Gamble Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. The population was 854 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Gamble Township is bordered by Lewis Township to the northwest, Cascade Township to the north, Plunketts Creek Township to the east and southeast, and Hepburn and Eldred Townships to the south. Rose Valley Lake is a reservoir that covers 389 acres (1.57 km²) in Gamble Township. The fish and waters of the lake are managed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The lake is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Its primary use is recreational game fishing. The lake is open for recreational fishing on a year round basis. Ice fishing is permitted, but the thickness of the ice is not monitored by the Fish Commission. The most common game species of fish in the lake are, largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie, muskellunge, yellow perch, chain pickerel, pumpkinseed and walleye. The lake is five miles east of U.S. Route 15 and Pennsylvania Route 14. It can be reached by taking Trout Run Mountain Road to Rose Valley Mountain Road.
Gamble Township was formed from parts of Lewis and Cascade Townships on 30 January 1875. An election of the citizens of the proposed township was 152-0 in favor of its creation. The drive for the formation of Gamble Township was led Ira Parker, Abraham Swartz, and J. C. Green. They started a petition and gathered the necessary signatures. Their petition was presented to Judge James Gamble who authorized the election. The results of the balloting were certified by Judge Huston Hepburn. The township is named for the judge who ordered the election.
The first settler in Gamble Township was John Rose, for who Rose Valley is named. Rose was born in Scotland in 1772. He migrated to the United States in 1794 and settled in what is now Gamble Township. Rose was accompanied to the valley by his first wife and a man named Andrew Tulloh. Rose and Tulloh cleared some land for farming but did not remain in the valley. They both moved to Williamsport in their later years. The depature of John Rose did not bring about the end of agricultural development in Gamble Township. New settlers, a majority of them Germans, continued to clear Rose Valley. Here they established dairy farms and orchards, some of which are thriving today.
Salt mining and the lumbering were the primary industries found in Gamble Township during the mid to late 1800s. Several salt mines were built within the township. Thousands of acres of virgin forest were cleared to meet the demands for lumber during the lumber era that swept throughout Pennsylvania. Williamsport, which is just south of Gamble Township, was known at the "Lumber Capital of the World."
Today Gamble Township is a largely rural area with scattered dairy farms, orchards, and family homes. The population has risen by just 100 since the 1890 census when count stood at 754.
