Early settlement The southern portions of Centre County were once inhabited by the Ona Jutta Hage or Juniata tribe. Their name meant "The People of the Standing Stone", for an
obelisk that once stood in their village near present-day
Huntingdon. The Juniata had moved away by the time that Pennsylvania was colonized by
William Penn. Penn bought the land from the
Iroquois and the
Tuscarora and
Shawnee that had resettled throughout central Pennsylvania were soon forced to move on once again. Many different groups of European settlers migrated to the area by the late 18th century. They were mostly
farmers of
Scots-Irish descent with large numbers of
Amish and
Mennonite Germans who had fled
religious persecution in
Germany,
Austria, and
Switzerland.
The lumber era By the mid-19th century the demand for lumber reached southern Centre County, where
white pine and
hemlock covered the surrounding mountainsides. The Reichley Brothers were the major lumbering concern in the area. In addition to harvesting timber from the hillsides and valleys, they operated an excursion train in the summer months. The train would leave
Milroy and climb into the mountains to Poe Mills, Thickhead Mountain, through Stone Creek Kettle, and back to Milroy along the banks of Laurel Creek. This lumber era was not to last, and soon all the trees were gone. Once the trees disappeared, the people were soon to follow. The lumbermen left behind a barren landscape that was devastated by erosion and wildfires. The
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bought the thousands of acres of deforested and burned land. The state began the massive project of reforesting the land.
Civilian Conservation Corps Penn-Roosevelt State Park was constructed during the
Great Depression by the
Civilian Conservation Corps. CCC Camp S-62 was built in
Stone Creek Kettle. It was unique in the fact that it was a
segregated camp. The members of the camp were all
African-American. It was one of only 12 such CCC camps in Pennsylvania. The members of Camp S-62 constructed many of the facilities in use today at Penn-Roosevelt State Park. They constructed a
log-crib dam that has since received a stone facing. They also built many of the roads and trails in the surrounding
Rothrock State Forest. Remnants of the camp, including two stone fireplaces and a stone bake oven, can be seen today in the woods of Penn-Roosevelt State Park. ==Recreation==