The selection of Williamsport as county seat was a major controversy in the early history of Lycoming County. It involved a bitter rivalry between an old frontier town and an upstart town that was built on a swamp. The first commissioners and officers of Lycoming County had their first offices and held their first court in Jaysburg (now part of the Newberry section of Williamsport). Jaysburg was on the western side of Lycoming Creek on a high piece of land. The land to the east of Lycoming Creek was known as Deer Park and was quite swampy. Jaysburg was at the time the only sizable village west of Muncy. Although Muncy was and still is in Lycoming County, it was not considered as an option for county seathood, possibly due to its proximity to the southern and eastern borders of the county. Jaysburg's buildings were sufficient to serve as the first courthouse and jail in the history of Lycoming County. It seemed to be the most logical place for establishing a county seat, and many of its residents were sure that their town would indeed be the county seat. This was not to be. The county seat was awarded to a new community across the creek and Jaysburg soon disappeared from the map; its land was absorbed by the new city of Williamsport.