WILLIAMSPORT, Pa., city, county-seat of Lycoming County, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, and on the Pennsyl vania, the Northern Central, and the Phila delphia and Reading railroads, about 75 miles north of Harrisburg. It is on the Alleghany plateau, covering an area of seven square miles, in an agricultural and mining region. The chief manufacturing establishments are steel works lumber mills, furniture and rubber goods factories, wood-working machinery works, wire rope, nail and engine factories, boot and shoe factories, silk mills, a sewing-machine factory and fire escape works. In 1918 the estimated number of wage-earners was 6,500, and of wages paid over $3,000,000. The gross pro duction of these factories was nearly $14,000, 000 in the census year, and fully $20,000,000 in 191& The city has an extensive trade in lum ber products and coal. Williamsport was for many years a shipping point for lumber, being styled the Sawdust City." But as the forests were cut the trade disappeared, and numerous foundry and machine shops were located here; gas and gasolene engines are manufactured, also rubber goods, woolen and silk goods, fur niture, shoes, etc.
The principal public buildings are the gov ernment building, city hall, opera house, city hospital, Home for the Friendless and Masonic Temple. The city has two parks, Brandon and Vallamont; and Sylvan Dell and Starr Island are near by. There are over 50 churches, with 17,000 communicants. The educational institu tions are Dickinson Seminary ' (Methodist Episcopal), a high school opened in 1869, 14 public schools, two large Roman Catholic parish schools and two commercial colleges. There are two dailies and one Sunday newspaper, be sides several weeklies and a triweekly. The Sunday newspaper Grit, has a national circu lation.
Williamsport was settled in 1779, and set off as a town in 1795. In 1806 it was incorporated as a borough, and in 1866 was chartered as a city. The city grew slowly until 1850, when the lumber industry began. Since then the growth has been rapid and the manufacturing and commercial industries have kept pace with the population. Pop. 40,000.