Centred Outdoors: 5 places to get out and see nature, history on display
Humans have interacted with and altered Pennsylvania’s landscape in countless ways throughout history. While new discoveries continually alter the idea of when the first indigenous people arrived in the region, one thing that is certain is that inhabitants would have experienced terrain and landscapes that would have looked nothing like those we see today. They would have been living among small patches of coniferous trees to large expanses of tundra. To their north, massive glaciers spanning the width of the continent would have dominated. As time marched on, Pennsylvania would have resembled the boreal forests throughout Canada today.
The region’s first human explorers would have been primarily hunter-gatherers, hunting larger animals such as woolly mammoths, caribou and beavers much larger than today’s species. This lifestyle would have dominated the continent until climactic shifts were brought about by the retreating glaciers. As warmer temperatures crept up, people began shifting from an archaic (or subsistence) society into what would become the pre-colonial societies.
Throughout this pre-colonial era there was a shift from following migratory paths and seasonal food supplies to actively managing the landscape and extracting resources. Charcoal, pollen and soil evidence from our valley floors indicate that large areas were maintained as open grassland or plains-style habitat. Without a large river or other easy mode of transportation, however, most of what would become Centre County remained sparsely populated, and the region remained a frontier longer than many others.
All of this would drastically change throughout the 1700s with rapid encroachment of European colonists. As the native lands were ceded to colonial growth, surveyors moved ahead of land men in order to find prime areas to settle. The very early maps placed great emphasis on the larger waterways, like the Susquehanna, yet central Pennsylvania remained mostly uncharted wildness (and was labeled as such on many early maps) well into the 1750s.
By the mid-1700s, native populations declined due to disease brought through colonization or to find safer locations out west. Spurred by tales of spectacular unclaimed lands, early settlers followed the now deserted footpaths leading them into the Penns Valley area in the 1760s. General James Potter was one of these early pioneers, and on a return trip from service in the frontier remarked to his assistant, “My Heavens, Thompson, I have discovered an empire.”
It would take decades before Potter’s “empire” would take hold. A new nation at war would hamper the westward development of an area only reachable by canoe or foot. Following the Treaty of Paris and the recognition of the United States as an independent nation there were thousands of soldiers and officers who had served in the colonial army. The nation, unable to levy a national tax and with little in the way of assets, began to grant unclaimed parcels to these men throughout the frontier.
It was during the late 1700s and early 1800s that iron was discovered in our region. The iron boom gripped the landscape and inspired many prospectors and businessmen to collect claims near productive iron operations. In our area the prominent gentleman Philip Benner gathered nearly 100 men to make the overland voyage from Philadelphia and found Rock Iron Works. The iron industry demanded incredible resources nearly unchecked through the entirety of the 1800s, but by the turn of the next century almost all of the work had moved out of the state. By then, 80% of the state had been cut to the ground to feed industry.
The resulting barren landscape was awash with rampant erosion due to the lack of supporting forests and much of the state contained little in the way of wildlife. This devastation inspired early titans of conservation, including Theodore Roosevelt and Joseph Rothrock. These early foresters would establish the pattern that much of the nation would follow for managing and stewarding forest resources.
During the early 1900s, work of these early environmentalists helped create the wonderfully forested place we call home. Today, many of our state parks are the legacy of the conservation programs that helped rejuvenate our forests. Everyone can access and enjoy the beauty and bounty found in conserved natural places, including the five sites listed below which are all open to the public.
Black Moshannon State Park features the history of early logging companies as they moved across the state collecting resources the rapidly growing nation needed. The Star Mill Trail, a 2-mile loop, goes past several original homestead locations as well as a local schoolhouse. While only the foundations of these early structures remain, it is easy to imagine the early life of the loggers as they hauled their work down to the lake.
Greenwood Furnace State Park focuses heavily on the height of the iron boom. Guests can look to the park map to visit the informational displays at key locations around the park. The foundation of one of the original furnaces is fully restored and visitors can see first-hand the size of the industry that was at work even before indoor plumbing was commonplace.
A visit to Rhoneymeade Arboretum and Sculpture Garden offers a connection to the history of the early agrarian development of the region while also recognizing regional artists and their work. There is a 2-mile trail at Rhoneymeade that takes guests along the same paths that farmers would follow when transporting their goods to the flag stops, where their goods would be picked up by trains and head to market. Rhoneymeade is also the first property ClearWater Conservancy permanently protected with a conservation easement in 1986.
The Scotia Barrens represent an area that is rich in history that spans hundreds of years. The iron works established by Andrew Carnegie are still somewhat visible here, but the true scope of the operation can be seen in the unusual features that litter the landscape. Vernal pools, quarter-mile earthen ramps, and undulating hills of the spoils (the leftover rock, mud, and other detritus from a mining operation) are but a few of the strange sights awaiting adventurers.
The Lower Trail follows along the other main form of Pennsylvanians’ transportation in the 1800s, the canal. Canals were the only way to transport large mass of goods and supplies across the interior of the state prior to the widespread distribution of the railway systems. Going downstream was easy (and still is), but a towpath was required to haul the boats upstream. Many of the towpaths eventually became the sites for future railroads, as is the case for the Lower Trail. For more information about the location of the Lower Trail the destinations mentioned in this article, visit www.centredoutdoors.org.