Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area

Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area is named for two Pennsylvania politicians from Snyder County: Simon Snyder and Ner Alexander Middleswarth. Snyder (1759 – 1819) was a three-time Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the third governor of Pennsylvania. He was elected to the United States Senate, but died before he could take office. As of 2007 he remains the only Pennsylvania governor from Snyder County. Middleswarth (1783 – 1865) was twice Speaker of the Pennsylvania House, and served in the Pennsylvania State Senate and the United States House of Representatives. The United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) lists the name as "Snyder Middleswarth Natural Area". As of 2023, the hyphen is used by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, as well as the National Park Service in its entry for the National Natural Landmark. ==Location==

Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area is in Spring Township in western Snyder County, about 5 miles (8 km) west of Troxelville on Swift Run Road. It is 23 miles (37 km) southwest of Lewisburg and 31 miles (50 km) southeast of State College. The natural area is in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, in a narrow east-west valley between Jacks Mountain to the south and Buck and Penns Creek Mountains to the north. Swift Run, a tributary of Middle Creek, flows east through the area. The Rock Springs Picnic Area is at the eastern end of the preserve, with the Snyder-Middleswarth Picnic Area west of this, in about the center of the tract, just where Swift Run Road leaves Swift Run. Tall Timbers Natural Area is the western border, while Bald Eagle State Forest lands surround Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area in all other directions. ==History==

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, almost all of Pennsylvania's forests were clear cut, with only a few isolated tracts of virgin forest surviving. The land that became Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area was purchased by the state in 1902, as part of a larger 14,000 acre (56.66 km) parcel. On April 12, 1921 the governor signed the law creating "Snyder-Middleswarth State Forest Park", making it Pennsylvania's ninth state park. By 1923 the park had a telephone and some structures, and in 1937 the state named it a "Forest Monument" as an "area of botanical or historic interest". In November 1967, the park was named a National Natural Landmark, as an "outstanding example of a relict forest composed predominantly of hemlock, birch, and pine, with scattered oaks". In 1980 an airplane carrying the New York Times crashed with one fatality. The crash site is on the summit of Thick Mountain, on the southern edge of the park. the former as part of the state park and the latter as part of Bald Eagle State Forest. While both areas are on Swift Run, Tall Timbers is old second-growth forest. Snyder-Middleswarth's virgin forest is thought to have survived at least in part due to its location and the difficulty of transporting the cut timber, ==References==