Quaker Falls is located off of Route 224 on the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line.
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Quaker Falls 1886This photo was taken around 1886 of Middleton Friends who visited the falls. Several members recently visited the falls and told us about the history. Here is a little bit about the history and influence of Quakers in our area.......
The following is taken from information published by Lawrence County PA. The brochure can be accessed by clicking here: Brochure
HISTORY:
Quaker Falls was first settled between 1799 and 1804 by Septimus Cadwalader and his family. They were Quakers, as the
town’s name will suggest, who came from Brownsville, Fayette
County. Others soon joined them, including the Sharpless,
Shearer and Townsend families. As the town grew in number,
it became a self-sustaining community with a grist mill, saw
mill, train station, machine shop and a schoolhouse. This thriving community came
⮜ Quaker Falls today
to be known as Quakertown. In the late
1830’s, Septimus Cadwalader’s son, Septimus Cadwalader Jr.,
operated a tannery. This was part and parcel of the industrial
and agricultural success that the town saw at its peak in the
later half of the 19th Century.
In 1850 after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, a group of
citizens from Lawrence County said that they would “make a
war upon that infamous law.” Soon after, many residents in
Quakertown, including the Wright, Cadwalader, Sharpless and
Townsend families grew to prominence as conductors on a
secret collaborative effort to assist the former slaves to freedom, known as the Underground Railroad.
In 1894 the Pennsylvania & Lake Erie Railroad Bridge was installed spanning over the creek. As iron, steel, quarry, and
munitions industries moved into the area, Quakertown’s farm
families were bought out of their land, primarily by the Burton
Powder Company, which later became known as the Atlas
Powder Company. Tragedy struck the Burton plant April 4th,
1912 when a massive explosion blew the press building to
pieces, killing two men.
This tragedy was one of many in short succession that led to
numerous lost lives. By the early 1930’s some 130 years after
its founding, the final resident of Quakertown left and the
buildings followed a natural course of decay as the landscape
returned to its woodland origins.
All that remains today are the foundations of a once thriving
American community located just 1/2 mile Northeast of the
falls in Mahoning Township, Lawrence County.
In 2019, archaeological digs were excavated throughout the area at which
time pieces of flint were found dating to the Precontact Period.
More information can be found on the many interpretive signs
located along the park trail.
VISITING:
Quaker Falls Recreation Area officially opened on October
29th, 2021, thanks in part to the generosity of the Pennsylvania DCNR. The Quaker Falls property is comprised of
293 acres and is a natural historic landmark. The highlight
of this newly created park is the 50 foot-tall, double-tiered
waterfall, Quaker Falls.
As visitors arrive at the park, they are immediately immersed in the sensory experience of the sound of water
rushing over the falls. The park features ADA accessible
parking and a crushed stone walking trail that allows
views of the cascading water. From the parking area, visitors will cross directly over the falls via a pedestrian bridge
that spans Falling Spring Creek. The trail continues on the
Route 224 side of the park where Phase 2 of the park development will feature two viewing platforms that will
allow all visitors the opportunity to enjoy the splendid
natural beauty of the falls and gorge in a safe and accessible way (recent WFMJ news story on 10/11/24 says this is almost complete!) From here they can take in the scenic view surrounded by native trees, shrubs, vegetation and wildlife.
ECOLOGY:
Quaker Falls stands about 50 feet tall and is a result of the Pleistocene glaciation of Northwestern Pennsylvania
almost 1.5 million years ago. It was during that period that many of the streams were dammed and rerouted, as
they once flowed towards what is today, Lake Erie. The environmental changes influenced much of the settlement
and utilization of the land at the site. It was during the Wisconsinian glaciation, around 16,000 B.C., that many forests extended southward to the Carolinas. During this time, there were many frozen tundras and large
open meadows containing spruce and fir trees with only some shrubs. Around 7240 B.C., forests were
more open and diverse with browsing herbivores. There was a mixture of spruce and firs where larger
mammals, such as caribou, elk, mammoth and mastodons roamed freely. Today the average climate of
the region is 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer months and 60 degrees Fahrenheit during the
winter months. Approximately 38 inches of precipitation falls annually.
The Wider Fellowship hosts a General Gathering once every two years, typically during the month of June, in Barnesville, Ohio. Though the Gathering is sponsored by Friends from Ohio Yearly Meeting, we hope that everyone, regardless of their Yearly Meeting affiliation (or lack thereof) will feel welcome to attend. We especially invite our brothers and sisters from Iowa and North Carolina Yearly Meetings (Conservative), with whom we share a long and important history.
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