Please click on the agricultural region in which you are interested (links are PDF files).
Links to the figures for the narratives can be found below the map.
How to Use the Context
In order to help people understand how the contexts that we've developed can and should be used, we have put together a helpful Researcher's Guide (PDF, 3.1MB).
MPDF Introduction
MPDF Introduction (PDF, 62KB)
This introductory summary discusses the organization, content, and development of the context. It defines historical farming systems and how historical regions are identified. To date it is based on research conducted on a twenty-four county area, but contains basic principles that will be applied throughout the Commonwealth. The time frame for analysis extends to 1960, a watershed decade that saw dramatic transformations in production agriculture.
MPDF Introduction Figures (PDF, 1MB)
Agriculture in the Settlement Period to about 1840
Agriculture in the Settlement Period to about 1840 (PDF, 161KB)
This section provides an overview of agriculture for all of the farming regions outside southeastern Pennsylvania in this period. Topics such as products, labor and land tenure, and buildings and landscapes introduce the reader to various aspects of farming.
Agriculture in the Settlement Period Figures (PDF, 2.18MB)
Northern Tier Grasslands Region
Northern Tier Grasslands (PDF, 298MB)
Four historic farming systems can be identified in the Northern Tier Region from settlement to 1960. These are the period from settlement to about 1830, the period of farm-making; from about 1830 to about 1860, a diversified woodland, grassland, and livestock economy;1860-1900, when diversified home dairying dominated; and 1900-1960, when fluid milk dairying and poultry production were emphasized.
Northern Tier Grasslands Figures (PDF, 13.15MB)
Includes: All of Tioga, Bradford, and Susquehanna counties, as well as parts of Potter, Wayne, and Sullivan counties
North and West Branch Susquehanna Diversified Agriculture Region
North and West Branch Susquehanna Diversified Agriculture (PDF, 325KB)
The North and West Branch Region had three distinct agricultural periods. Between 1840 and 1860, improved transportation systems allowed farms to change production to corn, wheat, pork, and butter. The second period involved a diversification of farm production for sale to local mining and industrial towns, and a dramatic increase in population levels between 1860 and 1940. From 1940-1960, the chief changes affecting agriculture were technological: the switch to combustion power from horses led to a re-structuring of crop patterns (since horse feed was no longer needed), and electrification eliminated the need for ice houses, spring houses, and even summer kitchens.
North and West Branch Susquehanna Diversified Agriculture Figures (PDF, 14.39MB)
Includes: Portions of Northumberland, Montour, Columbia, Snyder and Lycoming
Central Limestone Valleys Region
Central Limestone Valleys (PDF, 315KB)
A high level of mechanization, a high rate of farm tenancy, high livestock numbers, a large ratio of cropland to grassland, a Pennsylvania-German cultural influence, and narrow valleys characterized farming systems. Landscape features may include barns and outbuildings that reflect machinery use and storage, tenant farms or houses, housing for livestock, Pennsylvania-German construction, siting and building types, and a landscape pattern of linearity with farms sprouting off of one road.
Central Limestone Valleys Figures (PDF, 6.48MB)
Includes: Portions of Centre, Union, Mifflin, Snyder, Juniata, Clinton and Montour counties
Allegheny Mountain Diversified Part-Time Farming Region
Allegheny Mountain Diversified Part-Time Farming (PDF, 119KB)
Farming here was intimately related to mining, industry, and lumbering; it was a part time enterprise aimed at subsistence. Women played a disproportionaterole in farming while men worked at other jobs. Immigrants from eastern and southern Europe acquired farms by the twentieth century.
Allegheny Mountain Diversified Part-Time Farming Figures (PDF, 3.69MB)
Includes: Much of Clearfield, McKean, Indiana, Jefferson, Cameron, Clarion, Venango, Forest, Elk and Armstrong counties and the portion of Centre County tht lies behind the Allegheny Front.
Potter County Potato and Cannery Crop Farming Region
Potter County Potato and Cannery Crop Farming (PDF, 128KB)
Diversified home dairying and potato production characterized the time period from 1850-1915. From 1915-1940, dairy, poultry, and potato products were the most important components of agriculture. From 1940-1960, migrant workers were employed to harvest potatoes and cannery crops.
Potter County Potato and Cannery Crop Farming Figures (PDF, 5.13MB)
Includes: The northern two-thirds of Potter County
River Valleys Tobacco Culture Regions
River Valleys Tobacco Culture (PDF, 94KB)
From about 1870-1930, tobacco was raised in several small, concentrated areas of central Pennsylvania and the Northern Tier. In sheltered and fertile river bottom lands, farmers raised cigar-leaf tobacco as a complement to the regionally typical crop mix. They cured the crop in New England style or Lancaster County style tobacco barns.
River Valleys Tobacco Culture Figures (PDF, 1.75MB)
Includes: Susquehanna River and tributary valleys in Bradford, Tioga, Lycoming, Clinton, and Snyder Counties.
Lake Erie Fruit and Vegetable Belt Region
Lake Erie Fruit and Vegetable Belt (PDF, 222KB)
Between about 1850 and 1965, intensive fruit and vegetable culture occurred here, stimulated by suitable soils, a mild climate, and rail connections to markets. At first,general crops and livestockwere raised here, along with many fruits and vegetables including grapes, apples, cherries, and truck garden produce. After about 1925, fruit culture took the place of diversified farming. Concord grapes for juice were the main product. The labor force first consisted of local women, and later migrant workers harvested in the region.
Lake Erie Fruit and Vegetable Belt Figures (PDF, 10.64MB)
Includes: A 4-5 mile wide strip along the Lake Erie Shore in Erie County.
Northwestern Woodland, Grassland, and Specialized Farming Region
Northwestern Woodland, Grassland, and Specialized Farming (PDF, 500KB)
From about 1830-1865, farms in the region pursued home dairying (especially cheesemaking), sheep grazing, exploitation of woodlands, and raising livestock for finishing further east. Between about 1865 and 1900, cheese production shifted entirely to a factory system. Home buttermaking continued, augmented by woodland products and hay. After about 1900, fluid milk dairying was increasingly emphasized, and ancillary enterprises included ventures like truck farming. From 1945-1960 the region became specialized in dairying.
Northwestern Woodland, Grassland, and Specialized Farming Figures (PDF, 7.5MB)
Includes: Major portions of Erie, Crawford, Lawrence, and Mercer Counties.
Southwestern PA Diversified Agriculture and Sheep Raising Region
Southwestern PA Diversified Agriculture and Sheep Raising (PDF, 451KB)
From c. 1830-1850, agriculture was highly diversified. A sheep boom followed, when fine-wool sheep raising was followed on a large scale, on top of a diverse subsistence base. The sheep economy declined rapidly thereafter, as did agriculture more generally. Part-time, relatively small-scale farming characterized the region in the twentieth century.
Southwestern PA Diversified Agriculture and Sheep Raising Figures (PDF, 18.12MB)
Includes: All of Washington and Greene Counties and portions of Beaver, Mercer, Allegheny, and Lawrence Counties.
Pocono Resort and Anthracite Coal Region
Pocono Resort and Anthracite Coal (PDF, 185KB)
Between 1860 and 1940, there developed a diversified farm economy mixing vegetable, fruit, poultry, dairy, and hay production, all for local markets in either the tourist region or the mining cities. The peak was around 1915 but after that the previous patterns of mixed farming continued, more mechanized and with a greater role for dairying and poultry raising. Part-time farming was important here. After the Second World War, agriculture declined.
Pocono Resort and Anthracite Coal Figures (PDF, 7.02MB)
Includes: nearly all of Pike, Monroe, Carbon, Schuylkill, Luzerne, and Lackawanna Counties; the southern portions of Wayne, Columbia and Northumberland Counties.
Adams County Fruit Belt Region
Adams County Fruit Belt (PDF, 250KB)
The Adams County fruit belt developed in the late nineteenth century, aided by new transportation links, successes by local innovators, and a plague of pests that wiped out many trees across the state, creating a competitive opportunity for growers who were willing to spray. Between 1905 and 1925, Adams became the state's first-ranked county in apple production. Major shifts in the mid-twentieth century included changing varieties and processing uses; new cultural techniques; vertical integration between growing and processing; greater specialization on farms; increased activity of the state land-grant apparatus in the industry; and the use of migrant labor.
Adams County Fruit Belt Figures (PDF, 17.34MB)
Includes: Several townships in northern and western Adams County.
Bibliography
Bibliography (PDF, 129KB)
This selected bibliography has been compiled with the goal of furnishing guidelines for research on the history of Pennsylvania agriculture. Important resources are listed here, but more appear in the individual narratives.
Property Types, Registration Requirements, Standards of Integrity and Statement of Method
Property Types, Registration Requirements and Standards of Integrity (PDF, 793KB)
Statement of Method (PDF, 38.1KB)
National Register eligibility with respect to agriculture in each Historic Agricultural Region of Pennsylvania will depend upon how well a given property reflects the historical farming system in that region. For more information on the requirements and property types for agricultural properties, please view the document.
