Jack Koehler’s research into Weatherly’s history uncovered a fascinating fact—one that his wife of 55 years, the former Ester Romig, never new.

In 1864, Asa Packer’s Lehigh Valley Railroad assumed control over the Beaver Meadow Railroad. As the center of LVRR locomotive production, Weatherly grew to a population of 4,000 by the turn of the last century.

In appreciation of the town that raised his wife, steel magnate, Charles Schwab, donated a school building to Weatherly. Above the school is a town clock—one Weatherly had been hoping to receive for fifty years.

On Weatherly’s fiftieth anniversary Mrs. Eurana Schwab purchased the former Blakslee Grove and donated it to Weatherly to use forever as a park. The land includes an artificial lake/pool. Most kids growing up in Weatherly spent their summer’s here—once making Weatherly the top swim team in the area.

The LVRR train station closed in 1970. It was sold to Weatherly in 1973 and was renovated and opened as the municipal building in 1976.

Interested in Weatherly? Ask Jack Koehler—he found something about his wife’s Weatherly past that even she didn’t know.

 If you want to know anything about Weatherly, ask Jack Koehler, 77. He just republished the 100-page “The History of Weatherly, Pennsylvania.” The 5oo copy initial printing in 1988 sold out and Koehler felt another printing was justified.

 Koehler, a lifetime resident of Weatherly is generally considered the person to go to for all questions about the history of Weatherly. After all, he wrote the book.

 His research into Weatherly’s history uncovered a fascinating fact—one that his wife of 55 years, the former Ester Romig, never knew. Jack has traced Esther’s family tree back to Benjamin Romig. He was the first settler in Black Creek, the original name of the town. She is the seventh generation removed—and never new it.

Becoming Weatherly

Benjamin Romig came to Black Creek in 1825 to lumber the vast stands of virgin oak and white pine. He built a sawmill along the creek near the present bridge crossing. Black Creek received it name from the hemlock trees in the area whose tannin turned the creek black.

After the discovery of anthracite coal in 1812 by Nathan Beach in nearby Beaver Meadow, a gravity railroad, the Beaver Meadow Railroad, was built in 1830 to transport to the Lehigh River at Penn Haven. The railroad tracks passed through Black Creek. In 1835, the Beaver Meadow Railroad purchased Romig’s 400-acre tract. 

In 1840, finding it difficult to get their engines up the plane between Black Creek and Beaver Meadow, the Beaver Meadow Railroad moved their shops to Black Creek. 

In 1848, David Weatherly, a clockmaker and director of the Beaver Meadow Railroad, promised to furnish a town clock to Black Creek if they changed the name of the town to Weatherly. After the town changed its name to Weatherly, David Weatherly left town and neither he nor his promised clock ever came to Weatherly. 

Weatherly was incorporated in 1863, In 1864, Asa Packer’s Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR) assumed control over the Beaver Meadow Railroad and all company property. 

As the center of LVRR locomotive production, Weatherly grew to a population of 4,000 by the turn of the last century. In 1906, the LVRR completed new shops at Sayre and began a period of consolidation. By 1913, the Weatherly shops were closed.

The Belle of Weatherly

During the railroad boom, Eurana Dinkey’s parents ran a bakery business across from the Weatherly train station. After her father died working on the railroad, her mother moved to Bradford and opened a boarding house.

 While a guest at Mrs. Dinkey’s boarding house, a young Carnegie Steel employee, Charles Schwab, met, fell in love, and married her daughter, Eurana. Schwab created and became the first president of US Steel, and later, Bethlehem Steel. 

As a symbol of his appreciation of the town that raised his wife, in 1903, Schwab donated a school building to Weatherly, including a town clock—one that they had been hoping to receive for fifty years. 

In 1913, on the fiftieth anniversary of the borough, Mrs. Schwab purchased the 27.5-acre Blakslee Grove and donated it to Weatherly to use forever as a park. The land included an artificial lake/pool. Most kids growing up in Weatherly spent their summer’s here—once making Weatherly the top swim team in the area. Eurana Park is the center of recreation with dances, picnics and swimming. 

Weatherly’s Last Hundred Years

After the LVRR left, the machine shop became a steel fabrication company. Local businessmen formed a foundry, Weatherly Casting & Machine Co., the principal remaining business. 

The Allen Candy Company formed in 1897 here, went out of business in 1939. The Read & Lovatt Silk Mill began business in 1887. It became the world’s largest spinning mill with 40,000 spinners and pioneered rayon processing. Shortly after winning an award for processing parachute silk for WWII, the government turned over the plant to Tung-Sol for radio tube production. That plant has closed.

Weatherly had its own power company, the Weatherly Light Plant. Power production was taken over by PP&L. The LVRR train station closed in 1970. It was sold to Weatherly in 1973 and was renovated and opened as the municipal building in 1976.

Weatherly 2000

Weatherly has maintained a steady population of roughly 2,600 for many years. The Schwab School has closed and a campus of modern schools has taken its place. The Schwab building was sold and currently remains vacant. Koehler has the building’s keys and climbs the stairs to the clock tower to wind the mechanism every ten days. 

Retail shops flourished in Weatherly until the 1960s when malls opened in the Hazleton area. Many mom and pop groceries, jewelry shops and bakeries couldn’t compete and closed.

Although Weatherly is on the road from Jim Thorpe to White Haven, “cars drive through town but do not stop,” says Koehler. He’s among a group of Weatherly residents working with the Delaware & Lehigh Corridor Commission to develop the historic sites of Weatherly and encourage the return of retail businesses. 

“Weatherly is a great place to live,” beamed Borough Supervisor, Harold Pudliner. “It’s Hometown USA.” 

Koehler, a former postman, received historic material from patrons along his route. He fell in love with the history of Weatherly and has amassed a museum’s worth of material. 

“It keeps me young,” says Koehler. “I’ll have to live to 150 years to get everything done before I die.”