Leonard Harrison
Encyclopedia
Leonard Harrison was a lumber
man and businessman who spent most of his life in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
and donated Leonard Harrison State Park
to the state of Pennsylvania
in 1922.
, where his mother, Catherine, was born in 1816. The Meek family came to Wellsboro in 1833, where William was a merchant and tailor. Harrison's father William was born in New Jersey
, and also came to Wellsboro in 1833, where he helped build the Tioga County
courthouse. Harrison's parents met in Wellsboro, married, and had seven children, although only three survived to adulthood. Leonard Harrison was born on January 10, 1850.
Harrison attended the Wellsboro public schools and the Wellsboro Academy. He worked as a carpenter in his father's business initially, then began working as a clerk in the Wellsboro post office
and for a bookstore when he was 15. From 1878 to 1884 he worked as a clerk in the Tioga County Commissioners' office, where he became familiar with land throughout the county. He began to work in the lumber
business, and in 1883 began a coal
business, which operated for ten years.
In 1882 Harrison married Mary Green. They lived at 10 West Avenue in Wellsboro and had three children: George, Emily, and Catherine. Emily died before 1900, and William was killed working in the family lumber business in West Virginia
in 1941. Catherine never married and died in 1971. All are buried in the Wellsboro Cemetery.
, Newfoundland
, and Pennsylvania. Harrison owned a substantial amount of land in the Pine Creek Gorge
. In the 1890s Harrison operated a sawmill on Pine Creek
at Tiadaghton in the middle of the gorge. This mill was supplied with logs, not by train as was most common in that era, but by a log slide built into the side of the gorge. The log slide was used on a year round basis: during the winter the logs slid down on ice; following the snowmelt the slide was greased to ease the descent of the logs.
Harrison served as first president of the Wellsborough Electric Company, which was incorporated on April 11, 1894. In August 1896 Harrison was chosen president of the First National Bank of Wellsboro. He also served as clerk and burgess for the borough of Wellsboro and served for more than forty years as a school director there. Harrison helped rebuild the Wellsboro Penn Hotel in the 1920s. He was a major supporter and leader of the Wellsboro Presbyterian Church.
After the village of Tiadaghton and its mill were destroyed by a fire, Harrison turned his attention to tourism. He purchased 121 acres (49 ha) of land at the site of the current state park that bears his name in 1906. He developed this land, then known as "The Lookout", and invited the public to enjoy the beauty of the Pine Creek Gorge
. Harrison donated the picnic grounds to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1922, and it is known as Leonard Harrison State Park
.
Harrison died of pneumonia
following surgery on January 13, 1929 at the Johns Hopkins University
hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. His obituary on the front page of the Wellsboro newspaper read "Borough Loses Greatest Giver", and he was notable enough to have a brief obituary in the New York Times.
Harrison left plans and a large bequest for the Soldiers and Sailors Hospital in Wellsboro, which was built only after his death. The state park which bears his name became very popular after a publicity campaign in the 1930s. More than 300,000 tourists visited the canyon by the autumn of 1936, and 15,000 visited Leonard Harrison over Memorial Day
weekend in 1937. That year more visitors came to the Pine Creek Gorge than to Yellowstone National Park
. In 2003, the park had 142,716 visitors, and Leonard Harrison State Park is part of the twenty-one state parks chosen by the DCNR Pennsylvania Bureau of Parks for its "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks" list. Leoanrd Harrison and Colton Point State Park
s are the only two parks treated as one unit for the list. The DCNR describes the parks together, noting how they "offer spectacular vistas and a fabulous view of Pine Creek Gorge, also known as Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon". It goes on to praise their inclusion in a National Natural Landmark
and State Park Natural Area, hiking and trails, and the Pine Creek Rail Trail
and bicycling.
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
man and businessman who spent most of his life in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
Wellsboro is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, 52 miles northwest of Williamsport. Early in the twentieth century, Wellsboro was the shipping point and trade center for a large area...
and donated Leonard Harrison State Park
Leonard Harrison State Park
Leonard Harrison State Park is a 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 deep and nearly across here. It also serves as headquarters for the adjoining...
to the state of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in 1922.
Early and personal life
Harrison's maternal grandparents, William and Catherine Meek, lived in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where his mother, Catherine, was born in 1816. The Meek family came to Wellsboro in 1833, where William was a merchant and tailor. Harrison's father William was born in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and also came to Wellsboro in 1833, where he helped build the Tioga County
Tioga County, Pennsylvania
Tioga County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,981. Tioga County was created on March 26, 1804, from part of Lycoming County and named for the Tioga River. Its county seat is Wellsboro....
courthouse. Harrison's parents met in Wellsboro, married, and had seven children, although only three survived to adulthood. Leonard Harrison was born on January 10, 1850.
Harrison attended the Wellsboro public schools and the Wellsboro Academy. He worked as a carpenter in his father's business initially, then began working as a clerk in the Wellsboro post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and for a bookstore when he was 15. From 1878 to 1884 he worked as a clerk in the Tioga County Commissioners' office, where he became familiar with land throughout the county. He began to work in the lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
business, and in 1883 began a coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
business, which operated for ten years.
In 1882 Harrison married Mary Green. They lived at 10 West Avenue in Wellsboro and had three children: George, Emily, and Catherine. Emily died before 1900, and William was killed working in the family lumber business in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
in 1941. Catherine never married and died in 1971. All are buried in the Wellsboro Cemetery.
Lumberman and civic leader
Harrison was a founder of the "Tyoga Lumber Company" which owned large tracts of land for timber and coal in Nicholas County, West Virginia, as well as land in MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, and Pennsylvania. Harrison owned a substantial amount of land in the Pine Creek Gorge
Pine Creek Gorge
Pine Creek Gorge, also known as, The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, is situated in approximately 160,000 acres of the Tioga State Forest in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania along Pine Creek. The Canyon begins south of Ansonia, near Wellsboro, along U.S. Route 6 and continues for approximately...
. In the 1890s Harrison operated a sawmill on Pine Creek
Pine Creek (Pennsylvania)
Pine Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. The creek is long...
at Tiadaghton in the middle of the gorge. This mill was supplied with logs, not by train as was most common in that era, but by a log slide built into the side of the gorge. The log slide was used on a year round basis: during the winter the logs slid down on ice; following the snowmelt the slide was greased to ease the descent of the logs.
Harrison served as first president of the Wellsborough Electric Company, which was incorporated on April 11, 1894. In August 1896 Harrison was chosen president of the First National Bank of Wellsboro. He also served as clerk and burgess for the borough of Wellsboro and served for more than forty years as a school director there. Harrison helped rebuild the Wellsboro Penn Hotel in the 1920s. He was a major supporter and leader of the Wellsboro Presbyterian Church.
State park, death, and legacy
Pine Creek Gorge
Pine Creek Gorge, also known as, The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, is situated in approximately 160,000 acres of the Tioga State Forest in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania along Pine Creek. The Canyon begins south of Ansonia, near Wellsboro, along U.S. Route 6 and continues for approximately...
. Harrison donated the picnic grounds to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1922, and it is known as Leonard Harrison State Park
Leonard Harrison State Park
Leonard Harrison State Park is a 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 deep and nearly across here. It also serves as headquarters for the adjoining...
.
Harrison died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
following surgery on January 13, 1929 at the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. His obituary on the front page of the Wellsboro newspaper read "Borough Loses Greatest Giver", and he was notable enough to have a brief obituary in the New York Times.
Harrison left plans and a large bequest for the Soldiers and Sailors Hospital in Wellsboro, which was built only after his death. The state park which bears his name became very popular after a publicity campaign in the 1930s. More than 300,000 tourists visited the canyon by the autumn of 1936, and 15,000 visited Leonard Harrison over Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
weekend in 1937. That year more visitors came to the Pine Creek Gorge than to Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
. In 2003, the park had 142,716 visitors, and Leonard Harrison State Park is part of the twenty-one state parks chosen by the DCNR Pennsylvania Bureau of Parks for its "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks" list. Leoanrd Harrison and Colton Point State Park
Colton Point State Park
Colton Point State Park is a 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 deep and nearly across at this location. The park extends from the creek in the...
s are the only two parks treated as one unit for the list. The DCNR describes the parks together, noting how they "offer spectacular vistas and a fabulous view of Pine Creek Gorge, also known as Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon". It goes on to praise their inclusion in a National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...
and State Park Natural Area, hiking and trails, and the Pine Creek Rail Trail
Pine Creek Rail Trail
The Pine Creek Rail Trail is a rail trail in the Appalachian Mountains of north-central Pennsylvania.The trail begins just north of Wellsboro, runs south through Pine Creek Gorge , and ends in Jersey Shore...
and bicycling.