Submitted by Leona Baker for the Historical Society of Salisbury Township

In 1743, George Gibson built a general store on land purchased from Penn descendants named Spring Garden. It is uncertain when the name Spring Garden was attached to the little village that arose as pioneers moved ever farther into the forests. Most probably, the name stems from the Spring Garden Hotel that John Gamble established just four years later. The area soon attracted many other settlers. The valley had so many springs that each family could enjoy their own spring in the cellar to keep meat, milk, and butter cool.

As the village grew, it gradually became a business town with a furniture store and a blacksmith shop. That first general store would eventually also house the local post office, called Ledger. Not until 1954 did competition from larger grocery outlets force closure of the store after two hundred years of serving the community.

Henry Horst had torn down the original hotel in the mid-1800s and built a new brick hotel that served the public until 1915. Today it is a private home. The historical society has been gifted an elaborately decorated lady's side-saddle found in the old barn.

In 1930, some of the ladies of the village formed the Moonbeam Social Club when their men began gathering nightly at the general store to solve the world's problems. In 1980, the ladies celebrated their 50th anniversary. This writer could not find any information on whether the Moonbeam Club still exists.

The first patent (deed) issued for 243 acres about a mile and a half west of Gap was awarded to George McDill in 1786, to become known as Bethania. The United States was in a post-war economic depression, facing high taxes, severe debt, and widespread farm foreclosures. McDill began to clear the land but, in 1797, sold the whole tract to George Leech, a member of the Leech family who built many taverns in the Gap area. He in turn began parceling the acreage into lots for sale. By 1825, the hamlet boasted 12 houses, with each owner operating an average of two businesses.

In the 1820s, the village (later known as Puddintown, then Jacksonville) served as a local commercial hub within the largely agrarian Salisbury Township. Businesses during this decade were primarily artisan-led or water-powered, serving the immediate needs of local farming families before the major industrial shifts of the mid-19th century. Typical businesses operating in Puddintown and its immediate vicinity during the 1820s included grist and lumber mills; a blacksmith shop; and a general store, with the post office located inside. Limestone burning, for both agricultural and commercial uses, was a recurrent farm sideline.

Bethania School was operated for a year by Reuben Chambers in 1824. Not until 1834, when Pennsylvania mandated public schooling for all children under 15, did education return to the village. Chambers pursued many other businesses, including herbal medicine and pottery, but his printing press was the most prolific. With his death in 1859, Jacksonville as a commercial center and growing town died with him. Today farming is the principal industry with home commercial businesses on the side.