Rice Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
History
The first recorded white settler in the vicinity of modern-day Rice Township was Conrad Wickeiser in 1798. Samuel B. Stivers and William Vandermark were the first known white settlers in what is now Rice Township. Additional settlers entered the territory and constructed the first houses and sawmills. The first schoolhouse was erected in 1840.
Rice Township was originally part of Hanover and Wright Townships. Hanover was granted to Captain Lazarus Stewart in 1770. On April 12, 1851, Wright Township was formed from a segment of Hanover Township; it was named after the Hon. Hendrick B. Wright of Wilkes-Barre. Rice Township was officially established in 1928 from a piece of Wright Township. In the 1920s and 30s, a major industry in Rice Township was the harvesting of ice, which was sold in both Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton. The ice industry faded with the growing popularity of the electric refrigerator.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 11.2 square miles (28.9 km), of which 10.9 square miles (28.3 km) is land and 0.23 square miles (0.6 km), or 2.24%, is water. Rice is part of the Mountain Top region of Luzerne County. I-81 travels north to south through the western half of the township. Homes, businesses, thick forests, and lakes (e.g., Boyle Pond, Lake Blytheburn, Laurel Lakes, and The Ice Ponds) make up most of the municipality. There are several neighborhoods in Rice (one of which is Laurel Lakes). There are also several streams in the township (e.g., Big Wapwallopen Creek, Little Wapwallopen Creek, and Nuangola Outlet).