History
The earliest settlers to the Blue Knob area were of German descent. They cleared and farmed the land soon after the American Revolution. They also built several distilleries, a lumber mill and gristmill.
The logging boom that swept over most of the mountains and forests of Pennsylvania drastically altered the landscape surrounding Blue Knob State Park. The old-growth forests of hemlock were clear cut. The timber was hauled away on trains that climbed the steep hillsides. A railroad that followed Bobs Creek used six switchbacks to ascend the mountain. Another railroad used five switchbacks to climb the hills near Wallacks Branch. These railroad grades are still used today to gain access to State Gamelands. The train tracks have since been removed and replaced with hiking trails.
The lumber industry abandoned the lands once all the salable timber had been harvested. They left behind a wasteland of dried out tree tops that were ignited by passing steam locomotives. The land was scarred by immense wild fires. The wildlife that had once thrived in the area was also gone due to over-hunting and deforestation.
The efforts of the National Park Service are largely responsible for the reforestation of Blue Knob State Park. Blue Knob National Recreation Demonstration Area was opened by the park service in 1935. The park was built by the men of the Works Projects Administration and the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The WPA and CCC were established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression to provide work for the unemployed. Ownership of the park was transferred to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on September 26, 1945 and Blue Knob State Park was officially opened.
Read more about this topic: Blue Knob State Park
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“The myth of independence from the mother is abandoned in mid- life as women learn new routes around the mother—both the mother without and the mother within. A mid-life daughter may reengage with a mother or put new controls on care and set limits to love. But whatever she does, her child’s history is never finished.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)