Old Woolen Factory
Forksville, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
A short distance SE, along the Loyalsock, is the site of old factory established in 1810 by Samuel Rogers, Jr. During the War of 1812, it made kersey cloth for the army. Flood in 1816 stopped operation of the factory.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
A short distance southeast along Loyalsock Creek, Samuel Rogers, Jr. established a factory in 1810 that put the region's water power to work. During the War of 1812 it wove kersey — a coarse, sturdy woolen cloth — to clothe American soldiers, tying this remote valley to the national war effort. A flood in 1816 halted the works, cutting short one of the area's earliest industrial ventures.
Why it matters
The little woolen mill shows how even isolated frontier communities were drawn into the young nation's push for home manufacturing and self-sufficiency, especially when war cut off British goods.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Samuel Rogers, Jr.
Related events
- · War of 1812
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Harold "Red" Grange
Forksville, PA · est. 1999
Harold 'Red' Grange — the 'Galloping Ghost' — was born in Forksville, where his family farmed and worked the nearby lumber camps before moving away when he was five. He became a three-time All-American at the University of Illinois and, from 1925 to 1934, one of professional football's first great draws, chiefly with the Chicago Bears. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, he did as much as anyone to make the young sport a national spectacle.
Rural Electrification
Forksville, PA · est. 1987
In 1936, three-quarters of Pennsylvania's farms still lacked electricity, which private companies found unprofitable to supply. With federal backing, rural families organized consumer-owned cooperatives to bring power to themselves. The Sullivan County Rural Electric Cooperative, incorporated in December 1936, wired homes and farms across Sullivan, Lycoming, and Bradford counties.
Forksville CCC Camp S-95
Forks Township, PA
During the depths of the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps put hundreds of thousands of young men to work restoring America's forests, streams, and parklands. From 1933 to 1941, Camp S-95 stood here in the wooded hills of Sullivan County, its enrollees planting trees, fighting fires, and building the trails and infrastructure that still shape Pennsylvania's public lands. In exchange for a small wage sent largely home to their families, these workers gained steady labor, discipline, and a sense of purpose amid hard times.
Creveling Lakes
Forkston Township, PA
These lakes in the wooded hills of Forkston Township carry the name of J. Q. Reveling, a Pennsylvania figure remembered as the "Dean of Pennsylvania Sportsmen" and a driving force behind the state's early game and fish laws. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unregulated hunting and fishing had badly depleted America's wildlife, and reformers across the country pushed to codify seasons, limits, and protections. Naming a body of water for the man credited as "Father of Game and Fish Codes" reflects the era's growing conviction that woods and waters were a public trust worth safeguarding for future generations.