| The land that became Promised Land State Park was hunting grounds for the Minsi Tribe of the Wolf Clan of the Lenni-Lenape Indians (Delaware).
The religious group, the Shakers, purchased land in the area. After contracting the forests to be timbered, the Shakers left the area.
Early settlers of the area erected sawmills to process the large stands of conifer & hardwood trees. The land was repeatedly clear-cut. With the loss of trees came erosion & forest fires, & migration of wildlife from the area.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the land in 1902. Promised Land was the fourth Pennsylvania state park. The Commonwealth worked to protect & reclaim the area & the forest & wildlife began to return. The first park facilities were open to the public in 1905.
In 1933, to relieve the rampant unemployment of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The young men in the CCC received food, clothes & a small paycheck, in return for building roads, trails & recreational facilities, fighting fires, planting trees & performing many other conservation activities. Camp S-139 opened in May of 1933 & closed in July of 1941. The hard working young men transformed the land in & around Promised Land State Park. |
Campground: Promised Land State Park in Greentown Pennsylvania *