Old Loggers Path - History

History

Masten was founded as a lumber mill town in 1905 by Charles W. Sones. Sones owned the mill and town and worked under a contract with the Union Tanning Company, which needed hemlock bark for tanning leather and also sold hardwoods from the area. The village was served by two railroad lines: the Susquehanna and New York Railroad and the Susquehanna and Eagles Mere Railroad. The railroads passed through many cuts and fills, and the grades built at the height of the lumber era in Pennsylvania today carry the Old Loggers Path.

In April 1917 the contract with Sones expired and the mill, town, and railroads were purchased by the Central Pennsylvania Lumber Company. The mill was in operation from 1905 to September 18, 1930, when the last log was cut. After the mill closed, many of the houses were torn down and their lumber sold and the Susquehanna and Eagles Mere Railroad was abandoned. On May 6, 1933, Civilian Conservation Corps "State Forest Camp" S-80-Pa was established at the site of Masten, and some of the remaining houses were demolished to make room for the camp. The CCC built some 30 mi (48 km) of roads and 40 mi (64 km) of trails. The camp closed in 1940. Some families had stayed after the mill closed and during the CCC era, but in 1941 the last family left Masten. The Old Loggers Trail was established after the Second World War. Today, few buildings remain, which are now hunting camps, but there are many foundations throughout the area, and a smokestack.