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A log that once made up the dam still survives in the stream
The north abutment lies in the background
Author's Photo |
From sawmills to silk mills, clay mines to chemical plants, canal boats to airplanes; the industrial history of Lock Haven is quite diverse. While many of these industries have long since faded, one continues on as it did over a century ago, producing commodities for everyday use. Strangely enough, a connection to the history of this industry can be found forgotten in the wilds of Sproul State Forest.
Paper manufacturing in Lock Haven has deep roots. In 1880, brothers L.D. and M.M Armstrong established the Pennsylvania Pulp & Paper Company. Lock Haven's location made it well suited as natural resources and transportation options were in close proximity. Fresh water was tapped from nearby Bald Eagle Creek. Large tracts of forests on the ridges around Lock Haven were a convenient source of pulpwood. Coal to power the plant's boilers came by rail from mines in Clearfield County. Lime used in the pulping process came from kilns located in Bellefonte. The Pennsylvania Railroad whose tracks ran right beside the mill, delivered raw materials and transported finished products to their destinations.
By 1881, the mill was in production with over 150 employees. Like with any industry of the era, a paper mill could be a dangerous place. The following newspaper articles give a glimpse into this danger :
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The Centre Reporter 1902
Retrieved from: The Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive |
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The Centre Reporter 1919
Retrieved From: The Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive |
A claim to fame for the Lock Haven mill was that it was awarded, on numerus occasions, the contract to manufacture the paper for both postage and revenue stamps for the United States government.
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The Middleburgh Post 1898
Retrieved From: The Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive |
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The Democratic Watchman 1906
Retrieved From: The Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive
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By the early 1900's, much of the forests around Lock Haven were quickly disappearing. A common practice for the mill was to purchase lands that had been previously logged by the larger lumber companies, as the smaller diameter trees that were left behind could be utilized for pulpwood. Operations at Gleasonton, on the former North Bend & Kettle Creek Railroad, and along the North Fork of Tangascootac Creek are two known examples of this practice.
By 1909 operations along the Tangascootac were winding down and the company was preparing to move to another tract along Big Run, a tributary of Beech Creek north of Orviston. The company had used logging railroads at both Gleasonton and Tangascootac and as the article below suggests, it was assumed a railroad would be used to access the timber along Big Run.
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The Democratic Watchman 1909
Retrieved From: The Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive |
In 1912, the Paper Trade Journal announced that the New York and Pennsylvania Company had a force of men along the West Branch of Big Run constructing a splash dam to float logs down to the mill, a deviation from their previous use of logging railroads. This was the company's first attempt at moving timber by water. An exact reason for not building a logging railroad is unknown, but given the rugged terrain around Big Run, increased construction costs may have been a decisive factor
Up until the arrival of logging railroads in the 1880's, water had been the premier method of moving timber from the woods to the mills. Splash dams had played a key role during this era. In the early years of logging, the first timber cut was along major waterways. Logs were brought down the river bank to await the annual spring floods that would carry them to mills downstream.
Cutting steadily progressed further away from these major waterways and into smaller tributaries. Ordinarily, many of these smaller creeks and streams did not have the capacity to float logs. The solution to this problem was to build splash dams whose purpose was to create an artificial flood capable of moving logs downstream.
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| An example of a splash dam in Pennsylvania |
A typical splash dam was a rudimentary timber frame structure filled with earth with a large central gate. After a suitable rain brought the creeks up, the gate would be closed to impound water behind the dam. Logs would then be dragged down to the stream bank or dumped into the pond behind the dam. At a pre-determined time, the gate would be released, sending a surge of water that would flush the logs downstream until they reached a deeper waterway that could float the logs to their destination.
By 1912, use of splash dams was limited in Pennsylvania. Specially designed steam locomotives, like the Shay, enabled loggers to reach previously inaccessible timber by rail. Unlike splash dams, logging railroads were not weather dependent and could be built, disassembled, and reassembled wherever the timber was.
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A Shay locomotive with a log train
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When complete, the Big Run splash dam stood 20 feet high and 130 feet long. Logs flushed downstream from the dam would then have to travel the five or so miles to reach Beech Creek. From there, the logs would float into Bald Eagle Creek where a boom at Flemingont would divert the logs into the old Bald Eagle Crosscut Canal that fed the mill pond.
How successful the splash dam operation was is not known. No other mentions of the Big Run dam or any other company built dams could be found. By 1914, the company had purchased or had rights to 83,000 acres across Pennsylvania to supply its mills, an area roughly equivalent to the size of Philadelphia. Additional timber was secured in Maine, Washington, and Canada. In 1920 a second facility, called the Castanea Mill was added on the south side of the railroad tracks.
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A photo of the log yard at the mill circa 1917
Image Retrieved From: The Independent |
Major change came in 1950 when the company became a division of Curtis Publishing. This would be the first of several corporate successions. Hammermill Paper Company assumed operations in 1965. International Paper took over Hammermill in 1986. International Paper continued to operate the plant until October 2000 when it announced that it would close the Lock Haven facility.
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The Lock Haven and Castanea mills in 1938
Image Retrieved From: Pennsylvania Imagery Navigator |
Three years later, First Quality Tissue, a manufacturer of tissue paper and paper towels, purchased the mill. Over the span of five years, the century old mill was demolished and a two-million square foot modern facility constructed. Presently, the facility employs over 500 people.
Paper manufacturing continues to an important industry for Lock Haven as it was over a century ago. Much of that history is not readily apparent, much like the old splash dam. Erosion over the last century has reduced the dam to its earthen and stone abutments. Several logs that once made up the cribbing and chute are still buried in the streambank.
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A log from the dam lies in the creek in the foreground.
The southern abutment sits in the background
Author's Photo |
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The northern stone abutment
Author's Photo |
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Looking upstream where the chute and flood gate would have been
Author's Photo |
Information Retrieved From:
Allen, Bob. (2007). Lock haven, u.s.a. Dreams Deferred. Retrieved from: http://www.dreamsdeferred.org/lockhaven/nestled_in_Pa.html
Evans and Brown Company. (1926). Shipper and Carrier (7) Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Shipper_and_Carrier/6os7AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Bellefonte%20%2B%20%22New%20York%20and%20Pennsylvania%20company%22%20%2B%20lime
First Quality. (2016). First Quality to expand manufacturing capacity for its ultra-premium towel and tissue products as part of long-term growth plan. Retrieved from: https://www.firstquality.com/content/press-releases/first-quality-to-expand-manufacturing-capacity
Furey, J. (1892). Historical and biographical work: or, past and present of Clinton County. Pennsylvania Grit Printing House. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?id=6D0uAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA187&dq=Pennsylvania+Pulp+and+Paper+Co+Lock+Haven.&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwii66Kn5Y-DAxWJEVkFHYEqD98Q6AF6BAgGEAI#v=onepage&q=Pennsylvania%20Pulp%20and%20Paper%20Co%20Lock%20Haven.&f=false
Hull, G. (1915). Commonwealth v. standard underground cable co. Pennsylvania Corporation Reporter. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Pennsylvania_Corporation_Reporter/AEYOAAAAYAAJhl=en&gbpv=1&dq=new+york+and+pennsylvania++%2B+83,000+acres&pg=PA245&printsec=frontcover
Slossen, E. (1917). Creative chemistry. The Independent. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?id=5A_mAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA477&dq=lock+haven+paper+mill+%2B+acres&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPxae66qGDAxXiEVkFHejqAmMQ6AF6BAgMEAI#v=onepage&q=lock%20haven%20paper%20mill%20%2B%20acres&f=false
