The name “Muncy” is derived from the Monsey (“wolf”) tribe of the Lenape, a name they carried with them when they moved west to what is now Muncie, Indiana. The first settlers were four Quaker brothers who arrived in 1787 and purchased three hundred acres. A decade later two of them, Benjamin and William McCarty, laid out a grid for a town they called Pennsborough, which was renamed Muncy in 1827. Muncy was well situated on the West Branch Susquehanna River and at the intersection of the county's first two roads, today's Main Street and Water Street (PA 405), where the small commercial district is centered and the oldest buildings survive. All have been altered, including William McCarty's log house (c. 1792) at 34 N. Main Street, now with a stucco veneer and later additions. At 40 N. Main Street is a Federal-style house built in 1812 for the Clapp family that now houses the Muncy Historical Society and Museum of History.
After the Civil War, Muncy's importance waned as Williamsport prospered. Today the town preserves some fine Queen Anne mansions, especially on Market Street between Water and Penn streets, but the strongest impression is made by the classicism of Federal-style, Greek Revival, and Italianate buildings. The U.S. post office (1936, Louis A. Simon) at 101 S. Main Street and the high school (1932, Lawrie and Green) at 200 W. Penn Street revive the Federal style, though the school's appearance suffers from the energy efficient re-fenestration of 1983–1984. Muncy's cemetery at 204 E. Penn Street, incorporated in 1857, includes a marble Civil War monument (1869) and a granite cenotaph (1879) in honor of Captain John Brady—a local Indian fighter who was killed in 1779, appropriately enough, by Indians.
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