European Settlers

When the European settlers arrived, they found the land covered with timber, particularly oak, hickory, walnut, sycamore and poplar.  There was little underbrush, and thick, short grass covered the ground.   The trees were some distance apart; the lower limbs were high above the ground, and a horseback rider could easily ride anywhere through the woods.

William Penn described this landscape in 1683 to the Duke of Ormond, then Viceroy of Ireland:  “The land is generally good, well watered, and not so thick of wood as I imagined.  There are also many open places that had been old Indian fields.”