Williamsport, PA: A Hometown of Discovery

Along the picturesque West Branch Susquehanna River, the county seat of Lycoming County thrives as a unique and intriguing community. Nearly equidistant from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, it can be said that the heart of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania beats in time with this former lumber community and current manufacturing hub of everything from engines to library supplies. It is notably the home of the Little League Headquarters, Hall of Fame and Lamade Stadium where the Little League World Series is played. Those seeking higher learning can find it at Lycoming College and Pennsylvania College of Technology.  With a population approaching thirty thousand, Williamsport, Pennsylvania is a city rising and is a hometown of discovery. (1)

In the late 1800s there were more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the country (2)  West Fourth Street became known as Millionaires Row.  Two museums, the Rowley House and the exceptional Taber Museum, reside on West Fourth Street and showcase the history from this amazing street.

But it’s not just millionaires who live and work in Williamsport.  The iconic Pajama Factory that once was scouted for and used as the basis of the Broadway musical and movie “The Pajama Game’ (3) now it is the home to an eclectic array of businesses, artists and more. WXPI, the community radio station that airs Barnaby Druthers on their schedule, is housed in the Pajama Factory.

I visited Williamsport for the first time in February of this year and felt as if I had discovered a secret treasure whose story had yet to be heralded.  I travel to Pennsylvania often, but mostly on the eastern side of the Commonwealth, especially Philadelphia and the surrounding region to Scranton, Allentown and Jim Thorpe. Slowly I began to branch out further west but only as far as Harrisburg, Lancaster County’s Amish region, and Gettysburg.  I expected my explorations would reach Pittsburgh next but that’s when WXPI community radio came on my radar.

WXPI has a mission to provide a voice to those without access to commercial airwaves. As an emerging platform for the community, I hoped my program could be a part of their mission. General Manager Michael Lundy was generous with his time, and I was able to interview him about his work.  

The mission for Barnaby Druthers includes telling stories about the locations where the program airs.  I wanted to learn more. I read about its history in a book I read on the internet archive site (before it was unfortunately and hopefully only temporarily shut down) and then this month I traveled to Williamsport once more.

We stayed at the historic Genetti Hotel in the heart of downtown Williamsport (Note: this isn’t a sponsored post or an ad in any way, I just wanted to share the actual location because of its historical significance). Aligning the walls on the main floor are photos of a wide array of visitors to the hotel from baseball players like Ty Cobb, Jim Palmer and Pete Rose to those of societal influence such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Father Flanagan. I didn’t see their photos, but I understand Robert F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Bob Dylan, Gene Kelly and many others of note were guests but I didn’t see those photos, although I didn’t get a chance to view them all.

Every visit to Williamsport means a visit to the Otto Bookstore and this visit was no exception. Otto Bookstore is the oldest independently owned bookstore in the country and is located on W 4th Street in the heart of the city. Besides community radio stations, local newspapers and libraries, bookstores are hallmarks of a city I like to visit and engage with. (again-not a sponsored post  or ad). The kids had books to read as we closed the evening.

In the morning, we visited the Taber Museum.  Featuring a Model T, a gallery of fine artwork, dioramas and displays of life from Native American culture through the lumber industry years, the Victorian era, local military history and the age of technology. The lower level showcases the Shempp collection of model trains with two large working trainsets. The museum provided a rich visual perspective on the history I had been reading about from books alone.

Before we left the area, we walked through Ways Garden Park across the street.

The discovery of Williamsport will be a continuing process for me, but now is the time to begin the Barnaby Druthers story that will take place there.  A Druthers audio theater adventure is not meant to be the quintessential, all-encompassing story of a community, for that will be the province of another writer, most likely a resident of Lycoming County, possibly someone is working on that project on their own at the time of this writing. But by sharing a story sometime in the months ahead that takes place there, communities far and wide from Maine to California, from Canada and New Zealand, that share Barnaby Druthers on their airwaves will discovery a new community that may not have been on their radar before. And that is the purpose of Barnaby Druthers stories featuring hometowns worth discovering.