A splash dam was a temporary wooden dam used to raise the water level in streams to float logs downstream to sawmills. [1] By impounding water and allowing it to be released on the log drive's schedule, these dams allowed many more logs to be brought to market than the natural flow of the stream allowed. Water releases from multiple splash dams on tributaries were also often combined to maximize the number of logs floated throughout a given watershed.
Splash dams were typically constructed of logs or boards, which formed cribs that were then filled with stones and earth. They could be anywhere from 50 feet (15 m) to several hundred feet wide and were used from one to several years. A splash dam had to be sited on a section of the stream that allowed as large a body of water to accumulate behind the dam as possible. Behind the dam logs were transported to the creek and its banks, often along log slides. [2]
The splash dam was equipped with a chute to allow water and logs to escape. When the chute was closed, water collected behind the dam. Construction work also extended to the stream below the splash dam, which had to be cleared of obstacles and often had its banks cleared for some distance above the waterline. This was an effort to prevent as many logs as possible from becoming stuck on the banks of the stream. [2] The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a law on March 28, 1871, allowing splash dam construction and clearing of creeks to allow loose logs to float better. [3]
Originally lumber was only floated downstream using seasonal high water, typically in spring following snowmelt. Loggers found that by constructing a dam to impound water they could control the level of water and float more logs, which improved conditions for log drivers. In addition to the annual early spring log drive in March, splash dams frequently allowed smaller drives any time there was sufficient water: in Pennsylvania, rains could lead to drives in May or June, and small drives in September or October were also possible. [4]
To give some idea of the scale of the log drives, Pennsylvania's Pine Creek, the largest tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River, had produced rafts of pine spars for decades, ending in 1865. The earliest spring log drives there floated up to 20,000,000 board feet (47,000 m3) of logs in the creek at one time. [3] In 1908, a single splash dam in north-central Pennsylvania floated 8,000,000 board feet (18,900 m3) in one log drive. [2]
Log drives lasted four to six days in northern Pennsylvania. A series of arks (boats specially built for the drive) floated down the creek behind the logs. Typically one boat was the kitchen and dining area, one served as sleeping quarters for the men, and one provided shelter for the horses. The men and horses worked in the creek all day getting logs stranded on the banks back in the water. Log jams were a problem as well and required careful removal of one or more key logs to break the jam and allow the logs to again flow freely. [4] Breaking a logjam might involve one or more men working with hand tools, or it might involve explosives.
By impounding water and allowing it to be released on the log drive's schedule, these dams allowed many more logs to be brought to market than the natural flow of the stream allowed. Water releases from multiple splash dams on tributaries were also often combined to maximize the number of logs floated throughout a given watershed. On the Red River in eastern Kentucky, a series of carefully timed releases of water from splash dams allowed log drives to travel 20 miles (32 km) downstream. These drives had between 35,000 and 50,000 logs in them, and one produced a log jam 1 mile (1.6 km) long. [1]
Splash dams operated across the United States, from about 1860 to 1930. [1] As of 2008, the United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System shows thirteen place names in the United States containing the words "splash dam". Pennsylvania has the most, with eight places, but there are also places in Kentucky, Virginia, Utah, and Idaho named "Splash Dam". [5] Two Pennsylvania state parks, Parker Dam State Park and McCalls Dam State Park, are named for splash dams. [6] [7]
Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area, itself part of the Williamsport–Lock Haven combined statistical area. At the 2020 census, Lock Haven's population was 8,108.
The Tioga River is a tributary of the Chemung River, approximately 58 miles (93 km) long, in northern Pennsylvania and western New York in the United States. It drains a region of ridges in the northern Allegheny Plateau in the watershed of the Susquehanna River.
The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the extension of the main branch, with the shorter West Branch being its principal tributary.
Larrys Creek is a 22.9-mile-long (36.9 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Lycoming County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A part of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, its watershed drains 89.1 square miles (231 km2) in six townships and a borough. The creek flows south from the dissected Allegheny Plateau to the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians through sandstone, limestone, and shale from the Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian periods.
White Deer Hole Creek is a 20.5-mile (33.0 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Clinton, Lycoming and Union counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A part of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, the White Deer Hole Creek watershed drains parts of ten townships. The creek flows east in a valley of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, through sandstone, limestone, and shale from the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian periods.
Bowman Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County and Wyoming County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 26 miles (42 km) long and flows through Ross Township and Lake Township in Luzerne County and Noxen Township, Monroe Township, and Eaton Township in Wyoming County. The watershed of the creek has an area of 120 square miles (310 km2). The creek is not designated as an impaired waterbody and its pH is close to neutral, although it has experienced some problems with acid rain. It has low concentrations of dissolved solids like calcium. The creek is relatively small in its upper reaches, but by Noxen, its width is 40 to 60 feet. It is also relatively shallow in many reaches. Rock formations in the watershed include the Catskill Formation, the Huntley Mountain Formation, Burgoon Sandstone, the Mauch Chunk Formation, the Pottsville Group, and the Pocono Formation. Soil associations in the creek's watershed include the Wellsboro-Morris-Oquaga association, the Oquaga-Lackawanna-Arnot association, the Mardin-Bath-Volusia association, and the Wyoming-Pope association.
White Deer Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Centre County and Union County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 28 miles (45 km) long and flows through Miles Township in Centre County and Hartley Township, Lewis Township, West Buffalo Township, and White Deer Township in Union County. The watershed of the creek has an area of 45.1 square miles (117 km2). Parts of the creek are designated as impaired. The creek's discharge near White Deer can be as low as 3 cubic feet per second (0.085 m3/s) or as high as 169 cubic feet per second (4.8 m3/s).
Little Pine State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 2,158 acres (873 ha) in Cummings Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Little Pine State park is along 4.2 miles (6.8 km) of Little Pine Creek, a tributary of Pine Creek, in the midst of the Tiadaghton State Forest. A dam on the creek has created a lake covering 94 acres (38 ha) for fishing, boating, and swimming. The park is on Pennsylvania Route 4001, 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of the unincorporated village of Waterville or 8 miles (13 km) southwest of the village of English Center. The nearest borough is Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles (24 km) south at the mouth of Pine Creek on the West Branch Susquehanna River.
Upper Pine Bottom State Park is a 5-acre (2.0 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is in Cummings Township on Pennsylvania Route 44 and is surrounded by the Tiadaghton State Forest. It is on Upper Pine Bottom Run, which gave the park its name and is a tributary of Pine Creek. Upper Pine Bottom State Park is in the Pine Creek Gorge, where the streams have cut through five major rock formations from the Devonian and Carboniferous periods.
Susquehanna State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 20 acres (8.1 ha) in Williamsport in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is on the West Branch Susquehanna River in the western part of Williamsport, and is operated by the Williamsport / Lycoming Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Bureau of State Parks of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Susquehanna State Park offers cruises on a paddlewheeler, boating, fishing, and picnicking.
Colton Point State Park is a 368-acre (149 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is on the west side of the Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, which is 800 feet (240 m) deep and nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) across at this location. The park extends from the creek in the bottom of the gorge up to the rim and across part of the plateau to the west. Colton Point State Park is known for its views of the Pine Creek Gorge, and offers opportunities for picnicking, hiking, fishing and hunting, whitewater boating, and camping. Colton Point is surrounded by Tioga State Forest and its sister park, Leonard Harrison State Park, on the east rim. The park is on a state forest road in Shippen Township 5 miles (8 km) south of U.S. Route 6.
Shikellamy State Park is a 132-acre (53 ha) Pennsylvania state park located at the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. The park is divided into two sections. The older part, on a bluff on the western bank of the Susquehanna River, is the 78-acre (32 ha) Shikellamy overlook in Union Township, Union County. The newer part is the 54-acre (22 ha) marina on the southern end of Packer Island in Upper Augusta Township, Northumberland County. Packer's Island lies between the city of Sunbury and the borough of Northumberland at the confluence of the two branches of the river.
Leonard Harrison State Park is a 585-acre (237 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is on the east rim of the Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, which is 800 feet (240 m) deep and nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) across here. It also serves as headquarters for the adjoining Colton Point State Park, its sister park on the west rim of the gorge. Leonard Harrison State Park is known for its views of the Pine Creek Gorge, and offers hiking, fishing and hunting, whitewater boating, and camping. The park is in Shippen and Delmar Townships, 10 miles (16 km) west of Wellsboro at the western terminus of Pennsylvania Route 660.
The West Branch Susquehanna Valley of central Pennsylvania, United States, in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, is the low-lying area draining into the West Branch Susquehanna River southeast of the Allegheny Front, northeast of the Bald Eagle Valley, southwest of the Wyoming Valley and north of the water gap formed between Shamokin Mountain and Montour Ridge.
Huntington Creek is a tributary of Fishing Creek in Luzerne and Columbia counties, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 29.5 miles (47.5 km) long.
The Susquehanna Boom was a system of cribs and chained logs in the West Branch Susquehanna River, designed to catch and hold floating timber until it could be processed at one of the nearly 60 sawmills along the river between Lycoming and Loyalsock Creeks in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The Susquehanna Boom was originally built under the supervision of James H. Perkins, and operated from 1851 to 1909, when it shut down for lack of timber.
Plunketts Creek is an approximately 6.2-mile-long (10 km) tributary of Loyalsock Creek in Lycoming and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Two unincorporated villages and a hamlet are on the creek, and its watershed drains 23.6 square miles (61 km2) in parts of five townships. The creek is a part of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin via Loyalsock Creek and the West Branch Susquehanna and Susquehanna Rivers.
Pine Creek Gorge, sometimes called The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, is a 47-mile (76 km) gorge carved into the Allegheny Plateau by Pine Creek in north-central Pennsylvania.
Halfway Run is a tributary of Rapid Run in Union County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 km) long and flows through Hartley Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of 1.51 square miles (3.9 km2). A number of waterlogged pingo scars occur near the stream. The lake is in the vicinity of the Halfway Run Natural Area and R.B. Winter State Park. Numerous tree species inhabit the land near the stream.
On June 13, 1886, a log jam developed in the St. Croix River, close to Taylors Falls, Minnesota, and St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. The river was used to transport large quantities of logs from the forests upstream to the sawmills, and log jams disrupted this business. The 1886 jam was described at the time by a local journalist as "the jammedest jam" he had encountered, and was very difficult to clear, with hundreds of men working for six weeks to clear it, eventually using steamboats and dynamite. The jam was also a major tourist attraction, with thousands of spectators every day. After the jam was broken up in July, cleanup work to remove the logs on the river banks continued until September.