CLINTON COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY CEMETERY GUIDE            

MUNICIPALITY:  Pine Creek Township
CEMETERY NAME:  Woolrich Cemetery SCHADT NUMBER:  095

AKA:

Number of Burials (approximate): 700

Dates of Activity: 1849 - present

Documentation/Publication: 

CCGS, The Cemeteries of Gallagher, Pine Creek, and Wayne Townships (2005)

 

Directions/GPS: 

From the intersection of North Jay and East Water Streets in Lock Haven, head south one block to East Main Street and turn left.  Travel about 4.8 miles, following Route 150.  Turn left onto Park Avenue and travel 2.0 miles into the town of Woolrich.  Turn left onto Cemetery Road and travel 0.1 mile to cemetery, on your left.  There is a parking area to your right.

N41 11.605 W77 22.798

Landowner / Caretaker:

Woolrich Cemetery

c/o Edward & Joan Summerson

Box 185

Woolrich, PA 17779

(570) 769-6712

 

Condition/Needs: 

Excellent

 

History:

John Rich, the entrepreneurial immigrant, moved his woolen mill from Plum Run to the new town of Factoryville, in the 1840s.  A small community, soon called Richville and later Woolrich, grew up around the mill.  A few interments in the local graveyard appear to date from the late 1840s, although most burial activity began around 1880.  Initially, the cemetery was deeded to the Woolrich Methodist Episcopal Church.

This arrangement continued until 1927.  At a meeting on 27 June 1927, lot owners decided to incorporate and form an association.  A charter was granted to the Woolrich Cemetery Association by Clinton County Court at No. 1, September Term, 1927.  Charles Howard Richdonated additional land for the cemetery, and more was purchased from the Woolrich Woolen Mills.  At an early date, the roadway through the cemetery was part of the main highway and the land above the roadway was divided into sections, one through five, and A through D.  In 1941, additional sections six, E, and F, were laid out.  A chapel was planned for the middle of section E, but this was never built and the land was later laid out for burial purposes.

In recent years, Ed and Joan Summerson, members of CCGS, became responsible for the oversight of this cemetery.  We are grateful to Ed and Joan for data provided on cemetery history and from the cemetery records.  They laid out Section 7 on vacant land to the west of the existing cemetery.  The cemetery is well-maintained and is still active.  Note that CCGS uses a different section system than the cemetery association.

Additionally, the Woolrich Cemetery Association is responsible for the care of the Rich Family Cemetery at Crestmont, Dunnstable Township, where the founders of Woolrich are buried.