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
Perryville after 1866. Upon completion, the Columbia & Port Deposit Railroad was operated as a branch
line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
With the advent of the railroad, the counties within the project area began to change rapidly. Abundant
natural resources allowed the area to continue to grow and prosper. Fisheries, agricultural products, large
forested areas, and Cecil and York Counties’ rich wealth of mineral resources, such as chrome, granite,
magnesium, and iron ore placed the Lower Susquehanna Region at the heart of America's early
manufacturing and extractive industries.
Statistics indicate the importance of milling throughout the region, primarily in the mid-nineteenth
century, when in Martic Township there were 12 mills in 1840. By 1860, the number had dropped to three
mills and five saw mills. In Drumore Township, milling was most important in the 1840s and 1860s,
when there were six mills and nine sawmills in 1848, and five mills and eight sawmills in 1860 (Bridgens
1864 and Everts & Stewart 1875). Lastly, in Lower Chanceford Township, the mid-nineteenth century
had seven mills and seven sawmills in 1848, and only eight mills in 1860 (Nichols 1876 and Roddy
1916).
The commercial Susquehanna fishing industry got its start during the eighteenth century. Shad fisheries
remained an important part of the local economy until the late nineteenth century. There was a shad
fishery noted on the western shore of Mount Johnson Island in 1886. Fishermen also caught eels, herring,
perch, salmon, and carp (Gibson 1886:764; Miller 1949:125; Sarudy 2001:71).
As transportation facilities improved during the nineteenth century—in the form of canals and railroads—
numerous industries were able to flourish in the Lower Susquehanna Valley, including tanbark mills,
paper mills, fulling mills, sawmills, flint mills, lime kilns, canneries, creameries, and ice harvesting
(Sarudy 2001:104–105). Mining and quarrying became the economic mainstays of Peach Bottom
Township. Although abandoned by 1895, chrome mining at Rock Spring and Epsom salt mining had been
notable industries in the township.
Slate Point, a short distance below Peach Bottom Ferry, is the eastern terminus in York County of a
valuable vein of slate that extends through Peach Bottom Township into Harford County, Maryland . The
slate ridge continues across the Susquehanna River to Fairmount, in Little Britain Township, Lancaster
County. A valuable slate quarry was operated near Slate Point circa 1861 (Gibson 1886:764).
Peach Bottom slate, used as a roofing material since 1734, was known for its strength, color, toughness,
and durability. Commercial quarrying of Peach Bottom slate began in 1785. It was used for roofs,
foundations, tombstones, and for industrial building material. After Peach Bottom slate was exhibited at
the London Crystal Palace Exposition of 1850 and received first prize, it was in demand all over the
world. More uses were adopted for slate when it was granulated or pulverized. It was used as fertilizer
and in synthetic roofing; it became an additive in paint, linoleum, and rubber (Morrow [1953]:26, 28).
Welsh immigrants were attracted to the area because the slate was so similar to that which they had
quarried in Wales; they built homes in a style similar to those in the slate regions they came from (Sheets
1991:124). At the time, both the Maryland & Pennsylvania and the Baltimore & Delta Railroads served
the Peach Bottom area. Due to the railroad depots at Peach Bottom, it became a shipping center and
consequently, warehouses, coal yards, hotels, and mills were built there (Smeltzer 1963:54).
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