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Charleston.
Is the only village in the township, and lies in the southern part, upon
the Lackawannock line, and contains one church, a hotel, store,
blacksmith-shop, and several plain dwellings. It was originally laid off
in village-iota by Henry Campbell, in the
winter of 1838, which were sold for about twenty-five dollars each.
Campbell had said that the first purchaser should have the honor of
giving his name to the town, and Charles Beatty
having purchased, it was accordingly called Charleston. In 1852,
Dr. Charles Atchison located in the western part of the place, in
a house belonging to Susan Jennings, but
afterwards bought, and became a permanent resident.
In
the same year, the first blacksmith-shop in town was built by Samuel
Walters, and was purchased, three years later, by William
Thompson. The post-office was established in 1858, and Ephraim
Gundy was commissioned the first postmaster. The present store is
owned by Samuel Fry, and was built, for the
most part, in the |
summer
of 1875. Years before, however, a store-building stood in the place, and a
part of it is embodied in the present one. It was a frame building,
erected by Alexander Campbell, and used a
short time as a hotel by William Fry, but
afterwards sold to a man named Woods, who, in
turn, transferred it to Dixon & Gundy,
who stocked it with goods, and commenced trade in 1856. Gundy
remained in the place until 1872, when he disposed of his property to the
present merchant. In 1861, a large frame hotel was erected by Levi
Buchanan, in whose possession it remains.
The
village lies upon the direct road from Mercer to Sharon, which was very
extensively traveled previous to the advent of railroads and steam-engines
in the county. Even at the present time, teams come and go regularly and
often, and the trade of the little store is brisk, and the hotel often
well-filled with guests.
History
of Mercer County, 1877, page 50
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