ENTS, On 4/21,30/09 I surveyed the Portland Mills Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PAFBC) property on the Clarion River for big trees & historical attributes. The area is part of a proposed land swap between the PAFBC and DCNR. The area is loaded with lumber history and a treasure trove to those who love to walk a site and look into its past. Most signs of human disturbance goes unnoticed to the untrained eye, but to those who know what to look for, it's one of the best spots on the Clarion River to hunt for old mills and tanneries while taking a walk back in time.
Portland Mills is about 34 miles up-river from Cook Forest. Here's a link to various sections of the Clarion River Water Trail map: http://www.fishandboat.com/watertrails/clarion/clarion-trail.htm and another link to download the whole guide (~3megs) http://www.fishandboat.com/watertrails/clarion/clariontrailguide.pdf I've had the pleasure of reading several books on lumber history in the area. Two have a great deal of information on the Portland Mills section of the Clarion River. The first is: Taber, T. 1974. 'Tanbark, Alcohol, and Lumber: The Forest Industries of Ridgway, St. Mary's, Hallton, Wilcox, Portland Mills, Straight, Johnsonburg'. by Thomas T. Taber III. This is book #10 within the series 'Logging Railroad Era of Lumbering in Pennsylvania'. It is a classic to all PA lumber history nuts. The second is: Imhof, J. 2003. 'Elk County A Journey Through Time: Volume One The Central Clarion Corridor'. Clarion River Publishing, First Edition, by John D. Imhoff. Both are excellent, but Imhof's book goes into much greater detail. Here are a few excerpts: "*Early History* Portland Mills has existed under several different names and in various sizes and configurations since the earliest days of recorded local history. Early accounts indicate that the area that now encompasses Portland Mills was a great gathering point for elk, making it a likely, though unconfirmed focus for hunting parties of the native tribes that made their homes to the north and west of this vast wilderness. The earliest recorded pioneers of European descent are said to have been a gentleman known as General Wade and his companion, a man known only as Slade. Some tradition holds that Slade was a lieutenant under Wade, but the facts are difficult to determine with a high degree of certainty. Wade had come to the lower Little Toby watershed to remove some of the remaining native population, particularly a group near what would later become the town of Blue Rock. During this excursion a brief fight was conducted on the slopes above Little Toby Creek, but the natives were quickly defeated and relocated. Wade was apparently fascinated by the area and returned with his family and Slade in 1798 to homestead. The group spent about 5 years in the upper Toby valley before moving to the mouth of the stream near what is now called Carman. It was during this period that Slade would encounter a young native girl in the Blue Rock area. Slade would eventually marry the young woman who is known to local history as the Indian Maid of the Blue Rock. Slade and his bride established a trading post somewhere in the Carmon-Portland Mills area that would exist for many years. The year was probably 1803, and settlement was officially underway..." There were a number of different mills and industries located here: 3 lumber mills, 3 railroads, a tannery, a matchstick factory, lath mill, kindling wood plant, hub plant, quarry. Portland Mills was once a lumber boom town that boasted a population of around 1,000 people, now several dozen call the town home. Wish you could see the old photos. What a change from total desolation in the early 1900's to the recovered landscape of today. Eventhough time has wiped away most evidence of past human disturbance, the trained eye can still see remants of foundations of a number of houses, lumber mill sites, boom piers in the river, train trestle support, and dam remnants in the substrate of the river. The surrounding forest is still recovering. Sycamore is the most canopy dominant tree, and turns out to be the tallest documented so far for the Clarion River. We even found a new staghorn sumac height record for the state (paltry few in the database though). Tree stats follows: *Species CBH Height Comments* Am. beech N/A 80.9 Am. hornbeam 1.4 36.3 black cherry N/A 91.2 black cherry N/A 97.8 black cherry 7.6 101.8 black cherry N/A 106.2 black cherry 6.1 108.1+ black cherry 6.2 108.1+ black cherry 7.8 111.3 butternut 4.5 46.2 dotted hawthorne 2.1 31.9 dotted hawthorne 3.7 33.3 dotted hawthorne 2.3 41.7 E. white pine N/A 116.3 E. white pine N/A 121.1 N side of river Juneberry N/A 67.5 N. red oak N/A 104.5 quaking aspen 3.4 79.9 shagbark hickory N/A 69.3 silver maple 9.7 107.3 slippery elm 7.7 66.1+ staghorn sumac 1.7 36.9 tallest documented PA 41 22.920N x 78 49.965W sycamore N/A 88.1 sycamore N/A 99.9 sycamore N/A 110.6 sycamore 10 115.4 sycamore N/A 118.4 sycamore 5.8 118.6 sycamore 11.4 119.1 sycamore N/A 119.7 sycamore 5.7 123.1 sycamore N/A 129.1 sycamore 4.8 130.6 tallest documented Clarion River 41 22.919N x 78 50.007W tuliptree N/A 117 white ash 7.3 84.1+ The RI for Clarion River-Portland Mills = *100.6* *Species CBH Height* sycamore 4.8 130.6 E. white pine N/A 121.1 tuliptree N/A 117 black cherry 7.8 111.3 silver maple 9.7 107.3 N. red oak N/A 104.5 white ash 7.3 84.1+ Am. beech N/A 80.9 quaking aspen 3.4 79.9 shagbark hickory N/A 69.3 The addition of the new sycamore record brings up the Clarion River RI to 130.97 *Species CBH Height Location* E. white pine 9.5 149.7 Cook Forest SP tuliptree 7.4 141.4 Cook Forest SP black cherry 10.2 136.4 Cook Forest SP sycamore 4.8 130.6 Portland Mills white ash 7.6 128.3 Cook Forest SP N. red oak 10.1 126.7 Clear Creek SP E. hemlock 9.2 126.7 Cook Forest SP pignut hickory 5 126.7 Cook Forest SP cucumbertree 7.2 122.6 Cook Forest SP Am. beech 9.3 120.6 Cook Forets SP The tallest trees are mostly found in Cook Forest with all of the Cook trees being located in the Cook Trail Old Growth Area (1st bench) or on the Foundation Ridge Flat. Out of 63 recorded sites in PA, the Clarion River now rises to 3rd place in PA's Top Ten RI's: *Site RHI* Cook Forest State Park 137.38 Fairmont Park 132.27 Clarion River 130.97 McConnells Mill State Park 130.85 Cemetery Run-Meadville, PA 129.23 Ridley Creek State Park 128.3 Swarthmore College 127.55 Wintergreen Gorge 127.53 Ricketts Glen State Park 126.29 Valley Forge National Park 123.83 Dale
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