Cammal, Pennsylvania Explained

Official Name:Cammal, Pennsylvania
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:Pennsylvania#USA
Pushpin Label:Cammal
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Pennsylvania
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Lycoming
Subdivision Type3:Township
Subdivision Name3:McHenry
Timezone:Eastern (EST)
Utc Offset:-5
Timezone Dst:EDT
Utc Offset Dst:-4
Elevation Ft:705
Coordinates:41.4033°N -77.4631°W
Postal Code Type:ZIP
Postal Code:17723
Area Code:570
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:1193709[1]

Cammal is an unincorporated community in McHenry Township, Lycoming County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.[1] It lies along Pine Creek in the Pine Creek Gorge, upstream of Waterville, along Pennsylvania Route 414. Mill Run, which flows through the nearby Tiadaghton State Forest, enters Pine Creek at Cammal.[2] The Pine Creek Rail Trail passes through Cammal.[3]

History

Cammal is a contraction of Campbell, the last name of early settlers in the region. Around 1820, Michael Campbell began farming about 1miles upstream from Cammal along Pine Creek. His brothers, Abner and George, built a mill along Mill Run.[4]

Subsistence farming, the economic mainstay in the early decades, was joined by other enterprises after the arrival of the railroads in the latter part of the 19th century. A post office opened in the village in 1884. The New York Central Railroad built a line through the Pine Creek Gorge, and by the 1890s three logging railroads - the Trout Run Railroad, the Cammal and Black Forest Railroad, and the Oregon and Texas Railway (named for two nearby mountains) - connected to the main line at Campbell. During these boom years, the village had stores, four hotels with saloons, four churches, an International Order of Odd Fellows meeting hall (which sometimes doubled as a church), and a weekly newspaper, the Pine Creek Pioneer. Local industries included a hemlock sawmill and other forest-products companies.[4]

In 1905, after the supply of local timber dwindled, the sawmill and other timber-related industries closed. Residents who remained in Cammal found new sources of income: growing and selling ginseng through about 1940 to Chinese buyers from Philadelphia, providing services to tourists and sportsmen, and working for the railroad or the state forestry or highway departments.[4]

In 2002 the post office closed. However, in the early 21st century, the village still has a few businesses including a saloon and restaurant, a campground, and a community center in the former Odd Fellows hall.[4]

Notes and References

  1. August 30, 1990. September 5, 2012.
  2. Web site: United States Geological Survey. United States Topographic Map. TopoQuest. September 5, 2012. .
  3. Web site: Pine Creek Rail Trail Map. Tioga County Visitors Bureau. PDF. September 5, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120324163609/http://visittiogapa.com/railtrailmap.pdf. March 24, 2012. dead.
  4. Book: Kagan, David Ira. Pine Creek Villages. Arcadia Publishing. Charleston, South Carolina. 59 - 76. 2008. 978-0-7385-5663-5.