Our first industries developed from the area’s abundant natural resources—mature hardwood forests crisscrossed by miles of tumbling mountain streams. Our ancestors depended on these resources. They had come a long way from their homes and villages in Europe and elsewhere to seek opportunity in America, and once they were settled here, life was challenging, but no more challenging than any other place on the American frontier.
Watch interview with author Diane Smith on WNEP’s “On the Pennsylvania Road“
- Our first industries—water-powered mills along the Wallenpaupack Creek and its tributaries from the 1800s to the early 1900s
- The families who owned the mills and the men and women who ran them
- Evolution of technology from wooden waterwheels to turbines to steam engines
- First-hand accounts of lumbering, sawmilling and wood turning
- Over 225 historic photographs, maps and illustrations, 8"×10", color, 248 pages, $33.00
