General William Montgomery purchased 180 acres of land from J. Cummings and J. Simpsen in 1774. This land was destined to become Danville. The General moved here in 1776 and built a log cabin. He then built a woolen mill, saw and grist mills and a distillery.
In 1792 William Montgomery added a stone structure to his log cabin. The home still stands on the corner of Mill Street and Bloom Road. Also in 1792 his son, Daniel Montgomery, purchased a tract of land from his father and laid out building lots. This settlement became known as “Dan’s Village.”
The settlers were surrounded by Indian tribes known as the six nations. They faced the same hostilities as settlers in other parts of Pennsylvania. The Indians were determined to chase the white settlers off their hunting grounds. But the people who settled “Dan’s Village” remained and prospered.
When the Post Office opened in 1802 the name of the village was changed to Danville. William Montgomery surveyed the land from Mill Street to Chestnut Street in 1802. He gave 60 lots for an academy of learning (which was built in 1819).
On March 15, 1813 the land where Danville was located was taken from Northumberland County and became Columbia County and Danville was made the County Seat. In 1845 the County Seat was moved to Bloomsburg but the people of Danville were so angry about the move that the Legislature erected Montour County and named Danville the County Seat.
Montgomery’s influence pioneered the use of Anthracite coal to heat homes in the county. John C. Thiels opened a foundry in 1829 and Danville became an iron manufacturing center. By 1853 the village had three rolling mills producing T-rails, five blast furnaces and four foundries. Local manufacturers also cast a number of iron store fronts that are still visible on some of the buildings in downtown Danville.