Hey guys!
Sticking to the idea of state parks near State College, I have for you this week a post on the Penn-Roosevelt State Park in Centre County, PA.
The park itself is small, only 41 acres, though it is settled in the Rothrock State Forest which is a much larger 215,500 acres.
Early on, this land was inhabited by the Juniata tribe, but when William Penn colonized the land years later he bought it from a combination of three different Native American tribes, which were all forced to move AGAIN. It is going to be a common theme in these blog posts that most lands were purchased from Indian tribes and colonized, resulting in them being kicked out of their homelands. Being almost a quarter Native American, this is a topic that has always bothered me, though I don’t think people should have to be able to trace their ancestry back to the native inhabitants of our continent to feel guilty for what we did to them as we colonized the Americas.
More colonists that came to this region, especially the region around the Rothrock State Forest, were Scottish-Irish farmers or Amish and Mennonite Germans who fled religious persecution in Europe. As the region developed it became a popular lumber harvesting area, until all the trees were gone. Not only had the trees been wiped out by lumbering, the landscape was devastated by erosion and wildfires. Luckily, thanks to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the land was bought by the state and turned around through a monumental reforestation project.
Now, we have seen how much work the state does for our national wilderness areas, but here is another interesting fact in the state use of lands:
The actual faction of these lands that is now the Penn-Roosevelt State Park was constructed by the CCC, or Civilian Conservation Corps, under the New Deal. A work-relief camp was put in place here to segregate unemployed and unmarried African American men and give them unskilled manual labor jobs while restoring the area and developing natural resources. How brilliant!
I am having so much fun learning about the history of State Parks around us, and I hope you guys appreciate this knowledge as much as I do.
Please comment with opinions or suggestions!
-Emily
Rhea Elena Sullivan says
Emily your blog seriously makes me want to leave campus and explore a state park. I guess I’ve always been an outdoorsy girl who loves to hike, but never knew of good places that I should explore. Penn Roosevelt State Park look absolutely beautiful!!!! This would be the perfect time of year to go on a hike. You have no idea how much I want to go on a hike right now.
Also, thanks for bringing attention to the fact that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been the reason that so many of these parks featured on your blog have been flourishing. Thanks so much for our dedication to this blog!! Great job!!
Ayush Thomas says
Great photos as always! It’s always so refreshing looking through your posts each week and reminding me that there is something other than the bland scenery of University Park campus. Its sad to read that much of the trees and lands have been deforested and damaged through erosion, but I’m glad to hear that the park is doing its best to combat this and restore the park to its original conditions. It seems that each park that you have reviewed so far has their own unique history, and I would love to read more about them as this semester carry’s on! Great Work Emily!!!
Alexander Smith says
Once again, loved the post and all of your beautiful pictures! I like how you presented the plight of the Native Americans. Its horrible to think how some of our ancestors treated them so poorly (a vast understatement). Also, *interesting fact alert,* I didn’t know that the Rothrock State Forest was completely deforested. I know we’ve all heard the little anecdote that before colonization, a squirrel could travel from here to the Mississippi without touching the ground. It’s so hard to imagine the land just being completely bare…Anyway, great post and I’m excited for next week!