Peter Herdic - Legacy

Legacy

Peter Herdic left his mark on Williamsport through churches, homes, hotels and other real estate developments. The Peter Herdic House, his personal mansion at 407 West Fourth Street stands today as a fine dining restaurant. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and located in the Millionaire's Row Historic District. The house and a neighboring mansion were renovated in 1984 to a condition similar to when Peter Herdic lived there. It is an example of Italian Villa architecture with ornate plaster moldings and arches, a curving mahogany stairway and acanthus columns. The Peter Herdic Hotel, also on West Fourth Street, is now known as 800 Park Place. It is the home of two business and several apartments. It was previously served as a nursing home and hotel. The Weightman Block takes up on entire city block on West Fourth Street. Herdic had this block constructed in 1870. He had planned to use it as a center of business in downtown Williamsport. It included an opera house and fifth floor penthouse. Herdic was forced to sell it to William Weightman in 1878 after he declared bankruptcy. The Weightman Block was also renovated in the late 1990s it currently houses several small businesses on the ground floors with numerous apartments above.

Peter Herdic donated the land and or building materials for several of Williamsport's oldest and historic churches. Trinity Episcopal Church was funded entirely by Peter Herdic. He donated the land and paid for its construction. The structure was built in 1871 from mountain stone that was quarried from Bald Eagle Mountain near South Williamsport. Herdic also donated the land or provided funds for Annunciation Roman Catholic Church, First Baptist Church, First Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Congregational Church and Temple Beth Ha Sholom.

Peter Herdic's name will live on forever in the dictionary. His invention the herdic was a small two wheeled carriage that was towed by a horse. The cab had side seats and rear entrance. Many transportation historians regard the herdic as a predecessor of the taxicab. The first herdic cabs carried up to eight passengers. The earliest herdics were painted bright yellow and quickly acquired the canary nickname. Each cab was small enough to move freely through the city streets of Williamsport and leave its passengers at the curb instead of the middle of the street was other modes of public transportation were forced to do. Peter Herdic had moderated success with his cab and was able to sell it to the cities of Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The herdic cab was in service in Washington as late as 1918.

Herdic's death in February 1888 was noted in the Sunday Grit as the passing of a leader and philanthropist. "Peter Herdic as really the father of Williamsport. He was a progressive citizen; whatever may be said by his enemies, it cannot be denied that had it not been for Peter Herdic, Williamsport might be nothing more than a village of a few thousand inhabitants." An editorial in the Williamsport Sun Gazette on March 4, 1988 marking the 100th anniversary of his death stated, "Historians have been unable to settle on Herdic as a hero or a scoundrel for his financial dealings so he remains somewhere in-between a century later. The mark he made on the city of Williamsport is indelible."

• Herdic's house in Williamsport
• Trinity Episcopal Church
• Annunciation Roman Catholic Church
• First Baptist Church