may 2003 friends of white clay creek state park newsletter

8/9/2019 May 2003 Friends of White Clay Creek State Park Newsletter

1/10

FWCCSP RECORDFriends of White Clay Creek State Park Newsletter

Friends ofWhite Clay Creek State ParkP.O. Box 9734Newark, DE 19714-9734 I 1'. http://fwccsp.udel.edu

Volume 6, No.1 May 2003Postponed Reforestation Project Completed

Owing to wet conditions on March 29, our reforestation project was postponed for amonth. On April 24 and 26, the Friends planted 99 trees near the creek in the hay field north ofthe park nature center. The trees were delivered on April 23 and set near pre-dug holes with thehelp of park staff using front-end loaders. The trees average about ten to twelve feet in height.With a sizable ball root, the trees could not be picked up by hand and dropped in the hole as wehad done on our previous project with smaller saplings.On Thursday April 24, volunteers in teams of two rolled and wrestled the trees into theholes, digging dirt as needed to ensure the trees stood at the proper depth for planting. Someplanting was done on the 24th in anticipation of rain forecast for Friday and Saturday. 'On Saturday April 26, in wet conditions, more than 20 volunteers completed the planting.Volunteers shoveled dirt around each tree, raising it in a berm for moisture collection, scatteredfertilizer around the base, and placed plastic wrap on the trunk to protect against autunm buckrub. Because of the wet conditions, mulching and watering had to be postponed.The trees are easy to spot as you walk the trail along the creek between the Nature Centerand Chambers Rock Road. Look for them where the trail pops out along the edge of the hayfield.Lecture on Amphibians and Reptiles Highlights Annual Membership Meeting

Friends President Andy Urquhart welcomed ,55 members and guests to the annualmembership meeting on March 24 at the George Wilson Center in Newark. The highlight of theevening was a lecture by Jim White of the Delaware Nature Society, who presented"Amphibians and Reptiles of the White Clay Area," complete with slides and recorded frog andtoad calls. The slides were from his and co-author Amy Wendt White 's new guidebook,"Ampbibians and Reptiles ofDelmarva." Copies of the book were available for purchase andsigning by Jim at the meetingThe lecture was preceded by a short business meeting. President Urquhart reported thatthe organization has continued to grow and become stronger. Membership has increased toabout 340. The group contributed more than 2860 volunteer hours to the park during 2002. Hebriefly mentioned the ongoing projects of the Friends and made particular note of the

1


2/10

.. Outstanding Volunteer Award given by the Division ofParks and Recreation to the volunteerswho staffed the Chambers House Nature Center on weekends. Three new projects added lastyear were landscaping with native plants at the park office, an historical booklet (ChambersHouse, Pomeroy Railroad, clay mining in the park, to start), arid de.lineation of wildlife habitatareas.Officers for the coming year were elected by unanimous vote of the members present:

President, Andy Urquhart; Vice President, Christa Stefanisko; Secretary, Dick Benson, andTreasurer, Ken Daws. The president expressed appreciation to Tom Hallenbeck, outgoingProjects Coordinator, for his many contributions to the organization during his four years ofleadership.Master Plan Concepts Presented at April 30 Membership Meeting

The Division of Parks and Recreation held a workshop and presentation for members ofthe Friends on April 30 to review the development process and some initial concepts for a MasterPlan for the park. The plan will involve several facets, including passive and active recreation,education and interpretation, habitat preservation and restoration, cultural preservation, andinvasive plant control. Particular subjects discussed during the meeting included habitatmanagement, trails, active recreation, lodging, environmental education, and facilities. In mostareas, the plans are still in an early conceptual stage, and there will be more opportunities tobecome informed and provide inputs as the process proceeds.Borcherdt Property Added to Park

-..'. -Recently the Division ofParks and Recreation purchased approximately 80 acres of theBorcherdt property and added them to the park. This is a highly significant addition because theland is located along the creek south ofWedgewood Road and extends westward across CreekRoad and well up into the woods. Such lands along the creek are obviously critical for the park,and we are delighted with this outcome. '. i: . . . . .. ", ' "This purchase continues an impressive series of additions to our park, which now totals3,458 acres! Just six years ago, the park was approximately 2,300 acres. Many people deserveour appreciation for this expansion program, including our governors and legislators, whoprovided funding for the open space program, and Division personnel, who recognized theimportance of expanding the park and negotiated the purchases. Please express yourappreciation to them when you have the opportunity.Friends Leader Receives Special Award

At a trails dedication ceremony on March 31, Wendel Cassel, trail work project leader forthe Friends, received the 2002 Greenways & Trails Volunteer Award from the Delaware Councilon Greenways and Trails and the Department ofNatural Resources and Environmental Control.The award recognizes Wendel 's outstanding efforts, both as a volunteer and as a volunteerproject leader, to enhance the trail system in our park. As a result of this volunteer work and theefforts of the Division's trail crew, many beautiful new trails are now available for park visitors

2


3/10

to enjoy. We thank all our volunteers, and we especially thank Wendel for his tireless effortsand leadership.New Trails Opened for Hiking and Biking

On March 31, two new or modified trails were opened for park visitors. These are theBryan's Field Trail and the Whitely Farms Trail, both of which can be accessed from either theparking lot at the Possum Hill area or the lot off the Nine Foot Road. These beautiful trails weredesigned by David Bartoo,state park's trail chief, and implemented by the trail crew with a lot ofhelp from Friends volunteers and others. Come out and give these trails a go. We think you'lllike them!Work on the Boundary Line Trail is Underway

After completing work on the new trails in the Possum Hill area in March, Friendsvolunteers focused their work on a new trail that we advocated to establish another connectionbetween the Delaware and Pennsylvania sides of the park. Since most of the trail is in the WhiteClay Creek Preserve in Pennsylvania, it will be open to hikers only. To date, 20 volunteers haveworked more than 250 hours, and have completed approximately one-halfof the three-quartermile-long trail. We are working on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings in order tocomplete the trail in a reasonable period of time.

Approximately two-thirds of the trail is in Pennsylvania. Essent ially all of this area waspart of Delaware prior to 1921, as shown on an 1873 map of Pennsylvania. The portion of thetrail that is in Permsylvania today was part of the "hom" awarded to Pennsylvania as part of the1892-3 resurvey that was ratified by Delaware in 1921. A discussion of this 1921 change in theboundary follows. ~

The "Horn"by Wendel CasselMost area residents have heard about the "wedge," the 714-acre triangular shaped strip of

land west of the arc boundary at the northwest comer of Delaware. But have you heard of the"hom"? This area is equally important in defming the northern boundary of Delaware. Theoriginal boundary line between Chester County and New Castle County, defined in a 1701survey, was an arc of 12 miles radius with the center in the city of New Castle. At that time,New Castle; Kent, and Sussex were the three southern counties of Pennsylvania, and most of theboundary markers were temporary in nature. Many of the original survey markers haddisappeared by the late l800s, and significant questions arose as to the actual location of theboundary between Delaware and Pennsylvania.

In 1889, Delaware and Pennsy lvania authorized commissioners to define and mark theboundary. The boundary was resurveyed in 1892-3, and a decision was made to use separatearcs (different radii and center points) to define the western and eastern portions of the arcboundary. This was done because of the lack of any markers on the western section, and errors inthe original 1701 survey. The western arc that was chosen intersected with an extension of the

3


4/10

Mason-Dixon line at the present arc comer approximately 2000 feet east of the previouslyaccepted location, and intersected with the eastern arc just west of Centerville. Thecommissioners awarded the resulting hom shaped section of land to Pennsylvania and the"wedge" to Delaware. Delaware did not ratify the survey until March 1921 because many of theresidents of the "hom" did not want to become part of Pennsylvania. The present boundarybetween Delaware and Pennsylvania has truncated pyramidal stone markers installed at everyhalf-mile along the arc line starting at the arc comer.You can read more about the historical background on Delaware's boundaries in the book"East of the Mason-Dixon Line-A History of Delaware Boundaries" by Roger E. Nathan,published by the Delaware Heritage Press. This book can be purchased from the DelawareHeritage Press for $5 by calling 302-577-5046.Newsletter Supplement Adds Another InstallmenUo the Pomeroy Railroad Story

In.0llrJast issue, an article by Debbie Paruszewski Keese about the' Pomeroy and NewarkRailroad and the "Pumpsie Doodle" passenger car chronicled the organization and demise of thishistoric railroad enterprise. At the end of this newsletter is an excerpt of Debbie's currentresearch that provides fascinating details about Newark Center Station, Tweeds Station, andThompson Station, and expands our understanding of rural life and economic growth in WhiteClay Creek and Mill Creek Hundreds at the tum of the century.Eventually, the Friends will incorporate these and other stories into an historical bookletabout the WhiteClay Creek area.':" .... ~ . . :.

Ongoing Projects and Activities Summarized I ,. . "Migratory Bird Walk a Big Success. On Saturday, May 3, a large crowd ofapproximately 50 people participated in the bird walk we sponsored jointly with the park.Participants were thrilled with great views of many of the birds of the park. Our walk leader,Jeff Gordon, did an outstanding job of helping people see and appreciate the beautiful birds thatinhabit our park at this time of year. , .BluebirdBox Monitoring. We are monitoring activities at the park's many nest boxes tohelp increase bluebird populations and provide results to a national scientific data base. We alsoclean and maintain the boxes as needed. Although specifically designed for bluebirds, the boxesare also used by tree swallows, house wrens, chickadees and titmice. If you would like toparticipate, contact Marilyn Sweeney at [email protected] or 235-2548.Adopt-A-Trail. The park is in the process of improving its trail system by constructingconnector spurs that make major trails more accessible, adding new portions of trails, andchanging some trail names to reflect physical characteristics or historical links, The Friends'

Adopt-A-Trail program (formerly called Trail Watch) involves our volunteers periodicallymonitoring assigned trails, performing light maintenance, and reporting more serious problemsto the park staff. Currently, we have several volunteer opportunities open for adopting trails inthe park. We will be communicating in the near future with those of you who indicated interest

4


5/10

in this project in our most recent member survey. Also, a training session in trail maintenancewith Parks and Recreation personnel is anticipated in the next month or two for new volunteersto this program. .

Weekend Nature Center Staffing. FWCCSP volunteers began seasonal weekendstaffing at the Chambers House Nature Center on May 3. Initial hours of staffing are Saturdaysand Sundays from 10:00am to 2:00pm, with the possibility of extending openings to 3:00pm in .the future. If you are a relatively new member of the Friends and not that familiar with the Park,stop by the nature center to obtain information and learn'more about this historic building.

Summer Concerts & Water Ice Sales. This is the fourth summer that the Friends will beselling water ice at the concerts to raise funds that will be used to benefit the park (see schedulebelow). We hope that our cool, wet spring will be followed by hot, dry Wednesday evenings thissummer.Summer Concerts Scheduled for 2003

. The park recently announced its schedule of Wednesday evening summer concerts.These programs begin at 7:00 pm during June and July and 6:30 pm during August. The bandsscheduled are: June 11 - Sin City Band (American honky tonk), June 18 - Newark CommunityBand (marches, classical), June 25 - Generations (big band), July 2 - Tidewater Brass Band(New Orleans style jazz), July 9 - Jerry and the Juveniles (50s rock & roll), July 16 - LibbyMcDowell Jazz Band (jazz, blues, & ballads), July 23 - Christina Harrison (Celtic), July 30-Bitter Creek (blue grass), August 6 - Heavenly Hash (rock & roll), August 13 - Swing Kings(big band), and August 20 - Planette FolIe (Cajun, zeideco).This is a really pleasant way to spend an evening in the park. Many people bring picnics,and lots of folks enjoy a cup of cool water ice, which will again be sold by Friends volunteersduring the concerts.Additional Leadership and Volunteer Opportunities Available

As our activities have grown and evolved, we have created additional opportunities forvolunteers to assume leadership positions in the organization. Specifically, we are looking foradditionalleaders in a couple of areas:Project Coordinator-This person works with the project leaders to help them organizetheir projects. This is also an Executive Committee position, so this person would have anopportunity to influence the future directions of the organization.Project Leaders-We have openings for a few more project leaders to help organizevolunteers on some of our projects. For example, we are looking for people who would enjoyhelping arrange parts of our reforestation work once or twice a year, and there are opportunities

in other areas as well. In any case, we would work with interested persons to find a project areaof personal interest to them.

5


6/10

There are also many opportunities to volunteer, including the Friends' adopt-a-trail and bluebirdbox monitoring projects (see contact information above or under Leadership below). In addition,volunteers can work directly with the park in such activities as gardening and program assistanceat Judge Morris, assisting with nature programs, and helping park cars at summer concerts(contact Kathryn Hendrix at the park office, 368-6900). ,.Membership Support Appreciated

Thank: you to all of our new and renewing members for their support of the Friends ofWhite Clay Creek State Park. We are now over 340 members strong! There are still a few moremembers who need to renew, so please send in your dues and help us to improve and preservethe park. Memberships are $15 for family, $10 for individual, and $5 for student classifications.Please send checks payable to Friends ofWhite Clay Creek State Park, P.O. Box 9734, Newark,DE 19714-9734.Wish List

We welcome the donation of items for use in Park activities by the Friends and the Parkstaff. We thank our members for past donations of needed items such as easels and shovels.Tools for trail work:1. Wheelbarrows, mattocks, flat shovels, rakes, loppers, etc.2. A metal tool cabinetTo donate contact Wendel Cassel (302-737-3319)

.:-'

.,) .Calendar of Events . \ 'June 7 TrailWork (National Trails Day) .' .. _. c, ,r.; . ; , ~ , June 9 Executive Committee Meeting with the Advisory Board " l l .July 12 Trail WorkAugust 11 Executive Committee Meeting. ' " -,"August 23 Trail WorkSeptember 8 Executive Committee MeetingSeptember 14 Newark Community Day DisplaySeptember 28 Trail WorkOctober 13 Executive Committee MeetingOctober 26 Trail WorkNovember 10 Executive Committee MeetingNovember 16 Trail WorkDecember 8 Executive Committee MeetingDecember 14 Trail Work

6


7/10

Leadership:President: Andy Urquhart, 239-2471, [email protected]: Christa Stefanisko, 369-1933, [email protected] and Newsletter Editor: Dick Benson, 410-3984180, [email protected]: Ken Daws, 737-8120, [email protected] Chair: Lisa Wool, 235-1873, [email protected] Committee Chair: Tom Hallenbeck, 610-274-1345, [email protected]

Current Project Leaders:Adopt-a-Highway: Dee and Dick Benson, 410-398-4180Adopt-a-Trail: Mike Ott, 738-6652Advocacy: Andy Urquhart, 239-2471Bluebird Boxes: Meta Little, 368-3472, and Marilyn Sweeney, 235-2548Kestrel Boxes: Andy Urquhart, 239-2471Critical Wildlife Habitat: Andy Urquhart, 239-2471Historical Booklet: Debbie Keese, 369-9128Nature Center Staffing: Tom Hallenbeck, 610-274-1345Reforestation: Al Zverina, 239-5046, and Christa Stefanisko, 369-1933Trail Benches: Andy Urquhart, 239-2471Trail Improvement Work: Wendel Cassel, 737-3319Water lee Sales: Tom Hallenbeck, 610-274-1345Wayside Historical Markers: Wendel CasselWebsite: Rick Hall, 831-1295 .. ,' "

7


8/10

-----

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - _ . _ - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - ~ - - - - - Membership Application

Join us! If you are not already a member and would like to join, please return this form withyour check made payable to Friends of White Clay Creek State Park.Name(s)Address

. ' - , . -";'Phone L J _ E-MailAnnual Memberships

__$10.00 Individual Membership__$15.00 Family Membership$ 5.00 Student Membership$ Extra Contribution$ Total Enclosed

Friends of White Clay Creek State Park, Inc.P.o. Box 9734 ! Newark, DE 19714-9734

8


9/10

Special Newsletter SupplementTracking The "Pumpsie Doodle" Along White Clay Creek[Excerpted from Current Research on the Pomeroy and Newark Railroad]

by Debbie Paruszewski KeeseNEWARK CENTER STATION. Newark Center Station was a complex-of buildings locatedbetween Main Street and the old Newark Agway Building. In 1887, the Station agent for Newark Centerwas Samuel J. Wright. The passenger station was positioned on the north edge of Main Street on the line.

It was removed some time after 1928 when passenger service was discontinued. The Newark freightstation sat roughly where the Agway building stood, with the tracks on the east side of the building.Beyond the freight house, a crane housing was installed, and north of the crane was a warehouse andoffice building. The old rails can still be seen today crossing Main Street. A hint of the old rail bed isvisible in a gully running between the old Agway and the Newark Shopping Center parking lot. In 1932,the commodity delivered in greatest quantity to the Newark station was coal, followed by fuel oil, andthen pulp wood from among a total of27 different inbound products. The greatest outbound commodityshipped from Newark was paper, followed by canned goods, fibre, and clay, from among a total of 10products.As the train continued north from Newark and into the White Clay Valley, it made four stops atvarious sidings before arriving at Tweed Station A siding west of the line at Creek Road went to AtlanticRefining Company. A siding on the east side at this point went to the NVF company.

TWEED STATION. The line proceeded down the east side ofthe creek to a spot adjacent toWedgewood Road. This stop was called Tweed Station. A 1909 timetable listed Tweed as a freight stopwhich "stops only on notice to conductor or agent or on signal." A building was never constructed at thisstop. It was directly across the creek from the location of historic Tweed's Mill on Creek Road atWedgewood Road. This mill was purchased by William McClelland in 1834. McClelland acquired allof the land between the mill and New London Road and created a road between them to. provide access tothe mills. At the intersection with New London Road, a small hamlet developed, called McClellandsville.By the late 1860s it had a post office, a store, a wheelwright and blacksmith shop, a church, a school, andfive dwellings. Richard Edward's 1880 "Industry of Delaware" describes McClellandsville as having "aPost Office, and a station on the Pennsylvania and Delaware Railroad, two miles north of Newark. It is athriving, growing place with a church, an hotel, a large carriage shop, several stores, and a population ofmore than 150 with the prospects of becoming quite a place."In 1880, Mansell Tweed converted the bark mill into a flint mill that produced six tons per dayand employed eight men. Flint, (ground quartz) was used in the porcelain industry. It is possible thatMansell Tweed 's ground flint product was transported on the Pomeroy railroad. A Pennsylvania Railroadtimetable of 1887 lists the Tweed stop as HM. Tweed" and as an individual siding, as was F.F. Armstrong,W. Dean, and S.B. Wright at Newark Center. This suggests that freight was delivered or loaded atTweed just as it was at these other locations. A bridge over the creek at Wedgewood road connectedMcClellandsville and the mill to the rails on the east side of the creek. Another road was built on the eastside of the creek cOlIDecting the station to Milford Crossroads, a maj or intersection on the road fromNewark to Limestone Road. This provided access to rail transport for passengers and industrialenterprises along major roads from both the east and west.

9


10/10

THOMPSON STATION. Thompson Station was located west of the creek,just south ofChambers Rock Road. It is listed by Richard Edwards (1880) as being "4 miles north from Newark, onthe Pennsylvania and Delaware Railroad and is a postal station with a population of 15 or 20 families,with the usual ambition of being a city." The 1899 Biographical and General History of Delawaredescribes it as "a village. of some 30 to 40 inhabitants, a station on the Pomeroy and Newark Railroad."The station was named after the Thompson family, who owned the farmland on which the station wasbuilt. Right -of- way access across the Thompson farm was granted by Joel Thompson JI. and his wife, S.Cornelia Thompson, to the Pennsylvania and Delaware Railway Company for $400 on July 23, 1873.Terms of the indenture included an agreement that the railroad company woul'd construct and maintain astation house and side track and erect and maintain a lawful fence on the line. MI. Thompson agreed toprovide a public road about 270 feet long and 30 feet wide extending from the County Road to the Depotgrounds. This road was to be kept open and maintained as a county road. Today, the only trace ofThompson Station that can be detected is this road.

MI. Eugene Robinson (personal communication, 2002) remembers the bam-like building as oneand one half stories high and rectangular in shape, approximately 55 feet long and 35 feet wide.Thompson Station was strictly a freight station. It is possible that this changed at some point, becauseMI. NormanDempsey (personal communication, 2003) a farmer in the Comer Ketch area, remembers apassenger ticket window at the station. Mr. Dempsey often accompanied his father, also a farmer, to thestation, when they were notified that their freight had arrived.Thompson Station served as a depot for shipping the products of local industry out to market andfor delivery of supplies and fuels to support those industries. In 1932, Thompson Station shipped out 500tons of clay on 14 cars and 80 tons of walnut logs on 4 cars. Delivered to the station were 477 tons ofmanure, 156 tons of lime, 97 tons of coal, and 80 tons of stone. There was apparently an establishedwalnut logging enterprise on a nearby farm to supplement the agricultural activity. The clay came fromthe Newark China Clay Company operating nearby at Pleasant HilL After the clay was quarried andprocessed, it was loaded onto small trucks and transported to the station by the quarry workers. Thetrucks would be backed up to a freight car, where the clay was unloaded and packed efficiently into thespace. Once Thompson Station was closed in 1939, the clay was trucked to the Newark Center Station.:A newspaper article 0[8-24-1875 reports an accident at Thompson Station. "As the trainapproached Thoplpson Station, the engineer saw a yoke of oxen on the track 200 yards ahead of theengine; He whistled down the brakes, but running at a rate of 30 mph, he could not get the train stoppedin time. The train struck the oxen, carried them about 100 yards and threw them one to each side of thetrain, killing them instantly. Two coal cars were thrown off the track, one empty one, breaking andbending up 8 rails and a numberofties. Fortunately, the engine and passenger cars remained on the track.Next morning, the track was cleared in 4-5 hours. The oxen belonged to M.J. Chambers and were let outof the field by a wild steer running in the neighborhood."A newspaper reporter wrote a flowery description of the White Clay Creek valley from hisvantage point aboard the Pumpsie Doodle in 1873. He observed that the stream seemed to run "acrossitself about three times in a mile. It's beauties are ofthe retiring kind and dawn on you around projectionsof rock, and disclose themselves up shady vistas of hilly streets and in many a shady nook by themeandering brook where the gentle zephyrs play." Hopefully, the ruins and the stories associated withthe old Pomeroy Railroad will live on in our memories and be shared with ~ p . o s e to come after us.

10

may 2003 friends of white clay creek state park newsletter

Documents