Cameron County Genealogy Project, Grove Township

Cameron County Genealogy Project

Gibson Township

Driftwood in 1890


 "Driftwood Once a Bustling Town"

Contributed by Pete Bennett

 
Gleason Tannery Manufactured leather
Crescent Wagon Factory
The Aluminum Factory Made all kind of kitchen Utensils. Closed up in 1918.
Building was later used for a moving picture gallery.

Other businesses:


Two doctors-Turbett and McAllister
Two Barber Shops S.D McCool and George Lane
One Drug store Mr. Peeler -Owner
One Tailor Shop Mr. Hinsley- Owner
One Meat Market Mr. Geist -Owner
One Jewelry Store Mr. Becken -Owner Later owned by Mr. Redfoot
One Harness Shop- made heavy harnesses for woods work
One Men's Clothing Store- Mr. Rothrock -Owner
One Ladies Store - Mrs. Dutcher -Owner
One Blacksmith Shop Mr. McCloud -- Owner
On Funeral Director- Bernard Nefey
One Livery Stable- Mr. Morse -Owner
Two Baseball teams . Ball field was on Huntley 's Flat
One Private Bank Brookbank and Rothbank were the bankers. They charged $ .25 to cash a $5.00 check
Four Lodges- Masonic, I.O.O.F, .P.O.S.of A and Lady Rebekkah
One Opera House Mitchells - Owner
One G.A.R. Building
One weekly Newspaper "The Gazette" John T. Earl owner and editor. Mr Earl was also the J.P
One Shoemaker Shop -made and repaired Jonas Speckman was owner and also town constable.
One Borough Jail
Two Churches - Protestant and Catholic
Driftwood had four Hotels - Lafayette - Fred McVickers- owner (Beer's history states that a GORE built the LaFayette. May have been William E. Gore)
Curtin house- Patrick Kane-Owner
Commercial Hotel T. J. Riley ( Fourth Not named here I think it was owned by the McDonald family) Every hotel had a barn and stable.
J..O. Brookbank leading mercantile of the area .Mr. Brookbank was also Postmaster
No automobiles- transportation was horse and buggy.
No electricity- Kerosene lamps and candles furnished the lights
No telephones.
Outside communications were sent by Western Union
One school- taught 10 grades.
Driftwood had a band with about 50 instruments.
Big celebrations were held Decoration Day, July 4th and Labor Day.
Driftwood was the terminus of the Allegheny Valley Railroad .Three passenger trains ran to Red Bank, Pa on the P.R.R. ,eleven Passenger trains on the
Buffalo and Erie to Philadelphia to New York. And Buffalo and Susquehanna RR made stops there.
All told, 21 Passenger Trains stopped in Driftwood.


Yes Driftwood was a Bustling Town from an article in the Cameron County 
Echo written in 1960 by C. J. Miller titled Driftwood as I remember it 70 years ago.
That would make it 1890.

 


This page was last updated on  Saturday, February 07, 2004.

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