Author: Megan Salvatore

River Roots: Power of the River

River Roots is Susquehanna NHA’s blog series featuring history from York and Lancaster Counties that showcases the Susquehanna River’s historic, cultural, and natural resource contributions to our nation’s heritage.

RiverRoots Heritage Blog

The Susquehanna River has never succeeded as a commercial waterway because of its many rocks and waterfalls. Many people tried throughout history, but the Lower Susquehanna remained largely untamed until the early 20th century. The power-producing rapids and the 1,180 feet of elevation change between Cooperstown and the Chesapeake Bay made the Susquehanna ideal for hydroelectricity. Dams harnessed the power of the river. Today, there are four dams in the 55 miles of river between Harrisburg and the Chesapeake Bay.

Hydropower is one of the oldest and most available sources of renewable energy. People all over the world have used rivers to power mills since Ancient Rome. Today, the natural flow of moving water power hydroelectric power plants, which produce electricity. The most common type of hydroelectric power plant is an impoundment facility. An impoundment facility uses a dam to store river water in a reservoir. When the water is released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, the turbine activates a generator to produce electricity.

Reservoirs are also used as recreation areas for activities like boating, fishing, and other water sports. During droughts or extended periods when water levels are very low, more water is released from the reservoir so farmers can water their crops and homes and businesses can function normally. They are also used for flood control.

Power of the River: Dams on the Lower Susquehanna River

The Lower Susquehanna River is unique because it has a higher fall rate, or elevation change, than the rest of the river. Most rivers have the greatest flow and fall near their source, but the Susquehanna is so old and meanders so far that its fall is greatest in the last 55 miles. Those miles of the river hug York and Lancaster Counties of Pennsylvania and Hartford and Cecil Counties in Maryland. Here, we’ll take a deeper dive into the Pennsylvania hydroelectric plants.

York Haven Hydro Station

Built in 1904
Built/Owned by York Haven Power Company
Current Owners Eagle Creek Renewable Energy
Produces 135,485 megawatts, with 13 horizontal Francis turbines, 4 vertical Kaplan turbines, and 3 vertical propeller units
Reservoir Lake Frederick

York Haven Dam is a low head, run-of-the river dam. It was the first hydroelectric plant on the lower Susquehanna River. Located about 12 miles south of Harrisburg where the river drops 19 feet in 1⁄4 mile, the dam follows an existing rock ledge causing it to cross the river at an angle. When the station was built by the York Haven Power Company in 1904, it was one of the largest in the world and is recognized as one of the oldest hydroelectric projects in America. The facility produces 135,485 megawatts with 13 horizontal Francis turbines, 4 vertical Kaplan turbines, and 3 vertical propeller units. The plant is listed as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark for using one of the first Kaplan turbines installed in the United States.

Lake Frederick
Formed by damming the Susquehanna River at York Haven, the 2-1/2-mile Lake Fredrick stretches in the shadow of TMI’s cooling towers providing a unique recreation space. Lake Frederick holds Islands ranging in size from 200ft to 3 miles in length providing spectacular aquatic habitat for native species to thrive and attracts many anglers. Public angling access is located on a walkway along the face of the powerhouse at the York Haven Power Plant Recreation Area below the dam.

Falmouth Potholes & Sculptured Rock
Rivers are a major agent of erosion, shaping landscapes over time with their power. It’s not surprising to find changes in rocks in the riverbed wherever you have a waterfall or otherwise rapid movement in the water. Discovered during extremely low water, this otherworldly landscape is one of the most expansive pothole fields uncovered in the United States. The rocks at the foot of Conewago Falls range in size and display various smooth, curvaceous shapes that captivate visitors.

Safe Harbor Hydroelectric Station

Built in 1931
Built/Owned by Pennsylvania Power & Light Company and Baltimore Gas & Electric Company
Current Owners Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners
Produces 417 megawatts with a 12-unit hydro generator powerhouse
Reservoir Clarke Lake (Lake Clarke)

Safe Harbor Dam was the last of three hydroelectric dams built on the Susquehanna, located just above the confluence of the Conestoga River with the Susquehanna, about 7 miles south of Washington Boro.
The station was built by the Pennsylvania Power & Light Company and Baltimore Gas & Electric Company in 1931 and received a capacity increase in the 1980’s. The concrete gravity dam that is 4,869ft long and 75ft high with a total length of 5,000 ft stretching shore to shore. It outputs 10 million kilowatts of energy with the 12-unit hydro generator powerhouse that generates 265,000 horsepower.

Lake Clarke
Behind the dam is 7,360-acre Lake Clark, a popular boating and recreation area on the Susquehanna River. The Lake Clarke portion of river marks the beginning of the Susquehanna Gorge formation, a deep canyon-like gorge carved into the ancient rocks where the river is squeezed through the quarter mile gorge while dropping sharply, roughly 6 feet per mile.

Within Lake Clarke you will find the Conejohela Flats, an Audubon important bird area. The Conejohela Flats are part of a network of key stopover sites, locations that offer respite for migratory birds, along the Atlantic Flyway that draw large volumes and varieties migrating birds through the Susquehanna River corridor biannually. Because the creation of Lake Clarke shrank the flats, the water levels are controlled and regulated preserve the habitat from April through October. Safe Harbor also manages more than 2,300 acres of land in the area for soil, water, and wildlife habitat preservation.

Holtwood Hydroelectric Plant (McCalls Ferry Dam)

Built in between 1905 and 1910
Built/Owned by Pennsylvania Water & Power Company
Current Owner Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners
Produces 252 megawatts with 14 turbine driven generators
Reservoir Lake Aldred

Holtwood Dam is the second oldest of three dams built across the lower Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. Located about 5 miles south of Pequea, it’s the southernmost dam on the river before it crosses the Mason-Dixon Line into Maryland.  Spanning the river 2,932 ft, Holtwood was the second longest dam in the U.S. and the third longest in the world when it was built. Originally constructed as the McCalls Ferry Dam in 1905 by the McCall’s Ferry Power Company until it was reorganized as the Pennsylvania Water and Power Company and the plant was renamed Holtwood in honor of two company executives and opened in 1910. The dam consists of a main concrete dam, which is mostly one continuous spillway, with a powerhouse at the eastern end. The water level is raised by wooden flash boards and inflatable dam sections. It produces 252 megawatts of power using 14 turbine driven generators.

Lake Aldred
The 2,400-acre Lake Aldred is popular recreation area for boating but hosts a maze of rocky islands rising abruptly from the water. Weise Island, in the middle of the Susquehanna River just north of Pequea Creek, is the home of the Lake Aldred Wakeboard & Ski Club. The Lake Aldred portion of the river runs through the lower section of the Susquehanna Gorge formation, high wooded hills and rocky outcroppings rising over 200 ft provide habitat for native wildlife.

An area below the dam called, the Holtwood Whitewater Park, utilizes scheduled whitewater releases from the dam when conditions permit. The large, extremely fast wave and subsequent smaller waves are popular with thrill seeking whitewater kayakers of appropriate skill.

Working together to restore the Susquehanna River

Dredging and Pollution

Since their construction, the reservoirs behind these three dams along the lower Susquehanna River have historically trapped a portion of pollution from the Susquehanna River, and the nutrients that are often attached, reducing the amount the Chesapeake Bay. Although, a recent assessment indicates that the reservoirs are reaching their limit to effectively trap the sediment.

The impounded waters of Lake Aldred and Lake Clarke were originally dredged for anthracite coal silt that washed downstream from Pennsylvania’s Coal Region. Mining upstream reduced the availability of coal silt, and environmental laws made the dredging impractical by 1972, so coal was brought in using trains.

Fish Ladder/Lift

A fish lift or fish ladder is a waterway constructed on or around a natural or artificial obstruction to provide a passageway for fish and other aquatic species. The construction allows a seamless migration despite obstructions like dams, culverts, and waterfalls, which otherwise would have affected their migration and survival. Since 2017 York Haven has used a vertical slot fish ladder, which enables fish to pass over the fourth dam by swimming and leaping up a series of short steps and over the dam, along with a channel system at Three Mile Island, while the other dams use fish lifts.

Operation of the Safe Harbor Fish Lift began in 2016. The fish lift has three entrances where fish are captured in the lift are transferred into the trough that allows them to pass into Lake Clarke. The western end of the Holtwood dam has the original and ineffective fish ladder. It was replaced by a fish lift that was damaged by heavy rain and rapid snowmelt in 1996. The new fish lift was completed and has continued lifting American shad and other migratory fish species since 1997. Despite these efforts, the ladders and lifts show only limited success since fish still must find their way through passages and then pass-through multiple dams.

Conclusion

Today, dams block natural movement of aquatic wildlife, hold sediment at each of the four hydroelectric dams on the lower Susquehanna River. They also provide recreational spaces that visitors flock to annually.

Dams are a controversial environmental topic. They store water, provide renewable energy, and prevent floods. Unfortunately, they also cause a wide range of environmental issues. Dams can disrupt sediment flow, causing sediment to accumulate within the reservoir (impairing reservoir operation and decreasing storage) and depriving downstream of sediment essential to maintain channel and support the riparian ecosystem. Upriver from dam you may find a beautiful reservoir. Downstream of a dam, you are likely to find a river starved of its structural materials and cannot provide habitat. Mitigating environmental impacts caused by hydroelectric dams is both a local and worldwide challenge.

Learn More

In 2001, Safe Harbor Water and Power Corporation won the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence, recognized for removing over 11,000 tons of debris from the river and being able to recycle almost all of it. The Holtwood Dam has received the AGC Build America Award, honoring AGC members who build the nation’s most impressive construction projects.

Visit the hydroelectric dams on the Lower Susquehanna River!

Explore the Lower Susquehanna River Water Trail! Don’t forget to purchase your Lower Susquehanna Water Trail map. It will provide you with all the information needed to experience this scenic and historic landscape to its fullest. For updated portage information visit Susquehanna Riverlands. For your safety, please take advantage of all sources of information before venturing out on the river.

Sources

Bose, K. D. (2021). YHVN 2020 FOP annual report P-1888 – srbc.net. York Haven Hydroelectric Project 2020 Fish Passage Operating Report .

Chesapeake Bay TMDL. (2010). Safe Harbor Dam (lake clarke) and Holtwood Dam (lake … Sediments behind the Susquehanna Dams Technical Documentation .

Lower Susquehanna river. Pennsylvania Game Commission. (n.d.).

Maryland Department of Natural Resources & Exelon Generation Company, LLC. (2017). Lower Susquehanna River Reservoir System Model … The Peculiarities of Perviousness: STAC Workshop.

Matthews, J. (2017). Researchers expect new fish passage will help restore migratory fish populations. Penn State University.

McClure, J. (2014, November 26). Where exactly is the Susquehanna River’s Holtwood Dam? York Town Square.

Normandeau Associates Inc. (2016). Www.srbc.net. Summery of Operations at the Holtwood Fish Passage Facility.

Stahlman, J. (2019, July 5). Holtwood Dam. Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine.

Susquehanna Shad. Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. (n.d.).

York Haven. York Haven | Eagle Creek Renewable Energy. (n.d.).

River Roots: American Eels

River Roots is Susquehanna NHA’s blog series featuring history from York and Lancaster Counties that showcases the Susquehanna River’s historic, cultural, and natural resource contributions to our nation’s heritage.

RiverRoots Heritage Blog

When we think of fish migration, we typically think of salmon. However, the Susquehanna River is home to several migrant fishes–or, at least, it used to be.  Before there were dams on the river, American shad used to run upriver in the millions (I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a fish run, only swim!). Every spring, adult shad travelled up the Susquehanna River to their spawning grounds. The shad fishery was a major industry here, and our Shad Wars River Roots blog takes a deeper dive into that history here. This blog will, instead focus on another, rather mysterious species that migrated through the Susquehanna: the American eel.

The American eel, at first glance, may cause people to have an immediate fear response, due to the similarities this creature shares with snakes. Maybe I would gasp, too, if I reeled in a 5-foot-long wiggling stick! After the initial startle, I dare you to look at them eye to eye. You may find yourself agreeing that these little critters are quite cute with their pectoral fins that look like Dumbo ears.

American eels do not have the ability to shock like electric eels. In fact, electric eels are not actually true eels at all! They are more closely related to carp and catfish than they are to other eels. The American eel is a true eel, however. They have a thick coat of slime that they use for protection (slightly more subtle than an electrical shock!). A slimy layer of mucus makes it harder for predators to grip them and even protects them from some bacteria.

Lifecycle

American eels have a surprisingly mysterious lifecycle. For a very long time, no one knew where it began, because a pregnant female eel had never been caught. As it turns out, baby eels look drastically different than adult eels! In the larval stage, leptocephalus, they are long, leaf-shaped, flattened sideways, and transparent.

This shape may help them float along with the ocean currents, because as larvae eels drift for thousands of miles along currents for about a year to reach the coastlines where they transform into “glass eels”. As they begin to migrate upstream, they become “elvers”. When the eels reach freshwater, they transform yet again into “yellow eels”. Both the elver and yellow eel life stages closely resemble an adult eel. Researchers discovered this information by retracing the eels’ “footsteps” via boat. Researchers took samples of eels floating towards the east coast of North America, searching for smaller and smaller eels until they could narrow their breeding grounds down to the Sargasso Sea.

The Sargasso Sea is near the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, near Bermuda and east of the Bahamas. It was named after its massive seagrass beds of sargassum seaweed. The Sargasso Sea is an ocean gyre, where currents come together in massive swirls, exactly like the Pacific Ocean’s well known Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Adult American and European eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea for the first and only times in their lives. Sexually mature females can contain more than 2 million eggs! Eel embryos typically hatch within 19 days if the water is near 59^oF.

American eels usually reach sexual maturity between 2 and 6 years of age depending on environmental factors. When eels are ready to begin the journey to spawn, they make their way downstream towards the Sargasso Sea in the fall. It’s quite impressive that they know exactly where they hatched out of an egg after floating thousands of miles as a “leaf” in the middle of an ocean. This journey is so incredibly exhaustive that eels can absorb their digestive tract to provide extra fuel, as if they already know that they will die after spawning.

History & Threats

American eels are North America’s only catadromous species. That means that they’re born in saltwater, grow up in freshwater, and then return to saltwater to spawn. This is the opposite of the anadromous American shad, who are born in freshwater, grow up in saltwater, and spawn in freshwater. We humans have not been so kind to eels, maybe because we think they look like slimy alien snakes. Humans are one of the American eels’ biggest threats. We target multiple stages of the eel lifecycle. People catch juvenile eels and sell them as bait or for aquaculture, and we target adult eels as a food source.

Native Americans fished for eels long before Captain John Smith made it to this region. The Susquehanna is full of old eel weirs, underwater landmarks still standing after centuries. Native American constructed ‘V’ shaped eel weirs, built from stacked river rocks. A simple but effective way to funnel and catch American eels during migration each fall. As the eels swam downstream, the walls of the weir funneled them to a narrow point where they could be captured in traps or speared more easily. Native Americans smoked the eel meat to be used all winter. This was likely the most important source of protein and calories for local people for several thousand years.

The Swatara Township crest contains the symbol of an eel on its shield, because Swatara translates to “where we feed on eels”. Eels used to make up over a quarter of the total fish found in the Atlantic coastal streams. Once European settlers started to commercially fish for eels until the early 1900s and built major obstructions, that changed. Considered a delicacy in Asia and Europe, many eels caught in the Chesapeake Bay region today are exported overseas. They are served at your local Japanese restaurants that make sushi here in the United States as well! In Japanese, freshwater eel is known as unagi, and saltwater eel is anago. Maine fisheries averaged $1,500 per pound (over a 10-year period) for live, fresh-caught elvers to supply aquaculture farms in Asia. Overfishing of native eel species in East Asia and Europe, along with strict fishing restrictions, have increased the overseas demand for American eels.

Large migratory obstructions, like dams, are also detrimental to eel populations. Four hydroelectric dams are located on the lower Susquehanna River. The 94-foot-tall Conowingo Dam stands only 10 miles from where the Susquehanna dumps into the Chesapeake Bay. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent building fish ladders to carry shad over the dams, but shad migrate during the day and follow strong midriver flows. Small, juvenile eels migrate at night along slower currents near the rivers’ edge, so the fish ladders don’t help them. Surprisingly, there was quite a cheap solution to this problem (when compared to millions spent on ladders). Conowingo Dam established an “eel-way,” an 18-inch ramp that runs from the base of the river to a holding tank. A pipe pumps 6 gallons of water per minute next to the ramp, mimicking an entrance to a small stream and attracting eels. Since 2008 biologists, have used this sort of system to truck more than 2 million eels upstream. In 2021, more than 620,000 were able to return to their previous habitats this way. But let’s not forget, adult eels travelling back downstream to spawn must pass the hydroelectric dams again, and this time it will most likely be through a turbine.

An Unlikely Friendship

One type of freshwater mussel relies almost exclusively on eels. The Eastern elliptio mussel is the most common freshwater mussel in the Susquehanna River. During the final stages of reproduction, female mussels emit a parasitic larva that attach themselves to the eels’ gills. These larvae drop off after 2-4 weeks and become juvenile mussels. This mussel can live up to 100 years, and adults can filter up to 15 gallons of water a day!

The upper Susquehanna has a good population of mussels, but they are aging. Not enough eels are making it far enough upstream to assist with mussel reproduction. It’s estimated that 280 million elliptio mussels could filter 2-6 billion gallons of water a day, which would remove nearly 78 tons of sediment (a major contributor to negative water health). Since the Susquehanna River provides nearly half of the freshwater flowing into the Chesapeake Bay, eels and mussels are the perfect duo to Save the Bay! More eels = more mussels = cleaner waters.

Sources

Chesapeake Bay Program. (2022). Discover the Bay Field guide – American Eel.  Chesapeake Bay Program.

Cresci, A., Durif, C. M., Paris, C. B., Shema, S. D., Skiftesvik, A. B., & Browman, H. I. (2019). Glass eels (Anguilla anguilla) imprint the magnetic direction of tidal currents from their juvenile estuaries. Communications Biology, 2(1).

Eroh & Liebich. (2021, November). American Eels feat. Holly Richards (Episode 44) [Podcast]. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Spotify.

River Roots: William Whipper

River Roots is Susquehanna NHA’s blog series featuring history from York and Lancaster Counties that showcases the Susquehanna River’s historic, cultural, and natural resource contributions to our nation’s heritage.

RiverRoots Heritage Blog

During the nineteenth century, industrious people and businesses, including many lumberyards, filled the banks of the Susquehanna. For decades, a remarkable and heroic American named William Whipper managed some of those lumberyards. Prominent in national politics, highly successful in business, and a well-known leader in the reform movement, Whipper personally saved hundreds of people seeking freedom from the oppression of slavery. William Whipper was everything nineteenth-century racist propaganda asserted he could not be. Due to the sensitive nature of his work as a Black abolitionist, many of his achievements went unrecognized during his lifetime.

Like many people in the Black community, Whipper faced many obstacles resulting from the racial divide. This did not stop him from being successful in business ventures or in fighting valiantly for the rights of Black people to be treated as full citizens and to be free from bondage. The lumberyards were located close to the entrance of the historic Columbia Bridge. William Whipper’s home was near the bridge entrance, and he often awoke in the night to help people seeking freedom from slavery enter Columbia. He would feed, house, and help them to freedom. In a letter to fellow abolitionist William Still, he wrote:

“I knew it had been asserted far down in the slave region, that Smith and Whipper, the Negro lumber merchants were engaged in secreting fugitive slaves.  And on two occasions attempts had been made to set fire to their yard for the purpose of punishing their illegal acts.”

He continued:

“I know I speak within bounds when I say that directly or indirectly from 1847 to 1860, I have contributed from my earnings one thousand dollars annually, and for the five years during the war a like amount to put down the rebellion…I would prefer to be penniless in the streets than to have withheld a single hour’s labor or a dollar from the sacred cause of liberty, justice, and humanity.”

His Youth

William Whipper was born in 1804 in Drumore Township, Lancaster County. His mother, Nance Whipper, was a servant in Reverend Francis Alison Latta’s household. Sources often obscure information about his childhood, but family genealogical records have recently identified Latta as his father.  Reverend Latta was principal of a Latin school in Drumore.  This highly regarded school was started by William’s grandfather, Reverend James Latta, in 1770.  William’s privately tutored education was said to be equal to the education given to his white half-siblings, and he often referred to the superior education given to him by his father.

As a young man, William moved to Philadelphia and at first made his living as a steam scourer (at the time, a new process for cleaning clothing). Later, he opened a grocery store that supported temperance and sold mercantile goods that were created free of slave labor. The young professional and hard-working entrepreneur soon joined Philadelphia’s intellectual elites. He had connections to organizations and activities associated with the Bishop Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He became a valued member of new intellectual societies, including the “Reading Room Society for the Men of Colour who are Citizens of the City and Liberties of Philadelphia.”  That society chose Whipper to draft their constitution. He would later become editor of The National Reformer, a magazine from the American Moral Reform Society dedicated to purifying individuals and society at large.

In the aftermath of a rebellion of enslaved Virginians in 1831, prosperous people of color faced turbulent opposition all over the country.  One of the greatest losses was the ratification of a new Pennsylvania state constitution that denied Black men, who previously voted as lawful citizens, of that right.  White-led riots occurred in Philadelphia and Columbia and anonymous death threats were received by Black businesspeople like Columbia’s Stephen Smith.  Indignities were common.  For example, Smith was the largest stakeholder in the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge Company, but he was not allowed to serve as its president.

William’s role as a national leader was demonstrated in 1833 when he was chosen to write and deliver the Philadelphia eulogy for William Wilberforce. Wilberforce had been the face of the victorious abolition movement in Great Britain. In his address, Whipper not only exalted Wilberforce, he also castigated the American Colonization Society, an organization formed to encourage free African Americans to move to Africa, as “the arch enemy of liberty.”  It was a dangerous time to be so bold.

Making Columbia Home

William Whipper left Philadelphia and settled in Columbia in 1835. In 1836, he married Stephen Smith’s only daughter, Harriet. The following year they welcomed a daughter, who they also named Harriet. Whipper spent three decades in Columbia. He managed lumberyards, investments in the Columbia and Reading Railroad, and other properties by day and operated a crucial Underground Railroad station at night. In Columbia, William had a unique opportunity to offer direct support to freedom seekers. Many freedom seekers found employment in his lumberyards, as it was excellent work for men of color that paid a living wage. The lumberyards also functioned as a clandestine station in a Black Abolitionist network involving transporting freedom seekers in railway cars. Whipper worked with the successful Black businessman William Goodridge, who operated the Reliance Line in York. Goodridge and Whipper built secret compartments in their railcars to aid freedom seekers on their journey. Seekers often moved from York to Columbia and then on to Philadelphia.

He wrote of these activities:

“…the Susquehanna River was the recognized Northern boundary of the slave-holding empire. The borough of Columbia, situated on its eastern bank, in the county of Lancaster, was the great depot where the fugitives from Virginia and Maryland first landed. The long bridge connecting Wrightsville with Columbia was the only safe outlet by which they could successfully escape their pursuers…my house was at the end of the bridge, and as I kept the station, I was frequently called up in the night to take charge of passengers. On their arrival they were generally hungry and penniless. I have received hundreds in this condition; fed and sheltered from one to seventeen at a time in a single night…I passed hundreds to the land of freedom.”

Whipper’s Canadian Haven

Following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, conditions in Lancaster and Philadelphia became even worse for African Americans. In Columbia, Southerners came to kidnap free black people who had been formerly enslaved.  This prompted Whipper to consider emigrating to Canada. In 1853 he traveled to Ontario, purchased property, and started a business venture in the town of Dresden. A few of his immediate family, including his sister, moved there permanently. William visited Canada annually and recommended Canada as the only haven for freedom seekers.

He later wrote in a letter to William Still, “I always persuaded them to go to Canada, as I had no faith in their being able to elude the grasp of the slave-hunters. Indeed, the merchants had the confidence of their security and desired them to remain; several of my friends told me that I was injuring the trade of the place by persuading the laborers to leave. Indeed, many of the fugitives themselves looked upon me with jealousy and expressed their indignation at my efforts to have them removed from peace and plenty to a land that was cold and barren, to starve to death.” Dresden was a hub for freedom seekers as there was agricultural land and lumber trade under the passionate leadership of Josiah Henson. His memoirs inspired author Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Later Life

Whipper returned to Philadelphia after the Civil War, but still held on to some of his Columbia properties. He continued to advocate for the rights of African Americans through newspaper articles and speeches. These efforts culminated in 1866, when William joined Frederick Douglas in an historic meeting with President Andrew Johnson to advocate for Black suffrage. Although Johnson rejected their proposal, Congress passed the 15th Amendment, that gave Black men the right to vote, four years later. Sadly, in actual practice, state and local laws and threats of violence often kept Black men from doing so.

William Whipper died in Philadelphia on March 9, 1876, as a respected entrepreneur, abolitionist, and thinker. He was born in Lancaster County, and during his time in Columbia he helped hundreds of freedom seekers.  But he was more than just a local hero.  His actions before and after the Civil War contributed significantly to the fight for freedom and equality for Black people throughout the nation.

Learn more

Read William Whipper own words from this letter describing his freedom fighting activities to William Still. Click Transcription or Images to see the letter.  “William Whipper to William Still, December 4, 1871,” House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College.

Learn More about United States History & the Era of Reform from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Check out York County Author, Scott Mingus, new book Underground Railroad in York County.  The Ground Swallowed Them Up: Slavery and the Underground Railroad in York County, Pa is available for purchase at Columbia Crossing River Trails Center.

Watch John Green explain the 19^th Century Reforms in Crash Course US History #15.

Sources

Census & Ancestry Information was found using FamilySearch.org and Fold3.com which may require creation of a free account to access.

Adeleke, Tunde. “Afro-Americans and Moral Suasion: The Debate in the 1830’s.” The Journal of Negro History 83, no. 2 (1998): 127–42.

Aviles, Lauryn. “The William Whipper Arguments and the Push for Color-Blind Abolitionism in the Antebellum North.” Tulane Undergraduate Research Journal Vol. 3 (2021): 1-15.

Baptist, Edward E. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism. New York: Basic Books, 2016.

Ellis, Franklin and Samuel Evans. History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches Of Many Of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. (Philadelphia, Everts & Peck, 1883): 796.

Gallas, Kristin L. and James DeWolf Perry. Interpreting Slavery at Museums and Historic Sites.  Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 2015.

Hopkins, Dr. Leroy T., “Freedom’s Second Generation: Mrs. Maude Wilson Ball’s Reminiscences of Bethel AME Church” (1897-1935) Journal of Lancaster County Historical Society, Volume 91, no. 4 (1987/88): 173-183.

Hopkins, Dr. Leroy T. “No Balm in Gilead: Lancaster’s African-American Population and the Civil War Era.” Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society. Vol. 95 no1, (1993): 20-40.

McCormick, Richard P. “William Whipper: Moral Reformer.” Pennsylvania History. Vol 43, No 1. (January 1976): 23-46.

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. United Kingdom: Random House Publishing Group, 2021.

Orso, Miranda.  “William Whipper.” Pennsylvania Center for the Book, (2002).

“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,”database with images, FamilySearch (May 2014), 0004008622>image 107 of 511;Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

River Roots: Ice Jams on the Susquehanna

River Roots is Susquehanna NHA’s blog series featuring history from York and Lancaster Counties that showcases the Susquehanna River’s historic, cultural, and natural resource contributions to our nation’s heritage.

RiverRoots Heritage Blog

For those who live along the Susquehanna River’s banks, ice is a common winter sight. It has jammed on the Susquehanna since the rocky ridges of our region rose up around the river. Residents harvested ice as a winter crop for use in iceboxes before modern refrigeration. However, when the conditions are right, ice can be terribly destructive on our waterways. Ice jams are responsible for some of the most devastating flooding events on the Lower Susquehanna.

What is an ice Jam?

An ice jam is an obstruction of broken-up ice that clumps together to block the flow of a waterway. There are two types of ice jams: freeze-up, and break-up. Freeze-up ice jams happen in the early to mid winter, when changing water slows or stops floating ice as it reaches an obstruction. Beak-up jams occur during late winter and early spring thaws. They are usually associated with a rapid increase in runoff, because warm temperatures and heavy rain cause snow to rapidly melt. Heavy rainfall or fluctuating temperatures break up the ice cover. Melting snow and ice can swell the river, which breaks the surface layer of ice. Increasing water levels can lift and break ice cover, carrying frozen chunks downstream. As floating ice builds up, it forms thick layers that sometimes reach great heights. Ice jams commonly develop near river bends, mouths of tributaries, and points where the river slope decreases. They also form downstream of dams and upstream of bridges. The accumulation of ice obstructs the flow of water, resulting in increased and unpredictable local flooding.

Ice jams can stay in place for a few minutes or many days. They can stretch a few hundred feet or many miles long. Ice jam floods are less predictable and potentially more destructive than typical open-water flooding. They can produce much deeper and faster flooding that lasts longer.

Historic Ice Jams on the Lower Susquehanna

Ice on the Susquehanna River is both interesting and concerning. Although not every ice jam is dangerous, this natural phenomenon can be catastrophic in the Susquehanna River region. The first Euro-American records of an ice jam flood on the Susquehanna date back to 1784. Ice ruined many bridges, canals, railroads, and communities on the Susquehanna (and its tributaries) throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. We’ll touch on just a few of those notable instances in the region.

1832 First Columbia and Wrightsville Bridge Destroyed

During an extremely cold winter in 1832, thick ice hardened on the Susquehanna and stacked to great heights where the river was shallow. Spring thaw came quickly and created the right conditions for ice jam flooding. When the ice began to break up and flow down the river, the water rose 30 feet! It swept homes, barns, and even cattle along the river. Ice jammed up south of Columbia and created a natural dam. Water and ice rose and lifted the first bridge that spanned the Susquehanna off its piers. The flood destroyed the bridge, the longest covered bridge in the world at the time.

1904 Great Ice Flood

The stage was set for natural disaster in 1904, when an especially frigid winter froze the Susquehanna solid. Merchants crossed horse-drawn freight wagons between Lancaster and York counties on the 2ft thick ice. However, when the ice began to break up, it caused the greatest flood ever on the Susquehanna.

Just as workers were putting the finishing touches on the York Haven Dam (one of the first hydroelectric projects on the Lower Susquehanna River), the ice jammed. Ice and flooding collapsed the superstructure of the building and caused major damage.  The floodwaters rushed downriver, carrying blocks of ice with it, that battered the paper mill at York Haven. The ice almost completely destroyed the village of Collins in Conoy Township; after the ice flood, all that remained of the town was a single railroad control tower.

The flowing flood waters and ice met with an ice gorge in Bainbridge and began to flow downriver. The water dislodged the Bainbridge train station and carried it a mile south on the railroad tracks. The river washed away parts of the newly constructed bridge of the Atglen and Susquehanna (A&S) line, taking the Shocks Mill Railroad Bridge with it. Mud and ice coated river towns like Marietta, Columbia, Wrightsville, and Washington Boro as the river pushed the destruction downriver.

Thousands visited Columbia and Wrightsville to view the immense buildup of water and ice. The tower almost reached the steel railroad bridge and everyone feared that the ice would destroy the great structure, especially after part of the new railroad bridge was carried down against it.

The floodwater and ice combined with and dislodged an ice gorge at Turkey Hill, south of Columbia. This formed an enormous ice gorge below Safe Harbor. At Turkey Hill,  30 feet of water covered the railroad tracks, which are 20 feet above the low water mark. The river had risen to about 50 feet deep. Once the river found its way through the blockage, it destroyed a significant section of Safe Harbor village. The violent rush of floodwater only lasted 15 minutes. Together, the ice and floodwaters crushed, mangled, and lifted buildings from their foundations as it submerged part of the town. The flood tore away the stone Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) bridge that crossed the Conestoga River. In Pequea, the water rose 12ft in 10 minutes and pushed another bridge up Pequea Creek.

The PRR mainline to Columbia and the Columbia & Port Deposit Railroad (C&PD) were both badly damaged.  PRR’s Low-Grade line was in the process of being laid out but had to halt construction. The railroad beds were greatly damaged requiring lengthy repairs. The flood tore away sections and wedged them under huge cakes of ice. For about a week, the tracks were useless, blocked by floods that carried millions of tons of ice downriver. The railroad lines froze; ice was up to 30ft deep in some spots. Wreckage of buildings, masses of rock and earth, trees, and all sorts of debris covered the railroads.

The PRR pulled men off the Low-Grade construction crews to work on opening the line between Columbia and Harrisburg. Equipped with six steam shovels, they attacked the ice that covered the railroads. It took quite a while to resume service on the mainline via Columbia. The standstill congested freight at Harrisburg and forced passenger trains to run lengthy alternative routes.

1920 Interesting Solution

In 1920, the Susquehanna River froze sold for 83-day streak. In early March, a quick thaw caused severe ice jams. They were so severe that an unorthodox solution to prevent the devastating flooding: they decided to drop bombs on the Susquehanna River. Colonel H. W. Scull, who is credited for the idea, received permission to execute the experiment.

The Colonel oversaw several days of aerial bombing, using 250lb TNT bombs to break up the 16-foot-thick-jams. The bombs seemed successful, until the ice jammed up again. The next day, they dropped four 500lb TNT bombs into the ice gorge between Port Deposit and Havre de Grace, successfully allowing the jam to start flowing. Following that success, arrangements were made to bomb the ice-choked sections of Columbia, Safe Harbor, Washington Boro, and Holtwood. It was decided that bombing the river above the Conowingo Dam wasn’t necessary, as weather conditions allowed for a safe thaw.

Today, warmer weather conditions mean less aggressive ice buildup on the Lower Susquehanna River. It’s difficult to imagine the destructive force and sheer heights of the ice responsible for such a destruction.

Learn More

Visiting the Susquehanna River during winter provides a unique and memorable experience! Ice building up along the riverbank creates a stunning winter landscape to enjoy. As ice crunches against ice, ominous creaking and groaning sounds fill the air. Thick slabs of ice let out thunderous booming sounds as they expand over the riverbank. It’s no wonder why the people of York and Lancaster counties flooded to the river to see this great spectacle for centuries.

Read the full article about bombing Susquehanna River ice jams in 1920. You will need a subscription to LancasterOnline to access it.

View a recent ice jam flooding event from Fox43’s video of Long Level and Wrightsville in 2018.

Read about the Frankenstorm! in the YorksPast Blog by Stephen H. Smith.

Sources

Crable, Ad. (2018, April 13). The ice flood that swallowed up a Lancaster County town along the Susquehanna [photos]. LancasterOnline.

Brubaker, J. H. (2002). Down the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State Univ. Press.

York Inquirer . (1904, March 12). Safe Harbor Almost Wiped Out. Ice freshet.

Kiner, D. (2021, March 17). ‘tremendous damage’: The St. Patrick’s Day Flood of 1936 devastated pa. Pennlive.

Quesenbery , E. (2014, March 19). The day they bombed the Susquehanna. Cecil Daily.

Smith, S. H. (2014, May 31). End of may, over ten-feet of ice at Lockport along Susquehanna in York County; connection to Apollo Moon Mission. York’s Past.

Smith, S. H. (2018, January 21). York’s past: Aerial bombing breaks susquehanna ice jams. York Daily Record.

Stranahan, S. Q. (1995). Susquehanna, river of dreams. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.

River Roots: Atlantic Flyway

River Roots is Susquehanna NHA’s blog series featuring history from York and Lancaster Counties that showcases the Susquehanna River’s historic, cultural, and natural resource contributions to our nation’s heritage.

RiverRoots Heritage Blog

This month SNHA is celebrating natural heritage by exploring the lower Susquehanna River’s connections to a network of key stopover sites along the Atlantic Flyway. The beneficial effects of the Susquehanna River’s connection to the flyway have played an important role in creating rich biodiversity and potentially shaped the foundations of early settlement and local culture.

The Conejohela Flats are part of a series of locations on the lower Susquehanna that offer respite for migratory birds. Some other sites include the Muddy Run Reservoir, Conowingo Reservoir, and the Susquehanna River at Safe Harbor. Each location’s unique attributes aid the birds during their stop along the flyway. These stopover sites continually draw large volumes and varieties of migrating birds through the Susquehanna River corridor biannually.

The Atlantic Flyway

A flyway is a route regularly used by large numbers of migrating birds and the Atlantic Flyway is one of four major flyways in North America. The other flyways include the Central, the Pacific and the Mississippi. The Atlantic Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in North America. Stretching from the Arctic tundra of Baffin Island to the Caribbean, the Atlantic Flyway spans more than 3,000 miles. The route generally starts in Greenland, then follows the Atlantic coast of Canada, continuing south down the east coast of the United States, then to the tropical areas of South America and the Caribbean.

According to Audubon, about 500+ bird species use the Atlantic Flyway. Millions of songbirds, shorebirds, birds of prey, and waterfowl follow the flyway every fall and spring. The flyway is not limited to birds alone, the route is also used by butterflies, as well as some species of bats and dragonflies.

Migration can be triggered by a combination of changes in day length, temperatures, food supplies, and genetic predisposition. Spring migration occurs in a mass movement within the flyway.  It takes place over a shorter period than the fall migration since birds are anxious to reach their breeding grounds. March through May, you can see flocks making their way north across the United States. The fall migration season is a drawn-out affair. The travelers begin heading south starting in August and lasting through October, but some waterfowl can procrastinate until December depending on weather conditions.

Migrating birds use a variety of methods to navigate the flyway. Topographical cues, such as coastlines, river courses, and mountain ranges, help to guide the flight. Typically, species in the Atlantic Flyway migrate farther, making stopover sites critical to their journey. Migrating birds rely on these sites to breed, feed or rest, particularly along the east coast of the United States. The Chesapeake Bay and Susquehanna River form the single largest watershed on the East Coast and provide a variety of important stopover sites. Each site plays a critical role in migratory birds’ survival.

The Conejohela Flats Important Bird Area

The Conejohela Flats are a combination of low-lying brushy islands and adjacent mud flats on the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County about three miles south of Columbia and Wrightsville, located just offshore from Washington Boro within the Susquehanna NHA. The flats are highly important to migratory shorebirds, providing essential habitat and resources.

The Conejohela Flats stopover site is a Pennsylvania Game Commission designated propagation area for numerous wetland species and waterfowl. Migrating birds use the river for feeding and the flats for resting. The flats are one of only a handful of dependable sites in Pennsylvania for large numbers and variety of shorebirds. A total of 38 shorebird species has been recorded at this site. The Conejohela Flats hosts up to 17,000+/- migratory shorebirds during migration.

The Conejohela Flats have been named an Audubon Important Bird Area. Important Bird Areas are distinct areas that provide essential habitat for one or more species of birds in breeding, wintering, or migration. The Conejohela Flats are also listed on the Natural Heritage Area inventory. Natural Heritage Areas are locations of rare, threatened, and endangered species and the highest quality natural areas in Pennsylvania. Information is gathered at these areas with the purpose of providing current, reliable conservation information on biological diversity, protected lands, streams, and other natural resources for planning purposes.

The Conejohela Flats’ connection to the flyway reminds us that the migrating birds visiting these sites connect the lower Susquehanna with the rest of the world, and that we have a shared responsibility to work for their conservation. The Atlantic Flyway is home to a wide variety of ecosystems all reliant on each other.

The Atlantic is the most densely populated of the four flyways and many waterfowl habitats in this region are threatened by development and urban sprawl. Many stopover sites face hardships despite conservation efforts.

The Conejohela Flats are alluvial islands that develop from the forces of erosion and deposition and the building up of large amounts of sediment which alters their shape and size. Major floods from severe weather events can dramatically change islands. Ice during the winter devastatingly carves out large chunks of land and soil altering the landscape. The dredging of river channels, construction of dams, pollution and erosion of soil caused by poor agricultural practices, intensive logging of the watershed, and acid drainage from coal mining has harmed natural areas such as the Conejohela Flats and on a greater scale the health of the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay.

Efforts have been made in recent years to restore the health of the river and Bay, but much work remains to be done. The operators of Safe Harbor Dam are required by their Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license agreement to not raise the water level of Lake Clarke above a certain set amount so that a percentage of mud flats are exposed from April through October during the shorebird migration period.

Contributions to Cultural Heritage

One of the great things about taking a closer look at our connection to the flyway is that it leads us to think about our own heritage, and how it fits in with larger patterns in history. The term Conejohela is derived from a Native American word meaning “kettle on a long, upright pole.” The Susquehannock were the last known native group to live in this area along the river near present-day Washington Boro. The many islands and rocks were used for hunting and fishing. Dugout canoes aided in hunting and trade on the river.

The geographic location and natural resources made the Susquehanna an ideal location for early settlement. Atlantic Flyway stopover sites like the Conejohela Flats provided greater species diversity, on the river and along its shores. The Atlantic Flyway’s biannual supply of migrating waterfowl to the lower Susquehanna, made it a popular hunting area for Native Americans and European settlers.

The Susquehanna River is not just a major migratory corridor for ducks and geese, it is among the places where modern waterfowl hunting began. Waterfowl have been hunted for food, down, and feathers since prehistoric times. A more modern version of duck hunting began on the east coast during the 1600’s, as European settlers began to arrive. In England, hunting was generally the pursuit of game on land with hounds. Settlers brought primitive firearms and hunted waterfowl with great zeal in the new world. Native Americans honed their skills of luring waterfowl into bow range with handmade decoys. The Native American’s technique of hunting on the water combined with the settler’s powerful firearms yielded a new way of waterfowl hunting on the Susquehanna.

The Susquehanna River and the Conejohela Flats are still a popular and bountiful waterfowl hunting area today. Waterfowl hunting traditions on the Susquehanna River connect outdoorsman with all those who have done so in its rich history: direct ancestors; rough and ragged market hunters; decoy carvers past and present, even the Susquehannock Indians who once canoed the river’s banks.

For generations, the flats provided additional opportunities in the spring and fall for protein and sustenance. The Atlantic Flyway’s consistent migration pattern and abundance of waterfowl facilitated human settlements to grow and thrive along the shores.

Learn More

Learn about the birds that use the Conejohela Flats. Click on a bird to go directly to their Audubon page. Check out the songs and calls section that has audio files of each bird!

Bald Eagle	Peregrine Falcon	Tundra Swan	Great Blue Heron	Whimbrel
Stilt Sandpiper	Semipalmated Sandpiper	Caspian Tern	Black Tern	Greater Yellowlegs

Sit back and enjoy the show. A high diversity and abundance of species to enjoy makes the Conejohela Flats among the top-ranking areas in Pennsylvania for bird watching. The flats can be viewed from shore with a pair of binoculars. You’ll likely see many birds soring overhead during your visit.

Want to the see the Flats from above? Hike the Turkey Hill Trail to overlook this important birding area.

Check out the Conejohela Flats Paddle Brochure for a unique way to visit the flats by paddle boat.

Discover and explore other local stopover sites on the Atlantic Flyway in this LancasterOnline article.

To learn more about outdoor heritage and traditions on the Susquehanna River view “A Look Back at Hunting, Fishing, and Trapping on the Susquehanna River” exhibit, on display at the Columbia Crossing River Trail Center through August 2021. https://susqnha.org/hunting-fishing-trapping/

Sources

Atlantic Flyway. (2015, June 25). Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.audubon.org/atlantic-flyway

Birding Locations. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/Birding/Pages/BirdingLocations.aspx

Conejohela Flats. (2018, May 10). Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/conejohela-flats

Facts & Figures. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/facts

Flyway Conservation [PDF]. (n.d.). National Audubon Society. https://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/documents/ar2011-flywayconservation.pdf

Important Bird Areas [PDF]. (n.d.). National Audubon Society. https://wa.audubon.org/sites/default/files/ibas_policyuse.pdf

Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, W. (2008). Natural Heritage Inventory of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania [PDF]. http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/cnai_pdfs/lancaster%20county%20nai%202008%20update%20web.pdf

Story Map Tour. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/Lancaster.aspx

The Susquehanna River. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.cbf.org/about-the-bay/more-than-just-the-bay/susquehanna-river/index.html

Flyways. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/flyways.php