Lost To The Depths: The Story of the Frank H. Goodyear (PA Wilds)

 

The Frank H. Goodyear with Sinnemahoning amidships

        Sinnemahoning is a name synonymous with the PA Wilds region of Pennsylvania. The name’s origin lies with the Lenni Lenape word "Achsinnimahoni" meaning stony lick. You would think that such a unique name could be found no where else. Yet, there is another Sinnemahoning hundreds of miles away and 300 feet below the surface of Lake Huron. How it arrived there can be tied back to one man and the empire he built in the rugged Pennsylvania wilderness.

 

Before we travel to the murky depths of the Great Lakes, we must first venture back to the once dense hemlock forests of Cameron and Potter counties. It was here that two brothers from Buffalo, NY would build the foundations of an empire. Though its formation would be a joint effort between them, one by far would be its guiding light. His name, Frank Henry Goodyear.    

In 1885, the once quiet Potter County village of Freeman Run, later renamed Austin, became the industrial heartbeat of the growing empire. It was here that Frank and his brother Charles erected a large sawmill to cut the timber from the surrounding ridges and hollows. At its peak, the mill was capable of cutting 72 million board feet annually. To transport the timber to the mill and later the finished lumber, the Goodyear's incorporated the Sinnemahoning Valley Railroad (SVRR) to run from 13 miles from a connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Keating Summit to Austin and onto the tannery town of Costello.   

The Goodyear Mill in Austin
Photo Retrieved from: Wikipedia

As more tracts were acquired, the railroad was extended to service them. In 1893, the Goodyear's reorganized the SVRR and other smaller railroads into the Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad (B&S). However, Frank had grander ambitions for the B&S and through his guidance grew to be more than just a timber hauling railroad. At its peak in 1907, rails of the B&S stretched over 350 miles across northern Pennsylvania and southern New York. 

        In addition to hauling logs and lumber, freight, coal, and passenger trains were now traveling over its rails. Galeton later replaced Austin as the empire's core with the building of a sawmill capable of producing 92 million board feet of lumber annually. Maintenance shops were also located here to keep the iron horses that traversed the mountainous empire running. 

A map of B&S tracks in 1901
Image Retrieved From: Wikipedia

To effectively manage his vast empire, Frank Goodyear would need a way to traverse it. Rail was the only efficient means to travel across the rugged northern tier. Frank was also a man of lavish tastes, so riding in an ordinary passenger car would be far below his caliber. Like many wealthy businessmen of the era, Frank decided to combine his luxurious fancies with rail transportation and commissioned the construction of his own personal passenger car. 

According to the Goodyear Family History, the car was reported as costing over $100,000 and was built by the renowned Pullman Company.  Numbered #110, the car was named Sinnemahoning. It was a fitting name for most of the Goodyear timber tracts were drained by the Sinnemahoning Creek watershed and whose course the B&S followed for much of its route.  

        While the car would serve as private transport for Frank Goodyear, it would also double as an entertainment space for distinguished guests, businessmen, and family. A newspaper article from 1899 describes that “Mr. Goodyear and party” were traveling in the Sinnemahoning on the Southern Pacific Railroad bound for San Francisco. The car would also travel to destinations including Lake Louise and Yellowstone National Park. 

Though timber was the lifeblood of the B&S, it wasn’t the only resource Frank Goodyear was interested in. In 1902, he established the Buffalo & Susquehanna Mining Company to extract iron ore from the Mesabi Range in Minnesota. To transport the ore to Buffalo, another enterprise was formed, the Buffalo & Susquehanna Steamship Company. Two 436ft. long ore carriers were constructed in 1902 to serve the company: the S. M. Clement, and the Frank H. Goodyear. 

A promotional poster of the Buffalo & Susquehanna Iron Company. At left are the company's two ore carriers
Image Retrieved From: www.buffaloah.com

First a lavish private passenger car and now a steamship bearing his name. If there was a man who had everything, it was Frank Goodyear. However, Frank had special plans for the vessel that bore his name. Like with this private car, Frank intended to utilize the steamship for personal transportation, but its rudimentary quarters would never suit his tastes. Before the ship was launched, an addition unlike any other was added to the ship at Frank’s request. 

Bolted amidships was an accommodation that reflected the character of Frank Goodyear. It reportedly contained a grand piano, card tables, and other extravagant amenities This was no ordinary cabin or suite, but rather a setting Frank was well acquainted with. Frank enjoyed traveling in his  passenger car on land and he saw fit that he would also do so out on the water. Bolted to the deck in the middle of the ship was an exact replica of his private car Sinnemahoning. With this unique addition, the Frank H. Goodyear was well-known and respected across the Great Lakes. To this day, it is still the only ship to have had a railroad car as quarters.  

Image Retrieved From: 
https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/36230/data

A close up of the Sinnemahoning on the deck

Frank H. Goodyear continued to serve the company for the next several years. The morning of May 23, 1910 was like any other for the ship. Captain E.R. Heminger was steaming the fully loaded vessel south across Lake Huron. Aboard were 23 passengers and crew. Thick fog had enveloped the lake, but this did not worry Captain Heminger who kept the ship steaming at full speed.  

The Frank H. Goodyear steaming across the Great Lakes
Image Retrieved From: www.wrecksite.eu

Also in the vicinity of the Goodyear was the steamship James B. Wood sailing up the lake. Neither the Goodyear nor the Wood could see each other in fog. Around 6:00am, the two vessels found each other in a way no one had predicted. Wood’s bow collided with the Goodyear on its starboard side at almost amidships. Immediately, water began to rush into the already heavily laden ship. Most of the Goodyear’s crew were eating breakfast at the time of impact and began scrambling to the deck. Unfortunately, the wound inflicted upon the Goodyear was fatal, its death throes imminent. As passengers and crew crowded onto the deck in an attempt to launch lifeboats, the Goodyear rapidly sank, taking 18 lives with it. 

An illustration of the collision between the Wood and Goodyear
Image Retrieved From: chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

If he would have been alive, Frank Goodyear would have been distraught with the loss of his ship. Frank had passed away three years earlier from Bright’s Disease. An investigation into the disaster found both captains were at fault. Both had been traveling at full speed through the fog, thus violating maritime law. Punishment for the violation consisted of both captains being suspended from sailing for 60 days. 

The wreck of the Frank H. Goodyear remained lost until 2003 when divers located it 300 feet below the surface of Lake Huron. After almost a century on the bottom, the ship was remarkably intact. Divers also located the Sinnemahoning still bolted to the deck and in relatively good condition for a wooden car underwater. 

        Many sources erroneously state that the Frank’s actual private car was on the ship when it sank. However records and newspaper articles show that the car continued to see use transporting business associates tending to Goodyear timber claims in Louisiana in 1911. Records show that in 1917 the car was sold to the Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad. The B&S (which at this time was no longer under Goodyear control) purchased the car for $2,500 or roughly $54,300 dollars in today’s money. What happened to the car after this date is unknown. 

        Today, very little remains to tell the story of Frank Goodyear. The B&S is now just a memory and its rails no longer traverse the rugged mountains of northern Pennsylvania. Boom towns like Austin and Galeton where the whine of the Goodyear sawmills could be heard day and night are now just small quiet communities. While few reminders of Frank Goodyear give insight into the personality of this once industrial tycoon, the small wooden railroad car at the bottom of Lake Huron gives us a glimpse into the man who built an empire in the Pennsylvania Wilds.