In the early twentieth century near Mount Union, Pennsylvania, a mining company called Harbison-Walker profited from quarrying a type of sandstone known as “ganister” to make bricks. To get to the stone pits, the miners built a long trail into the mountainside in 1936 – here you see the trail today, known as the “Thousand Steps.” Now it is part of a long hiking trail used by recreational hikers, but for decades, Harbison-Walker employees began their grueling day’s work ascending this steep stairway. The second photo from 1967 illustrates the damage done to the mountainside, as whole forests were clearcut for the production of silica bricks made from ganister rock. Because of future-minded environmentalists who in the 1990s organized the conservation of nearly 670 acres of land around this former quarry, the mountainsides are covered in trees once again. You can see in the third photo how much forest has grown back, and that fall is starting to turn the leaves already. The history of the Thousand Steps is an important reminder of how, even after destructive setbacks to the environment, it has been possible for concerned and organized groups to return damaged lands to health.
