Eddy Lick Splash Dam (Centre County)

 

Eddy Lick Splash Dam still clings to the present day
Author's Photo

     Pennsylvania’s lumber heritage is a fascinating era to research and explore. No matter where you may live within Penn's Woods, there's probably a logging connection somewhere to be found. Many remnants of this era remain to tell this story. One of which lies hidden along Eddy Lick Run in the wilds of Sproul State Forest. 

     Looking more like a pile of rocks than a remnant of logging, this structure was once crucial for the transportation of logs to downstream sawmills. Though over 150 years old, it is perhaps the most intact of its kind within the state, making it an excellent example to highlight how they shaped the state's logging history. 

    If you think this pile of rocks looks awfully like a dam, then you'd be correct. While most dams are usually built to hold back water for long periods of time, this type of dam, known as a splash dam, were usually temporary in nature, being built from log frameworks and earthen fill. Their purpose was to move logs on tributary streams that ordinarily were too shallow to float them. Building splash dams opened up tracts of forest that were previously too far from major creeks and rivers to be economical to cut.  

Standing atop the dam looking at where the floodgate once was
Author's Photo

 

A typical splash dam used in Pennsylvania
Image Retrieved From: Wikipedia

     The process for using a splash dam began with clearing the stream bed above and below the dam to eliminate any obstructions. This was often accomplished with the help of dynamite and was ironically referred to as “improving” a stream. Once the stream was clear and the dam finished, the wooden flood gates would be closed to fill the pond behind the dam. Logs would then be dumped into the pond behind the dam or along the stream bank below it. When the gates were opened, the logs would be flushed downstream. This mass of water and logs was called the "splash." Men on both sides of the creek would push logs that washed up on the bank back into the splash. Once the logs reached a deeper waterway, they were able to float on their own to sawmills downstream.

Behind the dam where the pond would have been
Author's Photo

     What is most interesting about this particular dam is that it was not built by a conventional lumber company, as many were, but rather a unique type of corporation known an improvement company. Operating an improvement company was very similar to how toll booths on roads conducted business. Lumbermen would haul their timber to splash dams built by the improvement company and pay a toll based on the total board footage of their logs. The company then “splashed” the logs downstream to sawmills. If the toll wasn’t paid, the company could confiscate the timber and sell it at auction to make up for the unpaid toll.

 

Looking at the remains of the floodgate.
Some of the logs still remain in the foreground
Author's Photo

   The Eddy Run Improvement Company was incorporated on April 13, 1868. Logging within the state was taking off exponentially at this time and the tracts of white pine along Eddy Lick Run must have been vast enough to warrant the construction of a splash dam. Logs cut along the stream would be floated down to Beech Creek, which flows into Bald Eagle Creek, and eventually the West Branch of the Susquehanna. Operations lasted until June 16, 1872, when the company was purchased by the Eddy Lick Run Improvement Company at sheriff's sale.

     It is unknown when the Eddy Lick Improvement Company ceased operations. It is probable that the company continued business until the area's white pine was exhausted. The dam was certainly out of use by the time the Smith, Glover, and Duncan Lumber Company constructed a logging railroad up Eddy Lick Run in 1891 and cut out a portion of the dam for their grade.  


     By the mid-1880’s the iron horse was quickly becoming the preferred method for transporting logs out of the woods. Rails could be laid throughout the timber lands fairly cheaply and without much effort. Once the tract was cleared, they could be pulled up and re-laid elsewhere. Operating splash dams required a significant investment in time and skilled manpower. As a tract was cleared, the distance and burden to haul the logs to the dam increased. Once the tract was cut, the dam was abandoned and the process began anew elsewhere. 


     Today, the dam along Eddy Lick Run is just as impressive as it was over a century and a half ago. Its survival has made it one of the best relics to help tell the story of logging in Penn's Woods. 

Looking into what remains of the cribbing for the floodgate
Author's Photo

Another view of the floodgate cribbing
Author's Photo

View from behind the dam looking at the floodgate
Author's Photo

Information Retrieved From:

Kline. B. (1971). Pitch pine and prop timber. Lycoming Printing Company Inc.


Tabor III, T. (1972). Sunset along Susquehanna waters. Lycoming Printing Company Inc.


Linn, J. (1883). History of Centre and Clinton counties. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUt-8IH2Y9wC&pg=PA147&dq=floating+logs+down+beech+creek&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR1t_1x7HgAhUQ8YMKHYNVAkwQ6AEIUzAH#v=onepage&q=floating%20logs%20down%20beech%20creek&f=false

Historic Site Survey of Communities Beech Creek Township (p. 42)
Retrieved from: http://www.clintoncountypa.com/175/pdfs/Historic%20Site%20Survey%20of%20Communities.pdf


Pennsylvania General Assembly. (1872).Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania of 1872. Retrieved From: https://books.google.com/books?id=0VJNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1438&dq=Beech+Creek+improvement+company+%2B+eddy+lick&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwik67v61bHgAhXn24MKHc0eCpoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=Beech%20Creek%20improvement%20company%20%2B%20eddy%20lick&f=false