Freehold Township

History of Warren County Pennsylvania                    Schenck 1887

               The Little Brokenstraw Creek flows through the township. Between 1815 and 1886, five sawmills and one gristmill were built along its banks. Wrightsville, Lottsville, and Bear Lake are the main settlements. Lottsville is named after Hannones Lott, who came from his home in Long Island, NY in 1814. The Lott family was prominent in both Lottsville village and Freehold Township. Hewlett Lott was the first merchant in the township. Joshua Wright, from whom Wrightsville derives its name, came to the site of the village in 1831 from near Rochester, NY. He ran the gristmill and also the saw-mill. As long as timber was abundant, Wrightsville was one of the leading villages of the county. There had been as many as seven stores open there at one time.

               Bear Lake is the product of railroad enterprise. It was formerly called Freehold, but was changed to Bear Lake, after the beautiful body of water east of the village. In the late 1800s, there were several stores in Bear Lake, along with saw-mills and grist—mills. The Bear Lake Record began publication in 1886.

Courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society