State of Pennsylvania, Bureau of Topographic and Geological Survey, Barnesboro Quadrangle (February 1904) showing the location of Possum Glory (circled).

In 1850, a portion of Wheatfield Township (located in Indiana County, Pennsylvania) was sectioned off to create Pine Township. The new township was so-named because of the extensive pine forests within its borders.

It was within these forests, probably in the 1880's, that J.M. Guthrie, a lumber man, established a settlement called Guthrie's Mills. It consisted of a store, gristmill, sawmill and about 15 houses.

Over time, this area came to be known as Possum Glory (see first map on left). Edward R. Sutton, an employee of Guthrie's, is credited with coining the name due to the preponderance of possums in the area.

Prosperity was short-lived. Around 1894, the lumber business began to diminish and Guthrie was facing difficult financial times. Unable to acquit himself with his creditors, Guthrie's lands were sold at a sheriff's sale to J.M. Stewart of Indiana, Pa.

Within four years, Stewart would sell these same lands to a coal broker from Philadelphia by way of Williamsport - John Heisley Weaver (his full biography is here). By 1904, Weaver had considerable holdings in Pine, Green, and Cherryhill Townships and was ready to begin building his own “model town.” He named it Heilwood, which was probably a combination of his nickname (“Heil”) and the name of his first coal mine in Kingwood (Preston County), West Virginia (“Heisleywood”).

1911 map of Heilwood. Click on it to see a larger version.

A 1907 map of Heilwood - possibly the "original" layout of the town, suggesting at least two separate plans for the town.

View of Heilwood, Pennsylvania, circa 1907.

1907 MAP OF HEILWOOD

Although most people can easily discern the present layout of Heilwood in the 1911 map shown at left, few people have ever seen the map directly below it, from 1907 (see maps at left).

On this earlier one, the town is still arranged along rectangular lines of survey, but the location is further to the northeast of its actual location. J.H. Weaver began construction of the present-day layout as early as 1904, but this 1907 map suggests that at least two separate plans for the town originally existed!

POSSUM GLORY WATER COMPANY

On February 9, 1903, five men from Indiana, Pennsylvania (E.E. Bell, H.M. Bell, John S. Taylor, James W. Mack, and D.B. Taylor) appeared before J. A. Crossman, Notary Public, to become incorporated as the Possum Glory Water Company.

The said corporation was formed for the "purpose of storing and transportation or supply of water and water power for commercial and manufacturing purposes in Pine Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania."

Further, the "business of said corporation was to be transacted in Pine Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania with principal offices in Indiana, Pennsylvania." And finally, the "said corporation is to exist perpetually."

The capital stock of said corporation was $5,000. On February 10, 1903, the corporation was enrolled in Charter Book #73, page 121 (see photo at right).

Despite its official place in the records, no other information or subsequent transactions for this corporation can be found.

An unused stock certificate (#35 for $50) for the Possum Glory Water Company, dating to about 1903. The stockholders were all from the Indiana area, and apparently had no direct connection to the later founding of the town in 1904.

A 1907 memo sent from Possum Glory, Pa.