The land that became Promised Land State Park was once hunting grounds for the Minsi Tribe of the Wolf Clan of the Lenni Lenape American Indians (Delaware).
The Shakers, a religious group, purchased land in the area. They tried to farm and build a life on the rocky land. Their attempt to build a partnership to log the land was unsuccessful. After finally contracting the forests to be timbered, the Shakers left the area. According to legend, the Shakers sarcastically named the area “the Promised Land.” The land was repeatedly clear-cut. By 1903, the area was almost completely bare of trees. With the loss of trees came erosion, forest fires, and migration of wildlife from the area.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the land from 1902-1904. The purchase price ranged from $0.18 to $2.00 per acre. Between 1902 and 1933, the commonwealth planted more than 370,000 trees. During 1905, the first campground was established.
During 1933, to relieve the rampant unemployment of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The young men in the CCC received food, clothes, and a small paycheck, in return for:
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Building roads, trails, recreational facilities
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Fighting fires
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Planting trees
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Performing many other conservation activities
On Sunday evening, May 31, 1998, an F-2 tornado with winds of 113-157 mph passed through Promised Land State Park.
And here we are camping in this really nice campground. The facilities are as nice as we have seen in any state park.
