Allegheny River Headwaters Watershed Conservation Plan

Allegheny River Headwaters Conservation Plan
Chapter 5. Cultural Resources
Early mills, particularly before the 1830s, were small, family operations and integral components of
functional farms. Lumber was harvested during the winter months, as farming was not viable during
winter weather, and it was easier to transport logs across frozen ground to nearby waterways. This let
farmers concentrate on their fields in the summer when water levels were too low to transport logs or
operate mills.
In 1798, Francis King built the first sawmill in Ceres. According to Lumber Heritage Region of
Pennsylvania (LHR), eight more mills were built throughout the project area to process logs into lumber.
In 1815, a joint saw and grist mill was built along the Allegheny River in Burtville, Potter County.
Lumbering maintained its small, family-operated roots until 1837, when industrial lumbering began with
the formation of the Oswayo Lumber Company.
Prior to the 1870s, hemlock was not a desirable lumber; in fact, the value of hemlock was half that of
the value of pine. Hemlock did not become commercially viable until the 1870s, as the remaining virgin
pine forests were dwindling; only 1,000 acres remained by 1879. The first sawmill to cut hemlock
commercially was built in Keating Township in 1874. Additionally, the use of leather was on the rise, as
it was being used for machinery belts in industrial plants. The increased need for leather opened the door
for a new major industry in the region—bark peeling.
In 1877, the first large tannery was established in Oswayo. Tanneries used tannic acid extracted from
the bark of hemlock trees, which was needed for the leather tanning process. Tanning is a complex and
labor intensive process involving procurement and processing of hemlock bark, as well as cleaning,
scraping, tanning, coloring, and drying of hides. Additional town tanneries—Coudersport Tannery and AJ
Tucker Tannery—were established within the project area (LHR, 2001).
Another industry that led to the rise of communities within the project area was the gas and oil
industry. Oil was known to be present throughout northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New
York for sometime. Many of the oil reservoirs were located near the surface. Fractures within the
underlying rocks caused oil seeps. Native Americans harvested the oil for medicinal purposes, and used it
as a waterproofing sealant. Even early settlers skimmed oil from seeps for lamp fuel and machinery
lubrication.
When oil was first retrieved, it was viewed as a byproduct of drilling salt and drinking-water wells.
Wells containing oil were often abandoned. The first successful, intentionally-drilled oil well in the U.S.
was located in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1854.
In 1871, the first successful well in the Bradford Oil Field was exposed, spurring the oil boom. Once
oil was discovered, numerous derricks were established. Towns appeared soon after, attracting scores of
people to the region. Early wells were drilled haphazardly with no knowledge of geological structures.
In 1880, natural gas was discovered in the region by two boys in Sharon Township. When the boys
moved a flat piece of sandstone (on what was then the Graham Farm) they noticed the gas escaping from
the ground. That evening with their father they constructed a barrel suit using gas pipe and clay to
collect the gas. By June, 1884, the first gas producing well was struck north of Shinglehouse, yielding 18
barrels a day.
Postal Delivery
The current postal system used in the U.S. was developed from the messenger and horseback
delivery system utilized in the 1800s. Prior to the development of a postal system, communication
depended on friends, merchants, and Native Americans carrying messages back-and-forth.
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