Koonsville is a former American town that is now a section of Union Township,

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. It is located approximately one mile outside Shickshinny, along Route 239 and McKendree Road. Its elevation is approximately 616 feet (188 m).

History

Formerly known as Arch Bridge, this town was named for the stone bridge that crosses Shickshinny Creek. It served as a logging community until the

Battle of Wyoming The Battle of Wyoming, also known as the Wyoming Massacre, was a military engagement during the American Revolutionary War between Patriot militia and a force of Loyalist soldiers and Iroquois warriors. The battle took place in the Wyoming Val ...

in 1778, when most of the white settlers fled their homes, fearing Iroquois raids. Several farmers and loggers returned a few years later to rebuild, including Shadrick Austin, who bought of land and, in 1801, established the Austin Family Inn. Upon the establishment of the post office in 1850, the area was incorporated and renamed as Koonsville to honor William Koons, the town's first postmaster, who had moved to the area and occupied the Austin family inn that year. That post office was decommissioned at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; Koonsville is now serviced by the Shickshinny post office.

References

Town Histories
from Shickshinny Historical Society. Retrieved June 7, 2010. Histopolis
Retrieved June 7, 2010. {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania