View of Heilwood, Pennsylvania, circa 1907.

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

A 1907 memo sent from Possum Glory, Pa.

HEILWOOD'S EARLY HISTORY

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. 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”).

John Heisley Weaver, circa 1902

J.H. Weaver & Company letterhead