Within a few years after the opening of the Pennsylvania Railroad, a facility was constructed for locomotives to stop to take on water and pick up wood to fire the boiler. With the abundance of lumber and coal in Portage, many companies were formed to deforest and mine in the area. As a result of the new industries, a population boom occurred, and by the 1860s, a passenger station was built by the railroad along the mainline, which at the time traveled through the center of town on what is now the Sonman Branch Line.
within a few years after the opening of the pennsylvania railroad a facility was constructed for locomotives to stop to take on water and pick up wood to fire the boiler with the abundance of lumber and coal in portage many companies were formed to deforest and mine in the area as a result of the new industries a population boom occurred and by the 1860s a passenger station was built by the railroad along the mainline which at the time traveled through the center of town on what is now the sonman branch line