20th Century Development

 

Catlin’s population declined steadily from 2,365 in 1875

to only 690 in 1950. Just 20 years later, however, the population had nearly quadrupled to 2,461. After World War II, suburbs grew rapidly as people could commute more easily for work. In 1948, the W.R. Lanphear Construction Company  developed the Beaver Valley subdivision with 140 homes on 300 acres of land on

Route 414 in Chambers. Additional housing came in the 1970s with the creation of the Collingwood mobile home park which housed more than 100 residents. The town expanded the Beaver Valley School to 8 rooms in 1969

to accommodate the growing number of students. Catlin built a new highway department garage and town hall in 1965 to replace the old town highway barn that was destroyed during Hurricane Hazel in 1954.