Raccoon Creek State Park - Misplaced Pages

State park in Beaver County, Pennsylvania

Raccoon Creek State Park
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
A waterfall at Raccoon Creek State Park

Location	Beaver, Pennsylvania, United States
Area	7,572 acres (30.64 km)
Elevation	932 ft (284 m)
Established	1945
Named for	Raccoon Creek
Visitors	530,000
Governing body	Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Website	Raccoon Creek State Park

Raccoon Creek RDA
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district

One of the cabins in the RDA
Show map of PennsylvaniaShow map of the United States
Location	Route 18 in Hanover Township
Coordinates	40°30′42″N 80°26′34″W / 40.51167°N 80.44278°W / 40.51167; -80.44278
Area	812 acres (329 ha)
Built	1935
Architect	CCC Camps SP-6 and SP-16
Architectural style	National Park Service Rustic
MPS	Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) Architecture in Pennsylvania State Parks: 1933-1942, TR
NRHP reference No.	87000745
Added to NRHP	May 18, 1987

Raccoon Creek State Park is a 7,572-acre (3,064 ha) Pennsylvania state park on Raccoon Creek in Hanover and Independence townships in Beaver County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is about 30 miles (48 km) from the city of Pittsburgh, near Hookstown. Raccoon Creek State Park is easily accessed from Pennsylvania Route 18 and U.S Routes 30 and 22. The park offers numerous activities such as hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, camping, hunting, swimming, fishing, and boating, the last three at the 101-acre (41 ha) "Raccoon Lake."

Raccoon Creek State Park was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and its Bureau of Parks as one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".

History

Health resort

Raccoon Creek State Park is located on the site of a former Victorian era health resort. Frankfort Minerals Springs was the site of a natural mineral spring. It was founded by Edward McGinnis in the mid-19th century. He believed that the mineral spring waters held curative powers. McGinnis built his resort atop a hill in what is now Raccoon Creek State Park. Visitors to the resort walked down steps to the springs. The resort was very prosperous. At one time it featured a hotel, dance hall, livery stable and numerous guest cottages. Frankfort Mineral Springs closed during the first part of the 20th century.

Recreational Demonstration Area

Along with two other Pennsylvania state parks, Raccoon Creek State Park was established as a Recreational Demonstration Area during the Great Depression. Its earliest buildings, constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, are split among four areas: three group camps and a headquarters/maintenance complex. Built in the National Park Service Rustic style, these buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as a historic district; a total of 114 buildings and structures qualified as contributing properties. The district was added to the Register for several significant reasons: besides their distinctive architecture and their role as parts of a recreational area, the buildings reflect the federal government's attempts to resolve the poverty of the Depression through political means.

Park

Raccoon Creek State Park has continued to develop from its beginning in the 1930s to one of the largest state parks in Pennsylvania. Facilities at the park are a mix from the early camp to modern facilities. In addition to recreational areas, there are large tracts of undeveloped land. Scenes for the film The Road were filmed at the park in the spring of 2008.

Wildflower Reserve

The 314-acre Wildflower Reserve, located at the eastern section of Raccoon Creek State Park, contains one of the most diverse stands of wildflowers in western Pennsylvania. Over 700 species of plants have been identified in the Reserve . Trails lead through a variety of habitats like oak-hickory forest, pine plantations, woodland meadows, and flood plain forest along Raccoon Creek. Wildflowers can be observed throughout the growing season with peak wildflower blooms occurring in late April and August. Because of its uniqueness and to preserve the many wildflower species, the Reserve is closed to all activities other than hiking on designated trails.

Environment

Raccoon Creek State Park lies within the Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests ecoregion.

Recreation

There are about 500 picnic tables spread among 5 picnic areas at Raccoon Creek State Park. Five pavilions are available to rent or if unrented are available on a first come, first served basis.

Raccoon Lake is open for year-round fishing. The common game fish are bullhead catfish, bluegill, yellow perch, crappie, walleye, muskellunge, and both large and smallmouth bass. Raccoon Lake's feeder streams are stocked with brook and rainbow trout by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. These fish can also be found in the lake.

Hunting is permitted on over 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of Raccoon Creek State Park. Hunters are expected to follow the rules and regulations of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The common game species are ruffed grouse, squirrels, turkey, pheasants, white-tailed deer, and rabbits. The hunting of groundhogs is forbidden.

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of Raccoon Creek State Park:

References

^ "Raccoon Creek State Park". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2006.
"Raccoon Creek State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. August 2, 1979. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
Hopey, Dan. "Cutbacks put some state parks on shaky ground". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
"Find a Park: 25 Must-see Parks". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
"State park, preserve resort once sought for curing powers". Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
^ Milner, John, Associates. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Raccoon Creek RDA. National Park Service, October 1986. Accessed 2009-12-17.
"Pennsylvania State Parks: The CCC Years". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on February 5, 2004. Retrieved November 28, 2006.
Machosky, Michael (November 24, 2009). "Review: 'Road' doesn't do justice to McCarthy's novel". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. 2010. "Wildflower Reserve Trail Map". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Miller, Shane. 2006. "Past and Present: Vascular Plants of the Wildflower Reserve at Raccoon Creek State Park". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Olson, D. M; E. Dinerstein; et al. (2001). "Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth". BioScience. 51 (11): 933–938. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2.
"Find a Park by Region (interactive map)". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
2007 General Highway Map Beaver County Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). 1:65,000. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Research, Geographic Information Division. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 5, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2007. Note: shows Raccoon Creek State Park
Michels, Chris (1997). "Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculation". Northern Arizona University. Retrieved April 23, 2008.

External links

"Raccoon Creek State Park official map" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2015. (1.22 MB)

Protected areas of Pennsylvania

Federal

NPS National Historical Parks & National Historic Sites	Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS Edgar Allan Poe NHS Eisenhower NHS First State NHP Friendship Hill NHS Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church NHS Hopewell Furnace NHS Independence NHP Steamtown NHS Valley Forge NHP
National Memorials	Benjamin Franklin Flight 93 Johnstown Flood Thaddeus Kosciuszko
National Battlefields and National Military Parks	Fort Necessity NB Gettysburg NMP
National Trails	Appalachian Trail
National Forests	Allegheny
USFS National Historic Sites	Grey Towers
National Wildlife Refuges	Cherry Valley Erie John Heinz Ohio River Islands
Wilderness areas	Allegheny Islands Hickory Creek
Other protected areas	Allegheny National Recreation Area Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic River Middle Delaware National Scenic River Susquehanna National Heritage Area Tionesta Scenic Area Tionesta Wild Area Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River

State

Natural Areas	Alan Seeger Algerine Swamp Anders Run Bark Cabin Bear Meadows Bear Run Beartown Woods Big Flat Laurel Black Ash Swamp Bruce Lake Buckhorn Carbaugh Run Charles F. Lewis Cranberry Swamp David R. Johnson Detweiler Run Devil’s Elbow East Branch Swamp Forrest H. Dutlinger Frank E. Masland Halfway Run Hemlocks The Hook Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Jakey Hollow Johnson Run Joyce Kilmer Kettle Creek Gorge Lebo Red Pine Little Juniata Little Mud Pond Swamp Little Tinicum Island Lower Jerry Run Marion Brooks M.K. Goddard/Wykoff Run Meeting of the Pines Miller Run Mt. Cydonia Ponds Mt. Davis Mt. Logan Pennel Run Pine Creek Gorge Pine Lake Pine Ridge Pine Tree Trail Reynolds Spring Roaring Run Rocky Ridge Rosencrans Bog Ruth Zimmerman Sheets Island Archipelago Snyder-Middleswarth Spruce Swamp Stillwater Sweet Root Tall Timbers Tamarack Run Tamarack Swamp Torbert Island
State Parks	Allegheny Islands Archbald Pothole Bald Eagle Beltzville Bendigo Benjamin Rush Big Elk Creek Big Pocono Big Spring Black Moshannon Blue Knob Boyd Big Tree Buchanan's Birthplace Bucktail Caledonia Canoe Creek Chapman Cherry Springs Clear Creek Codorus Colonel Denning Colton Point Cook Forest Cowans Gap Delaware Canal Denton Hill Elk Erie Bluffs Evansburg Fort Washington Fowlers Hollow Frances Slocum French Creek Gifford Pinchot Gouldsboro Greenwood Furnace Hickory Run Hillman Hills Creek Hyner Run Hyner View Jacobsburg Jennings Joseph E. Ibberson Kettle Creek Keystone Kings Gap Kinzua Bridge Kooser Lackawanna Laurel Hill Laurel Mountain Laurel Ridge Laurel Summit Lehigh Gorge Leonard Harrison Linn Run Little Buffalo Little Pine Locust Lake Lyman Run Marsh Creek Maurice K. Goddard McCalls Dam McConnells Mill Memorial Lake Milton Mont Alto Moraine Mt. Pisgah Nescopeck Neshaminy Nockamixon Nolde Forest Norristown Farm Ohiopyle Oil Creek Ole Bull Parker Dam Patterson Penn-Roosevelt Pine Grove Furnace Poe Paddy Poe Valley Point Presque Isle Prince Gallitzin Promised Land Prompton Prouty Place Pymatuning R. B. Winter Raccoon Creek Ralph Stover Ravensburg Reeds Gap Ricketts Glen Ridley Creek Ryerson Station Salt Springs Samuel S. Lewis Sand Bridge Shawnee Shikellamy Simon B. Elliott Sinnemahoning Sizerville Susquehanna Susquehanna Riverlands Susquehannock Swatara Tobyhanna Trough Creek Tuscarora Tyler Upper Pine Bottom Varden Vosburg Neck Warriors Path Washington Crossing Whipple Dam White Clay Creek Worlds End Yellow Creek
State Forests	Bald Eagle Buchanan Clear Creek Cornplanter Delaware Elk Forbes Gallitzin Loyalsock Michaux Moshannon Pinchot Rothrock Sproul Susquehannock Tiadaghton Tioga Tuscarora Weiser William Penn
Scenic Rivers	Bear Run French Creek Lehigh River LeTort Spring Run Lick Run Lower Brandywine Octoraro Creek Pine Creek Schuylkill River Stony Creek Tucquan Creek Tulpehocken Creek Yellow Breeches Creek
State Game Lands	12 13 14 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 179 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 335
Wild areas	Algerine Asaph Burns Run Clear Shade Hammersley James C. Nelson Kettle Creek Russell P. Letterman Martin Hill McIntyre Penns Creek Quebec Run Quehanna Russell P. Letterman Square Timber Stairway Thickhead Mountain Trough Creek Wolf Run
Other	Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail Mohn Mill Ponds Wild Plant Sanctuary Stone Valley Recreation Area

Local and private

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Related	National Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Fund List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places portal Category

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Beaver County, Pennsylvania
National Historic Landmarks	Beginning Point of the U.S. Public Land Survey Matthew S. Quay House
National Historic Landmark District	Old Economy
Historic districts	Beaver Historic District Bridgewater Historic District Economy Historic District Raccoon Creek RDA
Other properties	Bridge in South Beaver Township Carnegie Free Library, Beaver Falls James Beach Clow House William B. Dunlap Mansion Fort McIntosh Site Greersburg Academy B.F. Jones Memorial Library Legionville David Littell House Merrick Art Gallery Merrill Lock No. 6 Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Passenger Station, Aliquippa Capt. William Vicary House
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Beaver County, Pennsylvania and List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania

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