Cummings Township was formed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1832 from parts of Mifflin and Brown Townships. It was named for John Cummings who was an associate judge in the local court system at the time. Early industry in the county included quarries of flag and building stone and lumber.[
The Little Pine and Pine Valleys in Cummings Township were used by the Iroquois and Algonkian tribes as a huntingground. Historians believe that there may have been a Shawnee village and burial ground just to the north of Little Pine State Park on Little Pine Creek.[
By the mid 19th century the demand for lumber reached Upper Pine Bottom area, where White pine and hemlock covered the surrounding mountainsides. Lumbermen came and harvested the trees and sent them down Pine Creek to the West Branch Susquehanna River to the Susquehanna Boom and sawmills at Williamsport.[ James and John English were the first to build a sawmill in the area in the Little Pine Area. They built two sawmills in 1809 on Little Pine Creek. In 1816, the village of English Mills sprang up around the two sawmills. The lumber era at Little Pine lasted until 1909, when the last log raft was floated down Little Pine Creek. Remnants of the lumber era can be seen today in and around the park.
Waterville is the most significant population center in Cummings Township. Michael and Henry Wolf arrived in the area from Berks County in 1817. They helped to establish Waterville by building a sawmill and clearing some land for farming. A post office was established in Waterville in 1849. Other early business establishments were two stores and a hotel, which stands today.[
Tiadaghton State Forest lands were acquired by the state by the early 1900s. The site which became the park was “Upper Pine Bottom Class B Public Campground” by 1924 (Class B Public Campgrounds were on secondary highways and had a lean-to shelter for camping). During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps built a pavilion at the site in 1936, but it is no longer extant. The park was not officially transferred from the Bureau of Forests to State Parks until 1962.
Area: 41,600 acres (65 square miles)
Population: 355 (2000 census)
Member: Pine Creek Council of Governments
School District: Jersey Shore Area
Emergency Services: Waterville Vol. Fire Company
