“Life needs a few more polka dots and picnics.”
~ author unknown
I just loved the nostalgic and warm feeling of an image of the Henry
family picnic ware – circa the late 1800s and early 1900s – from the Jacobsburg
Historical Society collections that was displayed in Henry’s Woods at
Jacobsburg State Park, which spans between Wind Gap and Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
So I snapped a photo of the picture I saw on an October day and
processed it with a nostalgic feel … because life does indeed need a few more
polka dots and picnics!
Once
the site where the famous Henry Rifle was made, the Jacobsburg National
Historic District lies almost entirely within the park. Henry’s Woods offers
very scenic hikes and the rest of the center grounds have multi-use trails.
Henry
family picnics were elaborate affairs compared to today. Picnicking utensils
included white enamelware and plates, cutlery and Victorian folding chairs with
carpeted seats.
The
Henry family loved to picnic in a secluded forest of old growth hemlocks about
one-half-mile above a dam in what is now the park. In the spring of the year, a
boat was launched onto Henry’s Dam and a wooden table and benches were rowed up
to the picnic place. Some family members used a rather narrow, treacherous path
through the woods along the Bushkill Creek to reach the picnic, while most got
to the picnic by boat or canoe.
Jacobsburg
offers environmental education programs from the preschool environmental
awareness programs to high school level environmental problem solving programs,
historical programs, teacher workshops and public interpretive programs.
The
park surrounds the Bushkill Creek.
The
original land for the center was purchased by the Department of Forests and
Waters from the City of Easton in 1959. In 1969, additional land was purchased
using funds from Project 70. This brought the total land area of the center to
its present size of 1,168 acres.
For
more information on the Henry family visit the Jacobsburg Historical Society’s
website at http://www.jacobsburghistory.com/.
