History Of Weatherly, PA
The Borough of Weatherly located in Carbon County PA was founded by Benjamin Romig in 1825 through the purchase of a 400-acre piece of prime timber land he owned on the west side of Black Creek (Hazle Creek). It was called Black Creek because of the dark water that came from the hemlock swamps that flowed down through the borough. The area was settled to take advantage of the standing timber. Not long after that, the Beaver Meadow Railroad came through the borough which served as a stopping place for engineers and crews.
The Borough of Weatherly was incorporated on October 8, 1863. Starting with the timbering industry and moving forward with the development of the railroad and transportation of coal, the population of the borough grew dramatically. Other industries were started that employed vast numbers of the population of the borough and surrounding communities, and even one classified as the largest in the world.
Railroad shops were erected in the borough and the Hazleton Railroad was connected to the Black Creek. A director of the Beaver Meadows Railroad named David Weatherly, a professional clock maker, offered the borough a clock if the borough officials would change the borough’s name from Black Creek to Weatherly after him. The local officials agreed and the name was changed to Weatherly, but David Weatherly disappeared shortly afterwards and the borough never received their clock.
The town had influences that were noteworthy in our region and the country such as Asa Packer, Charles Schwab, and James Audubon. The borough also touched the lives of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt.
From 1850-1890 the town grew rapidly due to the Lehigh Valley Railroad Co. taking over the Beaver Meadows Railroad and the Hazleton Railroad. The population went from 500 to 2,970 over this period. The demand for electricity grew, so the town purchased two lots from the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the town began to generate its own electric through coal fired boilers in 1889. The Read and Lovatt Silk Manufacturing Co. came to Weatherly and later became the world’s largest throwing mill with 40,000 spinning machines employing 1,500 women.
In 1905, the mill had the honor of making silk threads for the manufacture of material for the inauguration gown of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt. In 1906 the mill made the blue threads for the weaving of material that went into a gown for Alice Roosevelt’s trousseau, when she became the bride of Congressman Nicholas Longworth of Ohio on February 17, 1906 at the White House. A song titled Alice Blue Gown was written in honor of that blue gown which had its beginning in Weatherly.
In addition to the Railroad and Silk Mill, Weatherly has been home to The Allen Candy Factory, Weatherly Foundry and Machine Co., Weatherly Iron and Steel Co., Weatherly Brick Works, Weatherly Bicycle Works and the Weatherly Bobbin Factory. Asa Packer and Charles Schwab, both involved in the Bethlehem Steel Co., played a major part in the development of Weatherly. Asa Packer had purchased vast acres of land in the early beginnings of the borough and developed the plans of the borough. Charles Schwab married a Weatherly girl named Eurana Dinkey, and gave the borough a new ten room, three story brick school building, costing $75,000.00 in 1901-1903. The bricks for the school were made here in the borough by the Weatherly Brickworks. The Schwab’s came to Weatherly during its 50th anniversary as a borough in August of 1913. Mrs. Schwab surprised the crowds during the celebration with a gift to the community of Blakeslee’s Grove. It was named Eurana Park and became the area’s most popular place with a large swimming lake, refreshment stand, large pavilion, shelter sheds, band shell, and large playground.
Over the years the development of the Weatherly School District, Weatherly Foundry and Castings, Weatherwood Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center, and Heritage Hill Apartments have made an important contribution to the towns development. Eurana Park and the Schwab School as well as the Lehigh Valley Railroad Shops are legacies that will continue to remind us of those that came before us and what they did to develop this town.