 This was the first of Herdic's many business ventures, that led to his rise as one of the richest of millionaires in Williamsport.Peter Herdic moved to Williamsport in 1853, which was then a small village of 1,700 people surrounded by vast stands of virgin hemlock, white pine and various hardwoods.The lumber industry had existed in Lycoming County since the first Europeans arrived prior to the American Revolution, but it did not become the land-changing and eco-system altering industry until Peter Herdic and men like him arrived on the scene in the mid-19th century.