News Release

 

Lehigh County Log Cabin Trail Committee

 

Donald Breininger, Weisenberg-Lowhill Historical Society            Richard Klase, Stone Mason-Historic House Restorer

Bruce Solt, Allentown Parks Department Superintendent                Steve Long, The Shelter House Society

Sharon Haas, Upper Lehigh Historical Society                                Bruce Mordaunt, Hivel und Dahl Preservation Society

Donald S. Heintzelman, Ornithologist & Author                               Reynold Reinert, Weisenberg Township Administrator

Christine Lazor, Log Cabin Enthusiast                                              Willard Snyder, Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society

Charles Kiernan, Lower Macungie Twp. Historical Society           Noreen Yamamoto, The Shelter House Society

 

For Release: July 7, 2009                  Contact: Donald S. Heintzelman

donsh@enter.net

 

Eagle Scout Christopher Jones Honored

By Lehigh County Log Cabin Trail Committee

 

            The Lehigh County Log Cabin Trail Committee announced it honored Eagle Scout Christopher Jones of Macungie, PA, yesterday with a Commendation Award and pizza party for the outstanding work he is performing regarding creating and maintaining the Log Cabin TrailŐs website (www.lehighcountylogcabintrial.org ).

 

            The Lehigh County Log Cabin Trail is a unique historic tourism and educational resource —the first in Pennsylvania and apparently the United States.

 

            The website and related field and research tasks were completed by Chris, and some assistants he supervised, as part of his Eagle Scout project. Chris is a member of Boy Scout Troop 131. He received his Eagle Scout rank on May 24th.

 

            The Log Cabin Trial Committee considers Chris a vital part of the team working on expanding public use of the Lehigh County Log Cabin Trail. Without the superb website Chris created and maintains, the Log Cabin Trial project would not be nearly as far along as it is.

 

            Currently, more than 5,000 hits are registered on the website. ThatŐs a remarkable amount of public interest in what is a rather neglected but fascinating part of our rich Lehigh County historic heritage.

 

            Full details are provided on the Lehigh County Log Cabin TrailŐs website which enables users to download essential details and a brochure containing driving routes for the trailŐs three sections (Northern, Central, and Southern routes). A map on the website and downloadable brochure also indicate approximately where each building is located on the trail.

 

            Each of the trailŐs sections has its own separate driving tour route, complete with detailed instructions and mileages provided, so people can select which parts of Lehigh County they wish to explore at any given time. It takes four to five hours to drive the entire trail, but much less time to drive any one of the sections.

 

            Twenty-two eighteenth and nineteenth century log buildings are included on the trail. They were selected from a list of approximately 100 log buildings identified as remaining in Lehigh County by the log cabin trail committee which conducted extensive field surveys and archival and literature research.

             

            Some are located in public parks in Lehigh County—such as HunterŐs Cabin in Lehigh Parkway and the Lardner Log Cabin in Trexler Park in Allentown, and the Zeisloff Log House and rebuilt Fort Everett in Ontelaunee Park in New Tripoli—and are owned by municipal governments or non-profit organizations. Others are owned privately. 

 

            Two of the log buildings on the Lehigh County Log Cabin Trail are listed on the prestigious National Register of Historic Places. They are the Shelter House on South Mountain behind Emmaus, and the Leaser Log Cabin near Leaser Lake in Lynn Township.

 

            The latter was the farmstead of Frederick Leaser who helped save the Liberty Bell (then known as the Pennsylvania state house bell) by transporting it on his farm wagon to Zion Reformed Church in Allentown where the bell was hidden beneath the floorboards of the church while the British occupied Philadelphia during part of the Revolutionary War. 

 

            By focusing on our remaining authentic log buildings, it is hoped there will be increased public appreciation for these charming old buildings. The Lehigh County Log Cabin Committee calls particular attention to the educational opportunities associated with log cabins and other log buildings and encourages public and private schools within Lehigh County to make full and creative use of these charming reminders of our past. 

 

            A portion of the northern part of the log cabin trail in Lynn, Heidelberg, and Washington townships also overlaps the internationally important Kittatinny Raptor Corridor where major autumn raptor migrations annually occur along the famous Kittatinny Ridge (Blue Mountain) in these three townships and are major birding and ecotourism attractions in Lehigh and adjacent counties. Thus ecotourism and historic tourism compliment each other resulting in increased economic impacts for these rural Lehigh County communities.

 

Caption for attached photograph:

            Eagle Scout Christopher Jones of Macungie, PA, holding the Commendation Award presented to him yesterday by the Lehigh County Log Cabin Trail Committee. Photo courtesy Lehigh County Log Cabin Trail Committee.

 

 

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