Hoover's Island

HOOVER’S ISLAND: ENJOYABLE RIVER RESORT HOOVER TO BUILD COTTAGES Middleburg Post -- Feburary 1903...Continue reading

SILVERWOOD CONNECTION TO HOOVER'S ISLAND Mason and Bessie Hoover bought Little Hoover’s Island (also referred to as Silverwood Island or Mason’s Island) in 1913. They purchased the island from the Silverwood family estate. The family members were descendants of James Jimmy Silverwood, businessman and entrepreneur. Soon after Silverwood acquired these islands the area became more thickly populated. Silverwood then conducted shad fisheries in the Susquehanna from his islands....Continue reading

Eugene Hoover was born April 3, 1888, son of George and Anne Hoover. He married Jennie Zeigler (1883-1968) They had six children. Eugene worked for the railroad in Harrisburg, where he met Jennie who was a school teacher and she would eventually teach at the one-room school on Hoover’s Island. Eugene contacted typhoid fever while working for the railroad. He and Jennie moved back to Hoover’s Island while he recuperated. After he recovered, he worked drilling wells. His next ...Continue reading

MASON HOOVER- GENTLEMAN, TEACHER, FARMER Mason Hoover was born November 5, 1879 on Hoover’s Island, son of George and Annie Hoover. He spent his youth and early manhood making his home there. He received his early education at the common school on Hoover’s Island and he attended Herndon Normal preparing to teach. Mason taught his first term at the same school he attended, where the eleven pupils were Hoover’s like himself and all were related. In 1907, Mason married Bessie Br...osius and they bought the family farm of Washington Brosius, Bessie’s father. January 1913 Mason and Bessie bought Silverwood Island, also known as Little Hoover’s Island and Mason’s Island. Mason farmed the fifty plus acres and constructed numerous buildings on the island. A large brick home was on the island when Mason bought the property. So, in addition to teaching, Mason was farming his island, which he called Silverwood Island Farm. Mason’s teaching career spanned forty-three years. In addition to his one-year stint at Hoover’s Island, he taught at Fisher’s Ferry and several other schools in Lower Augusta Township and several schools in Snyder County. He was considered a disciplinarian, but he was loved by his students. Of course, Mason’s commute was unique and, at times, perilous. Crossing the river from his island home, he had to navigate a strong current after heavy rains and in winter ice chunks that could smash his flat or canoe. If the river was froze solid he would have to carefully walk over the ice using a thin pole to tap the ice and determine whether it was safe to move left or right or straight ahead. After his retirement, he was elected to the Lower Augusta school board and served as treasurer. He continued to farm his island up to the time of his death in 1953. See more