Birthplace and childhood home of ecologist and author Rachel Carson (1907-1964), whose 1962 book Silent Spring helped to launch the environmental movement. Guided tours and classes are available.
Springdale
Into a beautiful valley, covered with trees and blessed with a food supply and spring water, as well as a river suitable for travel, industry, and recreation, came settlers who were the forefathers of the generations of the twenty-first century residents of Springdale borough. Could they have known the value, the changes, and the wealth that would belong to those who followed?
The forests provided materials for cabins and furniture, barns, fences for clearings, and fuel for the winters. From its depths, hunters took wildlife that furnished meat for the family, deerskin for clothing, bear skin for robes, and covering for winter nights. Its trees and vines produced nuts and berries, grapes, and wild plums, as well as acorns for fattening swine.
The cleared fields for raising crops met the needs of the first newcomers. Little did they know the wealth hidden underground—coal, sand, gravel, and limestone—that would transform the area into an industrial power. Abundant water would be the means to turn the wheels of industry.
