Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center is a Pennsylvania state park near Wind Gap, in Bushkill Township, Northampton County in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The Jacobsburg National Historic District is almost entirely surrounded by the park. Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center is just off the

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

exit of Pennsylvania Route 33.

Environmental education

The main purpose of Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center is to provide environmental education for the citizens of Pennsylvania and specifically the students of the nearby

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

s, and

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. Jacobsburg stays busy offering hands on opportunities to these students and their teachers with a "discovery and problem solving" approach.

Jacobsburg National Historic District

The Jacobsburg National Historic District is the location of the Henry Homestead. The district includes 11 contributing buildings and 34 contributing sites. Jacobsburg Historical Society provides a heritage education program with classes in gunmaking and

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

ing. Rendezvouses and period military encampments are included in the center's living history program. The Pennsylvania Longrifle Heritage Museum is located in the Henry Homestead. ''Note:'' This includes The Henry family had a long history of rifle making going back before the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. William Henry opened his first gun factory in Lancaster in 1750. During the

, he was an

armorer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. Historically armourers were often men, but women could also undertake the occupation: for example Alice la Haubergere worked as an armourer in Cheapside i ...

for the Braddock Campaign of 1755 and the Forbes Expedition of 1758. His son William Henry II established a small gunmaking shop in Christian Springs in 1778. He moved his operation to Jacobsburg in 1792 and built an iron forge to provide the needed iron to manufacture his rifles at Jacobsburg. The War of 1812 lead to an increase in demand, and Henry II built a second and larger factory in Boulton, Pennsylvania. The Henry family continued manufacturing rifles for three generations.

Ecology

Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center is home to the only remaining

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

. The Henry's Woods section of the park is a largely virgin forest. Ecologists note the lack of large

eastern white pine ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada, west through the Great Lake ...

s in what is otherwise a stand of old growth deciduous trees and

eastern hemlock ''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of ...

. The trees are up to 130 feet in height.

Recreation

Recreational opportunities include

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

on ,

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

biking Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the u ...

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, and

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

king. The walking bridge adjacent to the main parking lot was destroyed in 2004 during a flood caused by Hurricane Frances, but was replaced in 2008.Pedestrian footbridge replaced at Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center
/ref> The center provides an environmental education program, with classes in natural history. The center is known for its diversity of wildflowers that are especially striking during springtime. There is a heritage education program at Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center. This program displays and demonstrates early gunmaking practices. A living history program includes a mid-1840s rendezvous and military re-enactments. Blacksmith and gunsmith classes are offered and the historic buildings are open for tours.

Hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

is permitted on about of Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center. The most common game species are

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s and

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

. The hunting of

groundhog The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the Easte ...

s is prohibited. Bushkill Creek is stocked with

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

by the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a sepa ...

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within of Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center: * Beltzville State Park ( Carbon County) * Big Pocono State Park ( Monroe County) * Bull's Island Recreation Area (

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

) * Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park (New Jersey) * Delaware Canal State Park ( Bucks and Northampton counties) * Gouldsboro State Park (Monroe and Wayne counties) * Hacklebarney State Park (New Jersey) * Hickory Run State Park (Carbon County) * Lehigh Gorge State Park (Carbon and Luzerne counties) * Nockamixon State Park (Bucks County) * Ralph Stover State Park (Bucks County) * Round Valley State Park (New Jersey) * Spruce Run State Park (New Jersey) * Stephens State Park (New Jersey) * Tobyhanna State Park (Monroe and Wayne counties) * Voorhees State Park (New Jersey)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Education in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Historic districts in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Nature centers in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Parks in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Protected areas established in 1959 Protected areas of Northampton County, Pennsylvania State parks of Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Northampton County, Pennsylvania