Kooser State Park

Kooser State Park
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
Lake at Kooser State Park during the autumn season
Location	Jefferson, Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates	40°03′37″N 79°13′48″W / 40.06028°N 79.23000°W / 40.06028; -79.23000
Area	250 acres (100 ha)
Elevation	2,313 ft (705 m)^[1]
Established	1922
Governing body	Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Website	Kooser State Park


Kooser State Park Family Cabin District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district

Two of the cabins
Show map of Pennsylvania Show map of the United States
Nearest city	Jefferson, Pennsylvania
Area	9.2 acres (3.7 ha)
Built	1933
Architect	Civilian Conservation Corps
Architectural style	Log Cabin style
MPS	Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) Architecture in Pennsylvania State Parks: 1933-1942, TR
NRHP reference No.	87000111^[2]
Added to NRHP	February 12, 1987

Kooser State Park is a 250-acre (101 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Jefferson Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The park, which borders Forbes State Forest, was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, who also built the 4-acre (1.6 ha) Kooser Lake by damming Kooser Run. Kooser State Park is on Pennsylvania Route 31 a one-hour drive from Pittsburgh. The park is surrounded by Forbes State Forest.

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History

The earliest settlers to the Kooser Run area told of an American Indian battle that took place near Kooser Run. A large number of war arrows and spearheads have since been found in the area. The area was also crossed by participants in the Whiskey Rebellion. The park is named for John Kooser. He settled near Kooser Spring in what is now the western edge of Kooser State Park.^[3]

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the land for Kooser State Park in 1922. The land had been stripped of its old-growth forest during the lumber era that swept through Pennsylvania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The forests slowly grew back with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The CCC established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression built a camp on the western edge of Kooser State Park. The young men of the CCC built the dam on Kooser Run creating Kooser Lake. They also built roads, outdoor fireplaces and cabins. Much of their work can still be seen today at Kooser State Park. They used the materials at hand to create the buildings and facilities of the park. The cabins are made from logs plucked from the nearby forests. They used native stone to create the fireplaces. All repairs made to the park facilities today are made with the rustic nature of the park in mind.^[4]

The Kooser State Park Family Cabin District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, as a national historic district. The district includes 13 contributing buildings.^[2]^[5]

Recreation

Cabins and camping

There are nine cabins built by the CCC available for rent year-round. The cabins are primarily used by skiers after deer season until late March. The cabins are rustic. A modern showerhouse is nearby. All of the cabins are furnished with mattresses, chairs, table, stove, microwave, refrigerator, hot and cold running water, and electric lights.^[3]

The campground at Kooser State Park is open the second Friday in April and closes in mid-October. There are 47 sites that are open to tents or campers. 14 of the campsites have electric hook ups.^[3]

Trails

The trails of Kooser State Park are used for hiking and cross-country skiing. Kooser Trail is 1.5 miles (2.4 km). It is very popular with cross country skiers because of the heavy amounts of yearly snowfall. Kincora Trail is 1 mile (1.6 km) and is used by hikers and is named in honor of Father Kincora, a Roman Catholic priest from Ireland. Hunting is not permitted at Kooser State Park, but the trails are used by hunters who rent cabins at the park to reach the woods of Forbes State Forest.^[3]

Kooser Lake

Kooser Lake is a 4-acre (1.6 ha) man-made lake built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The swimming beach is open from Memorial Day weekend until the middle of September. There are no lifeguards. There is no swimming currently permitted in Kooser Lake. Boating is not permitted on Kooser Lake. It is open to fishing for trout, bass and bluegill.^[3] Swimming has not been permitted at the lake since mid-2012 due to an unhealthful algae problem. The lake remains open for fishing. As of August 2016, according to a Park Ranger the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will work on the lake to deepen it in 2017.

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of Kooser State Park:^[6]^[7]^[8]

Casselman River Bridge State Park (Maryland)
Keystone State Park (Westmoreland County)
Laurel Hill State Park (Somerset County)
Laurel Mountain State Park (Westmoreland County)
Laurel Ridge State Park (Cambria, Fayette, Somerset, and Westmoreland counties)
Laurel Summit State Park (Westmoreland County)
Linn Run State Park (Westmoreland County)
New Germany State Park (Maryland)
Ohiopyle State Park (Fayette County)

References

^ "Kooser State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. August 2, 1979. Retrieved April 2, 2008.
^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Kooser State Park". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
^ "Pennsylvania State Parks: The CCC Years". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on February 5, 2004. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
^ "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania". CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on July 21, 2007. Retrieved December 14, 2011. Note: This includes John Milner Assoc. (October 1986). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Kooser State Park Family Cabin District" (PDF). Retrieved December 8, 2011.
^ "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 Somerset County Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). 1:65,000. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Research, Geographic Information Division. Retrieved July 27, 2006.^{[permanent dead link]} Note: shows Kooser State Park
^ Michels, Chris (1997). "Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculation". Northern Arizona University. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2008.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kooser State Park.

"Kooser State Park Official map" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 24, 2009. (377 KB)

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

Abernathy Field Station
Asbury Woods
Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve
Benjamin Olewine III Nature Center
Boyce Park Nature Center
Briar Bush Nature Center
Carbon County Environmental Education Center
Churchville Nature Center
Endless Mountains Nature Center
Fern Hollow Nature Center
Frick Environmental Center
Great Valley Nature Center
Harrison Hills Park Environmental Education Center
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
Honey Hollow Environmental Education Center
Jarrett Nature Center
John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove
Lacawac
Lancaster Environmental Center
Latodami Nature Center at North Park
McKaig Nature Education Center
McKeever Environmental Learning Center
Millbrook Marsh Nature Center
Kettle Creek Environmental Education Center
Myrick Conservation Center
Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art
Nurture Nature Center
Peace Valley Nature Center
Pocono Environmental Education Center
Pool Wildlife Sanctuary
Powdermill Nature Reserve
Richard Nixon Park Nature Center
Riverbend Environmental Education Center
Shaver's Creek Environmental Center
Silver Lake Nature Center
South Park Nature Center
Strawberry Hill Nature Center
Tom Ridge Environmental Center
Trexler Environmental Center
Trexler Nature Preserve
Tyler Arboretum
Welkinweir
Whites' Woods Nature Center
Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve at Saint Vincent College
Woodbourne Forest and Wildlife Preserve
Woodcock Creek Nature Center

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