The Last River Raft

Northern Pennsylvania's nineteenth-century lumber industry felled and dressed trees in the northern mountains, dragged them to the river, lashed them into rafts, floated them downstream in the spring, then disassembled them for sawmills to turn into finished lumber. As changing transportation made log rafts obsolete, a final one was launched on March 14, 1938, to mark the end of that way of life. Amid great fanfare, the 112-foot-long timber raft left Clearfound County on a 200-mile journey to Harrisburg, but below Williamsport tragedy struck on March 20 when it collided with a railroad bridge pier near Muncy. Thirty-eight people were swept into the icy river; most were saved, but seven died. The raft then limped on to Fort Hunter, where it was welcomed and its logs were sold to a timber buyer.

Pennsylvania · United States