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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Near Seven Springs in Somerset County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Big Trees meet Narrow Gauge

 
 
Big Trees meet Narrow Gauge Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Wintermantel
1. Big Trees meet Narrow Gauge Marker
Inscription. The vast virgin forests of Laurel Hill stood condemned with the advent of specialized logging railroads and geared locomotives. Shay, Heisler, and Climax engines, often called stem-winders, maneuvered along previously inaccessible shallow creeks and up and down steep valleys. The engines were powerful but slow and unusually stable on winding narrow gauge rail lines. Despite traversing irregular temporary track, they dutifully hauled the region's harvested trees to local sawmills.

An Appetite for Trees
America's early industries devoured timber in colossal quantities Coal mines, railroads tanneries, and even urban centers like Pittsburgh all clamored for more wood. In just a few decades the forests here had been completely expended, manipulated by local sawmills, and passed along to nourish a growing nation
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Horticulture & ForestryIndustry & CommerceParks & Recreational AreasRailroads & Streetcars.
 
Location. 40° 0.594′ N, 79° 13.462′ W. Marker is near Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, in Somerset County. Marker can be reached from Laurel Hill Park Road, 0.4 miles west of Trent Road. Located at the Laurel Hill State Park office. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Somerset PA 15501, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
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At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Camp Life (here, next to this marker); Living Legacy (here, next to this marker); Logging Camps and Lumber Mills (here, next to this marker); a different marker also named Living Legacy (here, next to this marker); Roosevelt's Tree Army (here, next to this marker); Laurel Hill State Park (approx. 0.3 miles away); History of the Barronvale Covered Bridge (approx. 4.6 miles away); Site of Gideons German Reformed and Lutheran Church (approx. 4.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Seven Springs.
 
Also see . . .  Laurel Hill State Park. (Submitted on November 2, 2022, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.)
 
Big Trees meet Narrow Gauge Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Wintermantel
2. Big Trees meet Narrow Gauge Marker
Marker is at the Left.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 2, 2022. It was originally submitted on November 2, 2022, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 57 times since then and 3 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on November 2, 2022, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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Mar. 29, 2024