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Park Spotlight: Pymatuning State Park
First appeared in the Fall 1990 issue of Pennsylvania Recreation and Parks quarterly magazine, published by the Pa. Recreation & Parks Society. Pymatuning State Park is located in northwestern Pennsylvania and is in southwestern Crawford County. The cities of Erie, Sharon, Meadville, New Castle, Butler and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and Youngstown, Warren, Lorain and Cleveland in Ohio are situated within a one hundred-mile radius of the park. Pymatuning State Park is accessible from the east and west by the two major federal highways U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 322. It is accessible from the north and south by U.S. Route 19 and Pennsylvania Route 18. Pymatuning is the largest operational park in the Pennsylvania State Park System. Its annual attendance is in excess of 4.5 million visitors. The park consists of 13,716 acres of water and 7,406 acres of land. Pymatuning State Park provides a large number of recreational activities, such as camping at 807 family campsites, boating, swimming at five beaches, fishing, picnicking, hiking, group camping, hunting, sightseeing and a wide variety of winter activities such as snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, ice boating, sledding, ice skating and ice fishing. Pymatuning is known as the place where the ducks walk on the backs of fish. The carp at the Spillway area are fed thousands of loaves of bread each week by the public, and the carp are so plentiful that the ducks actually walk on the backs of the fish to compete for the bread. Pymatuning is known for its eagle population, as well as its vast amount of waterfowl. The Game Commission maintains and operates a large waterfowl museum in the park; the Fish Commission operates one of the largest warm water fish hatcheries in the world at Pymatuning. The walleye and muskellunge fishing at Pymatuning is the finest in Pennsylvania. Pymatuning State Park lies on what once was a great swamp. The first known inhabitants of the area were the Monongahelas or Mound Builders. Two of their forts lay beneath the lake near the stream bed on Tract 31 and Tract 34. It is not known why the Monongahelas left the area. The Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians inhabited most of Pennsylvania when the white man came. Pymatuning is thought to have been a Delaware chief. The word translates “Crooked mouth man’s dwelling place.” Early missionaries reported that a Delaware chief, Pihmtomink, with a deformed jaw, lived nearby. The common thought today is that Pymatuning was a dishonest man. The territory was next claimed by the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy. Pymatuning was utilized mainly as a hunting ground by the Senecas. In 1794, General Wayne defeated the Indians and the “Treaty of Greenville” was signed, marking the beginning of the white man’s domination of the land. The first settlers were farmers. The swamp was a hardship to the farmer’s existence. The land was difficult to reclaim with the technology of the time. Animals that strayed from the farms were lost to the quicksand of the great swamp. Dangerous bogs, floating islands, and the inability to determine when the land ended and the water began were constant problems. The swamp was a haven for predators such as fox, bears, and mountain lions. Corduroy roads, logs laid crosswise to build a path, made passage through the swamp possible. Mosquitoes carrying yellow fever made travel difficult. A few industrious farmers had drained parts of the swamp and found the reclaimed land to be perfect for the cultivation of onions. A survey made in 1868 determined that the entire swamp could be drained and reclaimed as farm land. The farmers’ hopes were dashed when it was determined that draining the swamp would cripple the industrial needs of the Beaver and Shenango Valleys. In 1911, a bill passed the Legislature appropriating $10,000 to investigate the feasibility of a dam. In 1913, a severe flood caused $3 million in damage and cost several lives. The Legislature approved $1.2 million for constructing a dam, but Governor Tener reduced it to $100,000. In 1917, $400,000 was appropriated to the project on condition that private individuals purchase the necessary Ohio land. In 1918, the Pymatuning Land Company raised $500,000 from industries to purchase Ohio land. In 1921, the Water Supply Commission began buying land in Pennsylvania. By 1922, the Pymatuning Land Company had purchased all the necessary Ohio lands. In 1927, $350,000 more was appropriated to purchase land. In 1929, an additional $300,000 was appropriated to make the final land purchases and $200,000 for road improvements. In 1931, Governor Pinchot appropriated $1.5 million to complete the dam. In 1931, 7,000 men began to work. The project was completed by 1934. The total cost of building the project was $3,717,739. The reservoir has a capacity of 64,275,000,000 gallons of water. The lake is 17,088 acres in size and 17 miles long. Its average width is 1.6 miles with 70 miles of shoreline. The maximum depth is 35 feet. Approximately 8,485.7 land acres were also purchased during this time. An additional 259.3 acres were purchased with Project 70 funds, bringing the total park acreage in Pennsylvania and Ohio to 31,122.0 acres today. The primary purpose of the dam was three-fold:
A master plan was developed in 1963, and the first Department of General Services Project began in 1967. Pymatuning has become one of the most popular state park attractions in Pennsylvania and is a major contribution to the booming tourist industry of northwestern Pennsylvania.
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