David Langlieb - Backroads & Byways of Pennsylvania: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions () (Backroads & Byways)

W riting a book requires two types of friendsthose who help you work on it and those who forgive you for being neglectful and erratic while youre working on it. Oftentimes these are the same people, and Im fortunate to have them in my life.

Special thanks go to Abbie Lamb Siskin for her help with Erie and environs, Meredith Brett for her input on Bucks County, and Milan Mitra for his assistance with the forest chapters and anthracite country. Blair Thornburgh produced invaluable fieldwork on the Laurel Highlands, greater Johnstown, and around the Juniata. As always, Im indebted to those who provided encouragement, counsel, and notes along the way, including Zach Blattner, Kate Dempsey, Chris Kingsley, Sarah Lorr, Gary McDonogh, Maura OBrien, Gabrielle Ohayon, Karen Revere, Mark Robinson, Eric Siskin, Katie Thomas, Nika Trufanova, and many more.

My editors at Countryman Press are always a pleasure to work with. Lisa Sacks was terrific at every step of the process. And Acquisitions Editor Kim Grant deserves a medal for the caring, selfless way she shepherds young writers through the publishing universe (especially those like me who would be completely lost without her).

Last but never least, thanks to my parents, Arlene and Bernard, as well as my talented sister, Madeline. And I owe special gratitude to my grandmother Edith Sensky, who is a phenomenal woman and a constant inspiration. I love you all more than I can say.

I had the time of my life researching this book. I hope that comes through in the writing. A travel guide is worth little if the authors observations cannot entice the reader into exploring the subject matter. Fortunately for me, Pennsylvania is easy to love. The state is blessed with 45,000 miles of rivers and streams, nearly 8 million acres of farmland, and thousands of miles of picturesque country roads connecting it all together. From the Endless Mountains in the northeast to the Laurel Highlands in the southwest, no Pennsylvania region wants for scenic vistas and lush plant life. Driving around the commonwealth inevitably brings travelers zigzagging around ridges, over pristine rivers, and through vast hemlock forests. Not that I recommend it, but you can even get a good dose of Pennsylvania green while rolling alongside the semis on I-80.

History

Pennsylvania has resembled its current topography for approximately 400 million years. Prior to this time the islands that became Appalachia experienced periodic erosion on a massive scale. Colossal movements in the regions geography rearranged great stacks of sandstone, forming the ribbon of mountains that stretches across the commonwealth as well as the corresponding river valleys. Ocean water rushed in and out, changing the landforms as it came and went, leaving intact an ecologically diverse chunk of the North American continent bounded by the Atlantic in the east and Lake Erie in the northwest. This Paleozoic Era spectacle not only formed the eclectic surface geography that makes up Pennsylvania today; it also cultivated an exceptionally useful portfolio of natural resources underground that made the states industrial age economic boom possible.

Long after the land formations took shape, Lenni-Lenape Indians settled the eastern portion of Pennsylvaniaterritory they continued to occupy through the early waves of European immigration until reprehensible 18th-century policies forced them west into Ohio. The original European arrivals were Swedes who inhabited land near present-day Philadelphia from 1643 to 1654. The Swedish colony was followed by a tenuous Dutch settlement that gave way to English rule a few years later. King Charles II deeded the colony to William Penn in 1681, and the ambitious Quaker radical went about assembling an exceptionally free society (at least by the standards of the era) around the Delaware Valley.

Penn created three countiesPhiladelphia, Bucks, and Chesterin the states southeast corner, where arable land was plentiful and near the commercially valuable Delaware River. Agriculture dominated from the start, even in Philadelphia, where Penn made his city blocks unusually large to accommodate farming. Corn was a staple crop; cultivation methods were already well established by the Lenape and Swedes who preceded Penn. Increasingly sophisticated farming techniques brought the widespread production of wheat and allowed farmers to expend more time and energy on breeding livestock or developing new trades. Settlements moved north and west steadily, stopping only when they hit the Allegheny Front. Eventually the mountains were conquered and the rest of the state gradually filled out, though the steep northern tier remains sparsely populated to this day. New counties were created when popular sentiment reached a tipping pointfarmers who needed to file documents or settle land disputes and tax bills had to travel prohibitively long distances to the county seat and consequently demanded better access to local government. Disagreements often broke out in the state legislature over this (few counties were ready to cede any tax base without a fight), and awkward compromises were struck, sometimes resulting in multiple counties relinquishing land to form a new one. Penns three counties had become 67 by 1878, and that number has remained the same to the present day.

About This Guide

The rich history of the states distinct regions and the development of their towns make for great driving tours: surprises and stories lurk around every twist and turn. Chapters are loosely themed in an attempt to provide some coherence and perspective to the states history and culture. There are deviations from this rule, but for the most part each route is held together by a discrete narrative. But even if nothing of historical consequence ever happened here, the 17 drives in this book would be worth taking for the natural beauty alone.

The first chapter covers Bucks County, one of the three counties settled by William Penn, where the European colonists clashed with the Lenni-Lenape Indians and where Philadelphias inner-ring suburbs quickly turn to picturesque country towns. Chapter 2 runs through the Pocono Mountains and examines how the regions tourist economy has evolved over the years. Chapter 3 covers anthracite country and Pennsylvanias complicated relationship with the hard coal industry. Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 explore different portions of the northern tier timber region, where the logging boom and its subsequent bust have given way to an incredible second-generation regrowth that makes these drives the most consistently scenic in the book. Chapter 8 wraps around the far northwest through the states wine country and along the Lake Erie beach. Chapter 9 tracks Pennsylvanias unsung history with the oil industry. Chapters 10 and 14 focus on distinctive natural regions in the southern part of the statethe mountainous Laurel Highlands in the southwest and the valley around the Juniata River in the south central. Chapters 11 and 13 return to the states bread-and-butter industrial pursuits, with tours around the southwest steel region and the railroading juggernaut that took hold nearby. Chapter 12 cuts through the states center, where quaint college towns enjoy a peaceful country existence within a lush agricultural region. Chapter 15 retraces the states Civil War history. Chapter 16 peeks into the world of the Amish who continue to thrive throughout Pennsylvania, with a population centered around (though hardly limited to) greater Lancaster. And chapter 17 closes out the book where the American story began, with a tour of southeast Pennsylvanias Revolutionary War sites, from the Paoli Battlefield to the winter camp at Valley Forge.