The town laid out by John C. Boyd in 1835 enjoyed but little more than a nominal existence until 1838, when the western section of the Danville and Pottsville railroad was completed, terminal facilities at Shamokin were provided, a machine shop and foundry were placed in operation, and the erection of dwelling houses received a quickened impulse, so that the town had reached the proportions of a small village in 1830. At the latter date Sunbury street, which coincided very nearly with the course of the old Reading road, was opened throughout its whole extent, Shamokin street was passable from Sunbury street to Casper Scholl’s residence between Clay and Spurzheim, and Commerce, from Shamokin to its intersection with the Reading road; the remainder of the town plat was covered with a dense growth of timber, the creek pursued a winding course, and on the alluvial deposits adjacent to its banks the underbrush was almost impenetrable. The Catholic church, a small frame building at the present site of the knob factory, and a one-story frame school building on the south side of Dewart street constituted the conveniences for religious worship and educational effort.
The following with reference to the inhabitants at that date (1839) and their respective residences and occupations is given as the reminiscences of Daniel C. Smink, one of the oldest citizens of the borough:
Sunbury Street — North side:
- Joseph Snyder, land agent, small frame house at the corner east of Pearl street
- George Shipe, machinist, the southern part of a long frame double-house at the corner west of Franklin street
- Samuel Smink, blacksmith, the northern part of the house just mentioned
- James Wallace, helper in the smith shop, small frame house, with shed roof, between Franklin and Shamokin streets;
- Jeremiah Zimmerman, small frame house at the corner east of Shamokin street
- James Dyer, hotel keeper, large two-story frame house at the corner west of Rock street (Franklin A. Clark became proprietor later in the same year)
Sunbury Street — South side:
- William and Reuben Fagely, merchants, two-story frame house between Shamokin and Rock streets
- George Martz, contractor and builder, two-story frame house between Washington and Liberty streets
- John Boughner, carpenter, small frame house between Liberty and Orange streets
- Jacob Mowry, butcher, two-story frame house at the comer west of Carpenter street
Shamokin Street — East side:
- William and Reuben Fagely’s store, between Sunbury and Commerce streets
- Jacob Bear, merchant, two-story frame house at the corner north of Independence street
- Joseph Zuern, blacksmith, two-story frame house between Independence street and Coal run
- Joseph Zaner, carpenter, small frame house on the second lot north of Spurzheim street
- Jacob Smink, blacksmith, two-story brick house, the first in Shamokin, half-way between Spurzheim and Clay streets
Shamokin Street — West side:
- Stephen Bittenbender, carpenter, small frame house one story and a half high, between Sunbury and Commerce streets
- Ziba Bird, agent for John B. Boyd, two-story frame building which now forms the front part of the National Hotel
- Jacob Kram, hotel keeper, two-story frame building partly incorporated in the Hotel Vanderbilt
- Richard Wolverton, teamster, frame house with shed roof, one story and a half high, between Independence street and Coal Run
- Samuel John, merchant, frame house at the corner north of Spurzheim street
- Casper Scholl, carpenter and subsequently associate judge of Northumberland county. two-story frame house between Spurzheim and Clay streets
Commerce Street — North side:
- Benjamin McClow, carpenter, the two- story frame house at the corner west of Pearl street in which he now resides
- Stillman Eaton, mason, two-story frame house between Pearl and Franklin streets
- Joseph Bird, small frame house between Franklin and Shamokin streets
- Ziba Bird, at the corner west of Shamokin street
Commerce Street — South side:
- Sylvanus S. Bird, two-story frame house east of Pearl street, subsequently the location of the post office: two frame double-houses between Pearl and Franklin streets, erected in 1830 by John C. Boyd
- Matthew Brannigan, railroad employee. small frame house between Pearl and Franklin streets
- Kimber Cleaver, two-story frame house at the corner east of Franklin street
- Jacob Kram, hotel keeper, at the corner west of Shamokin street
Indefinite Locations:
- Joseph Morrissey, miner, small frame house near the southeast corner of Spurzheim and Pearl streets
- James Porter, saloon keeper, two-story frame house on Water street between the Reading and Northern Central railways
- Dr. Robert Phillips, hotel keeper, two-story frame house at the gap on the west side of the creek and of the public road
- Peter Wary, farmer, log house one story and a half high (the oldest of the buildings mentioned in this enumeration), west of First between Pine and Spruce streets
Single Men:
- Peter Boughner, carpenter, who boarded with his father, John Boughner
- William Cherington, blacksmith, who boarded with Joseph Zuern;
- Chauncey Eaton, mason, who boarded with Stillman Eaton, his brother
- Jonas L. Gilger, carpenter, who boarded with George Martz:
- Washington B. Smink, blacksmith, who boarded with Samuel Smink, his brother
- Daniel C. and Isaac Smink, employees in the smith shop, and John Smink, mail carrier between Shamokin and Paxinos, who boarded with Jacob Smink, their father
- Samuel R. Wood, superintendent of the Danville and Pottsville railroad, who boarded at Kram’s hotel
- Daniel Zuern. blacksmith, who boarded with Joseph Zuern
- Patrick Reilly, master mechanic at the railroad shops, also resided in the town, but his residence has not been ascertained
SUBSEQUENT GROWTH SUMMARIZED
In 1842 the locomotives were withdrawn from the Danville and Pottsville railroad, which was leased by William and Reuben Fagely and operated by horse-power until 1852; during this period many of the inhabitants were obliged to seek work elsewhere, as the furnace had been banked in 1842 and the coal operations of the Messrs. Fagley, which constituted almost the only dependence of the town, were not sufficient to employ its laboring class. The reopening of the railroad in 1853 and the development of this region which resettled therefrom caused a rapid influx of population, and the growth of the town from that date has kept pace with the expansion of the mining industry. By the census of 1890 the population was fourteen thousand.