Pennsylvania was already 130 years old when Hughesville was established in 1816, by Jeptha Hughes, who laid out the new town and named it after himself.
Early Hughesville residents signaled their resolve to graduate from settlement to full-fledged town by opening a log-cabin school in 1818. Two years later Paul Wiley established the tiny frontier community’s first tavern.
The year 1820 also saw the establishment of Hughesville’s first church. Methodists first worshiped in the log school house, but built a proper church in 1844.
A Post Office was established in 1827, and the first postmaster, Theodore Wells, became the first storekeeper in 1830. A Doctor, John W. Paele, was among the first settlers, arriving in 1828.
The town was incorporated in 1852 with Enos Hawley listed as the first burgess. It was also in these Pre-Civil War days that Hughesville’s first dentist, Peter Rishel, began his first practice in 1853.
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| Hughesville’s First Train Station – Wiliamsport & North Branch Railroad |
After the Civil War, Hughesville shared in Lycoming County’s era of prosperity based on the logging industry. One well-to-do lumberman, James Laird built a factory, Hughesville’s first, in 1869. Laird was also the founder of the town’s first Lutheran Church and organized its Sunday School in 1850.
In 1929 there were three furniture factories operating in Hughesville, but as the logging activity slowed, so did related industries and the last furniture manufacturing plant in Hughesville was destroyed by fire approximately 20 years after.
Today many of Hughesville’s estimated 2,250 residents commute to jobs in nearby towns.
For many residents of North-Central PA, Hughesville is best known as the site of the Lycoming County Fair, held annually at the fairgrounds at the south edge of the borough.