Sawmills and gristmills were built in the watershed in the early 1800s and there was a mill on the creek by 1788. A large number of small mills producing grist, cider, woolens, and lumber were once on North Branch Buffalo Creek. There was a log school on Buffalo Creek in the 1830s. By the late 1800s, there was a significant lumbering industry. This also caused railroads to be built in the watershed. The lumbering industry became less prominent in the early 1900s. In the late 1800s, the area along North Branch Buffalo Creek was heavily settled and known as Jonestown. A county road paralleled the creek here. In the late 1800s or early 1900s, a locomotive crashed into Buffalo Creek while crossing it.