Elk is one of the very few townships in Warren County, or Pennsylvania for that matter, that has its own 300-page published book about its history. It is titled A History of Elk Township, which is the compilation of data gathered by 19 Elk Township residents and first published in 1994. It is presently in its second printing and can be obtained at the Community Center for a donation to the Historical Society. The following information and much more may be found in this book.

Establishment of Elk Township and the Cornplanter Grant
Elk Township, located in Warren County, Pennsylvania, was established in 1795. Native Americans of the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois Nation were living along the fertile bottom land of the Allegheny River at that time, but climbed up the mountains to the west, where we live today, for productive hunting expeditions in forests abundant with wild life.

In 1791, the Pennsylvania legislature granted Chief Cornplanter and his heirs “in perpetuity” slightly more than 600 acres along the upper Allegheny River for his help after the Revolutionary War. When attending meetings in Philadelphia, Cornplanter invited Quakers to come to the Grant to establish schools and teach the children, as well as to develop agriculture and raise cattle. But the friendship was short lived and Cornplanter soon sent the Quakers away. He died in 1836 and was buried on the Grant under a Vermont marble obelisk marking his grave.

In the early 1960s, as the Kinzua Dam was being contemplated, the Army Corps of Engineers surveyed the land and found that the Cornplanter Indians owned 784.12 acres of land on the mainland bordering the Allegheny River and 123.63 acres of island land. But because of disputed ownership of this land, individual purchases became impossible and the government resorted to condemnation of the Grant to acquire it for the construction of Kinzua Dam. The Senecas requested that their wooden church, the old brick school house and the cemetery be moved above the high-water mark and that the lands above the high-water mark be left as part of the Grant. In the end the Corps of Engineers did not move the buildings, but did move the monument and the 695 graves to Riverview cemetery in Corydon Township. The ground breaking for the Kinzua Dam took place October 22, 1961 and the dam was completed in 1965, when Kinzua Lake waters flooded the Seneca’s ancestral lands in violation of the oldest Indian Treaty in the nation. The remaining Seneca residents were moved up the river to prefabricated homes in Jimerson Town, but they could no longer fish and hunt on the land promised to them.

Earliest European Settlers and the Quakers.
According to J. S. Schenck in his “History of Warren County Pennsylvania”, the first European settlers in Elk Township were immigrants from Germany, Holland, England, Ireland and Scotland. Among these settlers, who arrived by sailing up the Allegheny River in the early 1800s, can be found such surnames as Shipman, Hook, Schoonover, Seaman, Marsh, Hatch, Roper, Shattuck, Holt, Cargill, Clendening and Dinsmore. They settled along the river and on the northern ridges of Elk Township, which was sometimes called “Little Germany.”

In 1820s, several Quaker families named Pound moved to the southern ridges of Elk Township from Collins Monthly Meeting in New York State and purchased thousand-acre tracts of virgin timber from the Commissioners of Warren County and soon this area became known as “Quaker Hill.” The Quakers constructed a log meeting house at the junction of what are known today as the Roper Hollow and Scandia Roads. Their meeting house was used as a school during the week. The Quakers were timbermen and harvested large swaths of the valuable virgin timber and slid it down the stream beds to the Allegheny River, where it was placed on huge rafts to await the spring floods for transport downstream. However, by the mid-1800s, when the Quakers moved away, the name “Friendship” remained the name of the school, which continued to provide education for Elk children until 1941.

The Name, Scandia
When the Quakers moved away mid-century, leaving giant stumps and stones littering the countryside, the land became virtually useless and its price per acre dropped substantially. This is precisely when thousands of impoverished Swedish and Danish agrarian peasants emigrated to America, to escape rigid social class systems in Scandinavia. Since Elk Township acreage was so inexpensive, they could afford it. It is said that Elk’s rolling hills, clean mountain streams, big boulders and unending stones reminded them of the Swedish provinces they were leaving. Their task was to clear the land for crops and pastures by getting rid of the stubborn virgin stumps and plethora of rocks and that is exactly what they did.

In the late 1800s, so many Swedish immigrants arrived in Elk Township,that the church and the school had to be enlarged to accommodate the burgeoning population. So with the Quakers gone, it apparently seemed appropriate to change the name to “Scandia.” The language of the Church was Swedish well into the 1930s, but the language at school was always English.

Elk Township in the Late 1800s
Warren County in the late 1800s, had a few small towns, but about 90 percent of residents lived on family farms and in rural Elk Township, that percentage was probably higher. Life on the family farm demanded very hard work from dawn to dusk, as there were no power tools or tractors or electricity. Children provided much of the manpower for the farm’s operation. In the spring, the children manned a horse-drawn stoneboat (wide wooden sled on wooden runners) through the fields to pick up stones in preparation for plowing. (They could always depend on a fresh new crop on stones in the spring that had been brought to the surface by winter freezing and thawing.) Actually, farming in Scandia was quite precarious because of the eminent danger of an early frost that could destroy a summer’s work in the field or of a late frost that wiped out a newly planted and much anticipated garden crop. Farming was totally dependent upon weather and because of the high altitude and prevalent winds,weather conditions could be devastating.

This was a barter economy, with very little money ever being exchanged. Instead they traded farming tasks and building skills and mostly helped each other in good times and bad. Many of the original immigrant families of Elk Township stayed for about a generation, but when the children reached maturity, they began looking elsewhere “for greener pastures”. Coincidentally, the industrial revolution was beginning in the cities and it desperately needed reliable hard workers. Even though factory work required a ten-hour day for six-days a week and there were no employee benefits, a pay check to feed hungry children could be depended upon and that renumeration was not threatened by frivolous weather conditions. So at the turn of the 20th C., there was a mass exodus of young adult workers from Elk Township bound for industries in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio cities.

Elk Township Homecoming
Homecoming brought more crowds of people to Elk Township than any other event in Elk’s history. In the 1940s, 50s and 60s, there were sometimes several thousand persons “coming home” to Elk Township on Labor Day. Its motto clearly describes its purpose, which was “A Time to Meet Old Friends and Make New”. Therefore, the audience was mostly persons who had grown up in Scandia but now lived in Warren, Ridgeway, Falconer-Jamestown or Youngstown, Ohio and had come home to Elk Township for the day to reminisce with former childhood friends. The first Homecoming was held in 1930 and it continued every year until 1983, when interest apparently waned.
The day began with a gathering in the Church that opened with the singing of “My Country Tis of Thee” and featured a speaker, an opportunity for reminiscences, a search for the oldest and youngest and who had come the farthest and closed with the poignant hymn about how childhood was fast disappearing …so fast…so fast, sung in Swedish. Then they walked over to the one-room school, where a delicious home-made dinner with pie was being served out of a window, to be eaten at picnic tables on the lawn. Coffee was 5 cents a cup and seconds were free.The one outhouse behind the school was quite busy meeting the needs of such large crowds! Afternoon activities were a lively sports program for all ages and lots of hearty remembering and story-telling. Some years featured a competitive water battle by local volunteer fire departments or a horseshow or a parade of local residents or concerts by singing groups. A 90-page book about Homecoming was published by Dr. Julie Boozer in 2016 for the 145th anniversary of Scandia Church and is available for a donation to the church.

Churches of Elk Township
The Presbyterians established a church on the Cornplanter Grant in 1815 and it remained in service until 1965 when the Allegheny Reservoir flooded the region. United Brethren Church services were held in a school house, located at the junction of the Cable Hollow and the Robbins Hill Roads in the 1860s. There were at least five other United Brethren congregations meeting in homes or school buildings in Elk Township at about the same time. The first Catholic Church in Elk Township, the “Little Church of Seven Dolors”, was constructed in 1874 on the Roper Hollow Road, to serve local Irish Catholic families with surnames such as McMahon, Giltinan, McDonald, McGrath and Sheehan. Its appointments were attractive red velvet kneeling benches, fine altar furniture and a reed organ. The building was torn down in 1941.

The Scandia Evangelical Covenant Church was organized in 1874 and is the oldest church that has been in continuous use in this denomination. Swedish immigrants constructed a sanctuary for worship soon after their arrival, but because other Swedes were pouring into Scandia in such large numbers, it soon became too small. In 1890, a larger sanctuary was built that was 36 x 52 feet and this building remains in use today. Since the congregation was made up of farmers, construction could not begin until the harvest was safely in the barns, thus they began in October and it took only three months to finish so they could celebrate Julotta, their traditional Christmas service in the new sanctuary. All the labor was donated and the materials cost $500.00! By today’s standards, with absolutely NO power tools or motorized vehicles, this feat seems quite remarkable! The Zion Covenant Church of Jamestown donated their fine Estey reed organ to Scandia Church, when they installed a new pipe organ in the late 1800s. It was hauled up the mountain in a horse drawn wagon and placed in the sanctuary, where it stands today to enrich worship services on Sunday mornings. It is the only church-sized reed organ of this vintage in Warren County that continues to function. The language of the church was Swedish until the 1930s, when English first could be heard or read.
For a few brief years there was a Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church (1874) near the Corners on the Cole Hill Road. Upon closing it was used as a Grange Hall until the new Grange Hall on the Peterson Road was established in 1891.

Schools of Elk Township
In one-room schools of the 1800s, the teacher was frequently a recent graduate of some Elk Township one-room school. Teachers often were still in their teens and boarded with a local family nearby the school. Teacher responsibilities included keeping the school clean, tending the fire and carrying water for drinking and hand washing…in addition to teaching 8 grades in one room to 35 children, ranging in age from 5 to 15 years!

Few children were allowed to remain in school straight through the grades because the needs of the farm or home often took precedence and it was common for students to “sit out” a year or two here and there. It was not unusual for students to walk 3-4 miles one way to school regardless of weather, although occasionally school was cancelled for a week of extremely cold or snowy weather in mid-winter. Slates and chalk were used because pencil and paper were too expensive. An eighth-grade education was considered quite adequate in those days and it was not until the 1930s that a few students went on to high school at Russell or Warren, boarding with local families.

The 12 Elk Township schools in chronologic order are:
1. Cornplanter Indian School (1798-1954)
2. Friendship School (1834-1941)
3. Hodge Run School (1834-1904?)
4. Smith Corners School (1836-1931)
5. Clendening School (1838- 1927)
6. Roper Hollow School (1841- ?)
7. Stateline Run School (1842-1921)
8. Cornplanter Run School (1857-1896?)
9. Webb Hill School (1865?-1921)
10. Scandia School (1878-1999)
11. Priest Hollow School (? -1943)
12. Reynolds Run School (1891-1921)

Further information about the schools is in the Scandia School and Museum section.

Cemeteries of Elk Township
Every Elk cemetery grave stone has been photographed and is installed on the worldwide web for genealogists to use, a first for western Pennsylvania.

The Elk Township Cemeteries are:
1. Catholic Cemetery (Roper Hollow Road)
2. Clendening Cemetery (Junction Robin Hill & Cable Hollow Roads)
3. Mack Cemetery (Junction Roper Hollow and Scandia Roads)
4. Old Scandia Cemetery (beside the Covenant Church)
5. New Scandia Cemetery (Scandia Road, just below the Corners)
6. Brainard Cemetery (northside of Mack Cemetery)
7. Eck Family Cemetery (3 miles up Cole Hill Road, at a sharp curve)
8. Jonas Erickson Cemetery (adjoining Mack Cemetery)
9. Nelson Hook Cemetery (beneath Kinzua Lake)
10. James Jones Cemetery (Joe Jones Road, now closed)
11. Daniel Lounsbury Cemetery (at Blueberry Hill Golf Course)

“The History of Elk Township” (1994), available at the Community Center for a donation, is rich in information about Elk Township’s government, transportation, post offices, businesses, organizations, recreation, physicians and distinguished citizens, as well as Census and Land records. On a lighter note, there are fascinating bits and pieces about the township, including a section on tragedies, disasters and mysteries.Taxes, for example:Tax records for most of the 1800s until about 1930 indicate that Elk Township residents were taxed not only on their real estate and buildings, but also for animals over four years old, as well as gold and silver watches owned. Men were taxed 90 cents a year for being single!

Scandia School and Museum 

The School
The white wooden one-room school at Scandia Corners has been restored to honor each of the twelve one-room schools that once dotted the countryside of Elk Township in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some were located in the midst of lumber camps along the Allegheny River and others at crossroads in family farm communities. Of the enrollment records available among these twelve Elk Township one-room schools, the Scandia School enrollment records are the most complete, however, even here, a few of its earliest years are missing. However, it is extremely rare and very significant that a century of enrollment records does exist for visitors to study when doing genealogical research.This phenomenon seldom, if ever, exists in historic one-room schools today. In fact, the presence of an authentically restored one-room school from the 1800s, open to the public, is indeed rare and quite a feather in the cap of Elk Township!

Originally constructed at the junction of the Coalbed Road, in the early 1870s, the Scandia One-Room School was dragged up the mountain by teams of horses to its present location at the Corners some years later. This one-room school remained in Scandia,serving the educational needs of its children, from the 1870s continuously through 1999, a remarkable span of 125 years, when it was closed and the students were bused to other schools in the region.
During its century and a quarter of service to the families of Elk Township, several additions were made. In 1890, a larger adjoining wooden classroom was constructed to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of Swedish immigrant families pouring into Elk Township. In 1962, a modern brick addition was constructed to provide two modern classrooms, a kitchen and indoor bathroom facilities, certainly a welcome convenience in Scandia’s blustery winters, when a walk to the outhouse was understandably made as quickly as possible!

Over the years, the interiors of the school rooms were modified from time to time to meet the changing needs of students and society. By 1999 when the Scandia school complex was closed, the original 1870s one-room school had been converted into a modern computer lab, with all the necessary electrical connections with endless wires concealed above a drop ceiling. Scandia School stayed current with the advancing technological requirements of society.
In 1999, when the school was closed, concerned members of the community formed the Committee to Save Scandia School and completed a door to door survey to learn how the residents felt about restoring the school buildings for community use. The survey indicated that 90% of Elk residents wished to save Scandia school. When this data was brought to the attention of the Elk Supervisors, they granted permission to proceed with the restoration as long as NO tax dollars were used in the process. The supervisors granted a 99-year lease to this committee of citizens, who a few years later reorganized as the Elk Township Historical Society, developed By-Laws, became incorporated and gained 501©3 status with the IRS.

The first step for these willing volunteers was to remove all of the 20th century furniture and accoutrements to authentically restore the one-room school back to its 1870s appearance. This involved removing all of the exterior windows for repair and re-caulking of the glass panes, removing the linoleum tiles from the original floor boards for refinishing and to remove the 4 x 8-foot Luan paneling that had been installed to “modernize” the walls. When the paneling was removed, the original 1870s green-painted wooden wall boards became evident revealing a large section of wall in the front that was painted black, with a teacher’s chalk lesson still in place! The original blackboard (boards painted black) with a teacher’s lesson in chalk had been found! Today this treasure has been safely covered with clear acrylic panels for all to see.
The classroom is furnished with several original desks that seated 2-3 children, as well as the more common single student desks and teacher’s desks from Elk Township schools. A splendid revolving photo display features memorabilia from each of the 12 Elk Township schools and a very complete collection of Scandia School class photos.

The Museum
A Museum full of artifacts and displays that explain early life in Elk Township is housed in the larger 1890s classroom. Here there is a dairy display explaining that most 19th C. Elk residents lived on family farms with a variety of useful productive animals and features a variety of tools including hand-made wooden stanchions and hay forks, grain grinders and a cream separator. A photo display of the barns of Elk Township, begun in 1994, has been continued to the present showing which ones were unable to stand the test of time and are gone forever. Tools of food preparation and preservation at the homestead before electricity are on display. Other exhibits explain making maple syrup and mining coal at the Scandia Coalbed. There is an exhibit honoring Elk Township’s veterans going back to the War of 1812, a period-furnished Victorian parlor with reed organ, a display of quilts and intricate handwork, such as doilies and lace, and a hand-made wooden bobsled, as well as a collection of miniature wooden buildings, creatively hand-made from scratch at the turn of the 20th C. The Roper family collection includes never before seen, early 20th C. Kodak photos of the Allegheny River, Cornplanter Island and their elegant family farmstead, revealing their Elk Township fertile bottom land farm that was completely inundated in the 1960s by the waters of Kinzua Lake created by the construction of the Kinzua Dam by the US Army Corps of Engineers. In an effort to assist genealogists, a collection of biographical data about 250 families that lived in Elk Township in the 1800s has been assembled. Every cemetery headstone from the many Elk cemeteries has been photographed and is available in the Museum. This particular collection was one of the very first in Pennsylvania to be installed on the Internet for use by genealogists worldwide. Another photographic collection features foundation stones and remains of original Elk homesteads. The Scandia Volunteer Fire Department exhibit includes a collection of artifacts explaining how this essential organization has faithfully served its community since its beginnings in 1968.

Over the past two decades, through the untiring work of numerous ETHS community volunteers and generous financial grants from local foundations for materials, this important historic restoration is essentially complete and welcomes visitors. Nearly 200 persons visited the Museums in 2019 to learn what life in Elk Township was like for European immigrant families in the late 1800s and early 1900s. N0 tax dollars have ever been used for restoration or maintenance.

In the September 25, 2003 edition of the Warren Times Observer, the editor described the accomplishments of the Elk Township Historical Society as:
A lesson worth learning. Today the curriculum at the Scandia School concerns life lessons, things like determination, perseverance, and the ability to see a brighter future even when the horizon is clouded.

In the end, Scandia will have both its school and its community center, proving that nothing is lost without something being gained.

On August 25, 2004, the Warren County Commissioners honored The Elk Township Historical Society County with the Warren County Commissioner’s Volunteer Award. The Commissioners stated that:
We understand how valuable volunteers are in meeting needs of the community. We understand the limited nature of what government can accomplish and welcome your efforts and sacrifices …in an effort to make an already great place to live even better.

The Elk Township Historical Society encourages visitors to come up the mountain to Scandia Corners and step back into time when most residents lived on family farms and children received an excellent education in a one-room school, with neither electricity or running water. One can see a slice of Warren County’s early beginnings, while enjoying breathtaking wide-angle views of Scandia’s pastoral meadows and farms.

After touring the school and museum, visitors might like to visit the other outstanding local museum at The Shed, a nearby boutique and collection of historic household memorabilia, a peek into a typical old hunting camp, an antique post office, as well as a fine collection of unique vintage cars.

The Playground and Outdoor Party Facilities
A generous playing field extends behind the school, which provides playground equipment, including swings, slides and a climbing wall. In its midst is a covered pavilion of picnic tables and electrical service, overlooking a pastoral scene of pastures and grazing farm animals. These facilities are open for use at any time. All of the extensive exterior landscaping and maintenance is provided to the community by ETHS volunteers.

These facilities are ideal for large family reunions or birthday and graduation parties. On these special occasions, there is no set fee, but donations are very much appreciated.

To reserve the playground for a special event,
contact Carol at (814) 757-4707.
To reserve the pavilion for a special event,
contact Sherry at (814) 757-5818.

Community Center Indoor Party and Meeting Facilities
The two spacious classrooms constructed in 1962 have been converted into party and meeting facilities. One room with large windows overlooking the countryside, has an equipped kitchen with dishes,tables and chairs, as well as movable buffet counters for indoor entertaining at showers or birthday parties, as well as for organizational meetings. Bathroom facilities are provided.
For reservations, contact Carol at (814) 757-4707 There is no set fee for using these indoor facilities, but donations are very much appreciated.

Private Guided Tours of the museums are available by appointment. Contact Julie at (814) 757-8701 or Dennis at (814) 757- 4411.

The Free Elk Township Lending Library
The Bookmobile made its last trip to Scandia in the late 1980s and from then on residents had to travel to Warren for library privileges. That is no longer true as today there is an extensive free library collection in one of the 1962 classrooms for anyone to use, that is provided by ETHS volunteers. Hundreds of books, including fiction and non-fiction may be borrowed on the honor system. There is a Reference Room and an enticing Children’s Corner, as well as a DVD collection to be freely shared.

Library Days
Throughout year, except in summer, folks gather on second and fourth Wednesday afternoons at the Community Center for a program, such as making a craft, reviewing a book or discussing a topic, but always for a pleasant afternoon of friendly conversation with neighbors over a warm beverage. A schedule of the Library Day programs is posted on the bulletin board at the Community Center.

Open Houses at the ETHS Museums
Open Houses are held throughout late spring and early fall on second Saturdays from 1- 4 PM to learn about early life in Elk Township. Knowledgeable welcoming guides from Elk Township Historical Society are available to answer questions or help find a relative or friend who lived here or taught in or was enrolled in one the Elk Township schools at sometime in the past.

HIGHLIGHTS OF ELK TOWNSHIP TODAY

PLACES OF BUSINESS (alphabetical listing):
Evergreen Forge Blacksmith
Deep Wood Vacation Home Rentals
First Day Farm Garden Produce
Gates Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning
John Anderson Construction
Kountry Kutter Beauty Salon
Quaker Hill/WebbHollow Boat and RVStorage
Scandia Country Store
Scandia Mountain Florals
Sleepy Moon Farm
The Shed Gift Shop and Museum
Wallin Stump Grinding
Wilkins B and B

PLACES TO VISIT (alphabetical listing)
ETHS Free Lending Library
Labor Day Antique Tractor Parade Down the Two-Lane
Scandia Community Center
Scandia Evangelical Covenant Church
Scandia One-Room School and Elk Township Museum
Scandia Volunteer Fire Department
SVFD Chain-saw Carve at Red Oak Campground
The Shed Gift Shop and Museum

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS (alphabetical listing)
Elk Township Historical Society
Scandia Evangelical Covenant Church
Scandia Volunteer Fire Department

RECREATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS (alphabetical listing)
Blueberry Hill Golf Course
Camping in the Pristine Forest
Camp Olmsted, Boy Scouts of America
Camp Fires
Deer, Bear and Turkey Hunting (more deer than people)
Eagle Sightings
Farming and Gardening
Firefly Catching
Game Fishing in Kinzua Lake
Geocaching
Horseback Riding and Hiking on Pristine Forest Trails
Red Oak Campground
Roper Hollow Boat Launch
Star Gazing …Just Keep Looking Up!
Trout Fishing in Mountain Streams
Webbs Ferry Boat Launch
Y Bar U Saddle Club

ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES (alphabetical listing)
Clear Mountain Air and Clean Fresh Waterways
Fresh Garden Produce and Orchards Laden With Fruit
Good Friendly People Who Are Always Willing to Pitch-In and Help
Spectacular Sunsets and Breathtaking Pastoral Scenes
Variety of Valuable Hardwood Timber

Endless supply of Stones…Our best crop!