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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 |
Connections to the past can be found in all sorts of places. While some are easy to spot, others lie hidden in remote corners of our Commonwealth waiting to have their stories told. One such relic can be found in the wilds of Sproul State Forest. Though unassuming at first glance, it tells the story of one community's industrial heritage.
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 you use everyday.
Paper manufacturing in Lock Haven has deep roots. In 1880, brothers L.D. and M.M Armstrong opened the Pennsylvania Pulp & Paper Company. Lock Haven's location made it a perfect choice to support the industry as much of the resources needed were in close proximity. Bald Eagle Creek furnished the large quantities of fresh water needed for the paper-making process. A seemingly endless supply of timber on the ridges around the plant would supply the timber for pulpwood. Coal to power the facility was sourced from mines in Clearfield County. Bellefonte quarries supplied the lime used in the pulping process. The Pennsylvania Railroad, whose tracks ran right beside the mill, could supply the mill with these materials and transport finished products to market.
By 1881, the mill was in production with over 150 employees. A second mill was opened by the company in 1889 in Johnsonburg, Elk County. In 1890, the company would reorganize under the New York and Pennsylvania Company to reflect the absorption of interests in New York state.
Like with any industry of the era, working in a paper mill could be a dangerous place. The newspaper articles below 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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Being surrounded by forests, finding local sources of timber for pulpwood was convenient, at least initially. Previously logged tracts could be utilized, as much of the smaller diameter trees left behind by the lumber companies was perfect for pulpwood. Two local operations were at Gleasonton, on the former North Bend & Kettle Creek Railroad, and the North Fork of Tangascootac Creek, which connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad.
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 |
However, it appears the railroad method was abandoned for reasons not yet ascertained. For whatever reason, it was decided that logs would be transported to the mill not by rail, but by water. 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. This method had been heavily utilized during much of Pennsylvania's logging boom before the advent of logging railroads. It was noted in the article that this would be the first time the company had attempted to float logs to the mill.
Splash dams were utilized to remove timber from tracts where the small creeks and streams lacked the quantity of water needed to float out timber. This deficit of water was rectified artificially through use of a splash dam. These dams were never intended to be permanent, but rather hold together long enough to get the timber out. They often consisted of a rudimentary timber frame filled with earth.
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| An example of a splash dam in Pennsylvania |
After a suitable rain brought the creeks up, the dam's gate would be closed to impound water. Logs would then be dragged down to the streambed below 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, splash dams were not as prevalent as they once were. Specially geared 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 paper company 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. At Flemington, a boom would divert the logs into the old Bald Eagle Cross Cut Canal that fed the mill pond.
How the splash dam operation played out is not known. No other mentions of the Big Run dam or the company building any other dams could be located. 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 city of Philadelphia. Additional timber was secured in Maine, Washington, and Canada. In 1920 a second mill, 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 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 112 years has reduced the dam to its earthen and stone abutments. Several logs that once made up the cribbing and chute are also still evident in the cold water of the stream. Ironically, these surviving parts of the dam have outlasted the company that built it.
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A long 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 abutment
Author's Photo |
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Looking upstream where the chute and flood gate would have been
Author's Photo |
Remnants such as this old dam reminds us that connections to the past are all around us and are sometimes in the most unexpected places. Though time and the elements will take their toll, the stories these sites can tell can never be washed away.
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
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