The area comprising Pine Grove Furnace, near where this photo was taken, was practically clearcut in the 19th century as the lucrative iron works industry increased its influence. Many of the waterways were also harnessed in service to the area’s iron forges. In 1912 and 1913, the South Mountain Mining & Iron Company sold thousands
The Reforestation of Pine Grove Furnace Read More »
These images are from the northern terminus of the Tuscarora Trail, a 252-mile path from south-central Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. In the 1960s, the security of the Appalachian Trail was jeopardized by commercial land owners. Future-minded members of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy began work on the Tuscarora Trail as a potential
South-Central Pennsylvania’s Tuscarora Trail Read More »
In south-central Pennsylvania’s Pine Grove Furnace State Park lie the ruins of one of three secret interrogation camps in the continental United States for prisoners of World War II. You are looking on the first slide at the remains of a large mess hall. Camp Michaux was originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the
Camp Michaux at Pine Grove State Furnace Park Read More »
Along a particularly rocky portion of the Tuscarora Trail in Perry County, Pennsylvania, is situated a 3,037-acre wildlife sanctuary established by Florence W. Erdman in memory of her mother. The F.J. Reineman Wildlife Sanctuary dates from 1966, and the trust establishing this land gave it to Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which is just near
The F.J. Reineman Wildlife Sanctuary Read More »
You are looking at an ecological transformation: what you see here is the former Gunter Valley Dam, which used to block Trout Run in the Tuscarora forest of south-central Pennsylvania. The reservoir from the dam supplied the community in Shippensburg with water from the early 1960s, when it was built, until about 2010, when engineers
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Since the year 2000, the Audubon Society has been involved with the site shown here called Hawk Watch. Located at Waggoner’s Gap along the Kittatinny Ridge just north of the town Carlisle in south-central Pennsylvania, Hawk Watch has a legacy of being a major corridor for thousands of hawks, eagles, and falcons who traverse across
Hawk Watch at Waggoner’s Gap Read More »
In the far north-central region of Pennsylvania lies Cherry Springs State Park, an amazing resource that shows how important civil planning can be for enabling the natural world to profit future generations.The area’s old-growth forests were clearcut in the late 19th- and early 20th- centuries, and an airport was built there in 1935 — inauspicious
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Worlds End and Loyalsocks are magnificent and adjacent Pennsylvanian State Parks in the north-central part of the state. Thanks to the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, Worlds End’s forests were replanted, and now Hemlock, Yellow Birch, and Red Maple join other tree species in a remarkably diverse ecology. The American environmentalist and state governor
Pennsylvania’s World’s End and Loyalsocks Park Read More »
The Black Moshannon State Park is smack-dab in the center of Pennsylvania. It shares much of the history of so many other preserved natural areas in the state, in that the region suffered horribly from clearcutting and deforestation before the Civilian Conservation Corps of the Depression era replanted before the park’s founding in 1937.The park
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Near Big Spring State Park in central Pennsylvania lies the Hemlocks Natural Area. Made up of about 120-acres of rare old-growth forest, the region became a National Natural Landmark in 1972. There, Hemlock trees over 100 feet tall and hundreds of years old grow amidst tulip poplar, black gum, oak, and basswood trees.A small stream
Central Pennsylvania’s Hemlock Natural Area Read More »
This is John R. Baylor, a politician and military leader for the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In 1861 he brought his troops from Texas into New Mexico to threaten Union forces near Las Cruces. Although they were outnumbered 500 Union soldiers to 200 Confederates, Baylor’s men were victorious.The path towards the Union
Baylor Canyon and John R. Baylor Read More »
The landscape shown here is part of a vast and ecologically diverse ecoregion known as the Chiuahuan Desert. In the second image, a map shows its expansive territory, which encompasses about 250,000 square miles (647,500 km), making it the largest desert in North America.An unusual feature of this very young ecoregion (only about 9,000 years
Ecological Diversity of the Chiuahuan Desert Read More »
Here is the Tortugas Mountain in southern New Mexico, endpoint of a three-day religious festival among the American Indians of the region held from December 10-12 each year.The festival celebrates the Virgin Mary, but also the culture of the peoples from this area who trace some of their heritage to a mission called Señora de
Tortugas Mountains and Piro Indian Festivals Read More »
These ruins stand in solitude at the western foothills of New Mexico’s Organ Mountain range. Constructed in the late 1800s, they were part of a resort complex called “Van Patten’s Mountain Camp.” Even though it takes a while for hikers to pack into this area now, the buildings were isolated even when they were in
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The rocky vistas shown here include volcanic andesite and sedimentary limestone, deposited over two and a half million years ago. But it wasn’t until after the 1850s, when American Indians in the region had been mostly conquered, that the isolated and rugged terrain became interesting to investors for mining purposes.The image shown here includes the
New Mexico’s Modoc Mine Read More »
Those who know me, know that each year in lieu of holiday cards, I write historically themed Christmas carols. And this year, I give you the following, sung to the tune of “Good King Wenceslas”.When the plague spread all about/ thirteen-forty seven.Buboes pussing, fevers out/ Time to bury your kin.Philip tried to find the cause/
A Bubonic Plague Inspired Christmas Carol Read More »
My 700th post is another historically themed Christmas Carol. This painting is of the Islamic polymath, Ibn Abbad, who wrote many works of literature during the Golden Age of Islam, when the city of Baghdad had become one of the world’s top epicenters for intellectual life, trade, and cultural flourishing.“I’m dreaming of a lost city
An Islamic Inspired Christmas Carol Read More »
The Schuylkill and Susquehanna railway corridor formed the basis of one of America’s first rails-to-trails, and exists today as a nearly 20-mile path across isolated woodlands. The history of this valley, which lies adjacent to the Appalachian Trail, is a microcosm for much of the coal country of central Pennsylvania.In the 1740’s, Moravian Christian missionaries
Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railway Corridor Read More »
Mount Holly Marsh Preserve is made up of 900 acres of bog lands around the base of South Mountain in south-central Pennsylvania. Today it is managed by the Nature Conservancy and the Holly Gap Committee — thanks to these groups, this important wilderness area was purchased in 1992. Today hikers and fishers can enjoy many
South-Central Pennsylvania’s Mount Holly Marsh Preserve Read More »
Are you on team Brutalism or not? Brutalism is an architectural movement from the post-WWII era that features exposed concrete (from the French “béton brut” which got translated “brutalism”). Made popular worldwide in the 1960s, it has tended to inspire either awed admiration or deep-felt repulsion among viewers. And this building here, the Boston City
Post World War II Brutalism Architecture Read More »
