Williamsport:- The Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society will be hosting Mark W. Avery at its May Coffee Hour on Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 10am. The lecture will follow the life and death of Boyd Cummings, who donated the land which would become Brandon Park, named in honor of Cummings’ sister Jane Cummings Brandon.
Mark Avery was born in San Diego but his family is firmly rooted in Lycoming County. He reminisces, “The bulk of my childhood was spent living in the Williamsport area and my fondest memories are from Baldwin Street (where my grandparents lived) and Brandon Park.” He admits he loves all historic things which led to he and his cousin Shane Collins ‘re-discovering’ the Allegheny crash site from 1959, facilitating a memorial to the site and developing a website dedicated to the crew and passengers. His current project is to honor Boyd Cummings with a tombstone in Wildwood Cemetery, the burial site apparently never having one.
The Coffee Hour is held in the Community Room of the Taber Museum and the lecture is free and open to the public. Light refreshments are served. Ample parking is to be found behind the museum or on the street. The museum is located at 858 W. 4th St., Williamsport. The lecture, part of the Museum’s celebration of America250 is sponsored by a grant from the Lycoming County Visitors Bureau Travel & Tourism Grant as well as a generous grant from Catherine Burns Insurance Services of Muncy. For more information, please call 570.326.3326.