Built Tough: The Celebration of Lumber in PA

At the time European colonization began in the New World, the region we call “Penn’s Woods” was covered in 90% forest. Pennsylvania’s tall, straight white pine and hemlock trees provided the globe with high-in-demand ship masts, turning the state into a hub of logging. Due to the deforestation of the state, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased thousands of acres of land from lumber companies in a statewide reforestation effort that involved conservation movements and a widespread system of state parks.

The Pennsylvania Lumber Museum honors the state’s lumber heritage and conservation of its “working forest” by hosting the Bark Peeler’s Festival, a two-day weekend event with activities and attractions like log skidding, chainsaw carving demonstrations, live music, and kids’ activities. The Museum recently had a massive renovation that doubled the space by adding 7,000 square feet. Located in the borough of Ulysses in Potter County, PA and founded in 1831, this northern town is a landmark on the history of how lumber created a global industry from the backwoods of a unique, rural state covered in trees.

Visit Ulysses on July 2nd and July 3rd for the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum’s 42nd Annual Bark Peeler’s Festival, a celebration of the heritage and history of Pennsylvania’s lumber industry as well as the revitalization of its one-of-a-kind forests that cover the hills and mountains across the miles of grass fields and farms. The Pennsylvania Lumber Museum is open to the public year-round Wednesday through Sunday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and is open Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, but closed all other Federal holidays. More information on the Bark Peeler’s Festival or the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum can be found at http://lumbermuseum.org.

Guest blogger Brandon Sherbo.