Insider's Guide to Indiana County Parks & Trails - 3rd Edition

The Insider’s Guide to Indiana County Parks & Trails

Ed Patterson

The Insider’s Guide to Indiana County Parks & Trails Indiana County Parks & Trails 1128 Blue Spruce Road Indiana, PA 15701

Third Edition 2019 www.indianacountyparks.org (724) 463-8636

Front and back cover design: Kristi Helfer Cover photo: Earl Carney, Jr.

Dedication This book is dedicated to the men and women of Indiana County Parks & Trails‌past, present and future‌may their good work never be forgotten.

Top: Bottom:

Pennsylvania Conservation Corps Crew, 1988 Festival of Lights Crew, 2011

There is great good in returning to a landscape that has had extraordinary meaning in one’s life.

It happens that we return to such places in our mind irresistibly, they become indispensable to our well- being; they define us, and we say: I am who I am because I have been there, or there.

-

N. Scott Momaday

Tell me your landscape and I will tell you who you are.

-

Jose Ortega y Gasset

View of the Allegheny Plateau from Musser Road, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

Contents Dedication About the Book Prologue ‘The Perfect Day’ Preface Introduction

1 4 5 8

The Costs and Benefits of County Parks & Trails

Part One - Park Eras Before the County Parks (Pre-1960s) Early Outdoor Recreation in Indiana County A State Park for Indiana County?

A First County Park Effort Fails The Role of County Parks

11 12 15 16 17

Early Beginnings (1960 – 1976) Isadore Lenglet Guides Early Efforts Student Design Contest First County Park Construction Begins Plans for Hemlock Lake Announced Parks & Recreation Commission Established Joseph Cogley Hired as First Director Big Plans for White Pine Park/Two Lick Reservoir Park Zoning Ordinance Established Park Board and Staff Face Early Challenges

18 21 24 27 28 29 30 31 32

Surviving the Downturn (1977 – 1983) Coal Mining Decline Affects County George Fatora Serves as Second Director County Cancels Lease at White Pine Park Future of County Parks in Peril

32 33 34 35

Rebuilding and Renewal (1984 – 1994) New Commissioners Signal Change in Fortunes A Dog Show Changes Public Perceptions PCC Revitalizes County Park System Friends of the Parks Offers New Programming America’s Industrial Heritage Project Ghost Town Trail Expands County Parks Reach C&I Trail Council Spurs Grassroots Effort

35 36 36 38 39 39 40

New Initiatives (1995 - 2011) Major Donations Increase Park Acreage Festival of Lights Attracts New Visitors

41 42

New Sites Added to County Park System Staying the Course (2012 – 2017) Indiana County’s Best Idea Timeline of Indiana County Parks & Trails

43 45 48

Part Two Parks Blue Spruce Park Cummings Dam and Early History Reading the Forested Landscape Site of Tragic Murder PCC Revives Park Popular Place for Gatherings Festival of Lights Outdoor Activities Popular Bernice Gera – Lady Umpire Edward Abbey – Appalachian Native The September 11th Monarch

54 64 66 68 69 70 72 75 78 82

Hemlock Lake Park Rossiter and the Coal Injunction Strike of 1927

92

Pine Ridge Park Sloan Cornell and the Penn View Mountain Railroad Leonard Piper – Blairsville’s Smokejumper

100 104

Regional Trails Ghost Town Trail A Brief History of the Trail’s Development

109

Hoodlebug Trail Trail Setting Catawba Trail Pennsylvania Railroad Prairie State Incubator Company Indiana County Street Railways Company Blairsville Riverfront Trail The Bairdstown Bridge

114 115 117 118 119 122

Trans Allegheny Trails Lower Trail 6 To 10 Trail Ghost Town Trail Hoodlebug Trail Path of the Flood West Penn Trail

127 128 128 128 129 130

Westmoreland Heritage Trail Roaring Run Trail

131 132

Indiana County Covered Bridges – Icons of the Past Trusal Covered Bridge Harmon Covered Bridge Kintersburg Covered Bridge The Civilian Conservation Corps at Kintersburg Thomas Covered Bridge End of the Covered Bridge Era

Historic Sites Buena Vista Furnace Eliza Furnace

141 142 144 146 149 150

154 158

A Brief History of the Eliza Furnace

Memorial Park Ernest Moore Viquesney’s Doughboy Statue

Old Smicksburg Park The Smicksburg Amish Settlement Mahoning Creek Lake John B. McCormick – World Class Inventor Smicksburg Lime Kiln North Point – West Mahoning Township

Tunnelview Historic Site Conservation & Natural Areas Buttermilk Falls Natural Area The McFeely Cottage

Blacklick Valley Natural Area Wildlife at the BVNA Wetlands at the BVNA Indiana County Christmas Tree Industry Luke Swank – Photographer

Waterworks Conservation Area Former R&P Coal Company Site Two Lick Creek Access Safety Advisory for Paddlers Wildlife Features Two Lick Creek Water Trail Map Searching for Wehrle’s Salamander

Epilogue Acknowledgements Maps

165 170

173 178 180 181 186 189

191

198 200

203 205 206 206 208

209 210 212 213 213 215 216

223 224 225-231

About the Book “A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.�

-

Henry David Thoreau

As the title suggests this book focuses on sites operated by Indiana County Parks & Trails. Encompassing parks, trails, historic sites, covered bridges and natural areas the Indiana County park system offers visitors a wide collection of things to do, see and experience.

Part One of the guidebook includes a history of Indiana County Parks & Trails the agency responsible for acquiring, developing and managing these sites since the 1960s. Part Two includes detailed information, maps and other material on each site. There is some repetition of information between the two sections to account for the history and background on the sites. Also included are some short essays on various Indiana County people who were associated with the parks or the nearby area.

Indiana County is located in west-central Pennsylvania, about an hour northeast of Pittsburgh. The county stretches from the Conemaugh River in the south to Mahoning Creek in the north. The Chestnut Ridge traverses the county’s southeastern corner, while the remainder of the County is situated on the Allegheny Plateau, known for its rolling hills and valleys.

The county offers a varied landscape and cultural experience. Coal was once king - the county is dotted with former company towns, villages and even some ghost towns. Agriculture and lumbering have always played an important role in the county. Today, the county contains both modern farms and Old Order Amish settlements, presenting an interesting contrast to the traveler. Scattered throughout the county are Christmas tree farms that helped establish the county 1

as the ‘Christmas Tree Capital of the World’. The County is extensively forested - as pastureland decreased many former fields have reverted to forest over the past century.

Indiana County is also home to Indiana University of PA (IUP). The university, with over 14,000 students, is the second largest state-owned university in Pennsylvania and offers numerous educational and cultural activities.

Whether you are planning a visit or already live here, this guidebook will help you learn more about what the Indiana County park system has to offer. Most of all, I hope this book will encourage you to visit these sites to experience them yourself.

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Map of Indiana County Parks & Trails

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Prologue ‘The Perfect Day’

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n a small coal town in Appalachia in the 1960s a young boy spends his days fishing, riding a bicycle, playing baseball and roaming the nearby woods. Although gone for hours at a time, when he returns home his parents do not ask where he has been or what he has been doing.

Kids and adults in the small town live in close proximity - yet go their separate ways, almost in segregation. They share the same house and dinner table, but there is a clear distinction between the two worlds. Adults stick to their roles and kids, for the most part, stay out of the way.

Mainly, kids want to be outside, preferably from the start of summer recess until school begins in the fall. The perfect day, always in summer, consists of leaving the house early in the morning, finding another idle kid and doing whatever comes to mind.

They invent games, form their own baseball teams with names like the Barn Street Bombers or Macaroni Maulers, fish at Number Four Dam, roam the leafy woods, hike to the Round Top, build cabins, and make up rules as they go along without any grown-up interference – convenient for them and the adults. They solve their own disputes, mostly with words, but sometimes with some pushing and shoving - in the end no one is worse for the wear.

During the day they stop to buy a cold pop or candy at the local store, and maybe have lunch or a snack at a grandmother’s or neighbor’s house.

Almost everyone they see during the perfect day is just another kid.

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Preface Is our life our life, or a story we told ourselves?

I

come from a small coal town on the Allegheny plateau of western Pennsylvania. This ancient landform has been eroded by stream action over millions of years into what is now a region of small, narrow valleys or hollows, twisting through the resulting hills. The older surface, the tops of these ancient hills, is evident in a pattern of hilltops as far as the eye can see, all tending to reach the same elevation.

Indiana County coal miners.

Photo: IUP Special Collections & Archives.

When I was born, my mother was 43 ½ years old. My father had already worked 33 years in the dangerous coal mines underneath those ancient hills. When calculating the statistical odds of those two things occurring simultaneously, and my chances of being here, I realized that I was lucky to be born in the ‘nick of time’. Years later I also realized that I had the good fortune to live in a small coal town at a time when kids’ lives were free of a society that insisted their parents know where their children were every minute.

The first days of summer vacation were a special time. To have an entire summer stretched out before you – time to spend outdoors any way you wanted. Time to quietly steal away to Number Four Dam to fish; mornings roaming the nearby woods; afternoons playing pick-up baseball or fishing for chubs in the sulfur waters of Cowanshannock Creek; early evenings back in the woods to arrive at the Round Top to watch the sunset fading over those ancient hills and wondering what it would be like to follow the sun in one eternal sunset. The only obligation during the entire day was that you had to be home for supper.

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Those summer days had an impact on me, more than I realized at the time, and eventually determined how I came to work at a county park system not far from where I grew up.

After earning a park management degree I returned home with no certain job prospects. When I arrived home my mother said “There’s a job in today’s paper you might be interested in”. The job was the Park Supervisor position at Blue Spruce Park. I had never been to Blue Spruce Park even though it is located only 20 miles from my hometown in Armstrong County.

The next week I went to the Indiana County Courthouse to fill out a job application. Just in case I got called for an interview I decided I should at least visit Blue Spruce Park to see what it looked like. My first reaction was, “Here is what Number Four Dam would have looked like if it had been made into a park.” The resemblance of Blue Spruce Park to the woods of my childhood and how Cummings Dam could pass for an almost exact copy of Number Four Dam was uncanny. Call it fate.

Eventually I received a call for an interview, and in another twist of fate, the first individual selected for the job did not accept the position. That is how, in September 1977, I started to work as the Blue Spruce Park Supervisor, later moving to Assistant Director and, since 1983, serving as Director of Indiana County Parks & Trails.

Throughout my career I have had the opportunity to work at a diverse collection of parks, trails, historic sites, covered bridges and natural areas.

Looking back, it is hard to imagine how much the park system has progressed and how quickly the time has passed. There have been good years, lean years and even a critical time when the very future of the park system was at stake. But since the early 1960s the Indiana County Park system has grown into a varied collection of sites that encompass a wide variety of settings, far exceeding original expectations.

Many people assisted in this effort. Some you will read about in this book, but most will remain nameless: hundreds of people working on various employment training programs and summer jobs; full-time employees with years of dedicated service; elected officials and park board members of varying backgrounds and interests; seasonal employees from all walks of life; numerous volunteers and countless others who all contributed to the 6

effort. The establishment and growth of the Indiana County park system is their success story.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of park work is that it is tangible work – work that is evident for everyone to see. The Indiana County park system of today is a result of many years of planning, development and good oldfashioned hard work by many people.

What I have enjoyed most in these intervening years is the chance to work with our crews on a day-to-day basis - the people behind the scenes, unknown to most park visitors, who have dedicated their lives and careers working every day to create and maintain a park system of ‘special places’ of which they and the people of Indiana County, can be proud of.

This book serves as an insider’s guide to these special places - it tells the story of how they came to be and offers a glimpse of what they can mean for us and for generations to come.

Ed Patterson January 22, 2019 TDFFH

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Introduction Indiana County Parks & Trails has experienced five different eras in its first 50 years of existence. Each of the eras involved their own challenges and opportunities.

There have been three Directors since the agency was established in 1967. I worked for the first two agency Directors. That experience gave me a perspective of where the agency came from and how and why the county park system evolved the way it did.

When I became Director of Indiana County Parks in 1983, I had the Joe Cogley at left, first Indiana County benefit of knowing what the two Parks Director with J. Lon Winebark, a previous directors had gone long-time member of the Indiana County through, why they made the Park Board. of the obstacles they decisions they did and had a better understanding encountered.

Having someone write the history of the county parks who has been associated with the agency for over three-fourths of its existence poses a dilemma. Foremost is the concern that what is written is accurate – are certain things missing or being overlooked? Is it an accurate record and not just a recollection of one person’s memories?

To help lessen this problem, and not rely solely on my own memories, I used three primary sources of information: (1) the minutes and recordings of the Indiana County Park Board which have been kept since the Board’s inception in 1967. The minutes are an important source of background information on the county parks and document the debates and decisions of the park system’s development, (2) a review of the extensive written record of the agency as it appeared in numerous news articles in the Indiana Evening Gazette (now Indiana Gazette), and (3) a re-reading of the County Park’s first decade of existence as it appeared in Clarence Stephenson’s Indiana County: 175th Anniversary History.

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The Costs and Benefits of County Parks & Trails Indiana County established its first county parks in the 1960s. The County is not legally required to have a county park system, so what are the costs and benefits of having a county park system? Overall, the county parks have traditionally amounted to 2% of the county’s operating budget. This percentage has varied slightly from year to year but generally the county’s financial commitment has stayed reasonably consistent. The 2% funding level is also consistent with what other counties across the nation, on average, spend on county parks.

Across a broad range of categories the benefits of having a county park system can be briefly summarized as: Economic – it is clear the parks and trails have an economic benefit. For example, promoting physical activity results in health cost savings. This is a benefit that, with increasing health care costs, becomes more significant each year. Spending by tourists is a benefit that adds to the local economy.

The Ghost Town Trail has an estimated $1.7 million dollar regional economic impact, based on a 2009 study by the Rails to Trails Conservancy. This amount more than offsets the cost to operate the entire county park system.

Health – both physical and mental health are aided by having places to relax, unwind and enjoy some free time. Parks promote both physical and mental well-being.

Social – parks provide places for people to interact in a positive manner with other members of society. Concerts, festivals, special events and other activities enable people of all types to come together as a social community.

Environmental – parks and trail corridors preserve and protect the environment for both people and wildlife. Preserving open space helps provide critical habitat for plant and animal species. Setting aside open space helps improve air and water quality.

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Quality of Life – the concept of quality of life is something that everyone knows intuitively but expresses differently. Study after study shows that quality life, however it is defined, is an important factor that people and businesses use when deciding where to live or to locate a business. Parks and trails are an important component of quality of life for many people and for businesses looking to attract or retain employees.

Having a county park system makes Indiana County a better place to live, work and play. At 2% of the county’s overall budget it might just be the best value in county government, There is a saying that ‘park managers take their pay in sunsets’. For most park managers that is likely true. No one becomes a park manager to become wealthy, at least not materially wealthy, but there is a satisfaction in providing parks that offer experiences that fundamentally enrich people’s lives.

As noted, from time to time our agency performs studies to measure the economic impact of our parks and trails; yet it is the immeasurable value of these places that may matter most. What value can be placed on a family reunion that has been held for thirty years at the same park? How do we measure the opportunity to share quality time with family, friends, even our pets, in a beautiful park setting? How to account for a day at a park, the lake or on the trail that comes too infrequently in the busy lives of most people in today’s fast-paced world?

Our parks and trails are open every day of the year. We never know for sure what impact we have on our visitors, but we sense our parks make a difference in the quality of their lives.

How Indiana County came to have one of Pennsylvania’s most extensive and diverse county park systems is where the story begins.

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Before the County Parks (Pre-1960s) The outdoors has always been an important part of the American life – first as a wilderness to be conquered and settled; presently as a quiet area to satisfy a desire to be in natural surroundings. The need for recreation as a factor in the physical, mental and social adjustments of people now has widespread recognition.

- Indiana County Open Space and Recreation Plan, 1967

C

oncern for providing public parks gradually grew throughout the 1900s.

Prior to the 1900s public parks mainly existed in urban areas and large cities. In rural areas, like Indiana County, leisure time was limited and generally did not take place in formal park settings. Leisure and social activities in rural areas combined both work and fun. Social events like barn raisings, weddings, flax scutchings, and corn husking offered the chance to mix work with pleasure. A good example of this is depicted in the painting ‘Flax Scutching Bee’ by Linton Park of Marion Center. The folk art painting is housed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and is the best known and most valuable painting ever created in Indiana County.

Flax Scutching Bee (Linton Park, 1885) Townspeople gather on a 19th century farm near Marion Center to help "scutch" flax, which involved taking the plant and beating it against something hard to separate the usable fibers from the unusable woody parts. Flax scutchings were often a festive all-day celebration.

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Early Outdoor Recreation in Indiana County Outdoor activities became increasingly popular in Indiana County by the late 1890s and early 1900s as the county became more developed and small towns and villages became established. Outdoor activities like hunting and fishing remained popular but picnics and other large social gatherings became more commonplace. As early as 1898 a new picnic grove was established in northeastern Indiana County, near Smithport and Locust, on land owned by Ida Saxton McKinley, wife of President William McKinley.

Before formal parks were established many people enjoyed summer outings at private picnic groves, usually located in a scenic spot along a nearby stream or overlook. This was typified at a popular picnic area outside of Blairsville, known as ‘Alum Bank’, featuring views of Chestnut Ridge and the Pack Saddle Gap. The development of the county’s railroad and trolley network provided transportation to outlying areas of the County and offered excursions to other regions – trips to Niagara Falls were a popular offering of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway.

In the northern Indiana County at North Point, along Mahoning Creek, a popular swimming, picnicking and camping area existed for many years.

Coleman’s Park, a picnic grounds near the Goodville train stop, existed just outside of Smicksburg and was the site of very large outdoor gatherings. Beginning in the late 1890s thousands of people attended annual gatherings of the “Buckwheat Club” Flapjack Picnics at Coleman’s Park. Other communities throughout Indiana County had their own gathering places to celebrate holidays, especially Memorial Day and July 4th.

North Main Street, Homer City.

Trolleys once carried people to trolley parks and other destinations. Photo: Homer-Center Historical Society.

Indiana Borough had no public parks in the early 1900s, but in 1906 Indiana Borough Council approved the purchase of wrought iron benches for the ‘Old Lutheran Cemetery’, today known as Memorial Park. In 1978 Memorial Park was added to the county park system. How a property that was first

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deeded to the Indiana County Commissioners in 1806 eventually became a county park will be discussed in a later chapter.

MANY MET AT GOODVILLE A JOLLY CROWD OUT IN THE BUCKWHEAT COUNTRY Tenth Annual Reunion and Picnic of Social Club Was a Brilliant Success.

Indiana and Other Towns Sent Large Delegations-Two Schools to Hold Reunions-Plans for Other Social Gatherings.

As usual, Thursday, was celebrated as a holiday by the good people of the Mahonings on account of the tenth annual reunion and picnic of the Smicksburg and West Mahoning Buckwheat Club which was held in Coleman’s Park, at Goodville in West Mahoning Township.

The attendance was estimated at between 6,000 and 8,000 and the great bulk of the gathering came from the northwestern section of the county.

Hundreds were also there from the nearby towns along the Buffalo, Rochester, & Pittsburg railroad, and were carried to the grounds on the regular and special trains. Indiana sent a delegation of 200 on the special train which left here that morning at 7:00. The train was made up of seven passenger coaches and by the time it reached Punxsutawney it was filled.

It is estimated that more drove to the pleasure grounds than went by rail and as a consequence, acres of ground adjoining the park were filled with rigs of every conceivable description. For hours during the early part of the day all the roads leading to Goodville were filled with long processions of buggies, carriages, and wagons filled with merry parties on pleasure bent.

As in all previous gatherings of the Buckwheats the weather man dealt kindly on this occasion, and while threatening clouds hid the sun during the early morning it proved an ideal picnic day.

Indiana Progress, August 14, 1907 In the early 1900s several private parks were established including Cliffside Park north of Homer City (operated by the Bianco Family), Camp Rest-AWhile (later known as Camp Indian Springs) and two trolley parks created by the Indiana County Street Railways Company: Idlewood Park near Homer City and Chestnut Grove north of Indiana. The private parks featured dance halls, refreshment stands, picnic groves, ball fields and other amusements.

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Cliffside Park was a popular private park located north of Homer City on Two Lick Creek. Photo: Homer-Center Historical Society.

At Cliffside Park, boating and swimming were offered at a log dam built on Two Lick Creek. Camp Indian Springs, located near the present-day White Township Municipal Building, had a large swimming pool, playground and other attractions. In May of 1944, Camp Indian Springs was leased by the Paragon Company as a site to produce tear gas for WWII. Most of the workers at the plant were women working in support of the war effort. The company also had a plant in Derry, PA and provided bus service for the workers.

By the early 1900s the rise in industrial employment lead to an increasing interest by government in providing public parks and recreation services for workers toiling in factories, mines and other industrial settings.

Beginning in the late 1940s workers who had once worked 60 hours a week or more were now working 40 hours a week. Fewer work hours meant more leisure time and demand for outdoor recreation greatly increased.

Personal incomes were also rising; people had more money to spend on leisure activities like camping, sightseeing and other outdoor activities.

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A State Park for Indiana County?

Indiana County has a county park system, to some extent, due to an oversight on the part of the state of Pennsylvania. During the Great Depression there were rumors that a large state park would be built in Green Township by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Although the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed many state parks during the 1930s, none were ever built in Indiana County during that period. At its peak in 1935, the CCC employed more than 500,000 members nationwide in over 2,600 camps. The camps were managed by the War Department and were operated like military camps but the men were not subject to military control. In 1939, the CCC was made part of the Federal Security Agency; by 1940 more emphasis was placed on national defense instead of conservation projects.

The CCC eventually operated three camps in Indiana County. The camps were involved in soil conservation activities, not park construction. In 1935 the SES-1 Camp at Kintersburg, near the Kintersburg Covered Bridge, was established as the first soil conservation camp in Pennsylvania. (More information about the CCC Camp near the Kintersburg Covered Bridge is provided in the Kintersburg Covered Bridge section of this guidebook).

Duties included creating tree nurseries, reforesting hillsides, installing soil control measures on farms in the Crooked Creek watershed and installing drainage improvements on local highways. The CCC also aided in flood relief after the 1936 St. Patrick’s Day Flood. Other CCC Camps were established near Shelocta and Homer City (at the site of the present-day Homer-Center High School).

In 1938 the CCC District offices in Indiana, PA were closed. In 1942 the CCC program was abolished by Congress over the objections of President Franklin Roosevelt. By then the idea of a state park for Indiana County was largely forgotten.

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A state park for Indiana County eventually became a reality in the 1960s when Yellow Creek State Park was proposed during the administration of Governor David L. Lawrence. In 1963, it was announced that 2,793 acres would be acquired along Yellow Creek for the park. The park plans included a 740-acre lake and a beach, bath house, picnic areas and other amenities, which were finally developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

On July Fourth 1976, Yellow Creek State Park was formally dedicated and Indiana County finally had its own state park. Yet, by that time Indiana County had already spent eleven years developing its own county parks. If the state had followed through on the 1930s rumor to build a state park, there is the possibility that future efforts to build a county park system in Indiana County may have been unwarranted or politically impractical.

A First County Park Effort Fails In 1938, a proposal was advanced to have the County acquire the Indiana County Fairgrounds which was offered by the Mack Family to the County at cost. An effort to raise $40,000 through the subscription sale of $50 bonds fell $20,000 short. In 1939, the matter was put to a vote of the County Commissioners and failed by a 2-1 margin. An Indiana Evening Gazette editorial advocated for a re-vote on the county park issue. The Indiana County Chamber of Commerce also urged a re-vote and recommended its approval. But a second vote by the County Commissioners in March 1939 also failed to gain approval. After the vote J.S. Mack stated, “Edgar and I bought the grounds at a Sheriff Sale to save them for the use of the people and maybe, someday they will be”.

Eventually the fairgrounds property included the J.S. Mack Community Center. In 1954, a million dollar swimming pool was built. Later improvements including a large picnic shelter, playground, water slide, tennis courts and skate park were developed under the guidance of the J.S. Mack Foundation, who continues to operate the park today. The swimming pool is now managed by the Indiana County YMCA. Prior to the YMCA’s involvement the pool was operated for many years by the Indiana Area Recreation & Parks Commission, under an agreement with the Mack Foundation.

The Indiana Area Recreation & Parks Commission was organized in 1956 to provide park and recreation programs to residents residing in the Indiana School District. The department is funded by the Indiana Area School 16

District, White Township and Indiana Borough. The department still exists; its focus is providing recreation programs.

Over the years there has been widespread confusion between the county park system (established as the Indiana County Parks & Recreation Commission in 1967 and known as Indiana County Parks & Trails since 2004) and the Indiana Area Recreation & Parks Commission (established in 1956).

They have always been two separate agencies with different missions and funding sources, but the similarity in the names was, and still is, confusing for many.

The Role of County Parks There are 3,141 counties in the United States. Nationwide about 1,200 of these counties have some type of county parks, county recreation department or a combination of both. Some counties offer extensive recreation programs, others like Indiana County Parks & Trails, are primarily natural-resource based, operating in a manner similar to state parks.

In Indiana County recreation programming has typically been left to the boroughs, townships and school districts. The county parks have sought to fill in the gaps by providing parks and other services, like environmental education, that are not offered by the local governments.

There has also been an effort to avoid duplicating services already being provided by other agencies and municipalities. Swimming is a good example - there are no swimming areas in the county parks because swimming is offered at several community pools, schools, the YMCA and Yellow Creek State Park.

In its early years the county did attempt to provide swimming at Cummings Dam at Blue Spruce Park but was unable to receive approval for a permit from the Department of Health. Eventually it was decided that providing swimming was not necessary since it was being offered at other locations within the county.

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Early view of Blue Spruce Park. The lake bed in middle right portion of the photo was graded to accommodate a swimming beach which was never utilized.

Photo: Willis Bechtel, Indiana Evening Gazette.

Early Stages: 1965 – 1975

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y the late 1950s Indiana County leaders and interested citizens began to consider the need for parks. By the early 1960s they had finally grown impatient with the state for the failing to build a state park in Indiana County.

The 1967 the Indiana County Open Space and Recreation Plan predicted that, “the need for additional recreation areas is expected to accelerate, the shorter work day, shorter work week and longer weekend, coupled with the rise in personal income and transportation improvements, will continue to place a heavier demand on government to provide recreation areas”.

Isadore Lenglet Guides Early Efforts Under the direction of Indiana County Planning Director Isadore Lenglet, detailed plans for the establishment of county parks surfaced in the county’s first overall comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan was completed in 1967 but the open space and recreation component of the plan had been completed several years before the plan’s final adoption.

The plan estimated there would be a need for 1,425 acres of park land and open space by 1980, based on a recommended standard of 15 acres of park land for each 1,000 residents. The County’s population by 1980 was predicted to be 95,000 – a population level that the County never quite achieved.

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Isadore Lenglet, as a professional planner, was keenly aware of the increasing demand for outdoor recreation taking place in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. He knew that federal and state funds would soon be available to allow the County to acquire and develop its first county parks. Mr. Lenglet, as the county’s chief planner, played an instrumental role in planning and leading the effort to acquire and develop the first county parks.

The first national review of outdoor recreation did not occur until the late 1950s. The Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC) was established in 1958 in response to a variety of outdoor recreation problems that arose during the postwar years. National recreation assessments have continued, though not on such a large scale, since the ORRRC released its 1962 report "Outdoor Recreation for America�. The ORRC Report, as it was known, provided the foundation for the development of many local outdoor recreation areas established throughout the United States in the 1960s, including Indiana County.

Among the ORRRC's notable accomplishments was increasing public awareness and concern for outdoor recreation beyond National Parks or National Forests. It was also the first official acknowledgment that outdoor recreation was a legitimate concern of the federal government. The ORRC Report led to the enactment of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the creation of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation. Funding for the LWCF came from a tax on off-shore oil production and provided important funding to help acquire and develop the county parks.

Funds were also provided by the Federal Open Space Program authorized in Title VII of the Housing Act of 1961. The Department of Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 increased funding for open space acquisition. In 1965 the County applied for two grants: $21,045 for acquisition of the Rayne Township Park (Blue Spruce Park) and $30,172 for acquisition of the 19

Burrell Township Park (Pine Ridge Park), along with a grant of $27,350 from the Land & Water Conservation Fund. These were the first grant funds secured to initiate the development of the Indiana County park system.

In the early 1960s three factors converged which ultimately lead Indiana County to establish its first county parks: (1) the construction of large coal fired power plants and the rebirth of the coal industry meant that the county’s economy was booming and tax revenues were increasing – for a few years Indiana County had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, (2) the state and federal government were funding acquisition and development of parks for outdoor recreation at unprecedented levels, mainly through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and (3) county leaders, including Mr. Lenglet and Mr. Charles Potter, Chairman of the Indiana County Planning Commission were in place to advocate and encourage the Indiana County Commissioners to begin establishing county parks.

Mr. Potter, Chairman of R&P Coal Company, was in the unique position of not only advocating for parks but also being able to ensure that certain lands owned by Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company would remain available for purchase when park acquisition funds were forthcoming. Blue Spruce Park and Pine Ridge Park, acquired in the mid1960s, are largely comprised of former R&P Coal Company land.

Isadore Lenglet worked as the Indiana County Planning Director until 1969 and then continued a successful career in government and education. He worked at Indiana University of PA and later in the administration of Governor Richard Thornburgh. He eventually worked as a top administrator at Duquesne University and in other government positions. His time in Indiana County government, especially his foresight in encouraging the establishment of county parks for future generations, was productive and visionary. Anyone using the first three established county parks: Blue Spruce Park, Pine Ridge Park or Hemlock Lake owes a debt of gratitude to Isadore Lenglet for their existence. Mr. Lenglet also played a key role in having White Pine Park/Two Lick Reservoir added to the park system.

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Early plans included the creation of parks in three geographic locations: Pine Ridge Park in southern Indiana County, Blue Spruce Park in the central part of the county and Hemlock Lake in the north. By August 1965, the first land acquisition grants were approved for two parks, one park in Burrell Township (Pine Ridge) and a second park in Rayne Township (Blue Spruce). Project 70, a Commonwealth of PA bond program provided additional funding for these acquisitions, along with matching funds from the federal Land & Water Conservation Fund.

Another state bond issue, Project 500, provided development funds for facilities at several of the parks. Early acquisition and development projects effectively utilized federal and state matching funds. Indiana County’s own financial outlay to acquire and develop parks was reasonably small, compared to the federal and state commitment.

One misconception over the years has been that the R&P Coal Company donated the park lands to the County – all land for the two original county parks was purchased, not donated. The original acquisition for Blue Spruce Park totaled 373 acres, since then the park has expanded to 650 acres. Pine Ridge Park, at 618 acres, eventually expanded to 635 acres. Hemlock Lake, remains at 205 acres, since being purchased by the Commonwealth of PA for the PA Fish Commission.

Student Design Contest To solicit designs for Rayne Township Park and Burrell Township Park a contest was held between Penn State University students in landscape architecture and recreation. Judging of the entries, including detailed models of the park designs, took place at Cogswell Hall on the Indiana University of PA campus on June 1, 1966.

Joseph N. Cogley, who later served as the first agency director, was a member of the second-place design team for Blue Spruce Park. Several other members of the design teams went on to successful careers in parks with the state and federal government. The original design for both parks

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featured extensive facility development, much more than would ever be fully funded or built.

The winning design team for Rayne Township Park is depicted in this Indiana Evening Gazette photo – June 7, 1966.

Robert Fenton, a landscape architect from Pittsburgh, was hired to prepare the final plans for both parks. Fenton’s designs utilized many of the concepts in the student’s designs.

His most creative design component was the playground at Blue Spruce Park, known as ‘Fort Ernest’, a pioneer village. The playground included varying play levels and tower structures in a creatively landscaped setting. Eventually ‘Fort Ernest’ had to be dismantled to meet new playground safety guidelines, but in its original state, it was a unique play space.

The original Blue Spruce Park Playground was designed by Robert Fenton and featured multi-leveled play areas and climbing towers. It was a creatively designed play space.

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By Penn State StudentsSelect Top Proposals for Two County Parks The selection of the top two proposals for the development of two county parks was made yesterday. Prepared by senior architecture students, the proposals were judged following presentations yesterday on the Indiana University campus.

First prize in the Burrell plan was awarded to a team of students headed by Donald Bartoletti. Other members of the first place Burrell Park proposal were Frederick Hagy, Sally Roc, and William Robinson. The second place team was comprised of John Brown, Wilmer Burkhart, Robert McNarty and Mr. Wade.

First award for the Rayne Township Park was won by a team headed by Edward Bakunas. Others on the teams are Harold Black, David Earl, and Richard Sprenkle. Second award winners for the Rayne site were Norman Aubuchon, David Richards, James Lauderbaugh, Joseph Cogley and Wilmer Henninger.

First place award winners were presented with a $125 check and second place teams earned $75. The presentations were made by Commissioner Frank Barkley at a dinner conducted at Rustic Lodge.

The students at Penn State were asked to submit proposals for the development of the two park sites currently under preparation as a park of an Indiana County park system.

Indiana Evening Gazette - June 7, 1966

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First County Park Construction Begins By 1966, construction on the Rayne Township Park was underway, the first work involved repairs to Cummings Dam and clearing of the site. In 1967 work continued, much of it being done by workers provided from the Department of Public Assistance. A grant was also secured to allow eleven journeymen of Local #66 of the International Union of Operating Engineers to dig ditches, lay drain pipe and rough in the park roads.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND UNION ASSIST COUNTY PARK PROJECT-These men are being trained under a Federal Manpower Development Training Act grant to operate a new type of back hoe. Under the MDTA program, 11 journeymen, members of Local 68, International Union of Operating Engineers are learning how to operate the machine and at the same time, dig trenches and install drainage pipe at Indiana County’s new Rayne Township Park. They took a ‘break’ for the photographer, but then resumed their on-the-job training. (Indiana Evening Gazette photo by Willis Bechtel)

The park would not be officially known as Blue Spruce Park until 1968.

During its early years of construction, Mr. Clyde ‘Bony’ Clawson worked as the park supervisor overseeing the initial site clearing, construction of the park office and other duties.

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All three of the original county parks were named by the Indiana County Park Board after evergreen trees in honor of Indiana County’s claim as the ‘Christmas Tree Capitol of the World’. The Indiana County Christmas Tree Growers, under the leadership of Roy Fleming, donated the first blue spruce trees planted at Blue Spruce Park.

BURRELL TOWNSHIP COUNTY PARK PLANS

BY BILL GRAFF INDIANA GAZETTE STAFF WRITER STRANGFORD- Indiana County’s newest recreation facility-Burrell Township County Park-edges closer to reality following recent action by both the Indiana County Commissioners and County Planning Commission.

The 618-acre mountainous park located just east of Strangford sprawls between U.S. Route 22 and Township Road 724.

Developed as a cooperative effort on the county level utilizing both Federal Open Space Funds and State Land and Water Conservation monies, the park when completed in four years, will stand as $260,000 investment and will provide year around recreational facilities for an estimated 5,000 persons daily.

A series of 14 lakes ranging in size from one to three acres will be developed along two mountain streams. Four miles of roads will also be developed within the park.

Wading and fishing facilities will dot the large park and will complement many and varied facilities to be provided for recreation. The majority of land has been purchased and work will start early this year on roads and other early work necessary.

Ice skating facilities may be incorporated in the park to coincide with other winter activities planned. A rope ski tow will take skiers to the top of a 290foot-high peak for a fast trip down a 1,500-ft. ski slope. Designers also consider a stable and bridle trail for horseback riding.

Indiana Evening Gazette – January 28, 1967

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Work also began at the same time on the Burrell Township Park, later named Pine Ridge Park. The park officially opened on July 4, 1971. From 1972 to 1976 park employees worked on and off to construct Pine Lodge as funding became available. The lodge first opened for public use in 1976 and remains in use today.

The scope of development planned for Pine Ridge Park was far-reaching. A news article by Bill Graff of the Indiana Evening Gazette in January 28, 1967 outlined plans for fourteen small lakes, four miles of roads, a ski slope with rope tow, sixty-six trailer camper stalls, ice skating facilities, a horse stable and bridle paths and numerous picnic shelters among other proposals.

The idea of establishing a ski slope in Pine Ridge Park is not as far-fetched as it sounds. In the 1980s the firm Sno-Engineering from Salt Lake City, Utah conducted a preliminary study for the nearby Chestnut Ridge Inn Resort with an eye toward leasing the property for skiing and construction of a resort hotel on the property. The project never proceeded beyond an initial assessment.

PINE RIDGE PARK OPEN TO THE PUBLIC - Indiana County's newest park, Pine Ridge Park, opened to the public yesterday and is certain to become one of the most popular county recreation areas as development progresses. This 618 acre park is located three miles east of Blairsville just south of Route 22 at the base of Penn View Mountain.

Access is gained off old Route 22 east of the Strangford Road until the main entrance is completed. Visitors will see only the first stages of development, but this alone, as these scenes depict, will provide a beautiful respite from the rush of traffic and the congestion and noise of town life. Situated in a valley surrounded by towering trees, Pine Ridge Park was first called Burrell Township County Park. A series of dams form wading pools through the park, shaded by a multitude of trees.

Bill Graff, Indiana Evening Gazette - July 2, 1971.

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THE OLD DAM DOESN'T LOOK THE SAME! — Filled to capacity by heavy winter rain and snow runoff, the old Cummings Dam near Ernest sports its new concrete resurfacing. Gone is the eroded look of crumbling cement and stone. Now part of the new Rayne Township County Park, the dam once served to supply water for steam locomotives of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The Gunnite Corp. of Kansas City recently completed renovation of the dam. A new maintenance-administration building for the park is shown at upper right. Photo by Willis Bechtel, Indiana Evening Gazette – March 16, 1967

Plans for Hemlock Lake Announced In 1969, the County and the Pennsylvania Fish Commission announced plans to acquire and develop a 205-acre park with a 60 acre lake at Banks Township in northeastern Indiana County. Indiana County was originally expected to provide funding to help acquire and develop the park, but enough federal and state funding was available so that the County did not need to fund the acquisition or initial development of Hemlock Lake.

Hemlock Lake was eventually added to the county park system in 1972, with the signing of a 40-year lease agreement.

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In Banks Township Near SmithportCounty Taking Over Control of Fish Lake Indiana County Commissioners approved an agreement Wednesday with the Pennsylvania Fish Commission to assume operation of the new park and fish lake being constructed on Straight Run in Banks Township near Smithport. Under terms of the agreement a 40-year pact, the fish commission will underwrite cost of constructing the dam and then stock and manage the fish population in the 60-acre lake.

The county will assume maintenance and operating costs after the lake is completed in the 200-acre park, with the county to commence development of land surrounding the park “within a reasonable length of time.� The land will be a public park and no charge can be made for park use or fishing or boating purposes.

Motorboats will be restricted from the lake. The county may establish concession stands and other public-related services within the park according to the agreement. A Pittsburgh firm, EAL Construction Co., is currently at work building the dam.

Indiana Evening Gazette - August 7, 1969

The property is owned by the Commonwealth of PA. The park grounds and its facilities are maintained by Indiana County Parks & Trails, with the PA Fish & Boat Commission assuming responsibility for the earthen dam (Straight Run Lake) and the enforcement of fishing regulations. A twentyfive year extension of the lease was approved in 2012.

Parks & Recreation Commission Established By the late 1960s Indiana County was on its way to establishing an extensive county park system, being touted by some as one of the most ambitious in Pennsylvania and the eastern United States. To oversee its operation, the Indiana County Commissioners (Patrick Stapleton, William Fiscus, Sr. and William Jones) established the Indiana County Parks & Recreation Commission on July 7, 1967.

The first meeting of the commission was held on August 16, 1967 at the Planning Commission Office in Indiana. Members of the first county park board included: Will Torrance, Chairman; Dr. William Betts, Vice-Chairman; Frank Hood, Secretary; Clyde Haag; and Edwin M. Clark, Jr. The first items of 28

business were adoption of By-Laws and creation of a job description for the Parks and Recreation Director position. In 1968, Joseph Fry was selected to fill the position vacated by Mr. Haag.

The Commission is known today as the Indiana County Parks & Trails Advisory Board and continues to meet on a regular basis to oversee and guide the operations of the county parks and trail system. Eight citizen members, appointed by the Indiana County Commissioners, serve on the board for five-year terms.

In addition to developing its own parks, the County Park Board, based on its meeting minutes, also took a strong interest in advocating that recreational facilities be developed at Conemaugh Dam, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, for a brief time in the early 1970s both Indiana County and Armstrong County discussed a proposal to jointly operate a county park on property within the Mahoning Dam flood control area. The proposal did not advance beyond some early planning.

Joseph Cogley Hired as First County Park Director To provide professional management to the county parks, Joseph N. Cogley, a native of East Brady, PA was hired as the first full-time director of the agency in the spring of 1968. Mr. Cogley served as director until August 1978 and oversaw much of the first site improvements at Blue Spruce Park, Pine Ridge Park, Hemlock Lake and a new park initiated in 1969 known as White Pine Park/Two Lick Reservoir. After leaving Indiana County, Mr. Cogley worked for park systems in Des Plaines, Illinois; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Boca Raton, Florida. Mr. Cogley completed his park service career in 2010.

With ample grant funding and a strong commitment on the part of the county to ensure the park system was being properly developed, the early park facilities were constructed in a first-rate fashion. Several of the facilities developed in this era: the large pavilion at Blue Spruce Park, Pine Lodge at Pine Ridge Park and several park restrooms featured hand-laid stone. The facilities were developed along the same general theme to give the parks a similar overall appearance, featuring architecture of a modern ‘rustic’ design.

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Big Plans for White Pine Park/Two Lick Reservoir

Joe Cogley (on dock) inspecting Two Lick Reservoir in September 1970.

White Pine Park/Two Lick Reservoir was leased in 1969 by Indiana County from the Pennsylvania Electric Company and the New York State Electric and Gas Company, who built the reservoir to serve as a water supply for the Homer City Power Plant. The reservoir was also eventually used as the water supply for Indiana Borough and White Township.

The park contained 1,665 acres of land including 500 acres of water, making it the largest of the county parks at the time. It opened to the public in 1970.

There were extensive plans to develop White Pine Park into a major recreational facility for the county and the surrounding region. Two Lick Reservoir offered unlimited horsepower boating and water skiing on its nearly 5-mile long lake with 10 miles of shoreline.

A boat launch, large campground and fullservice marina were all included in the park’s original plans. The scope of the plans and proposed developments for White Pine Park were impressive - especially for a county the size of Indiana County.

William W. Jones, Sr., Chairman of the County Commissioners commenting about White Pine Park/Two Lick Reservoir: “This is no everyday occurrence. With proper restrictions this area has been turned over to the county at no cost to the taxpayers.”

Relating how industry not only looks for available labor, but also recreational facilities before locating in an area, Mr. Jones said the new county park will further enhance the county’s image as a desirable location for industry.

Bill Graff, Indiana Evening Gazette – August 8, 1969

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Park Zoning Ordinance Established By the early 1970s there were increasing concerns about the threat of outside development on the character and quality of the county parks. The opening of a surface coal mine, just outside the boundary of Pine Ridge Park, eventually lead to the establishment of zoning districts around the parks. The districts include buffer and conservation zones to protect the parks and their watersheds.

The Special Conservation and Recreation Zoning Ordinance was adopted in 1973 to protect Blue Spruce Park, Pine Ridge Park, Hemlock Lake and Yellow Creek State Park. Certain types of activities are prohibited within the two zones; a Zoning Hearing Board rules on appeals and requests for variances.

The ordinance falls under the jurisdiction of the Indiana County Office of Planning & Development.

The zoning ordinance has faced numerous legal challenges and has often been controversial. When it was first established there were no regulations in the ordinance concerning gas wells, which by the early 1980s became a significant land use issue during a major shallow gas well boom occurring in the County. Timbering and forestry activities on lands surrounding the parks have also been contentious issues.

The controversy over the ordinance has continued. In 2011 the drilling of Marcellus shale gas wells within the Yellow Creek State Park zoning district drew a great deal of attention and public comment on each side of the issue.

For many years the County Parks & Trails Department has recommended that the best long-term strategy to safeguard the county parks is to acquire the critical properties surrounding the parks that are needed to protect them. The acquisition of 230 acres of R&P Coal Company property next to Blue Spruce Park is an example of securing property to protect the park as much as possible from outside development, without relying on zoning.

Park Board and Staff Faces Early Challenges There were two persistent problems that plagued the agency during this time period, both at Blue Spruce Park. This included the inability to receive Department of Health permit approvals to offer swimming at the park and the persistent problem of water leaking from the lake behind Cummings Dam. The agency staff and park board spent a considerable amount of time 31

trying to resolve these two issues. Park board minutes and newspaper accounts from this era are filled with discussions of the board seeking help from professional consultants trying to find a solution to these problems.

Eventually, the plans to offer swimming were scrapped. Funding was secured to attempt to stop the leakage by applying a polymer/clay product to the lake bottom using a product manufactured by the Dow Chemical Company. However, the project never proceeded because the company would not guarantee that the product would work. The dam has had a leakage problem as far back as 1908 when it was first built by the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway. In 1912 the dam was enlarged so that the water capacity would be adequate to serve the railroad. The leakage problem still exists.

Even with these setbacks, this era was a high point in the agency’s early existence. The initial development of the first parks was nearly completed, park attendance was steadily increasing, the parks were gaining in popularity and the county was providing ample funding to staff, operate and develop the parks. But the fortunes of the county parks were to significantly change over the next several years.

Surviving the Downturn: 1976 - 1983

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eginning in 1976 the county park budget was significantly reduced over concerns that the county park system was growing too fast and would be unmanageable. By 1977, the fortunes of the revitalized coal industry took a dramatic downturn in Indiana County, causing considerable impacts on all levels of county government. The ripple effect of the closing of many mines and the resulting loss of thousands of mining jobs and had an economic impact that would take Indiana County many years to overcome.

Coal Mining Decline Affects County Indiana County went from having one of the nation’s lowest unemployment rates in the early 1960s to some of its highest unemployment rates by the late 1970s and early 1980s. By 1983 the official unemployment rate was over 13% and people began to leave the county in search of employment elsewhere. The loss of mining jobs and jobs in related industries, drastically

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affected the county’s tax revenues and its ability to continue to develop and operate its county park system.

Many early plans for the county parks had to be scaled back or scrapped entirely. At the same time the state and federal governments were reducing funding for parks. Indiana County had wisely taken advantage of the available funds in the 1960s and early 1970s – counties that did not missed the opportunity to secure significant state and federal funding. Planned recreation facility development was reduced, and the park development that did occur did not meet early expectations.

In many ways, the scaling back of park development plans had a beneficial long-term impact. The parks were left less developed, more rustic and more natural. The future cost to maintain the proposed developments would have been difficult to sustain. For example, the extensive plans for Pine Ridge Park could have never been realistically maintained by a limited park staff.

Another factor was also at work. Indiana County’s population in 1960 stood at 75,366; increased to 79,451 in 1970 and reached a peak in 1980 of 92,281. By 1990, the population declined to 89,994; in 2010, the population declined again to 88,880. The population growth of the county did not happen as predicted.

George Fatora Serves as Second Director After the resignation of Joseph N. Cogley as Director in August 1978, in part to protest dramatic cuts in county parks funding, George Fatora of Blairsville was appointed Director of the agency. Mr. Fatora had worked as a farmer, teacher, railroad worker and, beginning in the early 1970s, as the Pine Ridge Park Supervisor.

County park maintenance budgets were significantly reduced and staff positions eliminated by the County during Mr. Fatora’s reign. Mr. Fatora guided the county parks during his five-year tenure as Director by emphasizing cost savings and asking the remaining employees do what they could to keep the parks at least minimally operating. Mr. Fatora’s philosophy was summed up by the saying “make do or do without”. By the early 1980s, full-time positions at the county parks had been reduced by almost half of the early 1970s level.

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As early as 1976, one candidate for County Commissioner campaigned that Indiana County was ‘over parked’. By 1980-81, the county parks were in serious decline - there was growing dissatisfaction by some citizens who believed that the funding to create county parks may have been wasted.

Things were so desperate by 1981 that, without large equipment to mow with, the Blue Spruce Park maintenance staff was reduced to mowing all of the park’s extensive lawns with push mowers - which still ranks as one of the most remarkable maintenance feats ever undertaken by the agency.

County Cancels Lease at White Pine Park

By December 8, 1982 the low point had been reached - the lease at White Pine Park/Two Lick Reservoir was cancelled - the park would be closed as a cost-cutting measure and a concern over boater’s safety. Some limited development had taken place in the years the County operated the park, but not to the extent of the original expectations. The site is operated today by a private boating club, the Two Lick Recreation Association.

White Pine Park’s critical downfall was that it was leased and not owned by the County. Because the property was not owned by the County there was always a reluctance to develop the park for fear that the lease would be cancelled and money invested in the park would be lost.

Eventually there was widespread dissatisfaction Indiana Evening Gazette December 8, 1982 from the park’s users, especially those who purchased season boating passes and who had never witnessed much in the way of major improvements. Another management issue for the County was that the water level of the reservoir would drastically rise and fall causing safety concerns and often making the boat launch ramp unusable. This lead to pleas from season pass holders for the County to do something, or refund the season passes.

In its final year of operating the park the County eliminated the season passes; even though the daily launch fee increased from $3.50 to $7.00 per 34

boat people still came. A few years after the County ceased operations of the park a new water release plan for the reservoir was adopted - the water level does not fluctuate as greatly today.

Future of County Parks in Peril About this same time, closed door meetings were held that included serious discussions to dissolve the county park system due to the County’s economic difficulties. One proposal offered by a County Commissioner included cancelling the lease with the Commonwealth at Hemlock Lake and offering Blue Spruce Park and Pine Ridge Park to their respective local townships. If the townships were not interested in taking over the parks the county would close the parks. Somehow the county parks system survived and this drastic proposal was never made public.

The County Commissioner election of November 1983 would set the stage for a change of fortune and a rebirth of the county parks.

Rebuilding and Renewal: 1984 – 1994

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he Indiana County Commissioners election of November 1983 offered voters a choice of three new candidates and one incumbent. All three new candidates were elected, signaling a change in County leadership - a new direction and a generational shift for Indiana County government.

James McQuown, top vote getter in the 1983 election and a political newcomer, was twenty-eight years of age at the time. McQuown would go on to serve 18 years as an Indiana County Commissioner and played a vital role in revitalizing the county parks during his tenure in office.

New Commissioners Signal Change in Fortunes In January 1984 James McQuown, Beatrice States and Anthony Hewitt began their terms of office. From the beginning of their terms all three Commissioners knew that the County parks were in poor condition, had been neglected and a major effort would be needed to turn things around.

The county parks staff was encouraged to apply for grant funding to assist the county’s efforts - something the agency had been denied doing for several years under the previous Board of Commissioners. The 1983 Commissioners election was a watershed moment for the agency that

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helped preserve the county parks and lead to major improvements and an expansion of the park system.

A Dog Show Changes Public Perceptions In September 1984, the first Laurel Highlands American Kennel Club Dog Show was held at Blue Spruce Park under the direction of Club President, Merrily Duncan. Mrs. Duncan had worked at White Pine Park as a student and through her familiarity with Blue Spruce Park she thought the park had potential as an attractive site for a dog show. Little did anyone know at the time that a dog show would provide a major assist in improving the agency’s fortunes.

The dog show was held at the park each September for the next 22 years. It was an important and well-attended special event that helped change perceptions of the public about the park, the agency’s overall image and its ability to deliver quality visitor services.

The sixth annual Fall show, sponsored by the Laurel Highlands Kennel Club, will be held Sept. 10 at Blue Spruce Park, Ernest. Participating in last year’s award ceremony are from left, Robert J. Moore, Best in Show judge; Mr. Garnett; Ch. Alderhemi’s Rampage; Queen Evergreen XXV Christine Kunkle; Joan Rea, show chairwoman; and Victor Clementz, working group judge. Indiana Evening Gazette August 30, 1980.

The show had to relocate to another park because the number of dog owners and their motor homes eventually exceeded the park’s physical capacity. During its run, the dog show had broad support from the community and became a very effective way to showcase the Blue Spruce Park each fall.

PCC Revitalizes County Park System Park maintenance budgets were increased during this era. Ironically, the County’s poor economic condition turned out to be its saving grace, as far as the county parks were concerned. In response to persistent economic problems statewide the state legislature and Governor Robert P. Casey 36

created the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps (PCC) to provide employment and training to unemployed youths.

Patterned after the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, the PCC program helped revitalize, upgrade and modernize the county park system. Because of the county’s high unemployment rate, especially among young adults 18 to 21 years of age, the PCC program was uniquely tailored to help achieve two goals: put young people to work and in the process help rebuild the county park system.

Indiana County’s first two PCC projects began in 1984: the construction of Blue Spruce Lodge and a stream restoration/fish habitat project on Tom’s Run at Pine Ridge Park. In later years other PCC projects included the construction of the Blue Spruce Park Lakeside Center (1987), the construction of the Dilltown Access Area at the Ghost Town Trail (1992), improvements to Hemlock Lake’s facilities, major upgrades to the park maintenance centers, new hiking trails, restrooms, playgrounds and the construction of several pavilions throughout the park system to provide much needed sources of new revenue.

From 1984 through 1994 ten PCC projects were completed. By the early part of the 1990s, the entire existing county park system had been almost completely rebuilt, and several new major facilities were in place. This tenyear period was one of the most significant and productive in the entire history of the county park system, at least matching the early years when the parks were first acquired and initially developed. The new and upgraded facilities, in concert with a new emphasis on better and more frequent park maintenance, lead to increased park attendance and renewed support from the public.

Eventually, almost all the county parks benefited from the PCC program.

Dozens of young people worked on the PCC projects - for many it was their first job. In later years, the corps members, much like their counterparts of the CCC era, made note of the importance the PCC experience played in their lives. The PCC program had a legacy from which today’s park users still benefit.

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Friends of the Parks Offers New Programming In 1985, the Friends of the Parks group began offering environmental education programs at the Indiana County Parks.

The Friends of the Parks program series was initiated by Joanne Henry of Indiana, PA who had offered a series of ‘Nature in the Park’ programs at Yellow Creek State Park in 1984, under the auspices of the Indiana County Botanical Society and other partners. After expanding the program offerings to the Indiana County Parks in 1985, Joanne established a formal organization, Friends of the Parks, to oversee and operate the expanding program series.

The Friends of the Parks programs have attracted many new people to the county parks over the years. The annual maple sugaring program, held in March each year, is one of the most popular programs in the series.

The Friends of the Parks series continues to operate under the direction of a board of volunteers who provide a variety of free environmental education programs to the public, all under its original mission: ‘Learning More About Our Environment’.

Joanne Henry, founder of Friends of the Parks.

Few counties in Pennsylvania have the environmental program offerings that are available to visitors to Indiana County Parks & Trails and Yellow Creek State Park. As a volunteer organization, Friends of the Parks provides a valuable service that does not require funding from the county parks budget. Other than providing the use of the county park facilities to host the programs, the entire program series is financially supported by the members of Friends of the Parks.

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America’s Industrial Heritage Project In response to the economic downturn of the 1980s, U.S. Representative John P. Murtha asked the National Park Service to conduct an inventory of significant historic tourist attractions in a ninecounty region of southwestern PA. The outcome of the inventory was the creation of America’s Industrial Heritage Project (AIHP) which began efforts to preserve and promote heritage attractions in the region and, in turn, stimulate the region’s economy. Because of Congressman Murtha’s seniority and membership on the Congressional Appropriations Committee a significant amount federal dollars began to flow into the region.

AIHP was routinely skewered by the national media, particularly the Boston Globe newspaper, as an expensive ‘pork barrel project’ of little value.

Congressman Murtha steadfastly supported the project and advocated for its federal funding. Ironically, in later years the federal government would establish over forty heritage areas throughout the United States, using AIHP as one of its models. The AIHP program eventually fell under the guidance of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission. The State of Pennsylvania also established its own heritage park areas in the intervening years.

Ghost Town Trail Expands County Parks Reach An outgrowth of AIHP study was a plan to convert numerous abandoned railroads in the region into bicycling and walking trails. Funding for trail master plans and construction became available. Although trail funding never approached what was offered to other heritage projects in the AIHP region, the trails have proven to be one of the most cost-effective and lasting legacies of AIHP. In Indiana County the Ghost Town Trail, Eliza Furnace Historic Site and Hoodlebug Trail all received initial funding support from AIHP.

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In 1991, the Joseph and Judy Kovalchick Family of Indiana, PA donated sixteen miles of abandoned railroad in Indiana and Cambria Counties which, by 1994, became the Ghost Town Trail. By 2009 the entire Ghost Town Trail network was completed, totaling 36 miles. Without the Kovalchick Family’s donation it is unlikely that the Ghost Town Trail would have ever been built.

Setting the Armerford Bridge, 2009. The installation of this bridge provided the final missing link in the Ghost Town Trail.

The bridge is made from nine 25-foot long segments that were bolted together and then set in place with a large crane.

The Ghost Town Trail attracts thousands of visitors each year and has a significant economic impact for regional tourism. The Ghost Town Trail will be covered more extensively later in the book. The trail was an important project that extended the county park’s reach into new areas of the county and, ultimately, lead to several other new initiatives.

C&I Trail Council Spurs Grassroots Effort An important component of the trails effort was provided by the Cambria & Indiana Trail Council, under the leadership of Laurie Lafontaine. The trail council helped stimulate and organize the grass roots efforts that lead to the successful completion of both the Ghost Town Trail and the Hoodlebug Trail. The council still exists and continues their efforts to create a fully connected trail system throughout the region.

Ghost Town Trail Bridge at Vintondale.

The renovation of this former railroad bridge by the U.S. Army 458th Engineer Battalion of Indiana, PA was the first project completed at the trail.

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New Initiatives: 1995 – 2011

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he Ghost Town Trail had a synergistic effect on the park system.

Meetings with various organizations, groups and interested individuals during the trail’s establishment eventually lead to several new initiatives and a major expansion of the county park system.

Major Donations Increase Park Acreage In December 1995, the County Park system received two generous land donations increasing the county park acreage by 713 acres and resulting in the establishment of the county’s first two natural areas.

David and Penny Russell were Quaker Valley school teachers who had retired to the Stephenson farm near Dilltown, Penny’s family homestead.

Through their involvement in establishing the Dillweed Bed & Breakfast, along the Ghost Town Trail, and their life-long interest in conservation and the outdoors, the Russells decided to preserve their property for future generations to enjoy. Their donation of 675 acres of woodland and forested wetland in Buffington Township resulted in the establishment of the Blacklick Valley Natural Area.

At the same time the Keystone-Conemaugh Group, owners of the Conemaugh Generating Station, donated Buttermilk Falls to the County, a 48-acre tract in West Wheatfield Township. The property had been acquired by the power plant owners in the early 1960s.

People had always visited the falls, even as far back as the early 1900s when it was known as Aurora Falls, but the transfer of the property to the county parks assured that it would remain open to the public. Since the donation of the property the county has added several new facilities and improvements to the site - it remains, as always, a popular place to visit.

December 19, 1995 is regarded as one of the most memorable in the history of Indiana County Parks & Trails. At a simple ceremony, on a snowy day at the Dillweed Bed & Breakfast, the County Commissioners and county park staff met to thank David and Penny Russell and Mr. Ed Horel, representing the Keystone-Conemaugh Group, for their generous donations to the people of Indiana County.

The establishment of the Ghost Town Trail created renewed interest in starting a similar trail in the Indiana-Homer City area. After completing a 41

trail master plan in 1995 the county began efforts to acquire the former Pennsylvania Railroad property and convert it into a bicycle-pedestrian trail.

The project was first known as the Indiana to Homer City Bicycle/Pedestrian Trail.

Hoodlebug Trail Established In August 1998, the trail was named the Hoodlebug Trail after a ‘name the trail’ contest was held. By the year 2000 the first six miles of the trail were open for use. In 2005, during the reconstruction of Route 119, the trail was extended further south another four miles to Burrell Township. In 2010 the final connection linking the Hoodlebug Trail and the Ghost Town Trail at Saylor Park in Black Lick was completed. The Ghost Town Trail and Hoodlebug Trail are a combined 42 miles in length, joining the county seats of Indiana and Ebensburg. The trail also offers a physical symbol of the hardearned efforts of many people to provide a quality trail system in our region.

Festival of Lights Attracts New Visitors In 1992, another new programming initiative began – the Festival of Lights at Blue Spruce Park. Christine Brownlee, Indiana County Tourist Bureau Director at the time and Lori Hunter of the Best Western Inn approached the park staff in the spring of 1992 with an idea to start a lights festival at the park in an effort to improve tourism to the County during the holiday season. A fund-raising campaign was initiated by the Tourist Bureau resulting in $10,000 in donations from community partners for the first lights festival. Students at Indiana High School, Indiana County Vo-Tech School, United High School and other schools constructed some of the festival’s first displays.

The first lights festival attracted many visitors and demonstrated the event’s potential as a holiday attraction. The lights festival was one of several community events that operated under the theme ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, after the movie starring Jimmy Stewart, an Indiana, PA native son. A ‘Wonderful Life’ committee comprised of members from throughout the Indiana community met for several years through the 1990s to plan and implement several other special events, including a 1996 reunion of several of the 42

surviving cast members of the movie.

The county parks maintenance staff has worked on the lights festival since its inception: installing the lights, building and maintaining displays and operating the festival on a day-to-day basis. The event continues under the overall direction of the county parks. The Indiana County Tourist Bureau assists with promotion of the event and the festival sponsorship program.

The Festival of Lights is a significant undertaking for the county park employees.

Installation of the event begins in mid-October.

It is usually early February before the event tear-down is complete and planning for the next festival begins again. The festival has become a popular holiday tradition for county residents and visitors from the region. Since its inception over 250,000 people have visited the lights festival – on November 26, 2011 a ceremony was held to welcome the 250,000th visitor to the festival.

New Sites Added to County Park System Other sites added to the county park system during this era include: Tunnelview Historic Site, Eliza Furnace Historic Site, Buena Vista Historic Site, Old Smicksburg Park and the Waterworks Conservation Area.

The historic sites represented a new initiative for the county parks. While all of the parks have historic components, these sites were established with a primary focus on their historic resources, such as the iron furnaces, tunnels and the Pennsylvania Canal. Old Smicksburg Park is a significant historic site that also includes outstanding natural features, due to its location along Little Mahoning Creek.

Tunnelview Historic Site is another park that owes its existence to the AIHP project period. The 16-acre site preserves historic features relating to transportation history, i.e., railroads and the canal. The site was acquired by donation from the Tunnelton Mining Company, through the efforts of 43

Clarence Stephenson, Indiana County Historian; David Bishop, at the time, manager of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Conemaugh River Lake and William Dzombak, a canal historian and volunteer at the Conemaugh Dam. Ironically, although developed as an historic site, today the site is used most frequently for another type of transportation – as a launch area for kayaks and canoes on the Conemaugh River.

Old Smicksburg Park was added to the county park system in 2010.

Two historic iron furnaces, both dating from the 19th century, were added to the park system through leases with the Cambria County Historical Society (for Eliza Furnace) and the Indiana County Historical and Genealogical Society (for Buena Vista Furnace).

In 2007 the county parks assumed responsibility for maintaining the County’s four remaining covered bridges. The covered bridges had always been owned by the County, but with the bypassing of three of the bridges with new modern bridges the responsibility for maintaining the covered bridges had been overlooked. As historic and tourism resources the inclusion of the covered bridges into the county parks maintenance program made a good fit. A covered bridge committee was appointed by the County Commissioners (Ruddock, Frick, Evanko) to help oversee the future maintenance and preservation of the covered bridges.

The Waterworks Conservation Area represented a new type of initiative – reclaiming a former mine site for recreation and conservation purposes. The project was a joint effort on the part of the Indiana County Conservation District, Indiana County Parks & Trails, PA Department of Environmental Protection, Ken Sink Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Indiana County Airport Authority (for wetlands mitigation from the Jimmy Stewart airport runway expansion), Indiana University of PA Department of Geography and Regional Planning, and other groups.

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Staying the Course: 2012 – 2019

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uring the years 2012 to 2019 the park system added one new site: the Blairsville Riverfront Trail. Development of the trail was a cooperative project of the Blairsville Community Development Authority, Blairsville Borough, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and many community volunteers and trail advocates. Linda Gwinn, a member of the Park Advisory Board, played a key role in the establishment of the trail.

The 2-mile long trail follows the path of the Conemaugh River as it traces the outskirts of Blairsville.

The trail has proven to be very popular and is one part of an on-going overall effort to revitalize Blairsville Borough. Other efforts continue to link Blairsville to the greater regional trail system.

Acreage added to the park system during this era, included a 6-acre addition to the Blacklick Valley Natural Area, via a donation from the heirs of Bertrand Russell, a 25-acre addition to Pine Ridge Park added to the park to account for land converted for a natural gas pipeline and a 4-acre addition to the Ghost Town Trail known as the Claghorn Wetlands. Funds from the pipeline right-of-way fee were used to purchase the land.

While funding for the park system remained stable the creation of the Park Enterprise Fund provided a new method and new strategy for funding the parks. The Park Enterprise Fund is derived from revenues collected from park rentals, right-of-way fees and other sources of income.

Prior to the establishment of the Park Enterprise Fund all revenue that the county parks collected were deposited into the County’s General Fund.

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Earmarking the revenues specifically for the parks has stabilized the agency’s funding, allowed it to be less reliant on general tax allocations and has provided an entrepreneurial incentive to generate revenue. Proceeds from the fund are used to upgrade facilities, purchase equipment and provide for other improvements. More importantly, the establishment of the fund has changed the mindset of the agency and allows it to function more like a business with incentives to generate revenue that will improve park facilities and services.

One important loss during this era was the elimination of the Blue Spruce Park Festival of Lights. Due to the cost of the event and the amount of time spent installing, operating and maintaining the light show (nearly four months each year) it was decided to discontinue the event after its 23 rd year. Although the event was popular, the revenue generated, typically about half of what it cost to operate, was not sufficient to keep the event operating.

One noticeable difference between the operation of the park system in this era versus previous eras is the reduced staffing levels. With modern equipment, especially faster and more efficient mowing equipment, the number of employees required in years past has decreased, while the number of park sites maintained has increased.

Early photo of Pine Ridge Park development, c. 1967.

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‘Maintenance First-of-All’ A core group of seven maintenance staff oversee 14 sites spread throughout the county.

Keeping our parks, trails and facilities in good condition has been a hallmark of our first 50 years. Our employees take pride in offering parks and trails that are clean, open and safe so that our visitors will enjoy the time they spend here.

Most of the county park maintenance crew have been employed for many years; the knowledge and skill they have acquired over the years is a key reason how the crew maintains so many widespread sites throughout the county at a very high level of efficiency.

Memorial Park was added to the county park system in 1978. Many improvements have been made to the park since then, along with a dedicated maintenance program to keep this highly visible park in good condition.

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Indiana County’s Best Idea By 2011, the Indiana County Park system totaled nearly 2,500 acres at fourteen different locations.

Encompassing regional parks, natural areas, regional trails, covered bridges and historic sites, the park system represents one of the most extensive and diverse county park systems in Pennsylvania. No county in Pennsylvania of similar population, and many that are significantly more populated than Indiana County, can claim as diverse and unique a park system as exits here.

The writer Wallace Stegner once wrote that the national parks were ‘America’s best idea’. Looking back over Indiana County’s history since the 1960s some may say that establishing the county parks was one of Indiana County’s best ideas and has proven to be one of its most popular decisions.

Indiana County government provides a wide array of services, but county parks and trails likely serve more people directly than any other county agency. Visitation to the county park system approaches 300,000 visits annually. Since the opening of the first county park, the public has returned, year after year, to these special places - Indiana County’s very own places.

Early morning winter sunrise at Blue Spruce Park. A thin layer of ice covers the waters of Cummings Dam.

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Boating at Blue Spruce Park was once a popular activity.

Many groups have contributed to improving the parks over the years.

Family gatherings are a popular activity at the county parks.

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Timeline for Indiana County Parks & Trails 1803 1800s 1800s 1908 1912 1920s 1930s 1938 1940 1950s 1954 1956 1960s 1963 1965 1965 1966 1967 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1971 1971 1972 1975 1976 1976 1976 1977 1978 1978 1980 1982 1983

Indiana County created Leisure activities combine work with play Picnic groves, fairs, large outdoor social outings popular throughout Indiana County BR&P Railroad constructs Cummings Dam BR&P Railroad enlarges Cummings Dam Trolley parks, private parks at peak popularity in County CCC Camps established in Indiana County Acquisition of Indiana Fairgrounds as first County Park fails James Kendrick drowns at Cummings Dam State Park again proposed for Indiana County Mack Park established Indiana Area Recreation & Parks established County Planning Office, residents discuss creating parks Yellow Creek State Park property acquired State/federal grants approved to acquire county park land Initial clearing work at Blue Spruce Park, Pine Ridge Park Penn State students compete in park design contest Indiana County Parks & Recreation Commission established PA Fish Commission acquisition of Straight Run Dam land Joseph N. Cogley hired as first Director of agency Lease agreement for White Pine Park announced White Pine Park/Two Lick Reservoir opened Hemlock Lake and White Pine Park Master Plans completed Surface mining outside of Pine Ridge Park Pine Ridge Park officially opens on July 4th Hemlock Lake, 40 year lease agreement with PFC approved County park operation budget reaches $225,000 Pine Lodge completed Yellow Creek State Park officially opens on July 4th County park budget significantly reduced High unemployment period begins due to loss of mining jobs Joseph N. Cogley, Director resigns, George Fatora hired Memorial Park added to county park system ‘Kill for Thrill’ murder at Blue Spruce Park White Pine Park/Two Lick Reservoir leased cancelled Election brings three new County Commissioners to office 50

1983 1984 1984 1985 1985 1987 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2003 2003 2004 2005 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2010 2010 2011 2011 2012 2012

George Fatora retires, Ed Patterson hired as third Director Laurel Highlands Kennel Club Dog Show, Blue Spruce Park First PA Conservation Corps grants approved Friends of the Parks begins offering programs at county parks Blue Spruce Lodge completed Blue Spruce Lakeside Center completed Kovalchick Family donates Ghost Town Trail property Festival of Lights begins Ghost Town Trail Master Plan completed Ghost Town Trail officially opens, first 16 miles complete Blacklick Valley Natural Area and Buttermilk Falls donations Eliza Furnace leased from Cambria County Historical Society Tunnelview Historic Site opens Hoodlebug Trail named Red Mill Bridge completed at the Ghost Town Trail Rexis Br. Hoodlebug Trail opens 230 acres of former R&P land added to Blue Spruce Park Route 119 expansion, Hoodlebug Trail extension announced Norfolk Southern Railroad donates 13 miles of railroad property to add to Ghost Town Trail, Black Lick to Dilltown Indiana County celebrates its Bicentennial Fred Rogers dies, memories of Buttermilk Falls recalled Agency name changed to ‘Indiana County Parks & Trails’ Hoodlebug Trail completed with addition of Route 119 extension Additional 20 miles of Ghost Town Trail opens Buena Vista Furnace leased from Indiana County Historical & Genealogical Society Covered Bridges added to county park system Park Enterprise Fund and Park Legacy Fund established All 36 miles of Ghost Town Trail connected with installation of two bridges at Dilltown Hoodlebug Trail connected to Ghost Town Trail Waterworks Conservation Area completed Ghost Town Trail guidebook published Festival of Lights welcomes 250,000th visitor Hoodlebug Trail Guidebook published Hemlock Lake lease agreement extended for 25 years Blairsville Riverfront Trail opens 51

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Cumming Dam geotechnical study initiated Final season of Festival of Lights at Blue Spruce Park Sunoco Pipeline easement granted at Pine Ridge Park Twenty-five acres of land added to Pine Ridge Park; four acres to Ghost Town Trail 50th Anniversary of Indiana County Parks & Trail Buttermilk Falls Bridge and Step project completed Ghost Town Trail – 25th Anniversary

Photos top to bottom: (1) Pine-ees Camping Club planting flowers at an annual workday (2) Friends of the Parks programs are popular (3) the late Paul Winkelman with Steve Walters in background, both men served as Pine Ridge Park supervisors (4) Festival of Lights baseball scene, one of the most popular displays in the early years of the festival.

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Blue Spruce Park Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

Rayne Township, 6 miles north of Indiana, PA 1128 Blue Spruce Road, Indiana, PA 15701 40° 41´ 20.682” N 78° 59´ 40.925” W 650 acres, including a 12-acre lake A multi-purpose park that provides fishing, hiking, picnicking, pavilions, lodges and special events.

Cummings Dam, c. 1908 - John Busovicki Collection

Cummings Dam and Early History

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he park traces its establishment to the construction of Cummings Dam in 1908. The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway first constructed a dam on Getty Run in 1908. The dam was built to provide a source of clean water for the train’s engine boilers.

After nearby Crooked Creek was polluted by acid mine water, a clean water supply was needed; otherwise the boilers would be damaged from the acid water, resulting in costly repairs. Cummings Dam and many other similar smaller dams were constructed throughout western PA in the early 1900s as the coal boom took off.

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Cummings Dam was enlarged in 1912 by the Cummings Water Company, a subsidiary of the BR&P Railway, to its present size to provide more water to supply the train locomotives. Due to water leaking through the shale rock bottom of the lake bed the original dam could not be relied on to have enough capacity to serve the railroad. The 1912 work involved capping the existing dam by adding an additional eight feet in height to the existing structure to increase the capacity of the dam.

Beneath the lake Cummings Dam has a layer of shale bedrock about 35 feet thick. Although coal mining never occurred under the lake bed it did occur in the area around the perimeter of the lake. As the water in the mine pool drops in the summer months the water in the lake bed begins to drain through tiny crevices in the shale rock. The result is a setting a geologist described as “not the ideal place to construct a dam�.

Cummings Dam at top and Ernest Borough at bottom,1939 aerial photo.

According to the geology report by D’Appolonia Engineers, Cummings Dam is located on the maturely dissected Appalachian Plateau. The dam is located on the strata of the Conemaugh Formation of Pennsylvania. The Conemaugh is composed of layers of sandstone, siltstone, claystone, limestone and coal. Deep mining in the Upper Freeport coal occurred, but undermining of the dam and reservoir did not.

The dam is a boulder concrete structure 455 in length. The spillway height is 29 feet with a top width of 6 feet. The spillway is 58 feet in length. The original gate valves were replaced in 2009 at a cost of $142,000. New valve stems and gates were installed at the bottom of the valve house and concrete repairs were made to the dam parapets. These were the first major repairs to the dam since 1966.

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In the early 1900s, the area surrounding Cummings Dam was mostly pasture land. Historic aerial photos of the park property show that the property has been substantially reforested over the past 75 years. An early photo of the site, taken sometime after 1912, shows large fields with very few trees on the property. A farm house, spring house and barn appear in the photo, along with a second house on the hill above the park. This second house was located on the Lezanic property, part of a 41-acre parcel acquired by the County in the early 1980s. The foundation of this house remains, just off the Vista Ridge Trail.

In this photo (c. 1913), the lake level extends much further up the valley than it does today. It is thought that the railroad may have manipulated the height of the spillway to allow more water to back up, thus increasing the dam’s capacity. In the intervening years the upper end of the lake has silted up and the overall capacity of the lake has decreased. Today the lake is estimated to be about 12 acres of its original 17 acres.

Cummings Dam was named for A.E. Cummings, a former landowner of the surrounding property. Two different spellings of the dam have been used over the years, Cummings with a ‘g’ and Cummins without the ‘g’. Early railroad documents list the spelling as Cummings.

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Early view of Ernest, PA (1905) – located just over the hill from Cummings Dam. Photo: IUP Special Collections & Archives.

Construction drawing of Cummings Dam showing plan of proposed addition of a concrete cap to increase the dam’s capacity, 1912.

As soon as it was completed, people began to visit Cummings Dam for swimming, fishing and picnicking. In the early part of the 1900s, the BR&P Railway reportedly stopped at the nearby Cummings Railroad Yard to allow passengers to disembark for the short walk to the dam, to picnic and enjoy the day.

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BR&P Volunteer Fire Company at Cummings Yard

The Cummings Yard, located between Creekside and Chambersville, had a large water tower that was gravity fed by a pipeline from the dam. The Cummings Yard had a volunteer fire company - many of the last names of the firemen can still be found in residents of the local area. A small collection of houses located on the current park property housed the railroad yard workers. Remains of the outhouse pits for the homes are still evident. A sawmill also operated at one time in the clearing below the dam.

In 1932, the BR&P Railway was acquired by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

The railroad hauled coal from the area’s mines and coke from its coke ovens, primarily to markets in Buffalo and Rochester, New York. Passenger train service was also provided to distant cities and to vacation spots like Niagara Falls.

The B&O Hoodlebug with attached mail car - John Busovicki Collection.

The Hoodlebug, the local name for a gas powered motor car, ran on the B&O line and offered local service between Indiana and Punxsutawney until 1952. The Hoodlebug also transported mail and supplies in a separate 58

attached car. Another Hoodlebug ran on the Pennsylvania Railroad between Indiana and Blairsville. The Hoodlebug Trail, a 10-mile rail-trail located between Indiana and Black Lick, PA, is named after the PRR Hoodlebug.

Tragedy struck at Cummings Dam on Sunday August 18, 1940 when James Kendrick, a fourteen-year-old youth from nearby Chevy Chase, drowned on an afternoon outing. The Indiana Evening Gazette covered the drowning in an extensive article printed the next day: “Unable to swim, James Kendrick, 14-year-old Chevy Chase Negro, despite warnings from companions, jumped into the deep waters of the Cummings Dam of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, near Ernest yesterday afternoon and drowned. Only the youth's arms came near enough to the surface to be visible after the plunge, his companions said. The body was recovered in 10 feet of water.�

The two photos show onlookers standing on Cummings Dam in the upper photo and on the dam and shoreline in the bottom photo. Indiana Evening Gazette, August 19, 1940.

A large crowd, many in their Sunday best clothes, gathered to watch the four-hour search and recovery of the body. The body was eventually snared by a fisherman and brought to the surface. After the funeral service at the

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Church of the Living God in Chevy Chase, James Kendrick was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Indiana.

In the 1940s, Cummings Dam was patrolled by a night watchman because of concerns that the dam could be subject to a potential terrorist attack during WWII. The area’s coal mines and coke ovens, critical for the region’s steel mills, were vital for the war effort.

Walter Lewis, the night watchman, patrolled from a small shed overlooking the dam, near the location of the present-day park office. Several rows of sugar maple trees, located below the dam, were reportedly planted by Mr. Lewis. Each spring and fall the sugar maples provide a colorful backdrop to the dam and serve as reminder of a time when the dam played a part in the war effort.

Keeping people away from Cummings Dam and off the site was always a problem for the railroad company.

B. & O. Warns of Trespassing At Cummings Dam D.S. Shea, captain of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Police today warned residents in the northern section of the county in the Cummings Dam area, between Ernest and Chambersville, that persons found trespassing on the Dam property will be prosecuted.

He reported that large numbers of persons have been using the dam for fishing and swimming and are trespassing on B. & O. property. The dam is a part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad property and water held there is used for water engines.

The property has been posted with No Trespassing signs, Shea said, and will be reposted since vandals have torn the old markers down. He also reported that the gate house on the dam had been broken open by vandals recently. The police captain reiterated that, having warned the residents of area who use the dam for fishing and swimming, the next time anyone is caught trespassing they will be arrested.

Indiana Evening Gazette, July 3, 1946

The company routinely issued notices and published warnings in local papers requesting that trespassers stay off the property. Nonetheless, people still came despite the warnings - water is always an attraction.

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On June 23, 1944, a severe tornado passed over a wide area of Indiana County, including Cummings Dam. The tornado destroyed many trees on the property and blew a railroad caboose car off the railroad tracks near Chambersville, not far from Cummings Dam. Two employees of the B&O Railroad, David Potts and Lewis Grube, were slightly injured while riding in the caboose.

The tornado destroyed over forty properties in the County, including many homes and barns, and knocked down or damaged numerous trees. The Indiana Evening Gazette reported that “the fine way in which neighbors and friends have come to the assistance of those in trouble is a fine testimonial to the kind of people who inhabit Indiana County.”

Indiana County became involved with the site in 1965 when the first funds were secured to acquire 377 acres for a county park. This included 143 acres originally owned by the railroad, but by then, owned by Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company. The price paid for the original 377 acres of the property was about $53 an acre – a remarkable bargain considering the value of the park to the county and its residents over the years.

In 2001 an additional 230 acres of property were acquired from R&P for the price of $800 an acre, half of the acquisition cost was paid by a grant from 61

the PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources. The park now totals 650 acres, or a little more than one square mile.

By the spring of 1966, workers employed by Operation Mainstream, a federal employment program, began clearing the site and initiating the first efforts to establish the park.

Many of the workers were chronically unemployed men. Several of the workers: James Wagner, Harry Treese and Harry Patterson, were eventually hired as full-time employees by the County and became the first maintenance crew at the park. Clyde “Bony’ Clawson served as the first park maintenance supervisor.

Photo: Tom Peel, Indiana Gazette.

The park was known as Rayne Township Park until the name Blue Spruce Park was chosen by the Indiana County Park Board in September 1968. The park name was selected in recognition of Indiana County’s claim as the ‘Christmas Tree Capital of the World’. Blue spruce trees were planted throughout the park as a primary landscape feature.

Repairs to Cummings Dam and dredging the lake bed were the first capital improvements completed at the park. Silt from the lake bed was used to create the expansive lawns surrounding the lake. Other early improvements included clearing picnic areas, building the park roads and parking lots, drilling water wells and constructing the park office, restrooms and first large pavilion. An area of the park was cleared for a planned ski slope and sledding run, which were never developed.

A playground was completed by 1972. Joseph N. Cogley, director of the agency at the time, spent a considerable amount of time in community outreach, speaking to various groups and organizations to garner public support for the new park system. A special effort was made to encourage area elementary schools to sponsor field trips to the park. The strategy was that once kids came to the park with their school they would convince their 62

parents to return at another time – it worked. Park attendance increased each year as word of the park and its development spread among the county’s residents.

Volunteers at work on a landscaping project at the entrance to Blue Spruce Park.

Photo: Indiana Evening Gazette, c. 1970.

The amount of proposed development for the park was extensive.

Numerous picnic pavilions, parking lots, ball fields, ski slope and ski lodge, tenting and trailer areas along with a cabin complex were all included in the original plans.

Probably the most sought after and time consuming improvement attempted at the park was the effort to provide swimming in Cummings Dam. A shallow beach and wading area were constructed when the lake bed was dredged, but ultimately the County could never get approval from the PA Department of Health to allow swimming.

There just was not enough fresh water entering the lake to allow for safe bacteria levels for public swimming. Once the water level drops below the spillway, which is does most years, there is not enough fresh water circulating in the lake to refresh the water. The County never considered building a swimming pool and, in time, enough swimming opportunities were available at other parks and pools in the County so that providing swimming was not necessary.

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Reading the Forested Landscape The first aerial photos of Indiana County were taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. In 1939 only one area of what now constitutes Blue Spruce Park was heavily forested. This is the area that surrounds where Blue Spruce Lodge is now situated. By 2010 the entire park property was mainly forested. The smaller clearings in the 2010 photo indicate the location of gas wells.

An interpretation of aerial photos of Blue Spruce Park shows that the property is much more forested now than it was in 1939 when the first aerial photo was taken.

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First of Three For County— Rayne Township Park Under Construction Indiana Evening Gazette, Tuesday, November 1, 1966

By BILL GRAFF, Indiana Gazette Staff Writer

Indiana County's recreational 'picture' gets brighter every day, thanks to several state, federal and Indiana County groups. While both Federal and State funds have been and are being utilized in land purchase and development, Indiana County Commissioners and the Indiana County Planning Commission deserve praise for their endeavors and manipulation of funds and manpower as work continues on Rayne Township County Park.

The first of three county parks—Rayne Township County Park—located six miles north of Indiana near Ernest, will probably be the first county park in use, possibly late next year. This 377-acre park will have an estimated value of $200,000 during the next four years according to Isadore Lenglet, Indiana County Planning Commission Director. Designed to accommodate at least 4,000 people, the park being constructed at the site of the former B and 0 Railroad's Cummings Dam will have facilities to accommodate 600 bathers in the water along a 300 x 125 foot beach; accommodate another 1,400 on the beach; 1,800 picnickers, and 200 others using nature study or hiking trails.

Fifty per cent of the funds for development work at R a y n e Township Park will come from the Land and Water Conservation program, a state administered federal program. This figure ($49,000) includes first year costs associated with preparation and restoration of the dam breast.

The late Bill Graff, Sr. was an Indiana Evening Gazette reporter who wrote many articles about the early development of the Indiana County park system.

Boat rentals were offered at the park for many years. Rowboats, canoes and eventually pedal boats were rented to the public from 1972 until 1998 when the rentals were discontinued due to lessening demand, the cost of operation and a concern about liabilities. Many high school and college students worked at the boat rental over the years enjoying a summer job in the scenic setting of the park. The rental operated each year from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.

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Above, a school group on an outing to the Blue Spruce Park boat rental. Students from Indiana Area School District and the Marion Center School District still visit the park on field trips. Photo: Indiana Evening Gazette, c. 1973.

Site of Tragic Murder Blue Spruce Park was the scene of a tragic murder in the early morning hours of January 3, 1980. On that day, John Lesko and Michael Travaglia, both 21, picked up William C. Nicholls, 32, of Mt. Lebanon at the Edison Hotel in Pittsburgh. Richard Rutherford, a 15-year old youth, also accompanied the group. Mr. Nicholls was an accomplished organist at St. Anne Church in Castle Shannon.

The group drove Mr. Nicholl’s new sports car to Indiana County. After spending several hours at the Rose Inn, a nearby tavern, they drove to Blue Spruce Park. Mr. Nicholls was bound and gagged in the vehicle trunk while they were inside the Rose Inn. In the early hours of January 3rd they pulled Mr. Nicholls from the car’s trunk, placed rocks gathered from along Groft Road into his jacket, and dropped him through the icy waters to drown. Mr. Nicholls body was recovered the next morning, after Lesko and Travaglia confessed to the murder and told the investigators where the body could be found. A team of search and rescue divers from the Indiana Fire Department pulled the 66

body from its location near the Cummings Dam spillway. The autopsy report indicated that Mr. Nicholls was still alive when he was dropped into the lake.

After leaving the park the trio headed to Apollo and baited Rookie Police Officer Leonard Miller to approach their car by speeding past him several times and running a red light. While approaching their stopped car Officer Miller was shot and killed.

Later that day Lesko and Travaglia were apprehended in Pittsburgh and began to tell their gruesome story of four murders in a span of eight days.

Peter Levato and Marlene Sue Newcomer were the first two victims in the string of murders that began on December 27, 1979 and became known as the “Kill for Thrill” murders.

How did the pair find or know about Blue Spruce Park? It turns out that Michael Travaglia’s father owned a trailer near the park. The trailer, located on Groft Road not far from the park, was used as a summer camp. Michael Travaglia had visited the area as a youth.

After pleading guilty to second degree murder in Indiana County the pair were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of William Nicholls, then they were turned over to Westmoreland County for trial for the death of Officer Miller. After being convicted of murder and given the death sentence for Officer Miller’s death in 1981 Lesko and Travaglia began a long series of appeals. They still sit on death row, many years after that fateful night of January 3, 1980.

William Nicholl’s father once visited the park to view the scene of the crime where his son’s life ended so tragically. Few words were spoken but the pain on the father’s face was evident. Looking out on the peaceful waters of the lake it is hard to imagine the terror that occurred on that night.

A book on the crime spree, written by Michael W. Sheetz, was released in 2009.

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Pennsylvania Conservation Corps Revives Park After suffering through a period of declining budgets and reduced maintenance the park received a major boost beginning in 1984 with its participation in the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps program. The Blue Spruce Lodge, Lakeside Center and several pavilions were added to the park under the PCC program.

These remain popular facilities and are rented out to the public for many different types of events.

The PCC program was also used at many other county park sites to renovate the parks and add new facilities. PCC projects took place at Pine Ridge Park, Hemlock Lake, Ghost Town Trail, Tunnelview Historic Site, Hoodlebug Trail and Buttermilk Falls. The program was one of the most cost-effective and popular programs that the agency participated in.

A new Lakeside Center Visitors Center at Blue Spruce Park was officially opened Thursday by, from left, Indiana County Commissioner George Sulkosky and Bea States, Senator Patrick Stapleton, Indiana County Commissioner James McQuown, DER officer Don Facciolo, and Indiana County Parks Director, Ed Patterson.

Indiana Gazette – April 22, 1988 (photo by Tom Peel). Senator Stapleton was a County Commissioner when the county parks were first established.

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Popular Place for Gatherings Numerous weddings are held at the park each year, from small informal services to fairly elaborate outdoor weddings. The park gazebo and surrounding grounds are a popular setting for weddings. The gazebo was constructed with donations received in honor of Michael Pallila, a local youth who fought a courageous battle with cancer.

The park’s gardens and surroundings are often used as a location for wedding photos and high school senior portraits.

Several gardens are located near the Lakeside Center. The garden is the work of the Penn State Master Gardeners who help install and maintain them. The gardens feature perennial beds, an herb garden, display gardens and various small trees and shrubs which are selected to demonstrate to park visitors the variety of flowers, trees and shrubs that will grow well in our area.

Over the years, Blue Spruce Park has become a year-round multi-purpose park.

The development of the Lodge and Lakeside Center were built for year-round use – both facilities, as well as all of the buildings in the park, are heated with natural gas from several gas wells in the park. This results in a considerable savings to the park’s operational cost. There are eighteen gas wells within the park. The county receives royalties from seven of the eighteen wells. These funds are earmarked for the park and provide an important funding source for improvements and repairs to the park facilities and grounds. All revenues generated from pavilion and lodge rentals are placed into the Park Enterprise Fund, which is used to fund improvements to the park facilities and grounds.

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The Lodge and Lakeside Center are used for educational programs held by the Friends of the Parks, schools groups, the Todd Bird Club and the Indiana County Mushroom Club, among others.

The Indiana County Envirothon, sponsored by the Indiana County Conservation District, is held each May at the park. High school teams from throughout the County compete in an environmental knowledge contest for the chance to go on to state and national competition.

Festival of Lights The Festival of Lights is an event which has increased visitation to the park in the offseason. Since 1992, visitors have made the trip to the park to view the holiday light display, visit the gift shop and spend some quality time with family and friends. Over 250,000 people have toured the display since it began. The setting of the park, nestled in the surrounding valley, and featuring the lake as its centerpiece, make the lights festival at Blue Spruce Park one of the most scenic spots in the region for a holiday display.

Setting up, operating and tearing down the lights display is the work of the park maintenance crew. From October until early February the crew is involved in some aspect of the festival. The festival features eighty lighted displays, numerous lights and at least five miles of extension cords – all of which must be put up, taken down and stored every year. The number of

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crew members who perform the work is surprisingly small - five full-time employees and a few part-time seasonal employees hired specifically for the festival.

Festival of Lights work crew, 2012 - Photo by Tom Peel, Indiana Gazette.

Volunteers staff the festival entry building and operate the festival gift shop. Many volunteers and volunteer groups participate in the event every year as a service to the community and to be among friends and family during the holiday season.

Photos at right: Many of the first displays used at the Festival of Lights were made by school groups and the county park employees.

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Outdoor Activities Popular Fishing has always been a popular activity at the park. Trout stockings by the PA Fish & Boat Commission have increased fishing activity in recent years. Most years the lake receives three trout stockings. Other species of fish found in the lake include bass, carp, catfish and a few crappies.

Snapping turtles are also found in the lake and cruise the waters in the warmer months. The park is open for fishing every day of the year - ice fishing in the winter months is becoming more popular.

For many years the park offered ice skating on the lake. Park crews cleaned the snow from a designated area; ice skating and hockey were popular. Some of the first informal hockey games played in Indiana County took place at Blue Spruce Park. With the eventual construction of the indoor ice rink in White Township the interest in Indiana Evening Gazette, outdoor skating declined - it was no longer February 13, 1978. feasible to offer ice skating on the lake and the outdoor rink was discontinued.

The purchase of 230 additional acres of former R&P Coal Company land allowed a portion of the park to be open to hunting. Traditionally the R&P land had been open for public hunting; with the posting of many private properties in recent years, the park provides an important location for public hunting in the area.

The park also has a significant black bear population, and turkeys, not found at the park when it was first established, now

Fisher, Martes pennanti

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exist in respectable numbers. A new species that sighted at the park in recent years is the fisher. This small, but fierce furbearer is seen occasionally, especially in the spring of the year. Porcupines have also become more common in recent years.

Blue Spruce Park provides important bird habitat for a variety of species. The Getty Run Trail area is especially noted as a good viewing area during the spring and fall warbler migration. Margaret Higbee of the Todd Bird Club notes that the park is regarded as the best place in the county to find both Connecticut and Mourning Warblers, not rare birds but difficult to find. The rarest bird sighting occurring at the park was a Western Tanager sighted on May 10, 1997 by Flo McGuire. Western Tanagers are rarely found this far in the eastern United States.

The park also serves as the setting for several charity fund raising events each year. Groups such as the American Diabetes Association, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Indiana County Humane Society and the Indiana County YMCA use the park to conduct charity walks and races. In some years close to $100,000 has been raised by the charity groups to benefit various causes.

Indiana County Cancer Coalition: ‘Shedding Light…Saving Lives’ – September 29, 2001. Over 1,000 luminaries were displayed for this event.

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Because Blue Spruce Park is used by so many people for so many different reasons, it is hard to generalize about what the park means to its visitors.

For some it is a place to fish; to take a quiet walk or visit the playground with a child or grandchild; for others, it is where they got married or the site of their annual family reunion or church picnic. Some visit only once a year to view the holiday lights as an important family tradition.

Whatever the reason, Blue Spruce Park is a popular park that serves its visitors well and offers enjoyment to many people. The investment the County has made here over the years has been repaid many times over in the enjoyment the park has brought to generations of county residents, and to those yet to come.

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Bernice Gera – Lady Umpire (1931 – 1992) In 1986, an historical marker was erected at the Blue Spruce Park ball field to recognize the achievements of Bernice Shiner Gera, a native of Ernest, PA. Bernice did not pursue a baseball career until after she had worked as a secretary and got married. A Time magazine article noted that the idea to become an umpire suddenly hit her one night. Gera convinced her husband Steve of the idea and enrolled in the Florida Baseball School in 1967.

After Bernice’s death Steve and her brother, Hank Shiner, donated several memorabilia items of Bernice’s which are on display at the Blue Spruce Park office.

Photos on this page: New York Daily News

Bernice was the first female to umpire in a professional baseball game. After graduating from an umpire school in Florida, she spent several years in legal battles attempting to earn the right to be a professional umpire.

She eventually won a landmark court case with the New York Human Rights Commission and on June 24, 1972 she umpired one game between the Geneva Rangers and Auburn Phillies at Shuron Park in Geneva, NY in the New York-Penn League.

Stunningly, she walked off the field after only one game and never umpired professionally again, reportedly because she felt that no other umpires would work with her on the field.

Through her efforts arbitrary restrictions that prevented others from being a professional umpire were lifted - this was Bernice’s greatest legacy. Her story was featured in numerous newspapers across the country and she 75

appeared on several national television shows, including the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, among others. She was also featured in ‘Ripley’s Believe It or Not’ for her pitching skills at amusement parks. The many stuffed animals she won were donated to children’s hospitals.

Bernice later went on to work in community relations and promotions for the New York Mets Baseball Club. She was inducted into the Indiana County Sports Hall of Fame and her efforts were also recognized in an educational exhibit on ‘Women in Baseball’ at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Bernice was an outstanding athlete in her own right and was an excellent softball player and bowler. As a young girl she was a ‘tomboy’ who could play ball as well as most boys. She visited Cummings Dam as a youth.

Her life story was a remarkable one - over the years several screen play writers have contacted the county parks to gather information and inquire about her story. To date her story has never appeared on television or in the movies, but maybe someday it will.

Bernice Gera died on September 25, 1992 in Florida. Eventually a female will umpire in the major leagues – when she does she will have Bernice Gera to thank for paving the way.

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“She is human, bright and holds a degree in baseball umpiring from the Florida Baseball School. Furthermore, she has played baseball and softball for years and can hit a baseball 350 feet, and that’s more than most baseball umpires can do.�

Paul Casey, Washington Post August 8, 1969

Above left: Advertisement in Geneva Times for minor league baseball game, noting that the first woman professional umpire, Bernice Gera, will work the game. The game was originally scheduled for June 23rd but due to a rainout was moved to June 24th.

Above right: Bernice Gera with Tom Seaver and Willie Mays, 1975.

Right: Bernice Gera with New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay (right). Gentleman at left, unidentified.

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Edward Abbey – Appalachian Native and Wilderness Defender Edward Abbey, late author and ardent defender of the American wilderness, was born in Indiana, PA and spent some of his childhood years on a family farm not far from Blue Spruce Park. Abbey was one of the most foremost environmental writers and essayists of the 20th century; yet he is not well-known by many people in his native Indiana County. His works have influenced many involved in the environmental movement, especially those seeking to preserve and defend the American West and its wilderness.

Often overlooked is the influence that growing up in Appalachia had on Abbey’s writings. His mother, Mildred Abbey, was a school teacher and a church pianist at the Washington Presbyterian Church near Home, PA. She provided Abbey with a love of literature, nature and a life-long interest in music. His father Paul Revere Abbey, was a farmer, woodsmen, logger and railroad Ed Abbey with his mother Mildred and worker among many other jobs. father Paul. Photo: Indiana Gazette.

He was a self-described socialist who had a major influence on shaping his son’s values and outlook on life.

Paul Abbey frequently contributed letters to the editor of the Indiana Gazette which advocated his unique views. His father’s philosophy of ‘resist much, obey little’ would be a central theme in Abbey’s writings.

The family moved extensively during Abbey’s childhood but eventually settled at a farmhouse on Johnson Road in Washington Township. In later years Abbey would fondly refer to the farm as the ‘Old Lonesome Briar Patch’. The house burned down in the 1970s. Abbey’s parents later lived in a small house along Route 119 just south of Home. Paul Abbey operated a rock shop, selling various rocks, geodes and other items he collected from annual trips out west.

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Edward Abbey attended Rayne Township Consolidated School and later Marion Center High School for one year before transferring to Indiana High School to complete his final two years of high school. While living on the farm he rode the Hoodlebug, a gas-powered motor car that ran on the nearby B&O Railroad, to Indiana to school.

Abbey’s novel, The Fool’s Progress: An Honest Novel, is a semi-autobiographical account of the lead character Henry Holyoak Lightcap who travels from Tucson, Arizona to his native West Virginia.

Many of the names and events that take place in the fictional West Virginia town are versions of events that occurred in Indiana County. It is impossible to separate Abbey’s Appalachian roots from his writings – he often referred to his western Pennsylvania roots in his writings - westerners tend to gloss over the importance his early Appalachian experiences.

Abbey once described himself as: "I am a redneck myself, born and bred on a submarginal farm in Appalachia, descended from an endless line of dark-complected, lug-eared, beetle-browed, insolent barbarian peasants, a line reaching back to the dark forests of central Europe and the alpine caves of my Neanderthal primogenitors."

- from "In Defense of the Redneck", Abbey’s Road

Edward Abbey likely visited Cummings Dam as a young boy; just about any young boy in the area with an interest in the outdoors would have done so.

He wrote affectionately of his native Crooked Creek which he described in Appalachian Wilderness as “glowing with golden acids from the mines upstream”. Abbey’s most widely read and accessible work is Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness which recounts his experience of working as a Park Ranger at Arches National Park in Utah in 1956-57. The book is often placed in the same category as Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden.

Abbey did not like being called a ‘nature writer’ and often stated that he did really not know much about nature; he felt that people should not read about nature but should go outside and ‘experience’ it themselves.

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Abbey is often referred to as the ‘Thoreau of the American West’, a title that he rejected and felt was more appropriate for other writers of his era.

Abbey was known for his provocative writings which made him somewhat controversial with many mainstream environmental groups and the FBI who monitored his activities for many years. His book, The Monkey Wrench Gang, is credited with leading to the creation of Earth First! an environmental group known for advocating eco-sabotage or “monkeywrenching”.

Abbey once described his writing style as: "I write in a deliberately provocative and outrageous manner because I like to startle people. I hope to wake up people.

I have no desire to simply soothe or please. I would rather risk making people angry than putting them to sleep. And I try to write in a style that's entertaining as well as provocative. It's hard for me to stay serious for more than half a page at a time." (Trimble, Stephen, editor (1995). "Introduction". Words from the Land: Encounters with Natural History Writing. University of Nevada Press. pp. 27.)

Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey permanently settled in the American Indiana Gazette West in 1948 but occasionally returned to Indiana County to visit his parents and other family members who remained in the area. Abbey was better known and more famous in the American West than he ever was in his native Indiana County. While Indiana County’s other famous native son, the movie star Jimmy Stewart, is recognized with a museum, Edward Abbey is not nearly as well-known by Indiana County’s citizens.

Works by Edward Abbey, many of which are still in print, include: Fiction • • • • • • •

Jonathan Troy (1954) The Brave Cowboy (1956) (made into the movie Lonely Are the Brave) Fire on the Mountain (1962) Black Sun (1971) The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975) Good News (1980) The Fool's Progress: An Honest Novel (1988) 80

• •

Hayduke Lives (1989) Earth Apples: The Poetry of Edward Abbey (1994)

Non-fiction • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness (1968) Appalachian Wilderness (1970) Slickrock (1971) Cactus Country (1973) The Journey Home (1977) The Hidden Canyon (1977) Abbey's Road (1979) Desert Images (1979) Down the River (with Henry Thoreau & Other Friends) (1982) In Praise of Mountain Lions (1984) Beyond the Wall (1984) One Life at a Time, Please (1988) A Voice Crying in the Wilderness: Notes from a Secret Journal (1989) Confessions of a Barbarian: Selections from the Journals of Edward Abbey, 1951–1989 (1994)

Edward Abbey died on March 14, 1989 at the age of 62. He was buried, according to his own specific instructions, by family and friends underneath a pile of rocks in an undisclosed desert location in Pima County, Arizona.

Dr. James Cahalan, English Professor at Indiana University of PA, has authored an extensive Abbey biography, Edward Abbey: A Life. (University of Arizona Press, 2003). Cahalan’s book is recommended for anyone wanting to learn more about the life and writings of Edward Abbey.

Through the efforts of Dr. Cahalan a state historical marker recognizing Edward Abbey was placed along Route 119 south of Home, PA in September 1996 - not far from the childhood Appalachian home that was an important part of his thoughts and writings.

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Working at a park affords some unique opportunities to observe and experience events in the natural world that cannot be found on other jobs. My experience on September 11, 2001, while participating in a research project on the Monarch butterfly migration, was one of those events. In February 2002, I wrote an essay about my experience.

The September 11th Monarch “I dwell in possibility.”

- Emily Dickinson

September 11th will be forever remembered as a day of sadness. As the morning’s events unfolded I listened to radio broadcasts which announced that the world had supposedly changed – nothing, according to the reports, would ever be the same.

Early in the afternoon I took a leave from the world events and went for a walk at Blue Spruce Park. Twenty-five years ago, I began working at the park – like many others I have often found solace in the park’s natural beauty. I decided to see what nature had to offer this day.

September 11th began as a bright, sunny day - the sky a brilliant blue with warm temperatures and a gentle breeze blowing through the spruces. For the past several years I had been tagging Monarch butterflies as part of a research project sponsored by Monarch Watch to learn more about the life history of the Monarch. I took my butterfly net with me and some tags – today seemed like an ideal day for Monarchs.

While walking the park meadow, I was immediately struck by the stillness of the sky. All airplanes had been grounded due to the terrorist’s attacks. For today, and several days to follow, the skies would be still. It was eerily quiet.

As I entered the meadow I encountered many Monarchs landing on the goldenrod in the field - it was if, they too, had been grounded. Monarchs seemed to be falling from the sky. In a matter of minutes, I tagged eight Monarchs and missed several others with my net, easily one of my best days in the field.

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As I worked the meadow the significance of the day’s events were never far from my mind. Earlier in the day about 75 miles from where I stood an airplane crashed into a field in Somerset County - a field not unlike the field in which I was standing. While the day’s events were unfolding, Monarchs were migrating all over the eastern United States, even over New York City, which is located along one of the main migratory flyways of the Monarch.

ABA822 was a male Monarch, the second Monarch I tagged that day. He had made a brief stop at the park to rest on some goldenrod before continuing his journey. After tagging each Monarch I always wonder: Will they make it? Do they really fly all the way to Mexico? It seems hard to believe that a delicate butterfly with a wing span of four inches and weighing only a few grams could successfully complete such a long journey.

Throughout the fall and early winter, I thought of the Monarchs. Predictions were that this one was one of the largest Monarch migrations in many years – up to ninety million Monarchs were thought to be heading to the mountains of central Mexico. Usually the Monarchs begin arriving around November 1st, a day in Mexico known as Dia de los Muertos, or ‘Day of the Dead’. Native people believe the Monarchs are the returning spirits of dead children, or the souls of lost warriors. The March departure of the Monarchs signals planting time and renewal.

On January 11, 2002 Juan Garcia Domingeuz was walking in the El Rosario butterfly Sanctuary near Angangueo, Mexico - one of two Monarch sanctuaries in Mexico open to the public. Reaching down, he picked up ABA822. Through the Monarch Watch program native people are paid the equivalent of $5 U.S. dollars for each tagged Monarch they recover. The incentive program was established to aid in monarch recoveries and to provide a source of income for the local people.

In February I received a certificate informing me that ABA822 was recovered after having flown 1,912 miles from Indiana, PA to El Rosario.

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Because butterflies do not fly in straight lines, ABA822’s mileage was probably much higher. We do not know when he reached El Rosario since he could have arrived there several weeks before he was found.

His route of travel is unknown. Did he follow the Appalachian Mountains south or head out over the Great Plains? Where did he stop? How many close calls did he have?

Was he grounded by storms or bad weather? The answers to these questions we will never know. We do know that he made it – completing an eternal journey his ancestors have undertaken for thousands of years. Later this year possibly one of ABA822’s great grandchildren will arrive at Blue Spruce Park on a warm, sunny day with blue skies and a gentle breeze blowing.

In 1963, near the end of her life, Rachel Carson spent a fall day on the coast of Maine. Later, in a letter to her friend Dorothy Freeman, she wrote of another September day with a blue sky and the wind blowing through the spruces, “Most of all I will remember the Monarchs, the unhurried westward drift of one small winged form after another, each drawn by some invisible force. Did they return? We thought not; for most, at least, this was the closing journey of their lives. For the monarch that cycle is measured in a known span of months. For ourselves, the measure is something else, the span of which we cannot know.”

I will continue tagging monarchs and hoping for recoveries. Always the flight of ABA822 will provide a source of inspiration, hope and the possibility of the future. That is what the Monarchs taught me that afternoon.

Postscript We still participate in the Monarch Watch tagging program but it seems each year fewer and fewer Monarchs are available to tag. In recent years, the Monarch population has decreased due to habitat loss in Mexico caused by illegal logging of the Monarch forest preserves and the use of pesticides near milkweed plants, the Monarchs caterpillars’ food source. Will the Monarchs and their amazing migration survive? Only time will tell.

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Hemlock Lake (Straight Run Lake) Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

Banks Township East: 2145 Hemlock Lake Rd, Rossiter, PA West: 1420 SDA Camp Rd, Rossiter, PA 15772 40° 51’ 54.645” N 78° 52’ 27.219” W (east) 40° 51’ 54.081” N 78° 53’ 29.785” W (west) 203 acres, including a 59-acre lake.

This park features two boat launches, picnic areas, pavilions, restrooms, a hiking trail and a 59-acre lake created by an earthen dam.

H

emlock Lake is the third of the original county parks proposed in the 1960s. The park serves the residents of the northern Indiana County.

The largest nearby towns are Rossiter, Glen Campbell and Punxsutawney.

When first developed, the site was known as Straight Run Dam, the name Hemlock Lake County Park was chosen later by the Indiana County Park Board. The name is derived from the native hemlock trees that dot the surrounding hillsides. Straight Run is a very small stream that feds the lake; the lake is also supplied by numerous underground springs and seeps.

The PA Fish Commission (PFC), now known as the PA Fish & Boat Commission (PF&BC), made the site selection, determined the size of the lake and the location of the embankment; test borings to determine the suitability of the dam’s location were completed prior to February 1969.

Gwin Engineers of Altoona was hired by the PFC in February 1969 to design the dam and provide construction and bidding documents. It was necessary to have the project bids opened and awarded before June 30, 1969 or risk losing federal and state funding for the project.

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The project was bid in two phases, one bidding for the construction of the dam and a second bidding for the recreational facilities. Low bidder for the construction of the dam was GAL Construction Company of Charleroi, PA at a cost of $399,000.

The recreational facilities contract was awarded to A.F. Moreau & Sons of Indiana, PA at a cost of $90,000. Moreau & Sons also constructed some of the first facilities at Blue Spruce Park. Construction of the dam and recreational facilities were completed by October 31, 1970. The recreational facilities work also included construction of 3,800 feet of access road.

The dam’s embankment is 650 feet long at its top and forty feet high at its highest point.

The normal pool level of the lake surface area is 59 acres and the deepest point is 33 feet. The dam has an uncontrolled overflow weir type reinforced concrete spillway. The outlet control works consist of a thirty inch pre-stressed concrete pipe under the embankment with a trash rack structure on its upstream end. The reinforced concrete control tower has a 24-inch sluice gate. A fish catch basin is located at the end of the overflows to catch any fish that inadvertently escape from the dam.

Hemlock Lake is located near the eastern continental divide. The waters from the lake flow into Little Mahoning Creek and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. Not far from the park (near the Johnsonburg crossroads) is the

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location of the Chesapeake Bay divide. Northeast of Johnsonburg the drainage area empties into the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, and ultimately, into the Chesapeake Bay. Indiana County approved a 40-year lease agreement with the PFC to operate and manage the site as a county park on June 1, 1972. The lease was extended for another 25 years in 2012.

Because sufficient funds were available from state and federal grants, Indiana County did not contribute funds to acquire or complete the initial development of the park. The County has funded other improvements to the park and park roads in succeeding years and performs routine maintenance of the park.

The lake was known as Hemlock Lake by the PF&BC until 2007 when the official name was changed to Straight Run Lake to correspond with the name in the National Hydrography Dataset. The national dataset is used by the U.S. Geological Service to apply uniform names for geologic features among federal, state and local agencies.

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Straight Run Lake is classified as an infertile lake by fishery biologists, meaning that the fish do not grow very fast.

Large gamefish in the lake include largemouth bass, northern pike and a few saugeye. The panfish fishery consists of bluegills, black crappies, pumpkinseeds and brown bullheads plus some rock bass and yellow perch.

Photo: PA Fish & Boat Commission White suckers and golden shiners are also present in the lake. The lake is stocked with walleye fingerlings by the PF&BC, usually every two years.

Hemlock Lake has been the scene of several unfortunate drownings. In August 2011, a sixty-three-year-old man from Glen Campbell drowned after the boat he and his son were fishing in capsized. A second drowning occurred in 1988 when a group of teenagers were camping at the park.

Early in the morning several from the party took a boat they found at the lake out for a ride. The boat capsized and a seventeen-year-old boy from Rossiter, who could not swim, disappeared in the murky waters of the lake. It took rescuers six days to recover the body.

Hemlock Lake is located in Banks Township in beautiful rural surroundings. The lake is reminiscent to some of small lakes found in Canada. Anglers who want to catch panfish, bass and maybe even an occasional northern pike will enjoy the scenic setting of the park.

The park receives most of its visitation from residents of northern Indiana County, southern Jefferson County and 88

parts of western Clearfield County. A nearby Amish population also uses the park on a frequent basis. Special parking areas are provided for Amish horses.

Boating on the lake is limited to hand propelled or electric motors only, so the lake is usually quiet and peaceful. Boat launches are found on each side of the lake. In the winter, a few hardy anglers venture to the lake to ice fish.

In recent years Banks Township has started plowing the park access roads in the winter to maintain access to dry hydrants, used by local fire companies in the event of a local fire. The county parks maintenance staff does not maintain the site in the winter.

Banks Township was formed from Canoe Township in 1868, having been surveyed in March of that year. The township was named after William Banks, a well-known Indiana attorney. Banks Township was the last township established in Indiana County. The 2010 census population of the township was 1,024, a 3% increase over the previous census. The majority of the population increase is derived from Amish families moving into the township.

The Wood Duck Trail circles the western edge of the park. Pavilions and restrooms are located at each launch area. Swimming and overnight 89

camping are not permitted. The park is open 24 hours a day, a requirement of the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. Hunting is permitted at the park, including waterfowl hunting.

Wooded areas surrounding the lake are wet and spongy, making good habitat for Pink Lady’s Slippers, Trillium and other wildflowers.

Ferns and mosses of various species are also found in abundance. A one acre pond, seldom visited by many people, is located in the northwest corner of the property.

Hemlock Lake is located in the northeastern Indiana County. Not far from the park is the Laurel Lake Seventh Day Adventist Camp, which offers camping opportunities to SDA church members from throughout the eastern United States.

There are several other outdoor attractions near Hemlock Lake. These include, State Gamelands #174 (443 acres) located north of the park and State Gamelands #262 (3,161 acres), located south of the park. The eastern terminus of the Mahoning Shadow Trail, a rail-trail in Jefferson County, is also nearby, just a few miles west of Johnsonburg.

Hemlock Lake has not changed much since it was first established - it is still a place of quiet beauty and peaceful waters. Hemlock Lake is off the beaten path, but a great place to visit to get away from it all.

Panoramic view of Hemlock Lake.

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Scenes of Hemlock Lake

Photos clockwise: A young angler with a largemouth bass, PFBC photo, Waterfowl on lake, Wood ducks are found at the park, photo by shenandoahnaturailists.org. The surrounding area has a growing Amish population that uses Hemlock Lake for fishing and picnicking.

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Aerial photos of Hemlock Lake, 1939 – 2010

Rossiter and the Coal Strike Injunction of 1927 Not far from Hemlock Lake is the village of Rossiter, the site of an important event in the labor history of the United States. Rossiter is located in Canoe Township, four miles west of Hemlock Lake.

Coal mined in Rossiter was used by the New York Central Railroad for its railroad engines. The town population grew because of the railroad and the demand for coal needed for World War I. The town population reached a peak of 5,000 in 1917.

Rossiter is known in the accounts of coal history for the famous Rossiter Coal Strike Injunction of 1927. A Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission marker was placed at Shaffer Field in 2004 to commemorate the incident.

Indiana County Judge Jonathan Langham issued a sweeping injunction preventing the miners from assembling, marching and even hymn singing at a nearby Presbyterian Church. The Rossiter miner’s strike drew national 92

attention when a United States Senate Interstate Commerce Committee visited the town, along with a national press corps, to examine the worker’s conditions, which they found to be deplorable.

In an extensive article on the conflict written by Dr. Irwin Marcus, Dr. James Dougherty, and Eileen Mountjoy Cooper of Indiana University of PA the authors wrote that the experiences of the Rossiter miners “typified the plight and responses of Judge Jonathan Langham American miners in the 1920's. Coal miners sought Photo: IUP Special to maintain their wage levels and self-respect in the Collections & Archives. face of coal operators who demanded wage reductions and even de-unionization. Almost continuous strikes ensued as the miners and the union battled the companies and their political allies. In Rossiter, the workers faced pressures from a powerful company reinforced by the power of the judiciary and the police. In the strike of 1927-28, the pivotal struggle in this confrontation, the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation, defeated the workers and the union with the aid of Judge Langham's blanket injunction. This defeat marked a period of extreme deprivation for the miners whose suffering increased with the onset of the depression. Nevertheless, some aspects of the battles of the 1920's pointed the way to the turnaround of the New Deal.” (from ‘Confrontation at Rossiter: The Coal Strike of 1927-1928 and Its Aftermath’, Pennsylvania History, Vol. 59., No. 4, October 1992).

Significant changes in labor laws in the 1930s lead to better working conditions for workers throughout the United States. Senator Robert Wagner was a member of the Senate committee that visited Rossiter.

Senator Wagner authored the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, more commonly known as the Wagner Act. The Wagner Act limits the way that employers may respond to private sector workers who create unions, participate in collective bargaining or engage in strikes and other forms of activity in support of their demands.

The Rossiter miners were defeated but their plight was a factor in major changes to the country’s labor laws. Appropriately, the historical marker is located at Shaffer Field, home of the Rossiter Miners baseball team.

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Pine Ridge Park Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

Burrell Township, three miles east of Blairsville, PA 998 Pine Ridge Road, Blairsville, PA 15717 40° 26´ 44.600” N 79° 12´ 12.104” W 635 acres, including a 2-acre pond at Pine Lodge.

The park features large stands of woodland intersected by a mountain stream, Tom’s Run. The park offers fishing, hunting, hiking, picnicking, pavilions rentals, Pine Lodge and a disc golf course.

The park borders PA State Game Lands 276 and the Chestnut Ridge Resort and its golf courses.

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ine Ridge Park is one of the original county parks, being acquired in 1966 at the same time as Blue Spruce Park. The park was officially opened to the public on July 4, 1971.

The park was pieced together from several different parcels but the majority of the property was owned by R&P Coal Company at the time of its acquisition. Historically, the property has been largely forested, at least for the past 100 years. The property was too rocky to farm, although there is evidence that some of the park was used for pasture land, as evidenced by old strands of barb wire found embedded in park trees.

Four park supervisors have served the park in the years since it first opened.

James Palmer was the park’s first supervisor followed by George Fatora, who later served as Park Director. Paul Winkelman was the third supervisor.

Steve Walters, who served both as a PCC Crewleader and on the park maintenance crew, is the fourth supervisor, serving since 1988.

A saw mill reportedly operated in the Tom’s Run area at one time and evidence of a coal bank mine dug into a hillside exists along a rocky outcrop.

There is also evidence that Tom’s Run was once known as Tomb’s Run – a common family in this part of southern Indiana County.

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Early photos of the construction of Pine Ridge Park. c. 1960s.

Clearing the park, building the park roads and constructing several small dams on Tom’s Run were the first work projects.

The forests have been thinned and a few clearings were created, but for the most part the tract has remained primarily forest. Tulip poplar trees constitute the main tree species found within the park, with lesser amounts of oak, maple, beech and sassafras.

At one time the chestnut tree was the predominant tree species in the region until the chestnut blight of the early 1900s. Remnant chestnut trees can still be found in the park in the area surrounding Pine Lodge. These chestnut trees have regenerated from chestnut tree stumps but are not expected to reach maturity; they will also likely succumb to the blight in time.

The construction of new Route 22 in the early 1960s bisected the northern portion of the property. As a result, a 38-acre portion of the park is located north of Route 22 and separated from the rest of the park. This tract is used primarily for hunting and does not receive much public use. A PennDOT roadside rest area was once located within this tract.

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The majority of the park, slightly less than 600 acres, is located south of Route 22. The installation of a large power line and a major transmission gas pipeline further divided the park into fragments. If all of the gas pipelines in the park were combined into one pipe it would constitute a pipe 20 feet in diameter. The park is at the crossroads of a major pipeline transmission route across Pennsylvania.

Dr. Bill Betts is a retired English professor from Indiana University of PA and a former member of the Indiana County Park Board.

Dr. Betts also wrote a newspaper column in the Indiana Evening Gazette called Outdoor Outlook, in which he often featured the county parks, their development and progress. Throughout 1973 he wrote a series of articles that featured all of the county parks at that time.

Like Blue Spruce Park, the Pine Ridge Park design was first conceived by landscape and recreation students at Penn State University.

Robert Fenton, who finalized the Blue Spruce Park design, also completed the Pine Ridge Park site plan.

The original site plan proposed extensive development within the park. A ski slope with lodge, numerous pavilions, tent and camping areas, an extensive park road system and several large dams on Tom’s Run were proposed. The park entrance road was designed to enter directly from Route 22 but a highway occupancy permit could never be secured from PennDOT. The access road to the Tom’s Run area enters the park from Pine Ridge Road, formerly Old Route 22.

Pine Lodge was included in the original park plan - it was originally referred to as a day camp. The lodge was eventually constructed in the same location as a private cabin, known as the Laird Cabin that once existed on 96

the property. The cabin was torn down and a portion of the cabin’s block foundation was used in the construction of Pine Lodge. Some of the cabin’s interior wood siding was also used to construct the lodge kitchen cabinets, but the lodge was primarily a new facility built from scratch by county park employees and workers on various job employment programs.

Construction of the lodge started in 1972. The lodge was not open for public use until 1976, owing to a shortage of funds to complete the construction. The lodge has undergone two major renovations since its original construction.

Two large stone fireplaces were added to the lodge after its initial construction. The Pine Ridge Park maintenance crew constructed the massive fireplaces and the stone walls found outlining the lodge patio.

The stones for the fireplaces and walls were gathered from within the park.

The Pennsylvania Conservation Corps completed a second renovation of the lodge replacing the siding and adding insulation, new lighting, a new heating system, new electrical wiring and replacing the lodge decking.

Laird Cabin, forerunner of Pine Lodge.

Pine Lodge is one of the area’s most scenic places. Located off Chestnut Ridge Road, in a secluded area of the park, it has been used for many functions including small weddings, reunions, picnics, business meetings and an annual Girl Scout Camp.

Even though the lodge has been open for public rental since 1976, it is still not as widely known as it should be.

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By 1957 the large Texas Eastern pipeline, which transverses the park, appears in the aerial photo. The park is situated at the crossroads of several major pipelines.

The Pennsylvania Conservation Corps completed two other projects at Pine Ridge including a fish habitat and stream restoration project in 1985 and the construction of a park pavilion and restroom in 1990. After the completion of the fish habitat project, Tom’s Run was added to the PA Fish & Boat Commission trout stocking program. The small stream receives two trout stockings each spring.

The park includes two hiking trails. The Lodge Trail, three miles long, connects the Tom’s Run Area to Pine Lodge on the opposite side of the mountain ridge. A second trail, the Tom’s Run Trail, is a one mile loop trail that circles the area between the park picnic area and Route 22.

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A nine-hole disc golf course was added to the park in 2010. The recreational course is designed for beginners and intermediate users.

The Pine Ridge Park maintenance center serves as a hub for all county parks and trails in southern Indiana County. The park’s maintenance crew uses the park as a base to service the Ghost Town Trail, Buttermilk Falls Natural Area, Tunnelview Historic Site, Blacklick Valley Natural Area and the Hoodlebug Trail. The park crew has a large territory to cover.

Pine Ridge Park was never developed to the extent of its original plans.

Instead the park has a natural feel to it that belies its location so close to major highways, shopping centers and the developed areas of surrounding Burrell Township.

On a hot summer day Pine Ridge Park is a great place to cool off under the shade of its forest canopy, to allow the kids to play in the mountain stream and to appreciate the efforts that were taken to preserve this mountain tract for future generations.

Pine Lodge fronts a scenic two-acre pond and is a natural setting for many different types of gatherings.

Goldenseal is an uncommon plant found at the park.

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Sloan Cornell & the Penn View Mountain Railroad Not far from Pine Ridge Park, just off Chestnut Ridge Road, the Penn View Mountain Railroad (PVM RR) once operated under the direction of the late Sloan Cornell. The railroad was a tourist line that ran from the small village of Strangford to an overlook area on Penn View Mountain. No remains of the railroad line exist today.

Photo of the ex-Duquesne Slag Products #8, originally the Spang Chalfont & Company #8. This was the first locomotive to operate on the PVM RR.

The tourist line began operating on July 4, 1964 and continued until 1973. It was a family operation with Mr. Cornell serving as the train conductor and engineer; Mrs. Cornell provided refreshments and sold tickets; his son served as the fireman; three of his five daughters took donations and distributed bumper stickers. After taking donations the first year of operation, tickets for the rides were sold thereafter.

Mr. Cornell’s uncle, Hall Cornell, a retired PRR engineer, served as the engineer and provided engineering instruction to Mr. Cornell. Bill Graff, a reporter for the Indiana Evening Gazette and railroad enthusiast, and Robert Libengood, Mr. Cornell’s brother-in-law, also served as conductors.

The railroad line was constructed from three miles of track from a former New York Central siding that Mr. Cornell removed and transported to the site. Mr. Cornell worked as a milk hauler but his real passion was railroading. The Penn View Mountain Railroad was a testament to one man’s enthusiasm for railroading.

The Penn View Mountain railroad was not connected to any other railroad.

It was 2.25 miles in length, making the out and back trip a total of 4.5 miles.

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The line featured two switchbacks and grades of up to 4%. The Penn View Mountain Railroad transported riders up the mountain to a scenic overlook and featured a picnic grove stopping point, known as Trackside Park.

Because it was not connected to any other railroad all equipment had to be trucked to the site. Locomotive #76, the second engine used on the line, was hauled to the site and was later used at the Gettysburg Railroad. Even the former Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad Station, originally built in 1898 in Rockton, PA, was trucked to the site. In the late 1970s this same building was moved to the Gettysburg Railroad to serve the Cornell operations there. An expansion project at Gettysburg College required that the station be dismantled and stored. Later it was moved again, this time to Kane, PA for the Knox & Kane Railroad where it stands today.

PVM RR with yellow train station in the background. This station was moved to Gettysburg and then to Kane, PA. The use of Locomotive #76, shown in this photo, began around 1967.

Cornell had hoped to move the Penn View operations to the Indiana Branch of the former Pennsylvania Railroad (now the Hoodlebug Trail), but the line was acquired by Conrail. Subsequently, Mr. Cornell bought the Gettysburg Railroad instead. Locomotive #8 is now housed at the National Park Service Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA. It is used as a display to show the inside workings of a steam locomotive.

Cutaway view of the Spang Chalfont & Company #8, now on display at Steamtown National Historic Site.

Photo: National Park Service.

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Sloan Cornell – Tourist Railroad Pioneer Sloan Cornell, was a pioneer of the steam tourist railroad industry. He was thirty-nine years old when he started the Penn View Mountain Railroad and devoted the remainder of his life to railroading. Mr. Cornell died on April 20, 2010 at the age of eighty-five and is buried in the nearby Blairsville Cemetery.

Sloan Cornell at the controls.

Mr. Cornell had an enduring interest in steam locomotives. He owned and operated several tourist lines over the years. Penn View Mountain Railroad, was his first line. In 1976, following the formation of Conrail, Cornell began operating the Gettysburg Railroad.

In addition to popular steam-powered excursions, Cornell provided freight service along the Gettysburg line.

Mr. Cornell later operated the Knox & Kane Railroad on a former Baltimore & Ohio line between Shippenville and Mount Jewett in northwestern Pennsylvania. The K&K tourist trains ran between Marienville and the Kinzua Viaduct (once owned by the Kovalchick Family of Indiana, PA). This line operated until 2003, when a tornado partially destroyed the bridge. The bridge is the site of the Kinzua Bridge State Park where visitors can stroll 600 feet on the restored bridge and gaze down through a glass platform at the end of the walkway.

Little evidence of the Penn View Mountain RR remains. Most of the line was obliterated by surface mining at the PA State Gamelands # 153. What does remain is the enduring memory of Sloan Cornell and his amazing railroad that once traveled the steep slopes of Indiana County’s Penn View Mountain.

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Scenes of the Penn View Mountain Railroad

Photos of the Penn View Mountain Railroad were taken by Mr. Bob Rathke and posted by Mr. Jim Robinson on the Railroad Preservation News website:www.rypn.org.

The red station, shown here in the middle photo, was the first station. The yellow station that was moved from Rockton, PA came later.

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Leonard Piper – Blairsville’s Smokejumper and the Mann Gulch Fire One of the most famous and most studied fires in the history of forest firefighting was the Mann Gulch Fire of August 5, 1949. Mann Gulch, now part of the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness Area, is located about 20 miles north of Helena, Montana. The site of the fire is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Leonard Leroy Piper was born on July 5, 1926 and grew up on the family farm outside of Blairsville.

Piper graduated from Derry High School in 1945 Cover photo from Forest and enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he served for Service video about the eighteen months. He then enrolled in the forestry Mann Gulch Fire. program at the University of Montana in 1947.

Piper had completed two years of university studies when he became a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service as a way to pay for his college education. To be selected as a smokejumper was an impressive achievement and resulted in admission to an elite group. The use of smokejumpers was still a relatively new procedure in 1949; the first use of smokejumpers occurred in 1940.

Leonard Piper was part of a crew of sixteen men assigned to put out the Mann Gulch Fire. The crew included fifteen smokejumpers and one forest recreation guard (James Harrison) who met the crew near the landing site. After the men parachuted from their plane and headed down the gulch towards the Missouri River high winds caused the fire to explode, cutting off the men's route and forcing them back uphill. Later estimates indicated that the fire covered 3,000 acres in 10 minutes during the blow-up. In all almost 5,000 acres were burned.

Carrying out the victims of the Mann Gulch Fire. Photo: USFS archives.

To escape the advancing fire the crew 104

foreman, R. Wagner ‘Wag’ Dodge, ordered the men to drop their equipment and run back up the steep, rocky hillside. As the men retreated the foreman realized the fire was gaining on them and stopped to set a small escape fire, hoping to create a backfire that the fire would bypass.

This was a novel approach for its time - in the resulting confusion the rest of the men, including Leonard Piper, continued up the hill.

As the massive fire overtook the group two of the smokejumpers (Sallee and Rumsey) were able to find shelter by climbing through a small crevice in the gulch’s rock wall. Of the 16 men on-site only these two men and the foreman, Wag Dodge who set the escape fire, would survive.

Map Source: Richard C. Rothermel, USFS Intermountain Research Station, May 1993.

Report INT-229. Mann Gulch Fire: A Race That Couldn’t Be Won. p. 3. Leonard Piper’s marker is located just to the left of the number 13 in the above map

Leonard Piper did not die in vain. The events of Mann Gulch greatly influenced the future of wildfire fighting and fire research. The Forest Service designed new training techniques and instituted additional safety 105

measures for its firefighters. The agency also increased emphasis on fire research and the science of fire behavior by developing new firefighting techniques and equipment at its research centers in the hope that the tragic events of Mann Gulch would never be repeated.

In 1950 concrete crosses were placed on the steep mountainside at the location of each fallen firefighter. Over time the crosses began to decay and granite markers were set in their place. Leonard Piper’s marker is located quite a distance uphill from where the back-fire was set. Traveling that distance was a substantial human feat considering the pace of the fire, the searing heat and the steepness of the terrain.

Leonard Piper's marker. The Forest Service decided in the 1990s not to replace the crosses and placed granite columns there instead. Photo: James G. Lewis.

The tale of Mann Gulch has been written about in the classic book Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean. The story of the fire was made into the 1952 highly fictional film ‘Red Skies of Montana’ and a History Channel documentary, Escape: Fire in Mann Gulch (2000). There is also a folk song about the fire, Cold Missouri Waters, by James Keelaghan.

Leonard Piper’s remains were identified from a house key found in his possession which belonged to his sister Thelma McDowell who lived in Helena, MT. After the body was recovered and positively identified his remains were returned to Pennsylvania by train, arriving at the Latrobe Train Station on August 12th. The viewing was held at the Piper family home and the funeral service was conducted at Hebron Lutheran Church in Blairsville. Leonard Piper was buried in the Bethel Cemetery in Stahlstown, PA many miles from the scene of one of our country’s most tragic forest fires. Each year descendents of the Piper Family gather at Pine Ridge Park for a family reunion and to remember a fallen hero, Leonard Piper.

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Ghost Town Trail Location: Address: Coordinates: Size:

Description:

Located in Indiana and Cambria Counties.

There are nine established access areas for the trail.

Coordinates and addresses for each access area are listed at the end of this section.

46 total miles. The main stem of the trail, located between Saylor Park (Black Lick, PA) and Ebensburg, totals 32 miles. The Rexis Branch totals an additional 4 miles. The C&I Extension totals 10 miles.

A rail-trail that traverses the Blacklick Creek Valley.

The trail was designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a National Recreation Trail in 2003. The Eliza Furnace and Buena Vista Furnace, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places, are located along the trail.

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he Ghost Town Trail provides an accessible pathway for people of all ages and abilities to experience the outdoors, and to learn about the heritage of this region. The trail passes quiet woodlands, rushing streams, iron furnaces, ghost towns and small communities.

The Ghost Town Trail is named for eight former mining towns and the early Welsh settlement of Buela. Although no longer inexistence, these ghost towns are an important part of the legacy of the Blacklick Creek Valley.

On July 19th and 20th, 1977 a destructive flood occurred in the Blacklick Valley. The communities of Nanty Glo, Vintondale, and Dilltown experienced severe flooding and property loss. The railroads in the valley were severely damaged. Three major railroad bridges were destroyed and a fourth was seriously damaged. The Great Flood of 1977 was a major factor in the railroad’s decision to discontinue operating in the valley, and the abandonment of the railroad ultimately lead to the creation of the Ghost Town Trail.

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The Ghost Town Trail is constructed of finely packed limestone dust placed on a former railroad grade. The trail is generally flat with a few sections having grades of up to 3%. Trail sections with the steepest grades include portions of the Black Lick to Heshbon; Vintondale to Twin Rocks; and Nanty Glo to Ebensburg.

Mile markers and directional signs are located along the trail to help you know where you are, and how far it is to the next access area or attraction. Interpretive signs and historical markers are located throughout the trail to help educate and inform you about the history of the area Portions of the trail are in remote areas - while we recommend taking a cell phone along, cell phone service is not always available or reliable. Scattered along the trail are picnic shelters, which provide rest stops and a place to seek protection from inclement weather. Trail conditions can change due to storms, flooding and construction. Visit our website for current information on trail conditions. The trail is about evenly divided between Indiana and Cambria Counties.

A Brief History of the Ghost Town Trail’s Development In 1987 the National Park Service, in cooperation with the America’s Industrial Heritage Project (AIHP), conducted an inventory of industrial heritage sites in a nine-county region of southwestern Pennsylvania.

The conversion of abandoned railroads into recreational AIHP Logo pathways was one of the most significant, cost-effective and popular outcomes of the AIHP program. Along with the Ghost Town Trail, other trails such as the Lower Trail in Blair County and the Allegheny Highlands Trail in Somerset County (now part of the Great Allegheny Passage) were established within the nine-county region at the same time.

The development of AIHP heritage attractions in the region later fell under the oversight of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission.

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In 1991 Denise Dusza Weber, a former resident of Vintondale, published Delano’s Domain: A History of Warren Delano’s Mining Towns of Vintondale, Wehrum and Claghorn. Weber’s book is a rich source of historic information, photographs and other documentation of the area.

Weber’s book was published at a most opportune time and helped stimulate interest in the heritage of the valley.

Wehrum housing.

On September 5, 1991 the Indiana Photo: Denise Dusza Weber Collection.

County Commissioners, along with representatives of the Northern Cambria Community Development Corporation (NORCAM) and the Kovalchick family held a press conference at the Eliza Furnace to announce the Kovalchick Salvage Company’s donation of 16 miles of the former Ebensburg & Blacklick Railroad to establish a recreational trail. The donation included all railroad property between Dilltown and Nanty Glo. As trail planning proceeded, it was decided that the trail would be named the ‘Ghost Town Trail’ after several former towns that once existed along the railroad corridor.

These former towns included: Wehrum, Claghorn, Dias, Buffington, Scott Glen, Amerford and Lackawanna #3 in Indiana County and Bracken and Beula in Cambria County.

In 1993, the Cambria & Indiana Railroad donated an additional 4 miles of trail from Rexis to White Mill, known as the Rexis Branch. On October 1, 1994, a dedication was held to celebrate the opening of the first 16 miles of the trail. This included 12 miles from Dilltown to Nanty Glo and the 4-mile Rexis Branch.

The Red Mill Bridge on the Rexis Branch was completed in 1999, connecting 111

two segments of the four-mile Rexis Branch. In 2003, the trail was selected as a National Recreation Trail by the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 2005, the trail was extended thirteen miles west to the community of Black Lick, and eight miles east from Nanty Glo to Ebensburg. In the fall of 2009, two large bridges, located just west of Dilltown, were installed to complete the trail’s final missing link.

In 2010, the Ghost town Trail and the Hoodlebug Trail were linked together at Saylor Park. The trail now totals a continuous 46-mile trail network from Ebensburg to Indiana, PA. Unlike some ghost towns still found in the American West, nearly all remnants of the former towns in the Blacklick Valley have disappeared. Some house foundations, former streets and mine company remains are still visible in the woods, but almost all the former ghost towns have disappeared, or are slowly fading into the forest.

While the ghost towns have disappeared, the legacy of their existence is still strongly felt throughout the valley, along the trail, and among its people.

More extensive information about the Ghost Town Trail can be found in the Ghost Town Trail Guidebook published by Indiana County Parks & Trails. The guidebook includes detailed maps, historic photos, illustrations, trip planning ideas and mile-bymile descriptions of the trail.

Portions of the information provided above appeared previously in the guidebook. The guidebook can be purchased on-line at: www.indianacountyparks.org Proceeds from the sale of the guidebook benefit the trail maintenance fund.

In 2003, the Ghost Town Trail was selected as a National Recreation Trail by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

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Ghost Town Trail Addresses and Coordinates for Trail Access Areas

Hoodlebug Trail Location:

Address: Size: Description:

Parallels Route 119 from Indiana to Blacklick, PA for a distance of 10.5 miles. A 3.5 mile bike route extends further south to Cornell Road near the Blairsville School complex.

There are four designated access areas for the trail.

13.5 total miles, with 10.5 miles of rail-trail and 3.5 miles of signed bike route.

The Hoodlebug Trail is a recreation and commuter trail located in south-central Indiana County. The trail passes through residential, commercial and natural settings, providing direct trail access to many local residents and employees of schools, industries, and small businesses.

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he Hoodlebug Trail follows the abandoned Indiana Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad between the Homer City area and Indiana. Built in the 1850s, the Indiana Branch was the first railroad to reach the Borough of Indiana. 'Hoodlebug' was the local nickname for the self-propelled passenger coach that ran on the line until 1940.

Photo: Indiana Evening Gazette, April 18, 1940.

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The Trail Setting The Hoodlebug Trail is constructed from recycled asphalt millings. The trail surface is a tar and chip surface, except for the final segment of the Hoodlebug Trail Connector which is a finely packed limestone dust material.

The most popular type of bicycle to use on the trail is a mountain bike, although the trail can be ridden with the narrower tires of a typical ten-speed bicycle or a hybrid bicycle with larger tires.

Traveling from north to south the trail has a slight downhill grade, but the difference is very slight and not a factor for most people. The elevation change from one end of the trail to the other is 320 feet over 10.5 miles. At Rose Street near Indiana the trail is at 1,300 feet in elevation; at Saylor Park the elevation is 980 feet.

The Hoodlebug Trail is located, for the most part, on the former railroad bed of the Pennsylvania Railroad and parallels Route 119. At Lloyd Street, south of Coral, the trail diverges away from Route 119 on the Hoodlebug Trail Connector to link to the Ghost Town Trail at Saylor Park.

A three-mile southern extension of the Hoodlebug Trail extends from Saylor Park to Cornell Road, near the Blairsville High School east of Blairsville. This extension utilizes Burrell Township roads and streets. The southern extension is a signed bike route, not a rail-trail, and should be traveled only by riders who are comfortable traveling on roads and streets. West of Blairsville trail users can access the West Penn Trail, a 17-mile trail that extends to Saltsburg. The West Penn Trail is operated by the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy.

At Saylor Park, the Hoodlebug Trail connects to the Ghost Town Trail. The Ghost Town Trail continues from this point to Ebensburg, a distance of 32 miles.

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At its northern terminus the trail connects to the Rose Street Bikeway. Bike lanes on each side of Rose Street allow travel to Oakland Avenue (Route 286) and the Regency Mall.

Near the intersection of Rose Street and South 13th Street trail users can connect to the Indiana University of PA (IUP) Bikeway, an asphalt pathway that links the IUP’s main campus to its southern campus.

Along its route the trail follows or passes over Stony Run, Two Lick Creek, Yellow Creek and Black Lick Creek. Yellow Creek merges with Two Lick Creek in Homer City. Near the community of Black Lick, Two Lick Creek joins Blacklick Creek.

The Hoodlebug Trail is located in White Township, Center Township, Homer City Borough and Burrell Township. The trail does not currently extend into Indiana Borough proper, but long term plans are to extend the trail into the Borough with at least a designated bike route.

Plans are also being advanced to extend the trail to IUP’s Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, known as the KCAC. Over its length, from Rose Street near Indiana to Saylor Park, the Hoodlebug Trail passes through small towns and communities in the heart of Indiana County. The remnants of the industrial heritage along the trail’s path are reminders of the great enterprises and hard-working people that lived here during the heyday of the Hoodlebug.

The Hoodlebug Trail is steeped in the rich history of Indiana County. A few of these historical highlights are included here.

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The Catawba Trail The Hoodlebug Trail corridor was once part of the Catawba Trail, a Native American trail that extended from the Carolinas to upstate New York.

Shaver’s Spring was located near presentday site of the IUP Hadley Union Building.

It was near this point that the Catawba Trail and the Kittanning Trail intersected.

Homer City was the site of the Native American village of Peholands Town. Eventually many of the Native American pathways became the first roads in our area as settlers moved here.

The Pennsylvania Railroad On August 1, 1854 the Indiana Register published a story under the headline, Have We a Railroad Among Us? Earlier, in 1852, the Pennsylvania General Assembly authorized the extension of the Blairsville Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) north to Indiana. On May 28, 1852, the Board of Directors of the PRR agreed to build the Indiana Branch, providing the county’s residents subscribed $170,000 to the company’s stock. In today’s dollars the stock sale would be the equivalent of $3.6 million dollars. The sale included 3,400 shares at $50 each. The stock sale was completed in just six months, showing how serious the county’s business leaders and citizens were in wanting a railroad to serve their interests.

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Construction proceeded slowly over the next few years. One difficulty was receiving an adequate number of rails to construct the track. In December 1854, the P&T Collins Company advertised for 20,000 cross ties for the railroad section between Campbell’s Mills (near present-day Black Lick) and Indiana. By mid-December track had been laid to Phillip’s Mill (present-day Homer City) on the east side of Yellow Creek.

Progress continued and on May 27, 1856 the Indiana Register reported that the railroad was completed. By June 10, 1856 the railroad was fully operational with two daily passenger trains running between Indiana and Blairsville.

The railroad was a single-track totaling 19 miles in length, costing $310,000 to construct ($6.7 million in today’s dollars). There were three large bridges and seven stations north of Blairsville.

Prairie State Incubator Company

The Prairie State Incubator Company was founded in 1887. Incubators produced at the factory were regarded as the finest incubators being produced and were used for raising chicks from eggs. By 1913, the incubator factory was reportedly the largest in the world.

The illustration above, featured in the company’s annual catalogue, depicts the third and final incubator plant built in Homer City. The first two plants, located at the site of present-day Floodway Park, were destroyed by fire.

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The railroad (now the Hoodlebug Trail) was used to ship the incubators to market. Beginning in 1937 the site was the home of Iler Manufacturing, the Syntron Company and later the FMC Corporation. The FMC Homer City plant closed in March 2007 but the building is still used as an industrial plant by other businesses.

An interpretive exhibit, located along the trail at the former site of the third factory, recounts the interesting history of the Prairie State Incubator Company.

The Indiana County Street Railways Company

Indiana Street Railways Company. Photo: Richard C. Albert Collection.

While the Hoodlebug operated on the Pennsylvania Railroad, nearby the Indiana Street Railways Company operated a separate trolley line. The Indiana County Street Railways Company served the town of Indiana, with branches to Ernest, Clymer, and Blairsville. Operations began in 1907 and remained in service until 1933, when streetcars were abandoned in favor of buses and automobiles.

Numerous trolley companies were proposed for Indiana County in the early 1900s. All had grand ambitions, but by 1907 the various trolley proposals were combined into one company.

A decline in ridership due to the downsizing of the areas coal mines, closing of factories due to the Great Depression, the onset of bus and automobile travel and the company’s inability to make interest payments on its bonds eventually led to the trolley’s demise.

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The 36-mile trolley network connected Indiana to the outlying communities of Clymer, Ernest, Homer City, Graceton, Coral, Josephine and Blairsville.

During its 26 years of existence the 36-mile trolley system transported millions of passengers to work, to shop, and to leisure excursions at trolley companyowned parks. In some years the trolleys transported as many as three million passengers. The trolleys were also used to haul freight, supplies and mail between local businesses. On occasions the trolley transported injured miners Foundations of a former trolley bridge are visible from the Two Lick Creek Bridge. and other workers to Indiana for emergency medical treatment While time has erased many traces of the trolley line, some buildings, foundations and portions of the former right-of-way provide evidence of its existence adjacent to the Hoodlebug Trail.

An interpretive exhibit for the Indiana Street Railways Company is located near the Two Lick Creek Bridge, highlighting the remarkable history of the trolley era.

Over its length, from Rose Street near Indiana to Saylor Park, the Hoodlebug Trail travels through small towns and communities in the heart of Indiana County. The remnants of the industrial heritage along the trail’s path are reminders of the great enterprises and hard-working people that lived here during the heyday of the Hoodlebug.

Extensive information about the trail’s recreation, historic, cultural and natural features can be found in The Hoodlebug Trail Guidebook: On the Path of Remembered Terrain. The guidebook is available for sale from Indiana County Parks & Trails and on-line at www.indianacountyparks.org. The guidebook includes detailed trail maps, historic photos and mile-by-mile trail descriptions.

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Blairsville Riverfront Trail Location: Address: Coordinates: Description:

Located along the Conemaugh River in Blairsville, PA. Trailheads on West Market Street and at WyoTech Park.

West Market Street: 40.430616 N -79.268767 W Wyotech Park: 40.419443 N -79.260227 W The trail has a short hill at the beginning of the West Market Street trailhead, otherwise the trail is flat. The trail is constructed with a tar-and-chip trail surface.

The trail is subject to periodic flooding due to its location within the floodplain of the Conemaugh River.

Of all the trails within the county park regional trail system the Blairsville Riverfront Trail was probably the most unlikely. The idea of constructing a trail on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control area was a dream of many residents of Blairsville Borough, but the challenge to secure permits and funding to build such a trail made it seem like an unlikely scenario. But never underestimate the efforts of a few dedicated volunteers. Volunteers from the Blairsville Community Development Authority, Borough officials and many other volunteers banded to make the dream of the trail a reality.

The 2-mile long trail follows the loop of the Conemaugh River in Blairsville.

It does not directly connect to any other trail. The Hoodlebug and Ghost Town Trails to the east, and West Penn Trail to the west are nearby.

Nearby downtown Blairsville has restaurants, shops and historic buildings.

The trail is open for walking, running and bicycling. The surrounding Army Corps property is open to hunting. Trail users should exercise caution when

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using the trail during hunting seasons. Wearing safety orange is recommended during hunting seasons.

The Bairdstown Bridge

Photo credit: Tobywan, Google Panoramio

The above 1935 photo shows the construction of the Bairdstown Bridge.

The current Bairdstown Bridge is shown on the left in the photo; the smaller iron bridge on the right was constructed in 1889 and removed after the new bridge was completed, although the stone foundations remain.

Prior to this time two other bridges stood here, the first a covered bridge (built in 1821) and an iron bridge (built in 1874 and washed away during the 1889 Johnstown Flood).

Before any bridges were located here a ferry boat operated. The site has been an important crossing on the Conemaugh River in Blairsville for many years.

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Blairsville 1939 The Blairsville Riverfront Trail is located along the loop of the Conemaugh River. In this 1939, aerial photo you will note that the area was much more developed than it is today. The large industrial factory was the Columbia Plate Glass Company.

The Bairdstown Bridge is located at the top left corner of the photo. The now abandoned bridge to the town of Cokeville is in the lower right-hand corner.

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Left: The residential area in the area near where the Blairsville Riverfront Trail is located today was known as Tin Town.

Below: Woodcut drawing of early Blairsville showing the covered bridge and canal operations.

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Trans Allegheny Trails Location: Description:

Multiple locations in Indiana, Cambria, Blair, Armstrong and Westmoreland Counties.

A regional trail network of thirteen trails that traverse the Allegheny ridge and valley region of west-central PA. The Ghost Town Trail and Hoodlebug Trail, operated by Indiana County Parks & Trails, are two of the trails included in the network.

In July 2011, the Rails to Trails Conservancy sponsored a five-day bicycle sojourn which attracted over two hundred participants from throughout the United States to our region.

As a follow-up to the sojourn several regional trail operators joined together to build on the success of the sojourn. The result was the formation of Trans Allegheny Trails, a consortium of eight trails that traverse west-central Pennsylvania.

The purpose of the group is to jointly promote the trails and to assist each other in advocating for the completion of missing links within the trail network. Many of the trails in the Trans Allegheny Trails network were first created during the America’s Industrial Heritage Project era. Over the past decades the various trail groups have worked to implement and manage their trails. The various trail operators include private non-profit trail organizations, conservancy groups, county agencies, the Pittsburgh-toHarrisburg Main Line Canal Greenway program and the National Park Service.

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The Trans Allegheny Trails network includes rail-trails, mountain bike trails and on-road connections. Unlike the Great Allegheny Passage, which runs from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD, the Trans Allegheny Trail is not one continuous rail-trail. The Trans Allegheny Trail offers a variety of options to its users – from easy, flat rails-trails to trails with challenging hills and steep climbs. Overall, the network offers a unique way to way to see and experience west-central Pennsylvania.

The trail corridor is steeped in the history and heritage of the region. The variety of trails allows the visitor to experience canals, railroads, tunnels, bridges, coal towns, wildlife areas and the scenic beauty of northern Appalachia.

Trans Allegheny Trails Selected Highlights It is beyond the scope of this guidebook to provide a complete account of each trail in the Trans Allegheny network. Instead a summary is provided of several trails, along with a website link to visit to learn more about each trail.

Lower Trail – located in Blair County the Lower Trail is a seventeen-milelong rail-trail. The trail follows the path of the former Pennsylvania Canal and the beautiful Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River. The Pennsylvania Railroad used the corridor after the demise of the canal. The trail name rhymes with ‘flower’.

The Lower Trail is scenic at anytime of the year. In the springtime wildflowers are abundant and the limestone cliffs and outcrops add an impressive backdrop to the trail setting. Portions of the Lower Trail are classified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by the Audubon Society. Bald eagles and ospreys have been sighted from the trail. Remains of the canal and Mt. Etna Iron Furnace plantation are located along the trail.

Blair County Rails to Trails is an all-volunteer

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organization that operates and maintains the trail for the public. Lower Trail is a real gem, well-worth the drive to Blair County to visit.

Website: www.rttcpa.org 6 to 10 Trail - The 6 to 10 Trail is located on the route of the National Park Service Allegheny Portage Railroad (APRR) of the 19th Century. The hiking sections of the trail are located on or near the original route of the APRR. The bicycle section is located on the route of the New Portage Railroad.

The 6 to 10 Trail is about 10 miles long. The trail section from the Visitor Center to Muleshoe is for hiking only. Bicycles are not permitted on this section. The section from Muleshoe to Foot of Ten has a limestone dust surface and can be used by bicyclists.

The 6 to 10 Trail is a challenging trail.

Over its length, the trail rises from 1,100 feet to over 2,400 feet in elevation. Ranger guided hikes occur on the trail throughout the year. The National Park Service Visitor Center at Allegheny Portage Railroad (shown left), located off the Gallitzin Exit of U.S. Route 22, is the place to stop to learn more about this unique trail and other features of the site.

Website: www.nps.gov/alpo/planyourvisit/six-to-ten-inclines.htm

Ghost Town Trail and Hoodlebug Trail – both trails are covered more extensively in other portions of this guidebook. Please refer to these sections for more information about these trails. Individual guidebooks for each trail are also available.

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Path of the Flood - The Path of the Flood Trail follows the route of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 that resulted in the loss of 2,200 lives and shattered the Little Conemaugh Valley and the community of Johnstown.

This trail follows, for the most part, the former Southern Cambria Trolley Line, an interurban trolley that served Staple Bend Tunnel. Photo: CCC&RA residents of southern Cambria County. Because this line was abandoned for many years and used for various other purposes before being converted to a trail, there are more changes in elevations than on the usual rail-trail.

Historic highlights of the corridor are noted in several interpretive exhibits located along the trail. The illustration at left, from a National Park Service exhibit at the trail, highlights the use of stone sleepers to support the rails, rather than wooden ties. Many stone sleepers can still be found lying along the trail.

At the Ehrenfeld and Staple Bend Tunnel access areas, visitors can learn about the collapse of the Lake Conemaugh Dam at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club and the devastation from the Flood of 1889. Other exhibits highlight: South Fork Dam, the Community of South Fork, Brave Messengers (telegraph messengers who transmitted the warning of the flood), Conemaugh Viaduct, Mineral Point, East Conemaugh and Woodvale.

The Path of the Flood Trail is operated by the Cambria County Conservation & Recreation Authority, who also operates portions of the Ghost Town Trail.

Website: www.cambriaconservationrecreation.com

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Staple Bend Tunnel - The Staple Bend Tunnel Access Area, operated by the National Park Service, is located near Mineral Point off of Route 271. It is a two mile walk, or bike ride, from the access area to the tunnel.

Finished in June 1833, the tunnel was the first railroad tunnel in the United States and the third tunnel of any kind built in the U.S. Work began in 1831. The men were paid $13 per month plus room and board for 12 hour days, 6 days per week.

The fancy entranceways to the tunnel were to impress the travelers and the general public. The style was described as a “ Roman Revival style with low relief lintel supported by Doric pilasters on each side.” Of the money spent (the total cost was $37,498.85) nearly half was to build the fancy entrance ways.

From National Park Service – Staple Bend Tunnel Information Sheet: www.nps.gov/alpo/planyourvisit/upload/StapleBend.pdf

West Penn Trail - West Penn Trail, operated by the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy (CVC), generally follows the path of the West Penn Railroad between Blairsville and Saltsburg.

Portions of the trail follow a right-of-way of the original Pennsylvania Main Line Canal. The CVC has many interpretive signs to highlight the historic features along the trail’s route.

The trail consists of 6 miles of rail-trail on the west (Saltsburg and Kiski sections) and 4.5 miles of rail-trail on the east (Conemaugh River Lake section). In the middle are 4.2 miles of hilly trail, including a switchback trail over Bow Ridge. The grades within the middle section are challenging; longdistance through travelers may want to ride this section of trail at the beginning of their day’s ride.

The Conemaugh River Lake section features four impressive stone-arch bridges and a lookout that enables visitors to view bridge number four from the side. The long Q-Span Bridge (at 560 feet) is located in this section, near Newport Road on the trail’s eastern end. The trail passes through the Tunnelview Historic Site just downstream of Conemaugh Dam. The 130

Saltsburg section travels through Saltsburg’s Canal Park and connects to the Westmoreland Heritage Trail.

When the waters recede after flood events the trail may be littered with debris. The trail is maintained by volunteers of the Bow Tunnel - during the construction of CVC who face significant the Conemaugh Dam the Bow Tunnel was challenges in dealing with the plugged with 20 feet of concrete so the debris - without their volunteer water at the new elevation of the lake efforts the trail would not remain would not escape through the tunnel. open to the public. If recent Photo: Conemaugh Valley Conservancy flooding has occurred, trail visitors should check on the trail’s status before heading out.

Website: www.conemaughvalleyconservancy.org Westmoreland Heritage Trail – The first five miles of the WHT were open to the public in 2008 with the opening of the Saltsburg to Slickville section. The trail is administered by volunteers of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail Chapter of the Regional Trail Corporation.

The trail surface is smooth crushed limestone dust. The next five-mile portion of the trail will be built from Slickville to Export. The construction of this section is Tunnel at Saltsburg under Route 981. Murals inside scheduled for 2012. The the tunnel were painted by Girl Scout Troop #23187. long-term goal is to complete a 20-mile trail from Saltsburg to Trafford.

The WHT highlights the natural beauty of the Westmoreland County countryside. Starting in Saltsburg, the Westmoreland Heritage Trail crosses 131

the Conemaugh River and goes underneath PA Route 981 through a 100foot-long tunnel, which features murals painted on the walls depicting the history of the area. The trail passes over the Loyalhanna Creek and continues underneath a canopy of trees for five miles to Slickville.

The WHT is located along a tree-lined, abandoned railroad right-of-way through a rural area. Near Slickville there are picnic facilities; food is available for purchase within walking distance of the trail.

Website: www.co.westmoreland.pa.us/parks (click on trails)

Roaring Run Trail - The Roaring Run Trail follows the path of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal and the former Apollo Industrial Track rail line that served the coal mines and steel industries of Apollo, Armstrong County.

The Roaring Run Trail and the adjoining Recreation Area (652 acres) are operated by volunteers of the Roaring Run Watershed Association. The RRWA was established in 1982.

The Kovalchick Salvage Company of Indiana, PA donated the right-of-way to Roaring Run Watershed Association to help preserve this historic area and clean up pollution from former mines.

The trail opened in 1991.

The Roaring Run Trail follows the Kiskiminetas River, beginning at the Leonard Miller Suspension bridge over Roaring Run. Memorial Bridge in Apollo. A spur trail, the Rock Furnace Trail, features a suspension bridge, the remains of an iron furnace and scenic views of Roaring Run. In addition to 7.5 miles of rail-trail, more than 15 miles of hiking and mountain-biking trails are located in the recreation area. Historic features include remnants of the Leechburg Mining Company’s Brownstown Coal 132

loading station at mile marker 4, and remnants of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, including an intact lock prism 1.5 miles upriver from the Apollo trailhead. A long-term goal is to connect the Roaring Run Trail to the West Penn Trail.

The stream receives its name, Roaring Run, from the loud sound of the rushing water as it cascades over numerous boulders and rocks.

Website: www.roaringrun.org

Visit the TransAllegheny Trails website to learn more about all thirteen trails in the regional trails network: www.transalleghenytrails.com

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Indiana County’s Covered Bridges – Icons of the Past “There is no country in the world that is in need of good and permanent bridges more than the United States of America.”

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Thomas Pope, A Treatise on Bridge Architecture, 1811

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ndiana County is home to four covered bridges: Harmon, Trusal, Kintersburg and Thomas. The Thomas Bridge, rebuilt in 1998, is the only covered bridge in the county that remains open to traffic. All four remaining bridges are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The county has a long history with covered bridges; many parts of the County were settled during the height of the covered bridge building era, from the 1800s until the early 1900s. Historic records indicate that as many as forty-eight documented covered bridges once existed in Indiana County.

Covered bridges are symbols of a past era when the pace of life was slower and simpler, or at least, seemed that way. During their peak usage covered bridges were looked at as merely a way to get from one side of the creek to the other. Today, a nostalgic appreciation for their engineering, construction and visual appeal has lead to efforts to preserve them.

Pennsylvania has more covered bridges than any other state, at slightly more than 200 bridges. Covered bridges are popular tourist attractions but are subject to threats from floods, vandalism and arson. Each year several bridges are severely damaged or lost throughout the United States and Canada.

The first covered bridge in Indiana County was constructed in 1804 at Campbell's Mill in present day Burrell Township. In March of 1804, the Westmoreland County Court authorized $800 for construction of a bridge at the mill of Gen. Charles Campbell. The cost was to be charged to Indiana County. The Campbell's Mill Bridge was approximately 180 feet long. The bridge was rebuilt in 1824, repaired in 1862 and succumbed to a major 135

flood in 1888 which caused widespread damage to covered bridges throughout the county. By 1889 the bridge was replaced with an iron bridge built at a cost of $2,750.

Photo: Fred Yenerall Collection

The County was home to two major bridges across the Conemaugh River at Blairsville and Saltsburg. Joint-stock companies built some of the first covered bridges and charged tolls to cover the cost of constructing and operating the bridges. The toll bridges were usually quite profitable for the investors.

The first covered toll bridge in Indiana County (shown above) was in Blairsville. It was authorized by the PA General Assembly in 1821. By November 1822, the toll bridge was open and remained in use until January 1874 when it collapsed in the middle of the night. The bridge featured a unique Wernwag truss system. At 300 feet in length it was one of the longest single arch bridges in the nation for its time.

In 1840 construction began on a covered bridge over the Kiskiminetas River in Saltsburg. It was also 300 feet in length. The bridge was double tracked and was supported by a central pier. The Saltsburg Covered Bridge burned in 1922.

Most covered bridges in the county utilized a Town lattice truss system. The Town lattice truss was Graphic: Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society patented in 1820 by Ithiel Town of New Haven, Connecticut. The design was adapted very quickly because of its use of smaller dimensional lumber, ease of construction and its ability to cross spans up to 200 feet in length. Ithiel Town is largely remembered as a designer of Greek Revival public buildings, especially county courthouses. Although he only built a few bridges himself, 136

Ithiel Town actively promoted his design, often while meeting with County Commissioners. He received royalties of a dollar a foot from bridge builders who used the Town truss. Covered bridge builders who used his design but failed to receive patent approval prior to construction, were charged two dollars a foot.

There are twenty Town lattice truss bridges remaining in Pennsylvania, three of them are in Indiana County. These include the Harmon, Trusal and Thomas covered bridges.

In May 2007 responsibility for maintaining the county’s covered bridges was transferred to Indiana County Parks & Trails. The bridges receive routine maintenance and minor repairs as needed. In 2010, the Harmon Bridge had new siding installed in time for its centennial celebration. While the bridges receive routine maintenance, the greatest challenge will be securing funding to perform major repairs. The Kintersburg Bridge, in particular, is in need of replacement of its bottom support beams, which will be an expensive and major undertaking.

Covered bridges in a certain area always seem to have something in common, and Indiana County’s bridges are no different. A common feature of the county’s bridges are the slanted portal entrances, which when viewed from the side are trapezoidal in shape. It was a common practice for covered bridge builders to copy designs they saw in the same area.

The popularity of covered bridges increased as they became less common.

By the 1950s, and thereafter, many people built small replicas of covered bridges for themselves. You can see several of these replica bridges while driving the back roads of Indiana County.

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Why were covered bridges covered?

The primary reason for covering a bridge is to keep the trusses from rotting or decaying prematurely. The trusses are the most important and necessary part of the bridge. Early bridge builders learned that a wooden bridge that was not covered would only last 15 – 20 years, while a covered bridge, if properly maintained, could last many years. Some covered bridges in the United States have been standing for over 150 years.

Wood bridges have been built in forested regions for centuries. Julius Caesar built one of the earliest known timber bridges over the Rhine River in 55 B.C. During the Middle Ages in Europe builders began to cover wood bridges to keep the framework from rotting. Several covered bridges in Germany and Switzerland have lasted for centuries.

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Why were so many covered bridges built?

With its numerous stream crossings Pennsylvania had a need for bridges to provide a transportation system for its growing population and for westward expansion. Covered bridges could be built from readily available trees and were inexpensive to construct. At one time, over 10,000 covered bridges existed in the United States. Pennsylvania once had 1,500 covered bridges. All but three counties in Pennsylvania had covered bridges. Today covered bridges are found in 40 of the state’s 67 counties.

What is so special about covered bridges?

According to William King, a noted covered bridge photographer and researcher, "Covered bridges symbolize small-town America. Something from the nineteenth century, a little archaic and strange to modern eyes, picturesque and sentimental, "kissing bridges" recall a time when life was simpler and closer to the land -- if only in our dreams. Covered bridges complement autumn leaves and autumn emotions. Photogenic and often remote from major highways and cities of the twentieth century, covered bridges lure the explorer to find the little streams and dirt roads the twentieth century has almost passed by."

Are covered bridges still being built?

Yes, covered bridges built to withstand modern traffic are still being built.

Ashtabula County, Ohio has constructed six new covered bridges since 1983, including the Smolen-Gulf Covered Bridge which, at 613 feet, is the longest covered bridge in the U.S. and the fourth longest in the world. It opened in 2008. Ashtabula County also has the shortest covered bridge in the country. The shortest bridge, completed in 2011, spans 18 feet.

The first covered bridge in America was built in 1805 in Philadelphia by Timothy Palmer. After constructing the timber structure across the Schuylkill River, the financial backers of the bridge requested that Palmer add a roof and siding to protect their $300,000 investment. The bridge was highly ornamental with the lower section of the wood siding detailed to resemble masonry arches. The entire bridge covering was sprinkled with stone dust to create the illusion of a stone bridge.

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Scary or Romantic?

A covered bridge can be a dark and mysterious place, or it can be romantic.

When crossing a covered bridge, especially at night, travelers had plenty of reasons to be fearful. Tales of thieves hanging out in bridges were common and, of course, some bridges are said to be occupied by ghosts.

Covered bridges also had romantic connotations. Known as ‘kissing bridges’ the toll for crossing bridge included in some areas was “a kiss for every plank, and the slower the horse the more pleasant the crossing”. (R.J. McGinnish: The Good Old Days: An invitation to Memory).

Why are covered bridges painted red?

Most covered bridges, when first constructed, were not painted – painting a bridge meant that it had to be repainted and most cover bridge builders and owners did not want the added work. In the 1950s it became more common to paint covered bridges, probably because people associated covered bridges with other rural buildings such as barns. Red was usually the color of choice because red pigment is the least expensive to produce. It was also common to find covered bridges painted white; green and blue bridges were less common.

The County’s four remaining covered Bridges were not painted until 1965.

Historic photos of many of Indiana County’s lost covered bridges show that they were never painted.

Elsewhere covered bridges were painted with advertising, especially to advertise tobacco, soda pop drinks, various types of medicinal cures and clothing stores.

The Hoover Covered Bridge, over Little Mahoning Creek near Smicksburg, is one of many covered bridges that no longer exist in Indiana County. At one time at least forty-eight covered bridges existed in Indiana County.

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An Overview of Indiana County’s Covered Bridges Trusal Bridge Year built: Truss type: Length: Builder: Stream: Number:

1870 Town lattice 41 feet Unknown South Branch of Plum Creek PA-32-03 Trusal Bridge is the oldest and shortest of the county’s remaining covered bridges. The bridge was constructed in 1870 and is named in honor of Robert Trusal, a Civil War veteran who lived nearby.

Trusal Bridge, 1969 The bridge has also been known as ‘Dices Bridge’ for Thomas Dice who once lived in the vicinity.

The Trusal Bridge is a companion to the nearby Harmon Bridge, located one-half mile upstream. Both bridges are in picturesque farm country.

Although Trusal Bridge is the oldest of the county’s remaining covered bridges it remained open for traffic until 1990. The bridge was bypassed with a modern wooden bridge built with laminated wooden beams, deck and guardrails all treated with creosote.

The bridge trusses are made from lumber of the chestnut tree, a common tree species in the local area at the time of its construction. The Trusal Bridge and all remaining covered bridges in Indiana County were placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 3, 1979.

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Harmon Bridge Year built: Truss type: Length: Builder: Stream: Number:

1910 Town lattice 45 feet John R. Carnahan South Branch of Plum Creek PA-32-04 Harmon Bridge is the newest of the County’s covered bridges and one of the last covered bridges to be built here.

Bell School Bridge was the last covered bridge built in Indiana County.

The Bell School Bridge, no longer in existence, was built in 1912, making it the last known covered bridge built in Indiana County. It was located on Plum Creek upstream of the Harmon Bridge.

The Harmon Bridge is named for J.S Harmon, a Civil War veteran who survived imprisonment at the Confederate prison in Andersonville, GA. Notice of the bridge’s construction was published in April 1910 with the stipulation that the bridge be built within thirty days after the bridge abutments were completed. The bridge was designed by Thomas Pealer, County Engineer and completed by July 1910 at a cost of $525. Harmon Bridge remained open to traffic until 1984 when it was bypassed by a wooden laminated beam bridge built upstream.

In June 2010, a centennial celebration was held at the Harmon Bridge which included the unveiling of a new historical marker at the site. Both the Harmon and nearby Trusal Bridge are located in Washington Township and are easily visible from Five Points Road.

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The above photo of the Harmon Bridge was taken in 1969. The photo below, taken from the same location in 2010 appears almost identical except for the addition of a white wooden fence and the reforested hillsides. The timeless quality of covered bridge settings appeals to many people.

“The American covered bridge has inspired more poets and painters than perhaps any other familiar object of our native landscape.�

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David Steinman, Bridges and Their Builders, 1941

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Kintersburg Bridge Year built: Truss type: Length: Builder: Stream: Number:

1877 Howe 68 feet J.S. Fleming Crooked Creek PA-32-05

The Kintersburg Bridge is in Rayne Township just a short distance from Tanoma Road. This bridge is one of only five remaining covered bridges in Pennsylvania that utilize a Howe truss.

The bridge was named by a nearby shopkeeper, Isaac Kinter, in honor of his father John Kinter, a Revolutionary War veteran. Descendants of the Kinter Family still reside in the area and operate a farm, store and maple sugaring operation nearby.

The bridge was constructed in 1877 at a cost of $895. The bridge builder was J.S. Fleming who constructed many covered bridges in Indiana County after being disabled during the Civil War Battle of Cedar Creek.

The interior photo of Kintersburg shows the Howe truss system. The iron rods running vertically between the wooden trusses could be adjusted to keep the bridge in proper tension and shape as the wood seasoned.

A unique feature of this bridge was the ten-foot-long portal overhangs. The overhangs were later modified when repair work was performed to the bridge in the late 1960s. An overhanging portal still appears on the bridge’s eastern entrance in a photo likely from the 1960s. Note that the western end of the bridge had already been altered.

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Kintersburg Covered Bridge, c. 1960s showing portal ends.

The Howe Truss William Howe of Spencer, Massachusetts was a farmer and millwright who patented the Howe truss design in 1840. The truss is a variation on the Long truss design - two heavy metal rods are substituted for vertical wooden timbers. The Howe design provided a bridge that was stronger than the all-wood structure; as a result, it became the forerunner of iron bridges and was used extensively on railroad bridges. With its adjustable iron rods the Howe truss could be fine-tuned to keep it in proper balance as the wood trusses seasoned or shifted.

There are 124 Howe truss spans in the United States today. Pennsylvania has five Howe truss bridges, located in five different counties, including the Kintersburg Bridge in Indiana County. A second Howe truss in western Pennsylvania is located at McConnell’s Mill State Park in Lawrence County.

Howe truss graphic & truss information by Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society.

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The Civilian Conservation Corps at Kintersburg History of Company 1301, SCS-1-PA Capt. James P. Maloney - Commanding 1st Lt. Herbert R. Watson - Executive Officer 1st Lt. Irving Ocheret - Surgeon Mr. Willard C. Miller - Education Adviser

Not far from the Kintersburg Covered Bridge a large Civilian Conservation Corps Camp once operated. The CCC camps were established by President Franklin Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The program put thousands of young men to work on various projects throughout the United States at a critical time in the nation’s history.

Company 1301 was formed at Fort George G. Meade on May 20, 1933, with Capt. L.E. MacGregor in command. On May 21, the company entrained for Pocatello, Idaho, and on May 27, camp was established at Greys River, Wyoming, where normal camp and work duties were performed for five months.

Photos of camp life at CCC Camp 1301

In October 1933, the company transferred to Broughton, PA and at Camp SP-3 on October 24, 1933, Capt. William G. Wharry assumed command.

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Captain Wharry and his associates created a camp at South Park, Pittsburgh that was famous in CCC developments. The high morale that existed among the men at this location helped them to overcome some of the hardships encountered when the company made its next move on April 24, 1935. On that date, the company arrived at the tent site near Home, PA for Camp SCS No. 1, the first SCS camp (soil conservation camp) in the state.

CCC Camp 1301 Photo. Members came from throughout Pennsylvania. Note the dog, a camp mascot, in lower left corner of photo.

The work of preparing the permanent camp was held up for a time because of an unusually heavy rainy season. The preparation of the permanent camp began on July 27, 1935 with Captain Peter Van der Lugt in command.

Within a short time, the camp became a presentable site. The excellent work carried on by Captain Van der Lugt was recognized and on June 25, 1935 when he has promoted to Commander of Sub-District No. 9.

Captain James P. Maloney assumed command on the same date. Under his command the camp improvement continued rapidly. Camp conditions improved so greatly that evening work duty was slight, and there was time for studies, athletics, movies and other forms of recreation. Two distinct types of work were carried out by the company. Forestry projects included nursery work, tree planting and fence construction. Engineering work included rip-rap paving, temporary and permanent check dam construction, and bank sloping.

Company members were actively engaged in flood relief work in the spring of 1936. A majority were assigned to road building duty at Saltsburg, PA, in order to get supplies to the water filtration plant. Individual citizen comments and letters, as well as official recognition, demonstrated the appreciation of the people for services provided by the company.

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The creation of a camp school room and reading room for educational purposes aided greatly in establishing a successful program. The Indiana State Teachers College, Works Progress Administration and National Youth Association all cooperated in helping to realize a CCC Night School at Indiana, PA, where commercial subjects and advanced art were stressed.

Several enrollees took advantage of correspondence courses offered by the Pennsylvania State College and I.C.S. (International Correspondence School).

A review of the camp’s activities occasionally appeared in the Indiana Evening Gazette under the byline of the authors, Jiggs & Jerry, two members of the camp. The articles made note of the camp’s accomplishments and camp events, including baseball games played against teams from local communities.

This marker, located on the Kinter Farm near Home, PA, marks the site of the former Company 1301 CCC Camp. The marker is all that remains of the former CCC camp.

“I propose to create a civilian conservation corps to be used in simple work, not interfering with normal employment, and confining itself to forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control and similar projects. I call your attention to the fact that this type of work is of definite, practical value, not only through the prevention of great present financial loss, but also as a means of creating future national wealth.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt - March 21, 1933

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Thomas Bridge Year built: Truss type: Length: Builder: Stream: Number:

1879, rebuilt in 1998 Town lattice 75 feet Amos Thomas Crooked Creek PA-32-02 The Thomas Covered Bridge, located in Armstrong Township, is the only covered bridge in Indiana County still open to traffic. The current bridge is a reconstruction of the former bridge first built here in 1879.

When first constructed the bridge was known as the Thomas Ford Bridge; prior to the construction of the bridge there was a fording or stream crossing in this location. When the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway came to this area in the early 1900s, the bridge was known as Thomas Station Bridge. The original bridge cost $545; the new bridge was built in 1998 at a cost of slightly more than $1 million dollars for all associated costs, including engineering and design.

Rebuilding the Thomas Bridge was a contentious issue. Some residents did not want the bridge rebuilt as a covered bridge; others wanted their historic bridge saved. In the end a new covered bridge was built with supporting beams underneath to allow it to carry traffic loads up to twenty tons. The new bridge sits higher than the original bridge to lessen the flood risk and was placed at a slightly different alignment on the banks of Crooked Creek.

The new bridge was completed in eight months.

In 1877 construction of a bridge at this location near the property of John and Amos Thomas was approved by the Indiana County Commissioners.

However, it was not until November of 1879 that the bridge was finally built. Interestingly, the County contributed two-thirds of the cost of constructing the bridge with the remainder being provided by the Thomas’.

Morton Fleming supervised the construction. All materials used in the 149

original construction from the lumber, to the stones for the abutments, to the locust pins used to hold the trusses together came from the nearby area.

As much as any covered bridge in the county the Thomas Bridge signifies Indiana County’s commitment to preserving and honoring its past.

It would have been easy to tear down the original bridge and replace it with a modern concrete bridge; but enough individuals lobbied the Indiana County Commissioners to insist that a covered bridge remain in this spot, just like it has since 1879.

Photos of the new Thomas Covered Bridge construction provided by Barbara Fritsch.

End of the Covered Bridge Era Many covered bridges were removed in the 1930s and 1940s as highway departments began to replace them with bridges that could withstand the heavier loads of modern traffic. In 1941, Indiana County had twelve covered bridges - by 1960, only six covered bridges remained.

Nashville Bridge, near Rochester Mills, was the last covered bridge in the county to be deliberately torn down. It was mysteriously removed during the middle of the night, even though the covered bridge was in good condition, and a new bridge had already been constructed to bypass the 150

covered bridge. Otherwise, the Nashville Bridge might still be standing today.

In July 1962, the Indiana Evening Gazette reported that with the loss of the Nashville Bridge the “county has lost another one of its landmarks, much to the chagrin of historians and those persons interested in tourism and other attractions for the area.�

The loss of the Nashville Bridge spurred local citizens to act. Clarence Stephenson of the Indiana County Historical & Genealogical Society and Thomas Sutter of Dayton, PA spearheaded efforts beginning in 1962 to encourage the county to save its remaining covered bridges. In 1965 a covered bridge tour and rededication ceremony were organized after the four remaining covered bridges were repaired and upgraded.

In recent times Mr. William McIntire has played an important role is helping to preserve the Harmon and Trusal Bridges which are located at his farm.

Workers from the farm maintain the property surrounding these two bridges and have assisted in repairs to the bridges.

The Nashville Bridge, near Rochester Mills, was mysteriously removed during the night. It was the last bridge in Indiana County to be deliberately torn down. Its loss galvanized efforts to preserve Indiana County’s four remaining covered bridges.

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AtIndiana County was once home to at least 48 documented covered bridges.

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Buena Vista Furnace Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

Brush Valley Township 10485 Route 259 Hwy, Blairsville, PA 15759 (Heshbon Access Area of Ghost Town Trail) 40° 41´ 20.682” N 78° 59´ 40.925” W 5 acres, leased from the Indiana County Historical & Genealogical Society A 19th century iron furnace located along the Ghost Town Trail. The site offers interpretive signs of the furnace and serves as a resting spot along the trail.

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his iron furnace is located in Brush Valley Township, one-half mile downstream of the Route 56 Bridge.

From the Ghost Town Trail Heshbon Access Area (on PA Route 259) travel 3 miles east to the furnace. Built in 1847

by Henry McClelland, Stephen Alexander Johnston and Elias McClelland the furnace has also been known as McClelland’s Furnace.

The furnace is named after the Mexican War Battle of Buena Vista. On February 22-23, 1847 Santa Ana’s 14,000 Mexican troops met Zachary Taylor’s 5,000-man army near the small hacienda of Buena Vista, Mexico. Although Taylor’s troops were mostly inexperienced and badly outnumbered, the two armies fought to a draw. Taylor’s efforts at Buena Vista won him fame and later contributed to his presidential victory in the 1848 election.

Zachary Taylor

Furnace operations began in 1848. About 61 men and boys and 30 mules labored at the furnace. Based on a summary from an 1850 Sheriff’s Sale, the site contained a store, three houses, seven log cabins called ‘furnace 154

houses’, a blacksmith shop, two log barns and a saw mill.

Speculation in 1848 that the Pennsylvania Railroad would construct a line through the Blacklick Valley probably led to the selection of the furnace site.

However, the railroad was not constructed in this portion of the Blacklick Valley until 1903; by that time the Buena Vista Furnace was long out of business. The railroad route through the Blacklick Valley was initially surveyed by John Roebling for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Roebling would later gain fame as the builder of the Brooklyn Bridge and other suspension bridges.

The 30-foot tall cold blast furnace used local iron ore, limestone and charcoal to produce 400 tons of pig iron in 1848, but the furnace went out of blast in 1849.

In 1850, the Indiana County Sheriff seized the 822-acre property and sold it.

Stephen Johnston purchased the property and may have continued to operate it for several years. In 1854, it was reported that Buena Vista produced 560 tons of iron out of shell and bog ore. The furnace went out of blast and closed for good in 1856.

Photo: Indiana Evening Gazette

In 1900, Stephen Johnston sold a 67-acre parcel that included the Buena 155

Vista Furnace to Judge A.V. Barker for $20,000. Barker sold it and other properties to the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company in 1902. In 1917, the property passed to the Vinton Colliery Company.

In the 1930s it was rumored that Henry Ford had an interest in purchasing the Buena Vista Furnace and planned to transport it by rail car to Greenfield Village in Michigan. The proximity of the furnace to the railroad would have facilitated dismantling and loading it on rail cars. It may have been Henry Ford's interest in the furnace which sparked the movement to acquire the furnace and keep it in the local area.

The Buena Vista Park Association was organized in 1930 to prevent the furnace from being moved, with the hope that the state would acquire the property and turn it into a state historical landmark and public park. While various efforts were made to organize the association group and acquire the property, the establishment of the site as a state historical site stalled during the Great Depression.

The Indiana County Historical & Genealogical Society purchased the furnace from the Delano Coal Company in 1957. Through the efforts of Mr. Clarence Stephenson, work on making improvements to the Buena Vista site began in the mid-1960s. Beginning in the summer of 1965 and continuing into 1966-67, a work-training project, directed by the Indiana County Public Assistance Office, completed some site improvements.

Improvements included the clearing of a heavy growth of brush and the selective cutting of excess trees; the dozing of an access road under the Route 56 bridge; the construction of pit toilet facilities, using materials purchased with funds donated by the Optimist Club of Indiana, PA; construction of picnic tables with funds provided by individual donors whose names were on each table; and the construction of an all-weather picnic shelter with fireplace at one end.

Because the site was difficult to access, and an active railroad still existed beside it until 1992, the use of Buena Vista as a public park never materialized. It was not until the Ghost Town Trail was constructed in this section of the valley in 2005 that public access could be reestablished.

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The northwestern side and western tuyere arch of the furnace has collapsed, but the three other sides are still standing. The furnace is a pyramidal structure constructed of fine cut sandstone. The casting arch is on the south faรงade facing Blacklick Creek; the tuyere arches are on the east and west facades; and the charging bridge, used to empty contents into the top of the furnace, was located along the north wall.

The furnace continues to slowly deteriorate and would need expensive stabilization work to fully restore. The furnace and surrounding five acres of land are leased to Indiana County Parks & Trails by the Indiana County Historical & Genealogical Society. A short pathway from the Ghost Town Trail leads to the site.

Buena Vista Furnace is reached by traveling on the Ghost Town Trail. There is no direct access from nearby Route 56, although a long-term goal is to establish an access area for the furnace and the trail from Route 56. The site is located three miles east of the Heshbon Access Area on Route 259 and three miles west of the Dilltown Access Area on Route 403. The furnace is a short distance from the trail.

The Buena Vista Furnace is located along the Ghost Town Trail about halfway between Heshbon and Dilltown.

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Eliza Furnace Historic Site Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

Vintondale, PA 1069 Main St., Vintondale, PA 15961 40o 29' 6.339" N 78o 55' 26.033" W 5 acres The site features the Eliza Furnace, a hot blast iron furnace that operated from 1846 – 1849. The furnace is leased to Indiana County Parks & Trails from the Cambria County Historical Society. An interpretive exhibit is located at the furnace and a restroom and small pavilion are located nearby along the Ghost Town Trail.

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isitors to the Ghost Town Trail have the opportunity to see two historic iron furnaces during their journey: the Buena Vista Furnace and the Eliza Furnace. One of the most impressive and well-preserved iron furnaces in the state of Pennsylvania is the Eliza Furnace.

Eliza Furnace, early 1900s. The house located behind furnace also served as a school house. Photo: Denise Dusza Weber Collection.

A Brief History of the Eliza Furnace The Eliza Furnace, also once known as Ritter's Furnace, was the first of three iron furnaces constructed in the Blacklick Creek Valley. The other two furnaces were the Buena Vista and the Blacklick or Wheatfield Furnace.

David Ritter and Lot Irvin built the Eliza Furnace in 1846.

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During the late 1830’s and early 1840’s David Ritter and his business partner George Rodgers of Ebensburg purchased several thousand acres of land in the Blacklick Valley. They chose to build the iron furnace near the forks of the North and South branches of Blacklick Creek. Thomas Deveraux, a stone mason from Cambria Township, constructed the furnace in 1846. Two Irish immigrants from Vinco, John and William Gillin, also claimed to have completed the stonework. Before completion of the furnace, George Rodgers sold his share of the furnace to Lot Irvin (Irwin), a farmer from Centre County.

The furnace is a pyramidal structure constructed from unmortared sandstone. Eliza stands thirty-two feet high and its hollow interior, or bosh, measures nine feet in diameter. At the top of the furnace sits the hot blast heat exchanger, which was enclosed in a brick chimney during the furnace operation. The furnace was driven by a water wheel that powered a leather bellows. By the mid-1840s, most furnaces had replaced bellows with blowing tubs or cylinders.

The furnace was one of the first in the region to use the hot blast method.

In a hot blast furnace the furnace was fired and after being stoked for several days, the furnace was ready to be charged. During the charging process, iron ore, charcoal and limestone were hauled across a wooden charging bridge and loaded into the furnace by workers known as “fillers”.

Eliza’s charging bridge no longer exists, but it was located on the east elevation of the furnace, next to a hill. The raw materials were layered on top of each other until the furnace was filled, and then charcoal was ignited.

Water powered bellows pushed a blast of hot air up to the heat exchanger coils where it was heated by the exhaust gases of the burning charcoal. The hot blast air was then re-circulated back down to the bottom of the furnace where it was piped through a tuyere (a small nozzle), into the hearth. This process increased the temperature and improved the smelting process. But 159

this method only raised the air temperature between ten and fifteen degrees. The hot blast method worked better with anthracite coal rather than charcoal because the coal burned at a higher temperature and less of it was needed to fuel the process.

During the smelting process, the molten ore gathered at the bottom of the furnace hearth and flowed into a dam. When the smelting process was complete, the slag was removed from the ore and dumped. Then the dam was removed and the iron was tapped into molds on the sand floor of the casting house.

After the iron cooled, it was ready to be shipped for sale.

The iron was hauled by wagon to Ninevah on the Conemaugh River, and then transported on the Pennsylvania Canal to Pittsburgh. In 1848, Eliza manufactured 1,000 tons of ore out of a rated capacity of 1,800 tons - by 1849 the furnace was out of blast.

It required an incredible amount of raw materials to produce one ton of iron. A furnace like Eliza would need approximately two to three tons of ore, one to one-half tons of charcoal and twenty-five to one hundred pounds of limestone. The charring process, which was the conversion of wood into charcoal, was prepared in open piles, thirty to fifty feet in diameter.

Several charring pits were necessary for one furnace. The timber, either hickory or oak, was cut to lengths about three to four feet in length and piled around a center pole. The pile was covered with sod to prevent the free and uncontrolled combustion and had to be monitored day and night.

It required three to ten days to complete the charring process.

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• •

Above photo and drawing of charcoal pit on previous page provided by Paul Fagley, Interpreter at Greenwood Furnace State Park.

The wood was charred immediately after being cut and only a short period before it was needed. The charcoal could not be stored without shelter because it would soon become unfit for use. The charcoal house usually stored a one to two-month supply. The amount of charcoal needed for one furnace was enormous. An average furnace used from 800 to 1,000 bushels of charcoal per day; the equivalent of one acre of forest.

Eliza was an average sized western Pennsylvania operation. The furnace employed ninety men and boys and used forty-five horses and mules. Little is known about the work force of Eliza except the number employed and the typical work engaged in at an iron furnace.

The work force at the Eliza Furnace probably included the following: the iron master, the office clerk; the founder, who maintained day to day operations; fillers; guttermen, who prepared the sand bed on the cast house floor; molders, who cast the iron; miners, who dug the iron ore and sandstone; colliers, who made the charcoal; teamsters, who hauled the materials with horses and wagons; woodcutters; and laborers. Workers were often paid in-kind rather than in cash.

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According to Cambria County deeds, a section of the furnace operation encompassed 231 acres of land, although David Ritter and Lot Irvin owned more land in the area. Besides the furnace stack, the property included: a bridge house; a casting house; wheel and bellows houses; a frame stove house; an office; a smith shop; twenty-one log-hewed houses; a wagon maker shop; a smoke house; a log stable; and a charcoal house. Court records also show that taxes were paid on a saw mill in 1845. A boarding house and store also may have been present on or near the property.

Although the Eliza Furnace was an impressive operation, the furnace ran at a financial loss from its beginning, and was never able to turn a profit. The furnace's financial failure was due to several reasons, including: the cost of shipping pig iron overland to Johnstown and Ninevah; the poor quality of local iron ore; the failure of the Pennsylvania Railroad to go through the Blacklick Valley until much later; lowered tariffs on imported iron; the use of outdated technology; and the discovery of the Mesabi Iron Ore Range in Minnesota.

David Ritter was in dire financial need in June 1848 and Ritter's former partner George Rodgers sued him for $350 dollars because of Ritter's failure 162

to pay off past debts. Ritter was unable to pay the debt, so the sheriff deeded a parcel of property in Armagh to Rodgers. During July, 1848, the Cambria County sheriff seized the furnace property and the property was auctioned. At the Sheriff's sale, Soloman Alter and Joseph Replier, both of Philadelphia, bought the land.

The acquisition of the furnace property by Alter and Replier sparked the beginning of a period when several individuals purchased the former furnace property. The Eliza Furnace real estate and surrounding region were not developed further until the 1890s when coal mining began in the area.

Subsequent owners of the Eliza Furnace property included: the Blacklick Land and Improvement Company, the Vinton Land Company, the Vinton Colliery Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad. The furnace was conveyed from Manor Realty (Pennsylvania Railroad) to the Cambria County Historical Society in 1965. Indiana County Parks & Trails now leases the furnace and surrounding ground from the Cambria County Historical Society.

Eliza Furnace art work by Penny Russell. Historic photos provided from Denise Dusza Weber Collection unless noted otherwise.

An interpretive exhibit near the furnace highlights the people of Eliza Furnace, how charcoal was made and the furnace operations.

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Architectural drawing of Eliza Furnace by Karen Welsh, 1995.

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Memorial Park Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

Indiana Borough 630 Washington Street, Indiana, PA 15701 40° 37’ 10.591” N 79° 9’ 4.978” W 2 acres The park features a bandstand, benches, historic graves, a Doughboy statue and memorials to Indiana County veterans.

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emorial Park is one of the most historic sites within Indiana County.

Originally surveyed in 1774, the site was once a church cemetery there are thirty-three marked graves in the park. Nearby is the Clark House and Museum, home of the Indiana County Historical and Genealogical Society.

The property was first owned by Conrad Rice, a Revolutionary War veteran and one of Indiana County’s pioneer settlers. On October 11, 1806, an agreement was formalized with a deed from Rice to the trustees of Indiana County, transferring two acres and four perches "for the use of the inhabitants of the town of Indiana to erect a church or churches thereon, and for a burial ground."

Left: 1871 Beer’s Atlas showing a portion of Indiana Borough. Memorial Park is shown as CEM on map.

Rice died on December 21, 1816. His will made no mention of the land donation but a later agreement between Conrad Rice and the county commissioners dated Jan. 24, 1818, (Deed Book No. 3, page 195), provided that a tract of two acres, four perches adjoining lands of Clymer, was conveyed to the commissioners (Thomas Sharp, Thomas Laughlin and John Smith) for a consideration of $l. The agreement stated that one part of the tract fronting, "upon the great road or highway which leads to Agey's Mill, between where sundry graves now are and the academy”. The land 165

donation was for the use of the German Lutheran congregation and as a burial place. Another part was for the use and benefit of an English Presbyterian congregation. No church was ever constructed on the property but the site was used as a cemetery.

The first burials took place in 1814. In 1845 the Lutheran Cemetery was noted as being in disuse and overgrown with brambles and bushes. In April 1845 three fugitive slaves from Virginia reportedly hid among the tombstones. One of the slaves went to James Moorhead’s anti-slavery newspaper, Clarion of Freedom, located at 5th and School Streets to seek assistance. All three slaves were rescued and taken to Dr. Robert Mitchell’s farm near Clymer.

An article in the Indiana Weekly Register of November 18, 1863 noted: “There is also room for improvement in the grave yard adjoining the Academy. This carelessness in respect to the resting place of the dead does not reflect the highest commendation upon our citizens of their regards for deceased friends. We trust this matter will receive prompt and proper attention, and that our grave yards will be secured against the depredations of cattle and swine.

In this connection, we may add: Perhaps the most proper steps that could be taken, would be to establish a Cemetery somewhere, at a short distance away from town, and have the bodies now lying in the respective grave yards removed to it. This should have been done long ago. The grave yards in town are already pretty well filled, and there is no room for extending them; and, to say least, it is undesirable to continue a burial ground in a locality where it is closely environed by places of residence, as is the case here.

Besides, there are several excellent sites for a Cemetery, in the neighborhood, either of which might be purchased. Among these, if we may be allowed to make suggestions, is the piece of ground (some 15 or 18 acres) being a short distance south west from town, between the Warren and Jacksonville roads, where these roads come together. It is a beautiful lot surrounded by a good fence, and is of easy access by good public roads.

Our people should take some decisive steps in this matter, before the available lots are sold for places of residence, and thus be 166

greatly enhanced in price, should it be deemed expedient to purchase at some later period, without adding to their worth for this special purchase”.

Shown below: 1900 Panoramic Map of Indiana, PA drawn by T.M. Fowler.

In 1875, Indiana Borough Council passed an ordinance prohibiting further burials in the “Lutheran Graveyard” hoping to reduce activity around the cemetery.

In 1906, the Indiana Progress newspaper reported that Indiana Borough Council purchased wrought iron benches for the ‘Old Lutheran Cemetery’.

Did the Borough Council consider it to be a cemetery, park or public gathering place? Why the benches were purchased remains unknown.

The park's most prominent feature is the doughboy statue, erected in 1925 by a committee of citizens led by Alex Stewart, father of the actor James Stewart. The doughboy statue, created by E.M Viquesney, is one 145 known statues remaining in the United States. The local committee chose the name ‘Spirit of the American Soldier’ to honor all veterans who had served 167

their country; at the time of its erection this included veterans of World War I and all previous wars. Since the erection of the statue memorial plaques have been placed at the base of the monument to honor veterans of all wars occurring after WWI. In 1957, the Mothers of Democracy dedicated the park bandstand. The Daughters of the American Revolution placed markers honoring Revolutionary War veterans buried in the park: Peter Sutton, John Lydick, Conrad Rice, Jacob Giles Hicks, and Gawin Adams. The markers are located Bandstand dedication, 1957. Photo: near the corner of Washington Indiana Evening Gazette Street and Wayne Avenue. The exact location within the park of the burial sites for these veterans is not known.

In 1978, operation of the park was transferred to Indiana County Parks. From the early 1900s through 1977 the park was maintained by Indiana Borough. In 1977, the Borough decided it could no longer financially support the park and requested that the County assume operation of the park, since the property was owned by the County.

In 1984, the Indiana Jaycees spearheaded an improvement project at the park that included the installation of a roof over the bandstand, the planting of new trees and other landscape improvements. The bandstand roof was constructed by a carpentry class from the Indiana Vo-Tech School.

Partial funding of the improvements came from a $10,000 donation by Jimmy Stewart, Indiana native and Hollywood legend, in honor of his father’s efforts at the park.

A geophysical investigation of Memorial Park was conducted in November 2006 by IUP Archeological Services. The study was conducted to provide historical background of the park and to estimate the extent of burials

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within the park. One area of the park was studied using ground penetrating radar to attempt to determine what lies underneath the park’s surface.

Map prepared by IUP Archeology shows the location of many potential graves in one quadrant of the park. A small portion of the study area was unearthed with a backhoe but failed to indicate the presence of any graves in that particular area; the number of graves in the park remains a mystery.

A summer concert series has been held at the park for several years. The concert series was established

by Nancy Sherry Heisel. These popular early evening Sunday concerts feature music from a wide variety of musical genres.

Memorial Park is also a popular gathering place for lunch time gatherings of nearby office workers and university students. The park offers a shady retreat in the heart of Indiana Borough and the chance to reflect on the sacrifices made by veterans on behalf of our country. Every Memorial Day, since 1925, Indiana County’s citizens have gathered at Memorial Park to honor our veterans and their service to America.

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Ernest Moore Viquesney and the Doughboy Statue During World War I the term “doughboy”, referring to the American troops, gained widespread use. Sculptor and artist, Ernest Moore Viquesney, was the man behind the famous doughboy statues installed throughout the country. Researchers believe there may have been as many as 845 doughboy statues scattered around the country, but only 145 documented statues have been known to exist.

There were several other products which used the doughboy, aside from the large statues. Viquesney designed “Spirit of the American Doughboy” lamps that doubled as a candlestick holder and incense burner. He also produced twelve inch and rare six-inch miniature versions of the statues to go along with the large life size replicas.

Viquesney used several marketing tactics to promote this WWI memorabilia, including an advertising promotion directed specifically to women. He wanted to convince American women that their homes would not be complete without “the nation’s most beautiful patriotic lamp”. The American Legion Weekly targeted ex-serviceman to buy Viquesney’s doughboy products.

In 1920, Viquesney founded the World War Memorial Association and used this group to promote his products. From 1936-1937 the doughboy newsletter “Spirit of the American Doughboy” was published in magazines such as The Monumental News. Doughboys were advertised as being available in a cast zinc option, but none of this type were found until after mid-1934. Before this the doughboys were made and assembled from 75 stamped “copper/bronze sheets”. The Memorial Park Statue is made from copper/bronze sheets.

Ernest Moore Viquesney was born in Spencer, Indiana and spent some time in Georgia. His first doughboy statues, including the Memorial Park statue, have Americus, Georgia inscribed on the bottom.

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During his stay in Georgia, where he worked for Clark’s Monumental Works, he also designed Civil War memorials. He eventually moved back to Indiana and loved to proclaim himself a ‘Hoosier’. Throughout his life he designed several sculptures including state memorials, Andersonville Prison Cemetery and Park Memorial, “Comrades” which depicts a WWI and WWII veterans shaking hands and the Wichita, Kansas State War Memorial. He reportedly knew the famous sculptor, Borglum, who worked on Stone Mountain Georgia and Mount Rushmore of the South Dakota Black Hills.

Viquesney’s first marriage to Cora Barnes ended when she died of diphtheria in 1933. His sculpture “The Unveiling,” now at his family burial plot at Riverside Cemetery in Spencer, Indiana is said to be a model of his second wife, Elizabeth “Betty” Sadler. “The Unveiling,” was available for sale in life size and miniature models, just like the American Doughboy statues.

After Betty died, Viquesney committed suicide not long after. He left a note saying, “I cannot carry on.” Viquesney composed his own obituary. He highlighted the sculptors he knew, what monuments and statues he had constructed and made note of his Hoosier pride.

Following Viquesney’s death, Milton Waymire bought all remaining miniature doughboys from Louisville Composition Products. Frederic L. Hollis tried to continue the business in Gosport, Indiana, but his attempts failed. Even with Viquesney’s death and Waymire’s unsuccessful attempt, a few years later T. Perry Wesley attempted to keep the doughboy tradition alive.

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T. Perry Wesley and friends began collecting doughboy statues and other Viquesney pieces with plans to open a museum in Spencer, Indiana. They advertised in the newspaper for people to donate works for a Viquesney museum, but the museum never materialized. Today, the largest collection of E.M Viquesney’s works are housed in the William Crenshaw Kennedy, Jr. Memorial Museum in Monticello, Kentucky.

There are reportedly 80 doughboy statues still remaining in 29 states, including 11 in Pennsylvania. The last Doughboy statue installation took place in Verona, PA in 1943. The doughboy statue was designed to show ‘spirit and determination’ to preserve freedom for America and its citizens.

The Doughboy Statue at Memorial Park has stood since 1925. Each year a Memorial Day Service is held here to honor our nation’s veterans.

Information on E.M. Viquesney and the Doughboy statue is derived from a website on the Doughboy and Viquesney research: www.emvarchive.weebly.com/index.html

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Old Smicksburg Park Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

Smicksburg Borough 179 E. Kittanning St., Smicksburg, PA 16256 40° 52’ 16.349” N 79° 10’ 8.815” W 33 acres The park is located on property acquired in 1941 by the federal government as a flood control area for Mahoning Creek Lake. The site includes walking paths on the former village streets, picnic tables, interpretative signs and access to Little Mahoning Creek.

“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come”.

- from the Epistle of Saint Paul, Hebrews 13:14

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he town of Smicksburg was originally laid out in 1827 by the Rev. John G. Schmick, a Lutheran pastor originally from Huntingdon County. From 1827 until 1940 Smicksburg was a thriving community and business center in northwestern Indiana County.

The acquisition of the property by the federal government resulted in the loss of two-thirds of the town. Twenty-two buildings were removed including several fine homes, the Lutheran Church, three cemeteries, a grist mill, creamery, telephone exchange, gas station and school house. At its peak 225 people lived in the borough; today Smicksburg is one of Pennsylvania’s smallest boroughs with a population of forty-five residents.

The establishment of Old Smicksburg Park dates from the 1990s when the Smicksburg Area Heritage Society (SAHS), under the direction of Rev. Tim Spence, initiated efforts to establish a community park and historical site.

Local residents volunteered to clear and restore the site for use as a park.

Many residents of Smicksburg and the surrounding area can trace their family lineage to the former community. All graves in the town’s former 173

cemeteries were relocated to a new cemetery located on high ground along Route 954 south of Smicksburg.

Above: Aerial photo of Smicksburg, May 12, 1939.

In 2000, the SAHS began managing the park under an agreement with Smicksburg Borough, who leases the property from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In March 2010, responsibility for the park’s management was transferred to Indiana County Parks & Trails. The SAHS continues its involvement in the community by operating the John G. Schmick Heritage Center. The heritage center includes a fine collection of well-designed exhibits and interesting artifacts that trace the history of the town and surrounding township.

Smicksburg Borough and the surrounding area contain a number of specialty shops that offer a variety of shopping opportunities and restaurants.

The ‘Specialty Shops of Smicksburg’, a merchants group in the area, sponsors several well-attended festivals throughout the year. The award-winning Windgate Vineyards & Winery operates nearby at 1998 Hemlock Acres Road.

The park provides access to Little Photo: Western PA Conservancy Mahoning Creek, a high-quality stream that offers fishing and kayaking and is home to the Eastern Hellbender, one of the world’s largest aquatic salamanders. The Western PA Conservancy

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conducts on-going research on the hellbenders of Little Mahoning Creek.

Hellbenders can only survive in streams with clean water.

Condron Run, a small stream that traverses the park, serves as a magnet for wildlife and birds. Native wildflowers and remnant plantings from the time when homes and gardens were located here add to the park’s beauty.

The story of Smicksburg’s early founding and growth, decline and eventual transition as a popular tourist destination is a compelling one. Visiting Old Smicksburg Park provides an opportunity to take a step back in time, to enjoy the peaceful surroundings of Little Mahoning Creek and to reflect on a time when this community was once a bustling village of the 19 th and early 20th centuries.

Scenes of Old Smicksburg Park (clockwise) : (1) Mountain mint wildflowers in bloom. (2) Horse –drawn wagon rides. (3) Walking paths on former streets. (4) The Specialty Shops of Smicksburg.

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Scenes of Old Smicksburg

Stiteler Grist Mill & Mill House

Young girl and school house

St. Thomas Episcopal Church

Historic photos and illustration courtesy of Rev. Timothy Spence and the Smicksburg Area Heritage Association.

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The Smicksburg Amish Settlement “The Amish are a Christian church that traces its roots to the Protestant Reformation in sixteenth-century Europe. Amish people accept basic Christian beliefs but also have some special interpretations and emphases that have emerged throughout their history. They migrated from Europe to North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. No Amish remain in Europe. Today they live in 448 geographical settlements in 28 states and the Canadian province of Ontario. Their unique practices make them one of America’s most interesting and colorful religious subcultures.”

Elizabethtown College, Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies

The Smicksburg area is home to the 12th largest Amish settlement in the United States and the fourth largest settlement in Pennsylvania. Beginning in the early 1960s Old Order Amish families began to move to the area from Ohio, being attracted to the area’s inexpensive farmland and its rural location.

A cheese cooperative, which still operates, was established to provide a source of income from selling milk and cream. In the intervening years farming has remained a mainstay of the Amish community but community members have also branched out into small shops and businesses. Employment in carpentry, logging, wood crafts, leather and canvas shops, furniture-making, greenhouses and nurseries have become more common in recent years. An Amish produce auction is held weekly in season at a location on Barnards Road.

The Smicksburg Amish settlement is comprised of 18 districts with a population of slightly less than 2,400 residents. Each district is headed by a Bishop and other church leaders.

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Indiana County Amish Farm Scene. Photo: Malcolm Hermann

The Amish shun modern conveniences and travel throughout the nearby settlement in horse and buggies. The area is dotted with one room school houses, close enough so that students can walk to school. As you travel the rural roads in the area, you will enjoy picturesque farm country and the chance to see a thriving and growing religious community that adheres to a less modern way of life.

The Amish live “in this world but not of it”. While death is a somber occasion the promise of life beyond death is a source of great comfort for the family and settlement members.

The task of dealing with the death of a member is the responsibility of all members of the district - respect is An Amish Graabhof (‘graveyard’) near Smicksburg. shown for the deceased in many ways. Death and the customs and ceremonies associated with it are determined by the beliefs of the settlement.

Grave markers are simple and unadorned, in keeping with Amish beliefs.

The respect the Amish have for their descendants is shown in the care that the graveyards receive.

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Mahoning Creek Lake The construction of the Mahoning Dam, now known as Mahoning Creek Lake, and the acquisition of flood control property had a devastating impact on the small community of Smicksburg. Many other communities in western Pennsylvania were also subject to condemnation from other flood control projects, including Blairsville in southwestern Indiana County.

Mahoning Dam, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Mahoning Creek Lake was authorized by Congress with the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938. The dam is one of sixteen flood control projects in the Pittsburgh District created in response to the St. Patrick’s Day Flood of 1936. As a link in a system of flood control projects, Mahoning Creek Lake provides flood protection for the lower Allegheny River Valley and the upper Ohio River.

The lake encompasses 2,967 acres and drains an area of 340 square miles. The Milton Loop Campground, located north of Dayton, PA on PA 839 has fiftytwo campsites, modern restrooms and showers. The Milton Loop area also has a boat launch. A second boat launch is located at the Sportsman’s Area Boat Ramp.

Fishing below the dam.

Hiking, fishing and hunting are Photo: Patrick Kline, U.S. ACOE. popular attractions on the Corps property. The Baker Trail, a 141-mile long trail that runs from Freeport, PA to the Allegheny National Forest, passes through a portion of the Mahoning Creek property. Picnic pavilions and a playground are located at the overflow area.

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John Buchanan McCormick – World Class Inventor and More “Probably the greatest achievement of any one man in advancing the development of the hydraulic turbine was that of John B McCormick of Indiana County, PA. About 1870 he found that by extending the bucket vanes of an inward flow turbine downward and outward making them ladle or spoon shaped he was able to greatly increase the outlet openings of a turbine of a given diameter.

The form of buckets or water passages through these latest and largest turbine runners differs but little from that developed by John B. McCormick following earlier attempts at the production of an efficient inward flow turbine runner by Howard Francis and Swain.”

American Society of Civil Engineers, Volume 85

John Buchanan McCormick, son of Joseph Alexander and Rachel (Buchanan) McCormick, was born in 1834 in Sinking Valley, Blair County (near presentday Altoona). McCormick was an inventor, musician and multi-talented individual whose work enhanced the fortunes of many people, businesses and industries throughout the world.

The McCormick Family moved to Smicksburg from Blair County in 1837. John B. McCormick attended school in the Baptist minister’s house, where his mother served as the teacher.

Around eight years of age McCormick began working in his father’s shop making cherry clothes pin for his mother and neighbors. He made his first rocking chair for his sister when he was ten. Some attribute his artistic talents, including music performance, songwriting and painting, to his Grandmother Buchanan who was artistic as well.

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McCormick’s interest and love of music would stay with him the remainder of his life. To earn extra income, McCormick began traveling across the area teaching singing schools. He walked to every location – by his own estimate he traveled 42,000 miles teaching singing schools in his lifetime. His singing schools averaged 30100 students, often comprised of members of churches seeking to improve the singing quality of their church services. Each student paid 50 cents for thirteen sessions. He was an accomplished singer and once performed for Governor Andrew Curtin in 1868. McCormick also published sheet music and eventually published three music books: School and Concert, The Village Choir, and The Primal. Many of his songs are named after local towns including Hillsdale, Plumville, Plum Creek, Armagh, Sinking Valley, Elderton, and Smicksburg.

Around 1870, McCormick left Smicksburg a broken-hearted man.

His dating of Annabelle Travis met with her parent’s disapproval so he moved to Armagh, Pennsylvania to live with his Uncle John Buchanan.

Buchanan ran a small saw mill and McCormick assisted him in the mill’s operation. In the fall of 1868, a severe drought hit the area resulting in a lack of water to adequately operate the saw mill’s turbine.

McCormick improvised improvements to the turbine by Drawing from a McCormick patent for a adding sheet iron extensions, increasing the turbine’s power and water wheel, recorded in 1896. requiring less water flow to run the sawmill. Over the next fifteen years 182

McCormick patented six turbine inventions and earned recognition as the individual most responsible for perfecting the turbine. McCormick did not invent the turbine, but he is credited as the person mainly responsible for improving the turbine’s design and efficiency.

The Excelsior Wheel, manufactured in Reading, Pennsylvania, was the first McCormick turbine. James L. Brown Sons Company of Brookville, Pennsylvania provided financial backing for its production. In September 1874, McCormick received his first patent on a turbine. The “Hercules,” was patented in January 1876 and was the most successful McCormick turbine.

McCormick had an agreement with Stillwell and Bierce Company of Dayton, Ohio to produce the turbine. To McCormick’s dismay, Stillwell stole his ideas and patented a similar turbine known as the “Victor”, a “Hercules” competitor.

McCormick worked with Holyoke Machine Company in Massachusetts for eleven years perfecting the Hercules. The “McCormick’s Holyoke Turbine” was manufactured by S. Morgan Smith Company of York, Pennsylvania and Dubuque Turbine Roller Mill Company of Dubuque, Iowa. In 1892 McCormick published a financial challenge in “The Lumber World” offering a $10,000 prize to anyone who could prove that Stillwell and his “Victor” could outperform the “Hercules”. The prize money was never paid out to any challenger.

In 1896, McCormick, still single, returned to the area and purchased a large stone house near Smicksburg.

This landmark house, built in 1817, has seven-foot thick stone walls. John Stewart, grandfather of the actor Jimmy Stewart, once Photo: Fred Yernerall Collection resided in the home. The home was listed on the National Register of historic Places in 1974. Today, it still serves as a family home for descendants of the McCormick family.

In 1902, at age 67, McCormick married Mabel Kinter, age 27. They had two children, John B. Jr. and Margery. Because of his growing family, he felt the need to add the distinctive tower portion to the stone house. Although he considered himself retired, McCormick continued his involvement with 183

various turbine projects including major projects at the Niagara Falls Plant in New York and the Soo Power Plant in Michigan.

While McCormick dedicated a large portion of his life to perfecting the turbine, he always maintained a strong interest in music. At the age of 81 he sang for a community hospital benefit in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Because of his financial success in the manufacturing industry he was able to enhance his music career by publishing three music books.

John B. McCormick died in 1924 at his home.

He was originally buried in Smicksburg Borough but his remains, along with those of others in the town’s three cemeteries, were later relocated to a new cemetery on a hill leading into the town when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acquired the cemetery property for flood-control purposes.

McCormick’s monument a prominent feature at the Smicksburg Cemetery outside of town.

The McCormick monument includes an etching of one of his turbines along with a quote by the philosopher Amelia B. Gunther: “The first to tread an unknown path or dare a new truth to proclaim is by the world’s dulled realm of thought pronounced eccentric or insane.”

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After McCormick’s death, his widow Mabel moved to Smicksburg Borough and lived in one of the town’s finest homes. In 1941, she was forced to move from the home as a result of the Army Corps relocation. She relocated to another home in Smicksburg and lived there until her death in 1946.

In 1959, McCormick’s daughter Margery was instrumental in having her father’s achievements recognized at the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Science & Technology in Washington, D.C. John B. McCormick was one of the Indiana County’s most accomplished citizens. His achievements in perfecting the turbine are still used for beneficial purposes throughout the world today.

Former home of Mabel Kinter McCormick, Church Street, Smicksburg, PA.

Background information on John B. McCormick, used with permission, is adapted from the book, In the Valley of the Fair Mahoning: A History of Smicksburg, Pennsylvania written by Timothy A. Spence and copyrighted by the Smicksburg Area Heritage Society, 1996.

The book chronicles the compelling history of Smicksburg and is available for sale at the Smicksburg Area Heritage Center.

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The Smicksburg Lime Kiln

The heating of limestone to produce a marketable material, involves a process of burning or roasting natural limestone cobbles or blocks. Lime production needed several natural features to facilitate production of such materials. A natural limestone ridge or vein of the appropriate stone type near the surface for quarrying first had to be located, as well as large quantities of local wood for fuel. Later coal was introduced to the lime firing process, so access to coal sources also became a necessity. It is not known if coal was ever used in the Smicksburg lime kiln. Coal is found in the area, but it was not mined in the Smicksburg area to the extent of other areas of Indiana County.

Although lime kilns were found in other locations in Indiana County their history has not been well-documented, certainly not to the extent of the county’s iron furnaces.

The Smicksburg Lime Kiln sits on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mahoning Lake property, just downstream of the Route 954 highway bridge in Smicksburg, on the north side of Little Mahoning Creek. The flood plain area is subject to periodic flooding, both naturally occurring flooding and from water held back by the Mahoning Dam for flood control purposes.

The location of a lime kiln considered the distance from the stone quarry site to the kiln processing area, and the distance from the kiln to the nearest roads.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1941 map shows the location of both the lime kiln and a ‘limestone mine’. A field reconnaissance has not located the presence of a limestone mine opening, but on the 1941 Corps map, a limestone mine is shown as being downstream of the kiln, with a road connecting the mine and the kiln.

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The Smicksburg lime kiln is generally hidden from public view by surrounding foilage and not well-known to many people, unless they are a careful observer of the surrounding landscape.

This photo of the Smicksburg lime kiln appeared in the Indiana Evening Gazette on March 12, 1949 along with photos of other landmarks in West Mahoning Township. A quote from the article by Frank Sipos states, “About fifteen years ago a lime furnace was built, which was used for a few years but has since been abandoned.� On the lower right hand corner of the kiln the year 1933 is etched into the concrete.

Lime Products Lime kilns were used to produce quicklime, which was used to make plaster for mortar for building construction. Other products produced included whitewash (quicklime saturated with water and then mixed with glue). Lime was also used as bleaching powder in the paper industry. Other uses included hair removal in the tanning industry, as an ingredient for soap making, and as a fluxing agent in the glass and iron making industry.

The most common use of lime was as a neutralizing agent or fertilizer for agriculture. It is likely that the production of lime for use as a fertilizer was the primary product of the Smicksburg lime kiln, due to the presence of a large agricultural area nearby. Some tanning and iron making did occur on the nearby area, but by the time of the kiln’s construction (c. 1933), tanning and iron-making industries no longer operated in the area.

The perishable nature of the processed lime necessitated a quick, reliable and protected means of transport. Lime was generally hauled in wagons.

Due to the volatile nature of the lime as it came out the kiln, it was not 187

uncommon for wagons to catch on fire if the lime had not been sufficiently watered down or cooled.

The Lime-Making Process Kilns were often by laying fieldstone into a bank of a hill with a wagon path to the top. The kiln chimney would then be filled from above with alternating layers of wood or coal and layered with limestone chunks and then set on fire. Temperatures frequently reached two thousand degrees Fahrenheit and would break up the stone into hot lime often with an explosive bang. The temperature of the fire would be controlled by adjusting the air flow in the draft hole.

The kilns would typically burn one to four weeks. The brilliantly lighted kilns led to a new word, ‘limelight’. The lime would filter onto the grate to the hearth below. The lime was set in mounds and wetted down with water.

The bushels of cooled, slaked lime were loaded onto farm wagons and spread onto the fields.

The above drawing of a lime kiln at the Wabash & Erie Canal in Delphi, Indiana shows a kiln that is similar in appearance to the Smicksburg lime kiln. Source: www.wabashanderiecanal.org/Lime_Kilns.html 188

The Smicksburg lime kiln was a unique but short-lived industry in this northern Indiana County community. All that remains is the hearth and chimney that have stood largely unnoticed along the banks of Little Mahoning Creek for many years.

North Point - West Mahoning Township The small village of North Point is located several miles north of Smicksburg.

North Point was originally known as ‘Sellersville’, reportedly because every house in the community had a cellar under it. The first house was erected

by Phillip Enterline in 1849. The town included a mill, store, a shoemaker and blacksmith shop and the Sellersville Hotel built in 1873. A post office opened with the name North Point and was named for being at the northern-most part of the town. Other references record that the town derives its name from being the northern most location in Indiana County.

In 1899 the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway crossed the northwest corner of Indiana County with a line connecting Punxsutawney and Dayton.

This route required the construction of the 1,000-foot Mahoning Trestle, a large iron trestle and the most significant railroad structure in Indiana County.

The bridge was manufactured by A&P Roberts - Pencoyd Iron Works of Pencoyd, PA. The bridge has nine spans with the main center span measuring 120 feet. The bridge is still in use today and is located downstream of North Point.

Mahoning Creek Trestle

North Point Park, across Mahoning Creek from the town, was a popular swimming and recreation spot. Many people from surrounding towns came on the railroad to spend the day at North Point Park.

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West Mahoning Township, F.W. Beers Atlas, 1871. North Point was named Sellersville during this time period.

In the early 20th century, a bottling company called the "Granny Koon Bottling Company" produced bottled soda pop. The bottling company was destroyed in the 1936 St. Patrick’s Day Flood, along with homes and other buildings all along Mahoning Creek. Some houses were moved to higher ground after the flood.

The post office in North Point also served as a general store and gas station.

The post office was closed in the early 1990's. North Point is located in a quiet and scenic spot in northwestern Indiana - worth the short drive from Smicksburg to visit.

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Tunnelview Historic Site Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

Conemaugh Township 1665 Auen Road, Saltsburg, PA 15681 40o 28' 4.729" N 79o 22' 31.291" W 16 acres This historic site features nationally significant remnants of transportation history relating to tunnels, canals and railroads; access to the Conemaugh River, fishing, a kayak/canoe launch and picnic facilities. The 17-mile West Penn Trail passes through the site.

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his 16-acre site, adjacent to the Conemaugh River Lake in southwestern Indiana County, offers a an impressive view of Indiana County’s early transportation history. The property was donated to Indiana County by the Tunnelton Mining Company through the efforts of the late Clarence Stephenson, former Indiana County Historian; David Bishop, manager of Conemaugh River Lake; and William Dzombak, a canal historian and Conemaugh River Lake volunteer.

Tunnelview Historic Site was one of several sites developed in Indiana County during the America’s Industrial Heritage Project era of the 1990s.

The Tunnelview story begins with the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal. A 900foot portion of canal, visible at the site, was part of the canal's Western division. The route extended from Pittsburgh to Johnstown, where the Allegheny Portage Railroad began. Once over the Alleghenies, passengers continued their trip to Harrisburg and Philadelphia.

Constructing the canal through the rugged terrain of the Alleghenies was a monumental undertaking. Faced with steep terrain and a sharp bend in the 191

Conemaugh River, engineer Alonzo Livermore routed the canal through Bow Ridge, the narrow strip of land within the river bend. Once through the tunnel, the canal continued over a stone arch aqueduct across the river.

This was the only site on the canal with an aqueduct and tunnel next to one another.

The Western division of the canal operated until 1852, when maintenance problems, financial insolvency, and competition from the railroads brought an end to the brief canal era in Pennsylvania. The canal tunnel was sealed off as part of the Conemaugh flood control project in 1952.

By 1864, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) constructed a new tunnel and stone arch bridge here for its subsidiary, the North-West Railroad.

The PRR completed construction of another tunnel here in 1907, when the railroad was realigned. This realignment required the construction of a stone arch bridge which still stands. The bridge withstood the 1936 Johnstown Flood. A sign on the stone arch bridge designates the high-water mark.

In 1952, the PRR realigned its track again, and constructed the high-level iron bridge standing today. Today the bridge carries trains of the Norfolk Southern Railway. A fourth tunnel was constructed through Bow Ridge in 1989 to deliver water to a nearby hydroelectric power station.

A pavilion, restroom, interpretive exhibits and a kayak/canoe launch are available at Tunnelview. The Army Corps of Engineers also offer public recreation facilities at the nearby Conemaugh River Lake, including two large pavilions, a playground, volleyball court and restrooms.

A portion of the West Penn Trail passes through Tunnelview Historic Site.

The trail runs between Saltsburg and the Newport Road trailhead near Blairsville. The West Penn Trail is operated by the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy (CVC).

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The Conservancy has installed several interpretive panels at the Tunnelview Historic Site to educate visitors about the significant history of the surrounding area.

Scenes from Tunnelview Historic Site of an historic marker for the canal aqueduct, stone arch bridge, towpath bridge and kayak launching area.

Although initially developed initially as an historic site, the Tunnelview Historic Site is now just as popular as a launch area for kayakers and canoeists. The improving water quality of the Conemaugh River has made the area a magnet for water enthusiasts who travel downstream to Saltsburg and beyond. Kayak rentals are available from private concessions in Saltsburg and Avonmore. In Saltsburg, visitors can tour the Saltsburg Canal Park, walk the town’s historic district, eat at a local restaurant and bicycle the Westmoreland Heritage Trail or West Penn Trail.

The improving water quality has also revived fishing opportunities in the river. Although once a lifeless river caused by severe acid mine drainage and other industrial pollution, the Conemaugh River has experienced a major comeback in recent decades. The revival of the Conemaugh River is one of the region’s most outstanding environmental success stories.

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Conemaugh Dam with hydro-plant in foreground. Photo: USACOE.

A hydro-electric plant operates just downstream from the Conemaugh Dam and across the river from the Tunnelview Historic Site. Water is brought to the hydro-plant through a twenty-foot diameter tunnel which passes through Bow Ridge to turn the water turbines contained inside the plant. The plant began operations in 1989. The hydrotunnel is one of four tunnels located through Bow Ridge.

The Conemaugh Dam, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is the largest construction project ever completed in Indiana County. The dam cost slightly more than $30 million dollars to construct in 1952. The project includes 8,954 acres and drains an area of 1,351 square miles. At normal pool level the lake is 7.6 miles long.

The Conemaugh project was authorized by Congress in response to the devastating St. Patrick’s Day Flood of 1936. It is one of sixteen flood control dams in the Pittsburgh District. The dam is regarded as one of the most important dams for protecting Pittsburgh from flooding.

A unique recreational aspect of the project is the Bow Ridge hunting area which offers wheelchair access to physically challenged hunters. Most of the Conemaugh River Lake property is leased to the Pennsylvania Game Commission for public hunting.

Trains ride above the Tunnelview Historic Site on the high level bridge.

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Several interpretive displays, prepared by the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, are located at Tunnelview Historic Site.

All in all, Tunnelview Historic Site is one of the most distinctive spots in Indiana County. It offers the opportunity to learn more about the County’s early transportation history and the chance to participate in outdoor activities in a truly unique setting. A trip to this out of the way location is worth a visit.

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The High-Level Bridge at Tunnelview Historic Site One of the most impressive features at the Tunnelview Historic Site is the High-Level Bridge that towers over the site. Construction of this railroad bridge began in 1950. The construction of the Conemaugh Dam required that the railroad be elevated above the maximum pool level.

For a time, there was a plan to construct another tunnel through Bow Ridge to accommodate the railroad, but eventually it was determined that an open cut would be less costly.

The cost to relocate the railroad was $25.8 million, the cost to construct the Conemaugh Dam was $14 million; land acquisition costs amounted to $6.6 million. Trains from the Norfolk Southern Railroad still use the bridge today.

The above photo shows the construction of the 1950 High Level Bridge.

Photo: Conemaugh Valley Conservancy.

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Buttermilk Falls Natural Area Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

West Wheatfield Township, 2 miles south of Route 22 from the Clay Pike Road intersection 570 Valley Brook Rd., New Florence, PA 15944 40° 25´ 9.687 “ N 79° 9´ 54.202” W 48 acres The Buttermilk Falls Natural Area features a 45-foot waterfall, observation deck, picnic area, a small pavilion and a hiking trail.

Indiana County’s Buttermilk Falls is one of many waterfalls named Buttermilk Falls. In western PA there are at least three other Buttermilk Falls and in south central New York a Buttermilk Falls State Park exists.

While the name is common, Indiana County’s Buttermilk Falls is a unique and special place with its own interesting history.

At one time Buttermilk Falls was also known as Aurora Falls. A newspaper photo appearing in the Indiana Progress newspaper in 1916 referred to the falls as “Aurora Falls, Indiana County’s Miniature Niagara”.

Over the years, the name Buttermilk Falls has gained favor. The 1871 F.W. Beers & Co. map of West Wheatfield Township designates the falls, but does not refer to it by a specific name.

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Waterfalls the size and scale of Buttermilk Falls are uncommon in western Pennsylvania. Falls occur when a stream wears away an easily erodible layer of rock then encounters a resistant layer. The resistant layer erodes at a slower rate than the surrounding rock, forming a waterfall.

At Buttermilk Falls, a resistant layer of sandstone underlies easily erodible shale. The result is a drop off that reaches 45 feet in height. Buttermilk Falls is located on Hires Run, a tributary to the Conemaugh River.

Photo: Earl Carney, Jr. The 48-acre natural area was donated to Indiana County Parks & Trails in 1995 by the Keystone-Conemaugh Group, a consortium of owners of the nearby Conemaugh Generating Station. As a natural area the site has been set aside to protect both typical and unique plant and animal communities and to protect outstanding examples of natural beauty.

Between 1931 and 1956, the property was owned by Fred McFeely, the grandfather of Fred Rogers of children's television. Mr. McFeely was a wealthy industrialist from Latrobe, PA, who utilized the property as a retreat and a place to entertain his friends, associates and political allies. The cottage was built during the Great Depression and near the end of the Prohibition era. Local residents were employed to work on the cottage and surrounding grounds.

Young boys were paid fifty cents a day for their labor.

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The estate featured a cottage, horse stables, a three car garage, various outbuildings and a swimming area in the creek above the falls. The garage had a waiting area on its second floor for the guest’s chauffeurs. As a privileged child Mr. Rogers often visited the site.

Stone foundations and retaining walls from the estate are still visible throughout the site.

The best time to view the falls is after a rainfall when the water volume is at its highest. In the late summer and during dry spells the water flowing over the falls decreases to a trickle. In 2018 a bridge over Hires Run and steps were added to improve access to the falls area.

The McFeely Cottage “In talking to others, I have come to believe that for most of us some lonely spot, some private nook, some glen or streamside-scene has impressed us so deeply that even today its memory recalls a mood of lost enchantment.”

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Edwin Way Teale, The Lost Woods

For the late Fred Rogers, Buttermilk Falls was a place of childhood enchantment. Fred Brooks McFeely, Mr. Roger’s maternal grandfather, once owned the Buttermilk Falls property.

As a child, Fred Rogers visited his grandfather’s cottage near Clyde, PA with his parents. After Sunday dinners and on summer vacations he walked the grounds with his grandfather sharing in special times. Many ideas and expressions used in the children’s public television program ‘Mr. Rogers Neighborhood’ were originally conceived at Buttermilk Falls.

Fred Rogers vividly recalled his days at Buttermilk Falls. In a 1996 Indiana Gazette interview, he remembered climbing on the stone walls at the site and crawling behind the falls to look through the cascading water.

Remnants of the stone walls are still visible and the water still flows over a 45-foot cascading waterfall.

Much has changed at Buttermilk Falls since Fred McFeely’s and his grandson’s visits. When visiting the site today it is easy to imagine how a 200

young boy could recall in later years the significance this place held for him.

Even today Buttermilk Falls is a place of enchantment.

Photos of the McFeely Cottage

View of the cottage and stonework above the falls. The stonework at the site was completed by local residents hired by Mr. McFeely during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Interior view of the McFeely cottage. The cottage was later owned by the Leo and Rita Nist Family before being purchased by the owners of the nearby Conemaugh 201

Power Plant. Mr. Nist operated an equipment repair shop at the site. A large concrete pad at the site, now used as a parking area, was the floor of the repair shop.

Two small dams were constructed just upstream of the falls. One pond was for swimming and the other for goldfish. Remains of this stonework are still visible at the site.

View of cottage and patio deck above the falls.

Historic photos of McFeely cottage courtesy of Rita Nist.

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Blacklick Valley Natural Area Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

East Wheatfield Township 800 McFeaters Road, Dilltown, PA 15929 40° 27’ 42.210” N 78° 59’ 40.925” W 713 acres This site features six miles of hiking trails and a variety of natural habitats, including a large forested wetland.

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lthough no detailed written history of the Native American presence in the Blacklick Valley is available, it is likely that members of the Shawnee and Delaware tribes used Blacklick Creek for fishing and transportation.

Significant archeological evidence indicates Native Americans camped on the property that is now known as the Blacklick Valley Natural Area (BVNA).

The first recorded landowner of what is now the Parker Tract of the Blacklick Valley Natural Area was William Bracken, who purchased 309 acres from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1786. At that time the land was located in Westmoreland County; Indiana County was not created until 1803. Since Bracken's purchase, the property has changed hands many times. The most recent private owners of the property were the late David and Penny Russell, formerly of Dilltown, who generously donated the property to Indiana County Parks & Trails in December 1995.

Natural areas are set aside to protect both common and unique plant and animal communities and to protect outstanding examples of natural interest and beauty. Facility development has been kept to a minimum to protect the site's natural character. A small parking area is located at the end of McFeaters Road.

The Ghost Town Trail bisects the property about one-half mile east of Dilltown. Hunting, camping and motorized vehicles are not permitted in the natural area.

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The natural area is comprised of three tracts. The Parker Tract, located south of Blacklick Creek, includes 300 acres. Portions of the Parker Tract bottomland are occasionally flooded when Blacklick Creek overflows it banks. Six miles of hiking and cross-country skiing trails are located within this tract, along with a self-guided interpretive trail.

Several charcoal flats are located within the Parker Tract along the Collier Trail. The charcoal flats date from the 1840s when iron furnaces operated in the Blacklick Creek Valley. These large circular areas are still evident in the woods. Look for fern-covered circular areas about 30 feet in diameter where few trees grow. The intense heat created by burning wood to make charcoal for local iron furnaces has made the soil infertile. The Wheatfield Furnace (no longer in existence) and the Eliza Furnace are located upstream of the natural area. Charcoal was transported to the iron furnaces by wagon.

How charcoal was made‌ Local woodsmen split hardwoods, especially oak, into three or four foot lengths and stacked them in a circle, leaving an open space for the fire. The wood was piled in a cylindrical shape ten to twelve feet high with a vent on top. The sides of the pile were sealed with layers of leaves and dirt. Once lit, the fire inside the pile was controlled by the woodsmen who kept several small openings in the pile to observe the burning process. After the pile had burned down and cooled, the charcoal was sent to the furnace.

Although many years have passed since charcoal was last produced in the Blacklick Valley, the charcoal flats remain relatively free of vegetation and often may be clearly distinguished from the surrounding woods. Several charcoal flats are visible along the Collier Trail. Careful observation will reveal small pieces of charcoal scattered on and around the charcoal flats.

The charcoal was most likely destined for one of several hot-blast iron furnaces in the area. The men who tended the charcoal mounds were called colliers, from the German Kuhler, meaning coaler. The charcoaling season lasted from early April through October, during which the colliers lived in simple huts constructed of wood, earth, and rocks. Since a clean collier was said to be an inexperienced collier, the men rarely bathed, and their huts would become filthy with charcoal dust, insects, and vermin. At the end of the season, the huts were burned to the ground.

From: Blacklick Valley Natural Area Interpretive Brochure

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The Caldwell and Clarke Run Tracts form a contiguous 413-acre parcel, and lie north of Blacklick Creek. These northern tracts are undeveloped and do not contain established hiking trails. Clarke Run is a pretty mountain stream with large boulders and small scenic waterfalls. The Caldwell Tract contains several large abandoned Christmas tree plantings and reaches an elevation of 1,880 feet at its highest point.

Wildlife at the BVNA The BVNA provides outstanding wildlife habitat and helps maintain biodiversity. Many animal species require large areas of intact habitat to thrive. Small and isolated tracts of undeveloped land usually support fewer native species and smaller populations of these species than contiguous tracts of undeveloped land.

The 713-acre BVNA and the nearby Ghost Town Trail allow wildlife to flourish and provide important corridors for wildlife movement. Nearly one hundred species of birds have been sighted on the Parker Tract, many of which breed in the area. The Parker Tract is an outstanding location for bird-watching, particularly during the spring and fall migrations.

Black bear, white-tail deer, raccoons, opossum, coyote and red fox are a few of the mammals which inhabit the Parker Tract. A variety of reptiles and amphibians are found here, particularly in the wetland areas.

Clarke Run is a small mountain stream with an abundance of nearby wildflowers appearing in early spring.

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Wetlands at the BVNA The Parker Tract contains several acres of forested wetlands. Wetlands serve several critical functions. During times of flood, a wetland can soak up enormous amounts of excess water. Studies have shown that watersheds with the greatest amount of their original wetlands intact have significantly lower flood peaks than watersheds in which the wetlands have been filled or drained.

Water retained in wetlands will slowly percolate into the ground, helping to recharge groundwater reserves.

As water percolates through wetlands, it is naturally filtered, creating cleaner groundwater. Wetland plants also contribute to the filtration process, consuming the nutrient load carried by run-off.

Through this filtration process, wetlands also help remedy the problems caused by acid mine drainage.

Part of the effort to reduce the impact of acid mine drainage includes the construction of artificial wetlands.

Wetlands in the BVNA and along the Ghost Town Trail are “working” to improve water quality in the Blacklick Valley.

The Indiana County Christmas Tree Industry The Christmas tree industry became part Indiana County’s economy in the early part of the 20th century. The first crops of trees were believed to have been planted in the years following 1918 when several farmers planted a variety of pines and spruces. It was not until the 1930s and 1940s, however, that the industry expanded. As family farming declined in the area, thousands of acres of cleared land became available for Christmas 206

tree crops. Though much of this land was poorly suited for conventional crop farming, it has proven ideal for evergreen trees.

William Stephens, former owner of the Parker Tract, was one of the earlier growers of Christmas trees in the county. By 1960, more than 200 Indiana County Christmas tree growers were marketing one million trees annually.

Although most of Indiana County’s trees are shipped throughout the Northeast, many are shipped nationwide. The Candlestick Trail, located within the Parker Tract, derives its name from the new growth at the top of an evergreen. This growth often resembles a candlestick and holder.

The Christmas trees at the BVNA are no longer harvested but are being allowed to grow and mature for use as wildlife habitat. Over 5,000 Christmas trees still exist on the property, mainly Blue Spruce trees planted by the David Russell Family, donors of the property to Indiana County.

Blacklick Valley Natural Area is a diverse site with many interesting natural features.

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Luke Swank - Photographer (1890 - 1944) A portion of the Blacklick Valley Natural Area was once owned by Luke Swank, who had a brief, but highly successful career, as a famous photographer. Swank was born in Johnstown in 1890. He attended the Penn State School of Agriculture as a young man. Swank lived at the property at an early age and raised police dogs and cattle there.

After moving to Johnstown Swank began working Self-portrait photo of Luke Swank. Photo: Carnegie at his father’s hardware store and started Library Archives. tinkering with photography. He did not sell his first photos until the age of forty, but quickly became a much sought after photographer. The first photos he sold were industrial photos of the steel mills in Johnstown.

He later taught photography at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University. His works were also exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and other museums across the country. His first photo exhibit at MOMA was a 12-foot photomural of Pennsylvania steel mills, which was a new format for its time. In later years, his photomural of Edgar Kaufmann’s ‘Fallingwater’ was also exhibited at MOMA. His photos of industrial scenes were highly regarded by art critics. He also photographed circus scenes, urban life and rural Pennsylvania architecture.

Swank sold his works to several national publications including Vogue, House & Garden, Fortune, Life, and The New York Times. Swank also did photography work for the H.J. Heinz Company, where his photographs were used as illustrations in Heinz Company cookbooks. He died at age 54, having enjoyed a brief but highly successful 14-year career. Today Swank's connection to the BVNA is found in the remnants of the house and bar foundation at the property left years before he skyrocketed to fame as a photographer.

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Waterworks Conservation Area Location: Address: Coordinates: Size: Description:

White Township, three miles south of Indiana 768 Waterworks Road, Indiana, PA 15701 40o 35' 55.343" N 79o 7’ 28.003" W 10 acres The site combines recreational opportunities with environmental restoration. The restoration includes an acid mine discharge (AMD) treatment system and an artificial wetland. Recreational opportunities include a pavilion, restroom, trail circuit, fishing access to Two Lick Creek and canoe/kayak launch.

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he Waterworks Conservation Area is a ten-acre site located adjacent to Two Lick Creek, approximately 3 miles south of Indiana, Pennsylvania. The site was donated to Indiana County by Consol Energy. The name of the site is derived from its location along Waterworks Road and to recognize the remediation features of the site that involve ‘working’ the water.

The conservation area was developed in cooperation with the Indiana County Conservation District, with major funding support from the PA Department of Environmental Protection, the PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources and community partners. Students from a planning design class at Indiana University of PA (IUP), under the direction of Dr. Whit Watts, completed a site plan for the Waterworks Conservation Area in February 2008.

The Waterworks Conservation Area combines recreational opportunities with an environmental remediation project. These remediation efforts include an acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment facility and the construction of an artificial wetland. A pavilion and restroom are available at the site along with a 1,800-foot long walking path that surrounds the wetlands area.

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Waterworks Conservation Area has a pavilion, restroom and interpretive signage that explain the features of the site.

Former R&P Coal Company Site The site is located on a portion of the former Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company Lucerne 3A deep mine. As a consequence of previous mining, there is an acidic mine discharge flowing into Two Lick Creek.

Leaving the Lucerne #3A mine. Photo: IUP Special Collections & Archives.

Shortly after World War II, the mine was opened as a link between the Upper Freeport deep mine operations south of Two Lick Creek and the newer mines to the North. Physically the link was accomplished by a coal

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car trestle linking both sides of the creek. Today, the trestle abutments and piers are still prominent site features.

In 1904, Lucerne mines opened in Indiana County. The three mines (#1, 2 & 3) were all in the Upper Freeport Seam. The mines were owned and operated by the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company. At one time, R&P was one of the largest producers of bituminous coal in the United States.

In 1998, Consol Coal Group (Consol Energy) acquired R&P. Waterworks is located at the Lucerne 3A mine. Lucerne 3A was in operation from 19071967. There were 1,069 employees at the Lucerne mines complex. The capacity of the mines was 6,000 tons/day, or the equivalent of 150 freight cars.

The acid mine discharge treatment silo at Waterworks is not the first treatment system to be located here. In 1967, R&P installed an acid neutralizer to treat water at the #3 mine. Limestone was added to the discharge three times a day. Iron was also removed.

The AMD discharge has an average flow rate of 100 gallons per minute and a pH of 2.7. To treat this flow, a 75-ton lime dosing silo was installed over the mine discharge. Powered by water, premeasured amounts of hydrated lime are released into the stream, which raises the pH of the water and helps restore it to natural conditions.

The artificial wetland was constructed to satisfy requirements of the Clean Water Act’s “no net loss” clause. Because of the loss of wetlands due to the expansion of Indiana County’s Jimmy Stewart Airport, artificial wetlands had to be created at another location. The Waterworks Conservation Area was selected as one of the remediation sites.

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Shown below is a map of the former mine workings at the site.

Two Lick Creek Water Trail Access At the Waterworks Conservation Area visitors have shoreline access to about 1,000 feet of Two Lick Creek. Due to improving water quality the stream now supports reproducing brown trout.

Fishermen should not fish upstream of the cable strung across the creek to designate the PA American Water Works Plant property.

The site also features a kayak and canoe launch for the Two Lick Creek Water Trail. From here boaters can travel downstream 6 miles to Homer 212

City or 13 miles to the juncture of Two Lick Creek and Blacklick Creek. The stream is classified as a Class 2 stream.

Paddling Two Lick Creek is a great way to get outdoors and see a scenic and hidden part of Indiana County.

Safety Advisory for Paddlers Never paddle Two Lick Creek when the water level is too low or too high. A good rule of thumb for Two Lick is to paddle when the creek is between 2.6 and 4.5 feet on the monitoring gauge at Graceton, PA. If you plan on paddling Two Lick Creek beyond Homer City be aware that there is a low-head feeder dam near on Two Lick Creek near the Homer City Power Plant. The dam is located approximately 0.7 mi downstream from Neal Rd. The power plant does not permit access to the dam. There is an old railroad bridge approximately 0.1 mi before the dam.

NEVER RUN A LOW-HEAD DAM - it may look easy but the re-circulating water can keep you under if you capsize.

Wildlife Features Waterworks Conservation Area is a good place for bird watching, exploring nature and looking for critters in Two Lick Creek.

The wetlands area attracts a variety of wildlife and is a magnet for dragonflies.

Great Blue Herons, and even an occasional Bald Eagle have been spotted flying near and over the site.

Interpretive panels at the site provide information about the wetland plants, the Two Lick Creek Water Trail, the water treatment silo operation and the history of the site.

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Dragonfly photos by Jim Reber.

Searching for aquatic life in Two Lick Creek.

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Wehrle’s Salamander R.W. Wehrle was an Indiana, PA jeweler, successful businessman and an avid naturalist who was credited with discovering a new type of salamander at Indiana County’s Two Lick Hills area in June 1911. The salamander was named, Plethodon wehrlei, in Wehrle’s honor in 1917 by Fowler and Dunn of the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia.

Range map of Wehrle’s Salamander - Map source: IUCN, Conservation International, and NatureServe. 2004. Global Amphibian Assessment. Wehrle’s Salamander is reasonably abundant but its range is limited and threatened by the destruction of its habitat.

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Wehrle’s Salamander Wehrle’s Salamander is bluish-black with large, scattered white spots on its back. Its sides are covered with white to yellow spots and blotches. Its belly and the lower surface of the tail are solid gray, and the throat and upper chest usually have white or yellowish blotches. It grows to a length of 4 inches to 6 inches.

Mating occurs from fall through spring. A cluster of eggs is laid in early summer in damp logs, soils or moss, and in crevices in caves. The female stays with the eggs during this time.

Reproduction is every two years or irregular, with many mature females failing to breed each year. The species stays under cover during the day and comes out to forage at night. It is found on forested hillsides in the Appalachian Plateau, where it hides by day beneath stones or rocks. It is also found at the entrances of caves, deep rock crevices and under rocks and logs.

In 1936 Morris Netting (Curator of Herpetology at Carnegie Museum) wrote that naming the salamander was "a tribute to the oldest and best-loved naturalist of Indiana County (PA), Mr. R.W. Wehrle...an indefatigable collector of cold-blooded vertebrates... [a jeweler and naturalist]. Since (1925) Mr. Wehrle has sent over 500 salamanders to the Carnegie Museum."

Wehrle also contributed over 700 specimens of various species to the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia. He also contributed writings to various publications, including an article on capturing turtles published by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture in 1905 entitled, ‘The Economic Features of Turtles’.

The following section chronicles the life of Indiana County’s foremost amateur naturalist. However, to classify Mr. Wehrle as an amateur is somewhat incorrect since his was only an amateur because he was not paid for his naturalist work, in all other regards he was a true professional.

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Richard White Wehrle (1852 – 1937) Indiana County’s Foremost Naturalist Richard White Wehrle was the head of the firm of R. W. Wehrle & Co. and operated a leading jewelry business in Indiana County for many years. He was also interested in other lines of business and as a student of natural history was a recognized authority on Indiana County’s natural history.

Mr. Wehrle was born in Indiana on October 1, 1852. He grew up in Indiana and attended the public schools. He learned the jeweler’s trade and business from his father who had emigrated from Germany. At the age of fourteen he went to Brookville, PA to finish an apprenticeship with his uncle Sylvester M. Tinthoff, where he remained for about three years. He made the journey from Indiana to Brookville on foot - it took him two days. In his pocket were three dollars, all that he owned at the time Century Old Turtle R.W. Wehrle, local jeweler, has in his possession a large wood turtle found in the vicinity of Cherry Run. This turtle, Mr. Wehrle states, is not native to this section being found more frequently in the Southern states. The figures 1841 are carved on the bottom of the shell indicating the turtle is very old, likely over 125 years. Mr. Wehrle plans to send the turtle to the Academy of Science, Philadelphia.

Indiana Progress, December 9, 1931

Wehrle returned to Indiana County in 1873 and operated his own jewelry store in Blairsville for over 20 years. The store, on Main Street in Blairsville, was well stocked with a general line of goods and was a leading business in the community. He sold the business in 1895 and moved to Indiana, PA where he was engaged in the same occupation.

Wehrle was associated with his brother Boniface the first few years, under the name of B. I. Wehrle & Brother. This association lasted until his brother’s death in 1899. After his brother’s death the business operated under the name of R. W. Wehrle & Co. Mr. Wehrle, a skilled jeweler, gave personal supervision to the repair department until his business became too large to permit him to work alone.

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Wehrle also acquired other business interests. In 1889, he purchased two stone quarries, both located in Indiana County, from which he shipped bluestone and Belgium block paving stone to Pittsburgh. He sold the quarries and later acquired over one thousand acres of coal and timber lands in Center and Burrell Townships.

R.W. Wehrle served as a Game Commissioner of the Indiana County Branch of the Wild Life League. He was known as the ‘Bird Doctor’ for his efforts to rescue and rehabilitate birds.

Mr. Wehrle was never married and devoted much of his leisure time to the study of local natural history. He also offered classes and outings on nature to children through a Boy’s Naturalist Club that he founded. He was fondly known as ‘Uncle Dick” by children in the community. He had a large collection of fish, snakes and turtles native to Indiana County. In 1929, he journeyed on a five-month worldwide tour. The following year he sent a collection of over 1,000 insects and butterflies from Indiana County to a museum in Honolulu that he had visited on his tour.

Wehrle remained active his entire life and credited his outdoor lifestyle with his good health and positive outlook. On his seventieth birthday, he hiked from Indiana to Punxsutawney to visit relatives.

Wehrle’s obituary appeared in the Indiana Evening Gazette on July 6, 1937.

R.W. Wehrle was arguably Indiana County’s foremost amateur naturalist.

He was given an honorary lifetime membership in the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia for his collection efforts on behalf of the Academy. He also made contributions to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh on a regular basis, even as late as 1937, the year of his death. Many of his collections

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were from the Two Lick Creek area and from an extensive forested property he owned near Black Lick, PA. The Indiana County local newspapers of his time are filled with articles regarding his latest nature finds and stories of his rambles throughout Indiana County.

“Uncle Dick” Wehrle Presents Collection of Insects to the Honolulu Museum R.W. Wehrle, of town, the well-known jeweler and naturalist, this week sent a valuable collection of over 1000 butterflies and insects, all found in this county, to his friend Dr. Gregor, Director of the Honolulu Museum.

While on his world tour last year Mr. Wehrle met Dr. Gregor in Honolulu and was greatly assisted by him in obtaining a rare collection of tropical fishes, which Mr. Wehrle brought home with him and later presented to the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, of which he is a life member, At that time, Dr. Gregor expressed his desire to obtain a collection of insects from the United States for study. The large collection which Mr. Wehrle sent this week were all collected this summer, are perfect specimens and will be highly prized by the Honolulu Museum.

Indiana Progress, August 30, 1930.

Visitors to downtown Indiana may notice the words - R.W. Wehrle 1904 etched into the stonework of the building at 560 Philadelphia Street. This was the site of Wehrle’s Jewelry Store; today it is Wolfendale’s Pub & Club.

There is also a small side street in Indiana Borough named Wehrle’s Way located between Gompers Avenue and School Street. Few people know what the name signifies or the important natural history work of the man behind the name.

R.W. Wehrle died on July 4, 1937 and is buried in the Wehrle family plot at St. Bernard’s Cemetery, although his individual grave does not appear to be marked. Fittingly, the pallbearers at his funeral were men who had belonged to Wehrle’s Naturalist Club as young boys.

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Great County Fair is in Full Swing Fifty-Seventh Exhibition Will Surpass Others Among the displays which will attract much attention in the Roundhouse this year is the exhibit of R. W. Wehrle's Boys' Naturalist Club of Indiana.

The entire display represents the work of lads ranging in age from 11 to 16 years, and no little time has been spent in gathering the various collections.

In addition to this Mr. Wehrle is exhibiting specimens of snakes found in Pennsylvania. Among the reptiles is the only King snake known to be captured in the state. It was caught in Twolick Creek. Although it is perfectly harmless to mankind, the King snake kills and eats all other snakes when it is hungry. The bite of the copperhead and rattlesnake are not poisonous to it.

Indiana Progress - September 10, 1913

Many years ago, while looking through a Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians, I came across a reference noting that Wehrle’s Salamander was named in honor of R.W. Wehrle of Indiana, PA. At the time, I did not know the background behind the naming but after researching R.W. Wehrle’s life and accomplishments I learned that he was a remarkable individual who led a very interesting life.

Mr. Wehrle is forever memorialized with the naming of Wehrle’s Salamander - a unique honor for a truly unique individual.

R.W. Wehrle frequently advertised his jewelry store in the local newspapers. This ad appeared in the Indiana Progress on October 17, 1934. “Time in the woods is an important item” - a central aspect of R.W.Wehrle’s life.

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R.W. Wehrle and the Boy’s Naturalist Club - 1916

Epilogue

F

ive decades have passed since Indiana County established its first county parks. My purpose in writing this book was to offer visitors an insider’s guide to the park system. I also wanted to provide future visitors and park managers with a roadmap of how we got here. If you feel, when close this book, that you have a better knowledge of our park system and an understanding of how the Indiana County Park system evolved then I have accomplished my main goals.

Over the past decades, I have traveled many miles in Indiana County visiting our various park sites at all hours of the day and night and in all seasons. I enjoy visiting parks that are well-maintained - parks that look like the people that take care of them have pride in their work. In my travels I have been most impressed with the dedication our staff and crew show in their work.

As I write these last sentences I wonder if a time will come when a book about places like those found in the Indiana County Parks system will seem like a dispatch from another world. Will the need for nearby, close to home places to recreate, enjoy nature and spend time outdoors be replaced by an ever increasing unnatural and artificial world? The threat seems possible.

More than ever, the loss of a personal connection with the natural world seems more pronounced each passing year among a larger segment of society.

Yet, I am hopeful that our future park system will be guided by and visited by those who value the natural world, who appreciate the heritage of Indiana County and are willing to advocate that these special places will always be here to pass on to future generations.

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Acknowledgements

A

book of this nature is a partnership, even if only one name appears as the author. Much of the historic information about the county parks comes from newspaper accounts of writers and photographers of the Indiana Gazette. These included Bill Graff, Frank Hood, Bill Hastings, Dr. Bill Betts, Tom Peel, Willis Bechtel and Randy Wells among many others. From its earliest days until the present, the Indiana Gazette has faithfully recorded the agency’s development and progress.

Background research on the park sites came from the efforts of park employees and staff members who worked on various projects. I thank all of them for their assistance; Mike Kuzemchak, former project coordinator, former secretaries Marlene Isenberg and Erin Stewart and current secretary Kathie VanHorne. Thanks to Kristi Helfer who designed the front and back covers and to Earl Carney, Jr. who provided the cover photo.

Information on the Trans Allegheny Trails is compiled from a summary of the various trails provided by Dave Hurst, Facilitator of the Trail Operators Group. Thanks to Dave for his assistance in this effort.

My thanks to Susie O'Shaughnessy for generously sharing background information on Leonard Piper from the Piper Family Archives. I would also like to sincerely thank Marilyn Hafer for providing a photo and information on Sloan Cornell and the Penn View Mountain Railroad.

I offer my sincere appreciation to Denise Dusza Weber and Jim Pettenati who edited the first manuscript for me. Thanks to Malcolm Hermann of Municipal Publications who revised and updated the various park maps and contributed several photographs used throughout the guidebook.

Finally, working as a Park Director is as much a lifestyle as it is a job. At times it is difficult to separate when the job ends and your own life begins.

Through it all I have received the unconditional support of my family: Susan, Maureen and Alex who made their own sacrifices over these past decades so that I could serve as Park Director. Their support has made all the difference.

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Indiana County Parks & Trails – Facility Matrix

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Park Locator Maps

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Trail Locator Maps

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Historic Site Locator Maps

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Historic Site Locator Maps cont’d…

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Conservation & Natural Areas Locator Maps

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