This area was an important gathering place for the townspeople. Early on it was an orchard and the farm of Gabriel Friend, whose cabin on the high ground was known as ‘Look Sharp’. In 1830 Gabriel (son of John Friend Sr.) was appointed Friendsville’s first Postmaster. At that time the town changed its name from Friends to Friendsville.
Much later, this area became the town park and site of carnivals, circuses and the town’s many legendary baseball games. Local sports icon and player Charlie Bill Welch established a reputation for fast pitching and hard hitting. Welch was a great player but also a hard drinker and oftentimes he would be sequestered somewhere to stay sober before a game. Scouts once asked him to tryout for the Pittsburgh Pirates but on the way to Pittsburgh he got intoxicated and never made it.
Baseball rivalries between towns became so intense that after a particularly hard fought game a car was burned. Sometimes, baseball game celebrations grew so enthusiastic the revelry could be heard at farms miles away. Many residents are still avid ball players to this day. The town however has gone from five drinking establishments to just one.
The Kamp family ran a steam powered cider mill near this site for many years and many people fondly remember bringing apples that were pressed into cider or processed into apple butter and super sweet apple jelly. The Kamp Mill also served as a cannery.
The homes here long ago were simple dwellings that became known as Shanty Town. Over the years local families improved their homes and it lost its ‘shanty’ reputation. Slightly upriver from where Bear Creek meets the Yough was a very popular swimming hole known as The Sandhole. An island used to exist in the Yough River but was removed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after causing a large ice dam that flooded Water Street and caused erosion on the west river bank
