Picnic ...

“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/.