The Pennsylvania Highlands Conservation Atlas

Pennsylvania is known as the Keystone State because of its key role in the economic, social, and political development of the colonies and the United States. The Pennsylvania Highlands provided resources that sustained early settlers. Countless streams and rivers flowing off the elevated landscape of the Highlands provided water resources for the lands in the surrounding valleys, where early settlers tended farms and orchards that fed a growing population. The streams and rivers also provided fish and other food. Forests provided building materials and fuel for cooking and heating. The forests also provided game and many plants used for food and medicine. 

The abundance of natural resources in this vast landscape provided a fledging nation with the sustenance, energy, and raw materials that it needed to establish independence and to embark on a period of growth and prosperity. 

The water, wood, and minerals of the Pennsylvania Highlands helped fuel the American Revolution. Iron ore and limestone in the Pennsylvania Highlands established this region as the economic center of the early iron industry. In 1776 the region was home to over 50 iron forges and furnaces, more than all the other colonies combined. The Horse-Shoe Trail was established in the late 1700’s as a trail linking numerous forges and furnaces. While most of the iron was used for household items like pots, nails, and hinges, several furnaces, including Hopewell Furnace, cast cannons and ammunition for the colonial militia. The forests of the Pennsylvania Highlands were used to make charcoal to fuel the furnaces and forges, and water flowing from the Pennsylvania Highlands powered countless waterwheels in grain mills. The waterways were used to transport raw materials and finished goods to markets.  

Discovery of anthracite coal in Schuylkill County in 1790 drastically changed life in the Pennsylvania Highlands and focused the economic engine on mineral extraction and processing. During the Industrial Revolution, the iron and coal industries located in and near the Pennsylvania Highlands transformed the area into a world leader in steel technology and led to the development of large factory complexes in places like Reading, Birdsboro, Pottstown, and Bethlehem. Immigrants flocked to the area to work in mines, steel, mills, breweries, textile mills, tanneries, shipyards, refineries and numerous other industries that used the rich material resources of this area as raw materials to produce goods. 

For nearly a century, Bethlehem Steel was responsible for providing the steel for many of the most famous bridges and skyscrapers in the country. The iron industry of the Pennsylvania Highlands declined through the late 19th and 20th centuries, and Bethlehem Steel stopped making steel in 1995, a milestone in the decline of the American Industrial Era.

Current uses of Pennsylvania Highlands resources have evolved with our changing economy and suburbanization. The region continues to provide clean drinking water for millions of Pennsylvanians. The lands here provide habitat for an immense array of plants and animals and produce food and fiber for an ever-increasing population. As more people work indoors, commute longer distances, and lose connection to the land, there is a growing need for open spaces where one can commune with nature’s peace and beauty. Recreational opportunities provide a high quality of life for countless Pennsylvania residents and those from surrounding states who visit the Pennsylvania Highlands region.  

Human use of the Pennsylvania Highlands has changed greatly throughout our nation’s history, from a natural landscape that sustained indigenous communities to early colonists, to an industrialized region that produced steel used worldwide during the 20th century. The Pennsylvania Highlands region continues to meet our more current needs by providing us with open space for recreation and clean drinking water.  

The need for these natural resources will not diminish but will grow as the human population increases. Conservation measures, such as protecting priority lands as identified in the  Protect the View , as well as the  Priorities for Climate Change Connectivity in Pennsylvania  projects, adopting low-impact development practices, and educating the public about the value of natural lands, are critical to the continued survival of the Pennsylvania Highlands region.