PENN’S STEWARDS News from the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation The Legacy of Pennsylvania’s Pyramids Fall 2006 hen visitors come today to a State Park like Greenwood piedmont region surrounding his colony of Philadelphia, and with W Furnace, they find an environment lush with green, the air lush forests and vast mineral wealth that would propel his “Holy scented with the smell of pine trees, and a myriad of animals and Experiment” to an industrial titan. plants. Many believe they are in a land untouched by the industrial press of the 19th century. Everywhere else, they may have heard, Early settlers found rich iron ore deposits in Pennsylvania, but did the land was stripped and plundered, but here is a “pristine island not immediately exploit them. It wouldn’t be until 1716, that Tho- of wilderness” that somehow escaped that destruction. But as visi- mas Rutter built the first forge about 40 miles from Philadelphia, tors walk around, they see old stone structures and odd-looking along the Schuylkill River. Four years later, he erected Pennsyl- glassy rocks, and that stone pyramid…what’s that all about? vania’s first blast furnace, the Colebrookdale Furnace, a short dis- tance away. Both works were located in what today is Berks Others come, curious about that stone pyra- County. Soon, ironworks were being estab- mid—tucked away in a corner of the Green- lished throughout Pennsylvania and other wood Furnace State Park. They may have had colonies, much to the dismay of the English a grandparent who brought them as a child, Ironmasters. The English wanted the colonies and told them of when they lived here. Lived to supply raw material to their ironworks in here? In a state park? You mean this was once England, and then for the American colonists a town? to purchase their finished products. But the colonists wanted no part of that. In a sense, both types of visitors are curious about a forgotten chapter in the history of By the time of the American Revolution, Pennsylvania, when these stone “pyramids”— Pennsylvania had a thriving iron industry, iron furnaces—belched fire and smoke, when numbering over 70 furnaces and forges. But the forests surrounding them were stripped the furnaces were tied to the land. For a fur- and gone, and when out of this seemingly nace or forge to operate successfully, it had wanton environmental destruction, the seeds to be near its raw materials. A furnace of forest conservation were sown. It is the needed several thousand acres of forested story of an industry that was dependent on the One of “Pennsylvania’s Pyramids”—all that remains land within close proximity to the furnace. forests, so much so, that they developed meth- of stack #2 charcoal furnace at Greenwood Furnace The same went for iron ore and limestone. State Park. Photo: Greenwood Furnace State Park ods to sustain and re-grow that forest, not for Forges had to be near furnaces, to process the reasons we seek today, but for their own economic survival. the bars of pig iron into bars, which were then sent to nearby rolling That industry was charcoal iron, and it was king in Pennsylvania and slitting mills. for over a century and a half. As new settlers pushed ever westward, ironworks naturally fol- Pennsylvania Iron Beginnings lowed them. By 1762, the industry had jumped the Susquehanna River. It paused briefly during the struggle for independence before Ironmaking in the New World did not begin in Pennsylvania. In exploding, so that by 1800 more than 90 additional ironworks had fact, it would be almost a century after the first ironworks in the been built as far west as Pittsburgh. colonies before the industry began here. The first furnace in Amer- ica was in Falling Creek, Virginia in 1619. Shortly after the furnace began producing iron, the works were attacked and destroyed dur- The Juniata Iron Region ing the Powhatan uprising in 1622. Twenty-four years later, the In the late 1760s, reports of high quality iron ores in the Juniata Saugus ironworks was built near Boston. It became the first com- River basin filtered back to the eastern ironmasters. In 1767, the mercially successful ironworks in the American Colonies. Other Juniata Iron Company formed and did an extensive survey of the works were soon built, and a small but thriving iron industry valley, and reported that all the ingredients necessary for iron pro- greeted the 18th century. duction were present. But plans for utilizing them were put on hold by the coming war. It would not be until 1786 that the first furnace William Penn was an entrepreneur with vision, and was blessed – Bedford – was built in the valley at present-day Orbisonia, in with perhaps the best spot along much of the Atlantic coastline for —Continued on Page 6 a deep-sea port. He was also blessed with rich farmland in the Page 2 From the President—Marci Mowery utumn, a time when Over 20,000 visitors stopped by our exhibit President A nature begins her and children received an educational coloring preparation for the winter book. (Visitors can look for us the Expo again Marci Mowery that lay ahead. Pennsyl- in March 2007.) We launched our state park vania is a beautiful place tag program—a commemorative pin that fea- Board of Directors to be during all seasons, tures artwork by David Lenker of the Pine but I am especially fond Grove Iron Furnace. These tags are now avail- Chair of autumn, with its soft able at parks across the Commonwealth. A Linda McKenna Boxx evening light, the Harvest special edition tag of the PA Wilds was un- Chairman, Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation Moon, and the palette of colors on the land- veiled in August, see related story in this news- scape—orange, yellow, red and green. letter (pg. 7). Vice Chair Hank Barnette As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, PPFF partnered with the Keystone Trails Asso- Chairman Emeritus, Bethlehem Steel autumn is also a time for reflection. I want ciation to cosponsor two hiking weekends. to take a few minutes to share with you some Hikers, both young and old, collectively logged Secretary reflections from the past year. in hundreds of miles while learning about for- Brian Clark est ecosystems, forest history, and witnessing Buchanan Ingersol Like a well-watered tree, the number of chap- the beauty of our natural areas in Pennsylvania. Treasurer ters that make up PPFF have grown from eight Evening presentations at both events were both to sixteen groups. These chapters, or friends Robert Griffith lively and educational. Look for these week- groups, provide an amazing service to the parks ends, and more, to be repeated next summer. Director, PA Recreation and Park Society and forests that they represent. They have hosted numerous events attracting thousands of Partnerships are important to PPFF and we Peter S. Duncan people and engaging them in outdoor recrea- worked with other conservation organization to Former Secretary, PA DER tion, education, and the arts; purchased needed bring Walkin’ Jim Stoltz to central Pennsyl- William C. Forrey equipment for educational programming; and vania to celebrate, through a multi-media pres- RBA Group made improvements to trails, gardens, and entation, all that is wild in America. Bruce Heggenstaller buildings. They also tackled some daunting V.P. of Operations, Woolrich, Inc. projects, such as the Greenwood Furnace pavil- As we move ahead, I would like to offer a ion you can read about in this newsletter (pg. 4- heartfelt thank you to you, our supporters, and Wendy McLean to the individuals who are giving their time and Lentz Law 5). I commend these volunteers and am thankful for the work that they do to make Pennsylvania energy in our parks and forests—the friends Raphael J. Musto a better place to live. groups, the volunteers, and the staff. I also State Senator, 14th District want to thank Paul Fagley for being our guest Tom Norris As a tree grows, it also becomes more visible. writer for this edition of Penn’s Stewards. The Foundation’s visibility continues to expand, Former CEO of PH Glatfelter Have a wonderful fall and winter season. as readers and supporters log onto our website Michael Nutter (www.PaParksAndForests.org), read our news- Philadelphia City Councilman Yours in the outdoors—— letter, or pick up our literature at an event or Marci Mowery John C. Oliver, III kiosk. We were a co-sponsor (along with Former Secretary, PA DCNR DCNR) of the 2006 Garden Expo in Harrisburg. Rob Wonderling State Senator, 24th District Ex-Officio Thank You Cliff Jones Michael DiBerardinis Secretary, PA DCNR Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation is The newsletter is published by the announcing the establishment of a land acquisi- PA Parks & Forests Foundation. tion fund in honor of former board member To be added to the mailing list, or Cliff Jones. As a founding member of PPFF, to comment, contact Marci Mowery Cliff advocated strongly for the protection of at [email protected]. land near state parks and forests and orches- trated several key acquisitions. Cliff retired Editing, layout, writing and design: Ellen Zeph—[email protected] from the board this year and we fellow board members wished to recognize his invaluable PA Parks and Forests service in a way meaningful to him. Foundation 105 N. Front Street, #305 Cliff’s strong and steady hand helped shape Harrisburg, PA 17101 PPFF through its formative stage. As its first (717)236-7644 chairman, I looked to Cliff often for advice and www.PaParksAndForests.org Cliff Jones helped found the —Continued on Page 3 PA Parks and Forests Foundation President’s Picks Page 3 The President’s Picks column features a place or groups is located.