Liverpool, a place of history, intrigue, and allurement that only a small rural town can foster. With this comes a deep cultural heritage that all of us as Perry Countians hold close. Liverpool has long been regarded as a place of commerce and industry, while also witnessing some of Perry County's defining moments. The story of Liverpool is complex, with some rich aspects of this community's history buried beneath years of time waiting to be discovered. This article will detail several events, people, and buildings that help make Liverpool what it is today. With the expansion of the highway system and years of development, Liverpool has changed drastically from what it once looked like. The lazy Susquehanna has since been muffled by the incessant roar of the eighteen-wheeler and the once-bustling canal system is now but a scar in the earth's skin, grown over and torn apart by new roads. But what still remains of this bygone era can all serve as a living testament and history as to what an early canal town looked like.
Establishing Liverpool
John Stailey originally laid claim to the 121 acres of what is now Liverpool. Then
on October 25th, 1808, John Stailey sold the land to John Huggins. Huggins laid out the town, reserving land for a school, graveyard, and a church. Through expansions and redrawing of maps, Liverpool eventually absorbed the villages of Northern Liberties, Perryville, and the Lehart Sawmill Village. All of these were absorbed into Liverpool to form the entirety of the borough. At the time of the canal period, there were 37 businesses in Liverpool, from mills to grocery stores. It was one of the busiest canal towns along the canal.
The Canal
The Susquehanna was an important thoroughfare for moving goods up and down the south-central region of the state. On a daily basis in the spring or fall, two-mile-long rafts carrying anything from grain to coal could be seen traversing the river. The only problem was that the river was too low in the summer to be able to successfully navigate it. Congestion in some areas of the river with rafts could also be of concern to moorers.
The Pennsylvania legislature realized this predicament and set forth funding to construct a canal along the banks of the Susquehanna; construction started in 1824 on the canal and completed in 1831 and stretched 39 miles. The village grew because of the many new employment opportunities from the canal and was incorporated in 1832.
The construction of this new canal was mostly done by Chinese and Irish workers, with the Chinese laborers establishing a small community inland from the river named Oriental, which still exists today. The population was growing and so were the number of businesses. S.Shuler ran a dry goods store on Front Street. Now the building has found a new life as “Shine,” a local coffee shop. The Owens Hotel, which can be seen in the picture, sat right against the canal and offered travelers a night's rest. Many businesses thrived during the canal period and the town grew, but when the canal was shut down in the 1880s due to the coming of the railroad, the population plummeted. It wasn't until the 1950s when state highway 11/15 was built that the population started a steady increase. The construction of the highway covered up most of the canal, but if you know where to look, the remains of the Susquehanna Canal Division can still be seen today.
Notable and Interesting People
Simon Girty was a legendary character in the early American Frontier, despised by colonists for his traitorous acts, but befriended by local native tribes. Simon Jr., the colonist cowboy, was born close to Harrisburg. When Simon was 15 years old, his parents died. In order to survive, he joined the Seneca Tribe. During his time with the Senecanese, he fostered great antipathy for early American settlers and would join the tribes in their attacks and raids on them. He became a river pirate and stole goods and money from the river rafts. When the British lost Detroit in 1796 under the Jay Treaty, Simon had to flee since the fort would then turn over to the Americans.
Simon was a fierce loyalist from the start of the war until the end. Simon knew he had to flee for Canada; on his journey there he made his way through Liverpool. He reportedly had to hide in a cave, now called Girty’s Notch, at the southern end of the town for three days to lose the American colonists who were hot on his trail. He knew he had to lighten his load to Canada. So legend has it that he left gold in the cave he stayed in. He then eventually made it to Canada and passed away at 77, which was fortunate for him due to the fact that he was quite possibly the most despised man in America in the 1700s. He slaughtered many white settlers under raids and became a native on his own terms.
Dr. Elizabeth Reifsnyder was a pioneering doctor and missionary to China. She grew up in Liverpool and was educated at the local school. She eventually went on to Millersville Normal School, now just Millersville University, and then on to the Pennsylvania Women’s Medical College. Elizabeth eventually moved to China to begin mission work after getting all of her necessary degrees and training. There she performed a groundbreaking surgery where she removed an ovarian cyst with 20 gallons of fluid inside. This surgery is still talked about to this day. Reifsnyder set up the Margaret Williamson Memorial Hospital in Shanghai, China, pictured below, which is still in operation to this day.
Local legend states that Reifnsyder brought a young Chinese girl back to the U.S for schooling. She remained in Liverpool for a little while till she went to school in New Jersey. The girl was a guest at the Reifsnyder household for some time before she moved back to China. There she became Mrs. Chiang Kai-shek, wife of a former President of China. Reifsnyder is honored with a memorial in the Liverpool town square and her home can still be seen on Front Street where a historical marker resides in the front of the home.
Thomas Albert Stailey had started the Stailey tinsmithing business in Liverpool to make ladles, ash bins, coffee, and tea kettles, etc. The business was eventually passed through the generations. Thomas’s works and the preceding generations can still be seen today. The picture included is from the writer's personal collection. The Stailey’s would fasten guttering and roofing in the summer and when winter came would move to tinsmithing to keep busy.
Natives
Long before Liverpool was established a group of people known as the Paledonians, or mobile hunters, called Liverpool home 12,000 years ago. They lived in treacherous times when wooly mammoths still roamed the earth and glaciers carved the valleys. The Susquehanna being just as large and treacherous carried boulders and massive debris down the river. The Natives had an encampment near the banks of the Susquehanna which was verified during an archaeological dig along the river at the south end of the town.
Moving ahead in time to the 1600s, a different native group called the lands of Liverpool home. The Susquehannock, or people of the muddy river as it is translated to, lived along the Susquehanna with most of their life revolving around the body of water. A neighboring tribe in Mexico, PA was a target of tension for the Liverpool Susquehannocks. These tribes occasionally fought and raided each other's encampments. The winner of each conflict would get raided goods, capture native women, and receive a load of bass. The bass were a sort of token of peace or an acknowledgment of defeat. The losing tribe would have to deliver the bass on what was called “Bass Road'' or what is now Pfoutz Valley Road. John Smith, the famed English explorer, met with these tribes in 1608 and was surprised by their weaponry and stature. The tribes were very well adapted to the area. But unfortunately, after many years of fighting with the Iroquois and the spread of disease, the Susquehannock vanished in the 1650s.
Liverpool has for hundreds of years been an important community, from its roots as a canal town or to the influential and interesting characters that resided amongst the community. Liverpool and its colorful past will always be a permanent fixture in history as to what defines Perry County.
Works Cited
Liverpool Historians. “Historic Liverpool, Pennsylvania History.” Historic Liverpool Pennsylvania, www.liverpool.pa.net/history.html. Accessed 11 Oct. 2021.
“Historic Liverpool, PA - Indians along the Susquehanna.” Susquehannock Indians, www.liverpool.pa.net/indians.html. Accessed 11 Oct. 2021.
Of Pa, Jeff. “GIRTYS GOLD (Girty's Notch, Perry County).” TreasureNet-The Original Treasure Hunting Website, 29 Apr. 2020, www.treasurenet.com/threads/girtys-gold-girtys-notch-perry-county.112871.
Southworth, Lindsey. “Dr. Elizabeth Reifsnyder and the Red House Hospital.” Clio, 28 Apr. 2020, www.theclio.com/entry/101142.
“Historic Liverpool.” Penndot.Gov, KCI Technologies, Inc., 2001, www.penndot.gov/ProjectAndPrograms/Cultural%20Resources/Documents/historic-liverpool.pdf.
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