murphy's 1928 History of Lackawanna County . 1 (Remember that references to now or today refer to 1928 and do not necessarily reflect life in 2003. Among other things, La Plume gave up borough status and became a township since the book was written.)
... see p483
took the output from all the nearby country. Scranton and New York were the markets. George E Bailey, one of the town's leading figures, was the superintendent of the plant for thirteen years. The concern met reverses and faded out several years ago. Previous to its incorporation as a borough in 1885 La Plume was a part of North Abington Township. Its name was bestowed by Mrs Isaac A Tillinghast who had used it as a nom de plume in writing for the press and other publications. In the eighties her husband had an extensive seed and plant nursery in the village. A post office was established at La Plume in 1876 with William P Slocum as postmaster. The original line of the D L & W passed through the village and a station was maintained there. The building of the cut off took the railroad considerably to the east of the town. The Lake Winola branch of the Scranton & Binghamton Street Railway Company connected with the main line near the village. The old roadbed of the D L & W is now the Lackawanna Trail.
Some of the early families in the borough were the Bailey's, Sisson's, Wrigley's, Holgate's, Alpine's, Doolittle's, Maynard's, Pellam's, Ridgeway's, Smalley's, Seaman's, Chase', Gardner's, Slayton's, Nichol's, and Brown's. Keystone Academy, one of the leading college prepatory educational institutions in the state, founded in 1868, is located in La Plume. The Wyoming County line passes near the Academy property.
Efforts to have La Plume made a borough, launched in January, 1885, met with opposition which was carried to the state supreme court, but the petition was finally granted April 22, 1885. George E Bailey, first burgess in addition to being a leader in the business life of the town by reason of his long connection with the creamery company, was also postmaster for 22 years.