Early Settlers

In 1818, Jonathan Edgcomb made his second try at settling in the wilderness of Potter County. Along the Jersey Shore Pike, Edgcomb constructed a log house that became known as the Cherry Springs Hotel. The hotel was in an extremely remote spot and for years the only visitors, other than travelers on the pike, were wandering American Indians.

Over the years, the pine and hemlock in the Cherry Springs area was lumbered off and in their place grew hardwood trees like sugar maple and the park’s namesake, black cherry.

Civilian Conservation Corps Era

The Cherry Springs CCC Camp, S-136-PA (1936), was one of ten CCC camps constructed in the Susquehannock Forest District. A forester directed the work to be done at each camp, such as clearing underbrush, opening trails, and constructing buildings and roads.

Additionally, Camp Elliott (named for District Forester Harry Elliott) was set up at Cherry Springs. This camp was not connected with the CCC camps, but was under the supervision of the former Department of Forests and Waters. Unemployed college boys stayed at this camp, and one of their accomplishments was to construct the 40-acre airfield at Cherry Springs (under the former State Bureau of Aeronautics) during the summer of 1935.