During 1850, an early settler built a dam on White Deer Creek to provide power to his large sawmill and shingle mill.
Sixteen years later, the dam was repaired and used as the second of a series of splash dams -- used to float white pine logs to the Susquehanna River and the extensive sawmills at Watsontown. Although the dam is gone, Johnny McCall and his dam will always be remembered because of McCalls Dam State Park.