 Samuel Steel built a sawmill at Jenner Crossroads in 1817; John Shopwood opened a hotel in 1825, and Samuel Elder opened the first store in 1836 Other early industry in the township included a sawmill on Quemahoning Creek built about 1813 by Moses Fream and a small woolen mill, built in 1817 by William Dalley, enlarged by Owen and William Morgan later into a small settlement known as Morgantown.Jenners, Ralphton, Acosta and Gray were each built shortly after 1900 as company towns by Consolidation Coal, a Rockefeller interest, for its newly opened deep coal mines.Immigrants from Poland, Italy, Russia, Ruthenia, Wales, and Ireland filled the coal towns.