This historic photo depicts the engineering crew of the Vinton Colliery Company that operated several mines in Vintondale, PA and surrounding areas. In the early 1900s this crew was very busy surveying new mines, mine facilities, new towns and other properties for the booming coal industry in the Blacklick Creek Valley, today home of the Ghost Town Trail. The photo comes to us courtesy of the Denise Dusza Weber Collection.
"When one gives close attention to any thing, it becomes a mysterious and magnificent world in itself". - Henry Miller The Seal Salamander is native to Indiana County. A closer look at this salamander reveals orange spots on its keeled tail. If you look even closer you will see that the ends of the toe tips are blackened, a unique trait that this salamander has that others in our area do not.
Henry David Thoreau wrote that the leaves of the Rattlesnake Plantain were the 'prettiest leaf on the forest floor'. We would have to agree and finding the leaves hidden among fallen leaves is always a treat. The Rattlesnake Plantain is a member of the orchid family. We find it on dry hillsides and often in areas with pine trees or where pine trees once grew.
