Yesteryear in Ohiopyle video, 1995

Añadido: 2026-05-27

[00:00:09][music] >> Throughout history, the area along the Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, has been renowned because of these falls. Before the community of Fall City was developed here around 1770, Delaware and Shawnee Indians used the area as a hunting ground.

[00:00:53]It is said that the Indians held great respect for the white frothy water, actually fearing it.

[00:00:59]There were few Indian settlements in the area, but men were sent here to take advantage of the wealth of wildlife the forest had to offer.

[00:01:08]In 1754, while George Washington's troops were constructing a bridge over the Youghiogheny where the dam now lies, Washington, an Indian guide, and three soldiers embarked in a canoe to see if it would be easier to travel the river than by land.

[00:01:24]They were cutting out a road trying to get to the Redstone area and were assured by local Indians that that was an impossible task.

[00:01:32]Washington paid the Indian guide with a gift of one of his ruffled shirts and a watch coat at the end of the trip.

[00:01:39]When the scouting party reached the area above the falls here, Washington said, Alas, it becomes so rapid as to oblige us to come ashore. They ceased exploring, returned to camp, and continued their laborious work of cutting out a road through the wilderness.

[00:01:56]This is now the National Road or Route 40.

[00:01:59]In his letter of May 23rd, 1754 to Colonel Joshua Fry, Washington told his superior, The Youghiogheny can never be made navigable.

[00:02:10]In the late 1700s and early 1800s, settlers began to take a serious look at the land here.

[00:02:18]Tax records show that John Mitchell owned property here as early as 1774.

[00:02:23]Reuben Thorp bought 150 acres of Thorp's Knob in 1792 for 100 pounds.

[00:02:30]His family lived under an oak tree while their house was being erected. The view they had from there was of the Ferncliff Peninsula.

[00:02:38]In 1837, James Mitchell bought 400 acres of Kentuck Mountain from Andrew Stewart for $100.

[00:02:46]This same year, the Little Kentucky Baptist Church moved to the spot along the river where today's visitor's center now sits.

[00:02:55]Around 1843, Henry Fry built a huge log dam above the falls along with the frame of a sawmill.

[00:03:03]A flood soon washed it away and Andrew Stewart put up saw and grist mills with a dam 400 ft above the falls. A wooden trunk was laid to convey water to the mills but was destroyed by fire before beginning operation.

[00:03:18]In 1832, Samuel Potter built both saw and grist mills on Meadow Run operating for 20 years when he turned the work over to his son John.

[00:03:28]In 1850, David Woodmancy bought Sugarloaf Knob.

[00:03:32]Three years later, the Fayette Tannery and several buildings were built by Samuel Potter for Fuller, Breeding, and Meason just below the falls. One of these was the popular landmark the Meadow Run Cabin.

[00:03:45]This was torn down by the state park April in 1994.

[00:03:49]20 of the logs from the cabin were salvaged and are now property of the Yesterday's Museum.

[00:03:55]In 1854, a covered bridge was built over the Youghiogheny.

[00:03:59]In 1862, this was replaced with an iron bridge.

[00:04:04]The Sugarloaf Church was also erected and in 1860, the Meadow Run Church was put up down on the creek where it still stands today.

[00:04:13]Splint chairs were big business beginning in 1860 and both George Potter and the Leonards manufactured several hundred fine chairs per year.

[00:04:22]Benjamin Leonard began making the chairs as early as 1820. At this time, sawmills and gristmills were run on all the small streams by locals such as the Bryners, Rushes, Deans, and Huddlebrands.

[00:04:37]Andrew Stewart and his brothers bought up 200 acres here and laid out the town of Fall City in 1868.

[00:04:44]Three years later, a wooden bridge was built over Meadow Run.

[00:04:48]That year, 1871, the Stewarts also renovated a barn into the Ohiopyle House Hotel to accommodate visitors as the B&O Railroad had just come to town.

[00:04:59]Around this time, the Stewarts built and ran a sizable sawmill in Stewarton, 4 mi downstream from Ohiopyle.

[00:05:07]Logs were transported from the woods on a tramway and the Indian Creek B&O station was built here.

[00:05:15]In 1875, the Fall City Shook Factory began operations just below the falls.

[00:05:22]Shooks were made from the best oak and sent to the West Indies where barrels were made from them.

[00:05:27]They were then transported back to the United States filled with molasses or rum.

[00:05:33]The Fall City Spoke and Hub Works was also located below the falls and opened in 1875.

[00:05:45]From the late 1800s through the 1920s, Fayette County experienced a rare phenomenon, a boom. Like the gold rush of the Wild West, towns along the Youghiogheny River were suddenly awash with prosperity because of the soft coal within the earth here.

[00:06:06]Railroads were built to accommodate trade needs and Europeans flooded the area seeking their fortunes. It was a time when money was spent freely and much building and commerce went on.

[00:06:17]There was work for everyone.

[00:06:19]In Leo Duncan's book, Coke Smoke on Stumpy Row, he said it well.

[00:06:25]It all took place during the latter part of the 19th century, during a period when coal and coke were by far the most important economical factors in the world. It was a bonanza of a sort in the universe, probably surpassing the largest oil fields of the Persian Gulf and the borax fields of California.

[00:06:43]With Connellsville the heart of the boom and a mere 20 miles away, and Cumberland and Pittsburgh each 50 miles off, Ohiopyle joined in the good times by providing a getaway to travelers.

[00:06:54]Passenger trains brought city folks here for a week or a weekend to frolic in the forest and draw a sense of peace from the power of the falls.

[00:07:03]At that time, you could buy a round-trip ticket from either city for $1.

[00:07:08]There were four hotels and numerous boarding houses to accommodate the tourists. Ohiopyle shipped lumber and wood products out at a high rate and the economy soared.

[00:07:18]In 1877, Thomas Potter opened a coal mine along Cucumber Run. He hauled 30,000 bushels per year from the mine.

[00:07:27]The mine was lined with limestone, giving the man a clean, sulfur-free coal for his market.

[00:07:32]The entry of the mine was driven to 500 ft and the vein was 5 ft.

[00:07:37]Smaller mines lined the many streams in the area. Some of the men who ran them were Martin Mitchell, Reuben Thorpe, Hugh Corriston, Summers McCrum, John Potter, George B. Potter, and William Edward Scarlett. It was common for farmers to mine coal on their own land in addition to their daily chores.

[00:07:57]The Ferncliff Hotel was built by the Stuarts in 1879.

[00:08:01]The Ferncliff was a glorious area with a grand entrance at the B&O stop. A wooden boardwalk led to the river, a pavilion, a bandstand, a bowling alley, and finally to the hotel where dances were held every weekend. 1879 was also the year the Falls City Pulp Mill organized and built the 30 ft by 80 ft building at the falls commonly known as the old grist mill.

[00:08:25]Sawmills had been run there previously, but the large building was not there before this. They leased the water power from the Stuarts and built a 400 ft dam across the river.

[00:08:37]Two American turbine wheels supplied 300 horsepower to power the machinery.

[00:08:42]Spruce and poplar wood were reduced to pulp for paper making using three to four cords of wood every day.

[00:08:49]12 men worked under the supervision of William V. G. White. Each week they sent out three railroad car loads, about 90,000 lb, to the cities.

[00:09:00]In 1882, the first schoolhouse was put up in Ohiopyle on the same property.

[00:09:06]In 1936, it burned and classes were held in the Ferncliff Hotel and Baptist Church. Willard Rafferty pulled from the fire the bell and the honor roll emblem.

[00:09:17]In 1891, Falls City changed its name to Ohiopyle because there was another Falls City on the B&O stop.

[00:09:25]Ohiopyle was chosen because the Indians referred to the area this way. It means white frothy water. And about this time, the Potters Mill was built.

[00:09:35]In 1902, Tim Mitchell and his logging crew built a swinging bridge across the Youghiogheny to accommodate the hauling of lumber.

[00:09:44]Their home sat where today's youth hostel is.

[00:09:48]In 1903, the Stewarts tore down the Ohiopyle house and then they rebuilt.

[00:09:53]This hotel was burnt down in 1964 by unknown arsonists and Route 381 rerouted to make way for the new state park changing the landscaping there.

[00:10:05]In 1905, the Ohiopyle Lumber Company was created and lumbering began on a large scale sawing 80,000 ft of lumber per day. The company saw fit to build a 26-mi tram road which led from their mill on Meadow Run to the West Virginia line.

[00:10:22]This was dismantled in 1918. In 1906, the Kendalls of the Ohiopyle Lumber Company turned the old gristmill at the falls into an electric plant to run the sawmill and the town's electric lights.

[00:10:36]In the winter, when the river was frozen over, the lights would dim in all the houses until someone had to go to the river and break the ice.

[00:10:44]The Western Maryland Railroad came to town in 1911 building two huge bridges over the Youghiogheny and a and a station along the river.

[00:10:53]Today, these bridges still stand. One is known as the high bridge and is part of the Youghiogheny bike trail. The other is not in use but may soon be part of the trail.

[00:11:03]In 1916, a large fire took the Brady boarding house, Tom Fleming's store, and the houses on the north side of the Youghiogheny.

[00:11:12]Firemen doused the Ohiopyle hotel with water and kept the fire from spreading across the street.

[00:11:18]The East Bear Coal Company began large-scale mining in 1917.

[00:11:23]They built a tram road from Stoner Ville, a company town of about 20 houses just out of Ohiopyle, to the Western Maryland Railroad tracks. Small steam engines called dinkies carried coal on pit rails, which were wooden, not iron.

[00:11:39]Tunnels led into the hill to take the coal out. The company, owned by the Keister family of Pittsburgh, burned in 1922 and was rebuilt.

[00:11:49]When the coal ran out and the company discontinued, Mrs. Albert Keister donated 1,000 acres to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

[00:11:58]This allowed the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to preserve the great Youghiogheny River Gorge, which surrounds the Ferncliff Peninsula.

[00:12:06]In 1919, the New Meadow Run Bridge was erected upstream from the old one.

[00:12:12]From the '20s, the tourist trade in Ohiopyle dwindled as the coal boom did and as more people acquired automobiles.

[00:12:19]They no longer were limited to going where the railroads would take them.

[00:12:24]Hard times rolled into the area like a thick leaden cloud, and folks were forced to make do with working their farms, where many had to steal.

[00:12:32]Moonshining became a popular way to put food on the table, and the mountains were well known for producing the best shine from pure spring water.

[00:12:41]As if the depression was not bad enough, the great Johnstown flood hit in 1936 and wiped out Ohiopyle's gristmill, jail house, and several buildings along the edge of the river.

[00:12:53]During the '30s, the Ferncliff and Rainier hotels ceased and were torn down. Only the Ohiopyle Hotel stayed in business up until the mid-'60s when the park opened.

[00:13:05]This hotel holds fond memories for me, for it was here we visited my grandmother on Sundays as she ran the hotel for 16 years. It was homemade noodles and orange cookies. The place was always bustling.

[00:13:18]In 1943, the Potters reopened their mine with Shelby Mitchell managing it. Under his supervision, it flourished and 40 men were put to work.

[00:13:28]The local timber business picked up also. Timbermen brought their locust posts in for Hought's store to sell to the mine. They bartered the lumber for groceries from Charlie or Bob.

[00:13:41]Youghiogheny coal was used for electric power, heat, metals manufacturing, and coke in steel production.

[00:13:48]Today, the Youghiogheny suffers from the acid mine drainage, which gushes in from mines long ago abandoned. In 1980, $900,000 was spent to reclaim Cucumber Run, but efforts were fruitless.

[00:14:01]The '60s brought us Ohiopyle State Park, and a trend began that has built Ohiopyle into a major outdoor Mecca for whitewater enthusiasts and bicyclists alike.

[00:14:13]And efforts are still being made to keep the Yough safe from the acid mine drainage that threatens its life. As we work to clean up after the mining industry, we must also thank them for their hard work and for making our history so very interesting.

[00:14:28]Still today, the main attraction in Ohiopyle is the 40-ft drop commonly referred to as the falls, along with the breathtaking scenery of the Youghiogheny River Gorge.

[00:14:38]So, history is made and passed on. The whitewater flows continuously, making Ohiopyle a unique paradise here in our own fair county.

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