Pennsylvania Bread Basket: Feeding a Nation in Conflict

Pennsylvania Bread Basket: Feeding a Nation in Conflict. . , Agriculture has always been a part of the culture of the South Mountain area. Settlers were originally drawn to a wild land to cultivate the soils and raise crops, and today agricultural and community leaders to work together to inspire a new culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, securing a strong future for this integral part of the local economy., Freedom and Prosperity , Many Quakers in the local area were successful farmers and fruit-growers and played a key role in the Underground Railroad, collaborating to feed and help escaping slaves. These freedom seekers used the travel corridor of South Mountain and ancient footpaths of Native Americans in the area to hide their movements and find their way. The nearby Menallen Friends Meetinghouse remains an important site related to the Quaker and Underground Railroad history of this area., Entrepreneurship and Innovation… , Agriculture was a key attraction as a source of supplies and nourishment for Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War, drawing Robert E. Lee and his troops across the Mason-Dixon Line. Camp Michaux, in nearby Caledonia, once a prosperous farm owned by the South Mountain Iron Company, was utilized as Pennsylvania's first Civilian Conservation Corp Camp (S-51) under Roosevelt's New Deal. In 1942, the Intelligence Department of the Army took over and supervised a prisoner of war camp there, housing German naval officers, and then some of Rommel's African Corps, and later Japanese officers. Many of the prisoners were put to work on surrounding farms, including local fruit farms.