Susquehanna station

The New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway constructed the railroad through a dense forest in 1848 as a central spot for their work between Piermont and Dunkirk, New York.[7] At that point, the village was nameless and had only one farm on the land nearby.[3] That year, the railroad purchased 300 acres (120 ha) along the Susquehanna River for repair shops and other necessary facilities. Constructions at Susquehanna included the large machine shop, (774 feet (236 m) by 138 feet (42 m)) with room for up to 40 locomotives; the boiler shop; blacksmith's shop; pattern shop; paint shop; foundry; and engine rooms for them. The facilities included a larger lecture hall for workers, with a capacity of 600 people.[7]

The Erie also constructed the Starrucca House, which contained a dining hall that was 120 feet (37 m) by 40 feet (12 m) and was a hotel for passengers.[7] The construction of the Starrucca House was necessary as a layover stop for engines coming out of Gulf Summit, New York that had to deal with the steep grade. The depot could feed 200 people and provide room as a hotel for the same number of people. This was the first depot constructed entirely out of brick in the United States, containing a 2,400 volume library, a reading room and the lecture room.[3]

By 1863, the shops in Susquehanna employed 700 men (up from the original 350) in the community with a $38,000/year total payroll. The master mechanic of the shops, James Gregg, worked to renovate and improve the shops, which were consistent fire risks. Construction of the shops began that year at a cost of $1.25 million (1865 USD), along with $500,000 in tools and machinery, on an 8-acre site. 8 acres (3.2 ha).[3]

In March 1874, the Erie fell behind paying its workers at the Susquehanna shops. On March 15, the day the railroad promised that it would pay its workers, they announced that finances were even worse and would have to delay the payment until March 25. The workers at the shop agreed with the delay, but stated that they were willing to walk off the job on March 25 if they were not paid. That day, the Erie announced that they had to pay workers on other parts of the railroad. Denied their wages, the railroad shop workers told the managers to leave the premises and took over the facilities. They demanded that, if the railroad did not pay within 24 hours, they would begin to stop trains from running.[8]

Susquehanna station in 1971

The railroad responded by firing the leaders of the strike at Susquehanna, which caused things to get worse. The shop workers disabled locomotives and put them in a roundhouse, while stranding cars of coal and fuel on sidings in the area. Workers kept mechanical pieces of engines hostage and put them elsewhere in the town. The railroad was on the attack end of the media and the government, who sympathized with the workers. M.M. Helme, the local Sheriff, refused to have the strikers chased off the property. The Governor of Pennsylvania, John F. Hartranft told the railroad that only the Sheriff could request state troops to come in and the latter refused to do so, along with several leading citizens of the village.[8]

The lawyers of the railroad soon learned that the trains down the line were being affected by the strike, only then causing Helme to call-in troops. The railroad offered that, in ending the strike, all but the spokespeople for the strike would get their jobs back, which was refused. With that refusal, the railroad threatened to move its shops to Elmira, New York, which would affect the local economy, causing their support to dwindle further. The strike ended within hours of that, with workers returning to their jobs.[8]