Final Report Historical Structures Assessment Report for the Muddy ...

Historic Structures Assessment Report for the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility Project Relicensing Application
Lancaster and York Counties, Pennsylvania
III. HISTORIC CONTEXT
The Colonial Period: Early European Settlement (1600-1775)
The earliest European exploration of the Susquehanna River is attributed to John Smith, who sailed into
the mouth of the Susquehanna River in 1608, though earlier visits by Spanish Jesuits in the late 1500s are
also described in early explorer's accounts. In the early 1600s, Edward Palmer established a fur trade post
on an island at the head of the Chesapeake Bay now called Garrett Island (Preston 1901; Wright 1967), in
Cecil County, Maryland. Early economic pursuits in the region during the 1600s and the first part of the
1700s were based primarily on tobacco which was transported overland from tobacco plantations to Bay
access points via rolling roads. Shipping points were located on the Gunpowder River and the Bush
River, the latter an early settlement area of the late 1600s.
Land at the mouth of the Susquehanna River was cleared for tobacco plantations in the second half of the
seventeenth century. The Project area in southern York County, Pennsylvania, an area known as "The
Barrens”, was settled by Scottish and Irish families (Hershner 1977) as well as Catholics from Maryland
(Fortenbaugh 1950; Rupp 1845; Gibson 1886). These early settlements were primarily agricultural with
some residents providing services such as blacksmiths, wheelwrights and other supporting enterprises.
The economy by the early 1700s was focused on wheat production and as wheat farming became more
profitable, mills emerged along with additional supportive trades.
By 1709, German Mennonites were taking advantage of the rich agricultural lands in Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania and were soon followed by the Huguenots, Scottish, Scotch-Irish, English, Swiss, Quaker,
Irish, and Palatine settlers (Wood 1979). The population was diversified both in terms of ethnic
background as well as job skills and religions which included Mennonites, Methodists, Anabaptists,
Presbyterians, United Brethren and others such as Catholics and Jews. Lancaster County was established
in 1729 as an extension of Chester County, from which many of the settlers originated. At the time it was
first settled, this was considered Pennsylvania’s western frontier and the settlements were primarily small
farms with political leadership being dominated by landed and professional people (Loose 1976).
By the mid-eighteenth century, single-owner proprietorships were the most common. Fur traders on the
frontier exchanged raw materials for manufactured goods in Lancaster. As the frontier moved westward,
other towns including Shippensburg, Carlisle, and York assumed principal trading responsibilities while
local business concentrated on processing and manufacturing (Scull 1760). In 1749 York County was
formed from Lancaster County.
Settlers suffered from repeated Indian raids during the French and Indian War. The threat of such raids
resulted in a system of frontier fortifications and trade supervision. The French and Indian War
stimulated the local economy and as hostilities increased, Lancaster became a military center, as well as a
manufacturing and supply station. Hundreds of wagons and pack horses commissioned by Benjamin
Franklin to be used against the French invasion of Pennsylvania were obtained in Lancaster (Loose 1976).
Shopkeepers received commissions to supply troops involved in placating the frontier, and military
officials requested the services of artisans to provide them with manufactured goods. Local gunsmiths
manufactured thousands of guns used during the Revolution and several salt works were set up to
manufacture saltpeter.
The development of many of the settlements and villages surrounding the Project relate directly to their
proximity to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries and creeks. As these areas developed, the need for
various modes of transportation grew as well. The use of roads, ferries, bridges, and canals allowed
residents and businesses to transport their goods and travel throughout the region.
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