What stories get told about Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests? DCNR is supporting a project to discover, interpret, and share “Untold Stories” of underrepresented and marginalized groups associated with lands now operating as state parks and forests.
Last month, the project published a story about a former integrated community on what is now Laurel Ridge State Park.
Known by several names including the Brown Farm, the Mountain, and the Laurel Hill Settlement, the community dated back to at least the 1820’s and included Black, White, and Indigenous residents.
“The Laurel Hill Settlement has a lot to tell us about how this unique community adapted to life on the Pennsylvania frontier, life on the mountain, and life in America,” the story map reads.
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy led this Untold Stories project, with more stories to come. Indiana University of Pennsylvania professors and students performed much of the research.
Other key partners included the Heinz History Center, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation, the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center, and the Seneca Nation.
