The town's name origin and history from the mid-19th century is described in this historical marker along the Susquehanna Warrior Trail in Shickshinny, Pennsylvania. Half a dozen photographs of local sites captured from 1902 through 1940 surround the text which reads:
SHICKSHINNY
"Shickshinny" is a name purported to come from the Indian and to mean "land of the five mountains," a "place of" or the "meeting of five mountains. The true origin and meaning are lost in the mists of time. However, those five mountains still exist and surround you now. They are: Newport, Lee, Rocky, Knob and River.
Although first settled years before (the first Settler is claimed to be one Ralph Austin, whose remains are said to be buried on a hill overlooking the town), Shickshinny Borough was officially incorporated in 1861 and was laid out and developed by Nathan B. Crary, George W. Search, Lot Search and Nathan Garrison. The gap formed by the two branches of Shickshinny Creek, which flow into the Susquehanna River from the northwest, gives access to the areas behind the mountains. This contributed to Shickshinny's early development as an economic center. In addition to being an ideal trading and shipping point for agricultural products from the surrounding areas, Shickshinny benefited as an anthracite coal producing area, being located at the very beginning of the Northern Coal Field which runs northeasterly from Shickshinny to Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania.
Shickshinny was involved with the early iron industry, which was active until approximately 1857. Various quarries also abound, particularly northeast of Shickshinny, attracted stonecutters from England and other locations. The stone cut from these quarries was used in the coal industry and for other building purposes. The red stone cut from some of these quarries was particularly admired.
In 1877, a turnpike was built along the natural gap formed by Shickshinny Creek. The first bridge between Shickshinny and Mocanaqua, giving access to the easterly side of the river, was built in 1859.
That bridge has been replaced several fimes, most recently in 1994. The development first of roadways, then the North Branch Canal, and later the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (DL&W) Railroad (located where you now stand), and Shickshinny's location as a natural access point for both sides of the Susquehanna River, allowed for its continued economic and residential development.
Shickshinny's natural location on the Susquehanna River has allowed its citizens to use the river for both economic and recreation purposes. Although commerce on the river is long gone (as are both the canal and the railroad, and although the economic need for a central trading and distribution point for the surrounding areas no longer has the same importance, Shickshinny is still strategically located. Now, however, its most important asset may be the availability of easy access to the natural beauty of this area: the mountains, woods and waterways, made more so by the Susquehanna Warrior Trail, upon which you are now standing.
Source: History of Luzerne County, PA; H.C. Bradsby, Editor (1893 Edition)
Provided by: Atty N. Brian Caverly