Recently I’ve been on a bit of a local history kick.
I like to know about what’s happened before me, before the European/African migration to North America, and even before the Asians/Mongols/Peloponesians migrated to North America (as some of that seems to still be a bit up in the air).
Pennsylvania, as recently as 80 years ago, was a major world producer of iron ore. Scattered throughout the countryside are places like Pine Grove Furnace, which was the smelting destination for iron ore mined from the many, many pit mines which surrounded it.
In fact, many of the ponds, lakes, and reservoirs in Pennsylvania are actually iron pit mines that went too deep and hit water (I should note here that the water table in many places of central Pennsylvania is less than 100 feet down). My parents own a house on one such pond, and according to local legend the pond is about 90 feet deep and is still full of mining equipment. When the mine hit the water table, the water rose so fast that the worker had to leave all the equipment behind.
I know of at least 9 other lakes in central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland created in this way.
But the biggest note of historical significance? That’s coming!
The next time you are in Pennsylvania (or see pictures or video of it), take note of all the trees. Pennsylvania is home to huge tracts of state-owned land, organized into State Parks and State Game Lands.
It wasn’t long after Pennsylvania was established that the wheels of commerce began to turn, and it was discovered that in addition to being fantastic farmland, Pennsylvania was rich in mineral wealth. Coal, iron, copper, lead, limestone, dolomite, oil, natural gas, clays and shales, and even uranium and thorium (although these last two weren’t mined until the 1950s). Coal and iron were the big ones.
The coal and iron industries, followed in the 1850s by the discover of the oil in Titusville, led to a vast network of rails and roads that crisscrossed Pennsylvania, connecting the multitude of new mining towns, smelting furnaces, and refining facilities. Many of these places have been forgotten, but their lore can still be seen throughout the countryside in names, old pit mines, and derelict train tracks (or the trails they left behind when they were removed).
Eventually, the bulk of these industries faded out, as new, easier locations for the mining and refining of minerals were discovered. What was left behind were entire abandoned towns, derelict farms, and an industrial infrastructure that, once left to nature, was quickly and thoroughly returned to the earth.
What’s the point of all this?
Well, all this industry needed fuel, building materials, farmland, and all the things that made the modern society of the 1800s work.
You wouldn’t think that just 100 years ago, at the last turn of the century, that Pennsylvania was very nearly clear-cut of trees.
That’s right! There are no forests that can be considered “old growth” (by the environmentalist standards, anyway) in Pennsylvania. All the forests in Pennsylvania are, at the most, 100 years old. Yet, to look at the beautiful state today, you would think that it had always been forest-covered. The beautiful Caledonia State Park (which I can see from my house) has only been forested since about 1903.
Nature, when left to its own devices, is able to reclaim the earth faster than we can really imagine.
Near where I live, there is a plot of forested land that my wife and I considered buying to build our dream home. On the land was the foundation of an old house (which, in our land-plan, would have ended up being a detached patio for outdoor entertaining). After a bit of digging, we uncovered some of its history. The house itself (a 2-story brick farmhouse constructed sometime around 1880) had been demolished about 20 years ago. There was a tree growing through one corner of the foundation, though the brick fireplace and chimney had been left intact. The house had been the basis for a 100-acre farm, one of more than 50 such farms in the immediate vicinity. Yet there isn’t tillable farmland with a mile of the foundation. It’s all forest now, and there is little sign that it was
You can see bits and pieces like this all over Pennsylvania, especially in the little towns in western Pennsylvania.
Amazing, isnt’ it?
I would encourage you to research the history of your own area. But don’t just depend on the internet! Visit your local libraries (especially newspaper archives) and government offices, and talk to some of the “older locals”. You’d be surprised by the directions that some of the oral history can take you.
Here are a few of my favorite links on Pennsylvania history, but they’re a poor substitute for actual exploring:
http://home.comcast.net/~StAnthonyWilderness/anthony.htm
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/index.aspx
