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Thanks to a grant from the Clinton county Community Foundation we will be repairing and painting the shutters on the Heisey House.
Our exhibit "Once Upon a Time" featuring Lock Haven business memorabilia from the early 20th Century is still on display in the Poorman Gallery. Visit us on Tuesdays or Thursdays 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. or call/email us for an appointment.
We're still accepting donations for our goal of $650 for the cleaning of Annie Snyder's "Strawberries." Painted in 1919 it has an accumulated layer of grime covering its vibrant paint. Donations are tax deductible, made payable to CCHS with "strawberries" in the memo line.
The March 30 ribbon cutting ceremony has been postponed. We'll let you know!
April 26 will be here before we know it! Mark your calendars for our annual fabulous Wine in The Wilds featuring wines, "shines," ciders and a wide variety of vendors. Overnight campers are welcome! Tickets are on sale at www.wineinthewilds.com. This is the biggest, most FUN fundraiser of the year! Here's the line up so far:
-- Wine, Brews, Shines and Ciders:814 Distillery, Blue Mountain Vineyard & Cellar, Boba Pops Distillery, Burnt Timbers, Country Hammer Moonshine, Creekside Cellars, King Cole Winery, Timber Ridge Winery, Twisted Vine Winery, The Winery at Wilcox, Woody Lodge, Rich Valley Winery.
-- Vendors: Cardinal Creations, Goot Essa Cheese, Lori Martin - Candy, Baked Goods and Jelly!, Smitty's Cigars, Tastefully Simple.
-- Live Entertainment: Kidz @ Heart.
From the Collection
By Kathy Arndt
The CCHS collection contains a great deal of information about the history of lumbering in our county. There are several local history books by men such as Linn, Maynard and Meginness detailing the people and the industries of early Clinton County.
We have information on the Mann Axe factory in Mill Hall including the autobiography of Thomas Mann, news articles, as well as an axe head manufactured at the plant. Our G. Boyd Grieb Ice House contains many tools used by the lumbermen.
One of the most succinct descriptions of lumbering is in the 1942 W.P.A. (Work Projects Administration) book entitled A Picture of Clinton County.
According to the PA Writers' Project's research, white pine and hemlock were the two most desirable trees in our area. White pine was favored for its great height, lightness and adaptability to many uses, and hemlock bark was discovered to be very useful in the tanning process for hides. Often the less desirable trees were simply cut down and burned.
Early in the 1850s, the lumber industry began in Clinton County. Lumbermen, many from Maine, began to move to this area. The jobbers would cut and trim the timber which was then sent either directly to the Susquehanna River or to a nearby stream.
When the logs were taken to a stream, a splash dam was often built to store the logs until the impoundment was full. The loggers would then destroy the dam thereby using the force of the released water to propel the timber to the river.
Once in the river, the logs intended for one of the many sawmills in Lock Haven and the nearby areas were either floated down the river or loaded onto rafts. The longest raft was 320 feet long although most were between 150 and 300 feet long. The raftsmen would direct their rafts through the sluice gates into the booms built on the south side of the river. The booms were a series of heavy lumber piers placed 150 feet apart up the middle of the river and weighted down with tons of stones.
According to the book, large squared timbers were shackled with iron yokes and rings were strung from pier to pier. Near the dam, another series of piers and guide chains ran from the end of the boom to the shore.
At that point, the rafts were directed to the shore so that the lumber could be transferred to the sawmills. Similar to the practice of branding cattle, each piece of timber contained a metal stamp which identified the owner of the logs. The logs that were floated down the open river along the north bank (the Lockport side) were destined for Williamsport or places further down the river.
By the 1890s, the lumber industry here was in a rapid decline. Floods and fires had damaged the infrastructure. The "good" timber had either been completely depleted or was located too far from the river to be cost effective to bring to market. The lumbermen moved on and the scrub forests were abandoned.
In 1898, the first steps toward reforestation in Pennsylvania were led by Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock, then a secretary of the PA State Forestry Association, at the head of the east branch of the Big Run, a tributary to Beech Creek in Clinton County. Rothrock later became the first State Commissioner of Forestry in 1901.
Eventually, the reforested lands became part of both the Sproul and Rothrock State Forests. The federal government helped the efforts toward reforestation by establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps (the CCC) to clear the unwanted undergrowth, transplant seedlings, build infrastructure, and practice fire prevention measures.
Lumbering helped build Clinton County into a bustling, prosperous area and reforestation turned the county into the beautiful land it is once again.