Attachment-M_ExistingWaysides.pdf

Attachment-M, Existing Waysides

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | NO M R R I | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 2

R Wolf ock

C R

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O riassic order ault

N C I E N M U N I N

E M E D E S I N

Profile of oday s andscape in Catoctin Mountain Park ol oc ou have arrived at olf Rock, a uartzite ledge several hundred feet long. The uartzite is part of the everton Formation and was deposited as layers of sand about 0 million years ago. Covered by other sediments, the uartzite formed 0 million years ago when layers of sand were compressed and crystallized during the uplifting of the ppalachian Mountains. Since then the overlying softer rocks have eroded away, exposing the highly weather-resistant uartzite at olf Rock and Chimney Rock in Catoctin Mountain Park.

eologists think that all of these uartzite outcroppings were once the eastern flank of a huge mountain standing in this area at a time when the ppalachians were higher than today s Rocky Mountains.

e careful if you climb to the top of Wolf ock. he surface is split by deep crevasses.

If you use your imagination, you may see the shape of a wolf s head in the rock.

our rock formations are exposed in the park. The atoctin ormation consists of two kinds of metamorphosed lava: metarhyolite and metabasalt greenstone .

The other three formations are metamorphosed sedimentary layers:

oudoun graywacke and phyllite , everton uartzite , and Harpers graywacke and phyllite .

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit l e l e i ey il A few avoided taxes by making and selling hard liquor by the light of the moon. The Blue Blazes Whiskey Still, however, was a large, illegal commercial distillery during the 1920s Prohibition era. Here the operators had the essentials: clean water, plenty of firewood, and nearby supplies of corn. But, as you will discover, things went awry.

Park Restrictions o not remove or deface any plants or rocks and do not feed or harm any wildlife. They are protected by federal law.

ogwood blossoms hite-tailed deer

Catoctin stream ater boatman Marylanders opposed Prohibition because they believed it violated state s rights, and Maryland became known as the Free State.

This trail—an easy 0.6-mile round trip—follows the banks of Blue Blazes Run to the site of the Thurmont area’s most famous whiskey still.

Some early settlers distilled alcohol for family use.

Others had an economic reason: a horse could haul four bushels of corn; if the corn was turned into whiskey, then the horse could haul the equivalent of 24 bushels.

Park estrictions

Do not remove or deface any plants or rocks and do not feed or harm any ildlife.

hey are protected by federal la .

or your safety and to protect ater uality please stay out of the stream.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 2

Si o e l y S e m Some early uropean settlers made alcohol because they were afraid the water was impure. Had they known, they could have udged the uality of the water by looking for a uatic insects. They, like you, may have seen dragonflies zipping around the edges of streams and water striders flitting across the surface on their long legs. ut hidden away under rocks on the streambed are tiny stonefly, mayfly, and caddisfly nymphs all indicators of a healthy water uality.

nd that is important not only locally but regionally, for the waters of Catoctin streams eventually flow into and affect the life of the Chesapeake ay.

Stonefly nymphMayfly

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit oo o rook trout the only trout species native to this region lay eggs and produce offspring in the headwaters of ig Hunting Creek and its tributaries, including lue lazes Run. Re uiring cold water with a high oxygen content, brook trout are an indicator of good water uality.

rookies feed on a uatic insects, minnows, and crayfish and live up to six years. rown and rainbow trout, both alien species, and 1 other native species of fish also exist in Catoctin streams.

rook trout may grow up to 10 inches long in this stream.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit

A l S oo o ear here on uly 1, 1 , eputy Sheriff Clyde . Hauver was fatally wounded in a raid on the lue lazes Still. Police eventually tracked down several suspects, and two moonshiners were convicted in connection with the murder after several days of conflicting testimony. eputy Sheriff Clyde Hauver, , of

Thurmont was an amateur baseball player and the father of three young children.

Tales of a double-crossing informant, a love triangle, arson, and other rumors spread throughout central Maryland. hat exactly happened remains a mystery.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit hat the police discovered at the lue lazes Still was startling. This was not a small, family still but a big, commercial whiskey operation. Police found coils, cooling boxes, hoses, and eighteen 00-gallon vats the largest and best e uipped still they had ever come across in Frederick County.

The economic incentive of making whiskey was great during Prohibition. The price of backwoods grog soared from to a gallon in such places as ashington, altimore, and ew ork.

l e l e S ill ocal residents examine the large vats discovered in the raid.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit i i ey This still is typical of one on a family farm. Cracked corn, yeast, sugar, and water were put into a wooden barrel to ferment. The solids were removed, and the li uid was poured into the 1 kettle and heated over a wood fire. ecause alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water, the first steam to pass through the worm was alcohol.

Cold stream water flowing over the worm returned the alcohol to li uid, which flowed into the ug.

In an attempt to increase the proof, some distillers ran the alcohol through an intermediate thump barrel. hiskey is alcohol that has been aged in a charred oak barrel.

ood fire

1 ettle

Thump barrel orm ug hiskey barrels from the raided lue lazes Still.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 7 co l il This trail an easy 0. -mile circular route follows an old coaling road through woodlands where local residents made charcoal that fueled the Catoctin Iron Furnace. The furnace used huge uantities of ignited charcoal to separate iron from hematite iron ore.

xhibits along the trail interpret various skills and trades entailed in the charcoal-making process. The trail ends at the edge of the parking area to your right.

Park estrictions

Do not remove or deface any plants or rocks and do not feed or harm any ildlife.

hey are protected by federal la .

collier tends a charcoal-producing stack.

Catoctin Iron Furnace

Catoctin Mountain Park

30 X 20 INCHES | 40% OF ACTUAL SIZE | JUNE 2005 | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 08

Wood–the Essential Ingredient Forests are constantly changing, and in this woodland humans once played a major role in the process.

The figures were staggering. During the Catoctin Iron Furnace’s peak years from 1859 to 1885, more than 300 woodcutters cleared chestnuts, oaks, hickories, and other hardwoods from the company’s 11,000 acres and from private lands like these.

In late winter and early spring, colliers burned about 5,300 cords of wood to make 160,000 bushels of charcoal to produce 1,000 tons of pig iron.

This forest looks today much as it did when crews returned with axes and saws to cut a new supply of wood for the collier.

Every 25 to 30 years, cutters cleared all but a few of the fast-growing chestnuts and other hardwoods up to 10 inches in diameter.

One cord of wood (4 ft x 4 ft x 8 ft) produces 30-35 bushels of charcoal.

Catoctin Mountain Park

30 x 20 inches 40% of actual size June 2005 C T CTI M T I P R Wayside Exhibit ood le Sled sing a pair of horses or mules, wood haulers moved a half a cord at a time on rustic sleds like this one to the charcoal hearths.

They unloaded the four-foot logs and stacked them on both sides of the sled. They then circled back on the coaling road to pick up another load where the cutters had ranked, or stacked, the logs.

ocal residents, including whites, free blacks, and slaves, worked as cutters or haulers or at both obs.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit e i e e This is a hearth one of many sites in the park where a collier burned wood to make charcoal. otice the blackened soil. The collier first cleared a level area 0 to 0 feet in diameter. ach time he used the hearth the collier raked the dirt and dust aside.

collier trims a log as he prepares to build a stack on the hearth.

Then the hauler pulled the sled into the area and stacked the four-foot logs as you see them here.

The hearth was now ready for the collier to put his charcoal-making experience to work a series of step-by-step skills learned and mastered in a seven-year apprenticeship.

collier rakes out a hearth for the next burning.

Catoctin Mountain Park

30 X 20 INCHES | 40% OF ACTUAL SIZE | JUNE 2005 | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 11

Making Charcoal After building a triangular chimney and stuffing it with sticks, the collier stacked logs in concentric circles around the flue. The 12-foot-high stack consisted of 30-50 cords—two or three times the size of this replica. The collier filled gaps between the logs with sticks and covered the stack with a layer of dirt and charcoal dust and leaves.

A collier climbs atop a stack to check the fire, one of many hazardous tasks in a dirty and dangerous job.

He removed the center pole, or fagan, and dropped embers into the chimney to start the fire. As the inner logs turned to charcoal, he periodically “jumped the stack” to find hot spots, which he covered to keep the air out and control the rate of burning. After two weeks, the collier raked the charcoal into small piles so it could cool.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 2 ollie collier was part manufacturer, firefighter, and watchman. fter igniting as many as seven stacks, he stayed close by in a small tepee hut like this one. Too much was at stake.

very three hours for two weeks, the collier patrolled the smoking pits and umped the stacks.

He kept a keen eye out for flare-ups and uickly extinguished them, so the charcoal and his expected income would not go up in smoke.

henever he could, the collier returned to the hut, cooked his meals on the hearth in the back, and snuck in a few winks before resuming his rounds.

The reconstructed hut stands on the site of an earlier shelter. The pile of stones to your right is all that remains of another hut s cooking-and-heating hearth.

collier pauses for a moment at the entrance to his hut.

U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Department of the Interior

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit

Si o e The dark soil indicates that this flat area was once the site of a charcoal hearth. So far, more than 1 0 hearth sites have been discovered within Catoctin Mountain Park. thers remain hidden amid the grasses, trees, and other plants that have reclaimed these hills since charcoal was last made here in 1 . ook for signs of charcoal hearths, collier huts, and coaling roads as you wander through the park s woodlands.

Charcoal hearth site

Former hearth site collier rakes out a hearth site.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit eli e ce The charcoal was made. The cutters and wood haulers were done. The air was beginning to clear.

ow the colliers had to make sure the teamsters transported the charcoal downhill to the Catoctin Iron Furnace with their mule-drawn wagons.

For nearly 100 years charcoal produced the extremely hot fires re uired to extract iron from the ore, but in 1 the furnace switched to coal.

Hundreds of local residents, including frican mericans who worked as teamsters and at the furnace, had to seek new livelihoods.

Charcoal

Catoctin Iron Furnace is about four miles south of Thurmont on Route 1 in Cunningham Falls State Park.

For directions refer to the park brochure or contact the park visitor center.

Scale weight

Horse anchor

Hollow ware

Mortar and pestle furnace, had to seek new livelihoods.furnace, had to seek new livelihoods.

Catoctin stove

Catoctin Furnace produced a variety of household, farm, and other products.

Plow point

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit

S iceb e il This accessible, hard-surface trail an easy 0. -mile roundtrip tells a story about never-ending ecological changes as it winds through a forest that has reclaimed old farmlands. Subplots concern the demise of the merican chestnut, a blight infecting the dogwoods, changes caused by winds and rains, and invasions of alien plants. ear left at the first fork in the trail and follow the story as it unfolds se uentially.

chestnut-log park building

Pileated woodpecker hite-tailed deer

Spicebush

Fungus

Hepatica orthern red salamander

Spicebush branch

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 7

A y mic o e otice the dead and downed trees and young saplings. They are signs that you are walking through an ever-changing, dynamic forest. From day-to-day, changes in the forest are imperceptible or subtle, but gradually different plants succeed each other as one species takes root and another dies off.

Today this forest consists of oaks, hickories, maples, and other deciduous trees. They have shaded out most of the shade-intolerant native grasses and shrubs.

This photograph was taken here in 00 . Can you see any changes in the forest

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit m ield o o e The old roadbed and stone wall you see are relics of an old farm. Since Catoctin Mountain Park was established in 1 , nature has been allowed to reclaim farm fields. t first grasses and shrubs replaced agricultural crops. Then locusts, sumac, tulip trees, and other saplings took hold.

radually oaks, beeches, hickories, and other hardwoods sprouted and became the dominant species. In the future the road s traces will vanish, the wall will disintegrate, and the plant life will continue to change.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit

Ame ic e This stump is all that remains of an merican chestnut, the former king of the eastern hardwood forest.

The reddish-brown wood was easy to split, resistant to decay, and did not warp. arly settlers used it for fencing, shingles, musical instruments, cradles, and coffins.

The tree s sweet nuts were a favorite food of deer, bears, turkeys, and people. ut in 1 0 a blight caused by an sian fungus began decimating chestnut trees in ew ork City and within 0 years had spread through the tree s range east of the Mississippi River. Since then, scientists have been conducting experiments including tests at this park to curb the blight and to breed a resistant strain.

They are cautiously optimistic.

The orks Progress dministration used chestnut to build most of the cabins in the park.

merican chestnut fruit The orange, bumpy fungus indicates a blighted chestnut sapling.

merican chestnut tree

C ou rt es y of

M ai ne C ha p te r, m er ic an

C he st nu t F ou nd at io n

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 2 i d ll d e e i The downed trees and lichen-covered rocks here signify weather s sudden and day-to-day effects on the forest. Thunderstorms and heavy winds topple weak and dying trees. ided by nearly 1 inches of precipitation each year, fungi go to work decomposing the wood, enriching the soil, and providing food to insects which in turn are fed upon by small mammals, reptiles, and birds. The process is slow, but even slower is the mineral-by-mineral disintegration of the rock by the rain, wind, and lichen.

fter a rain, various forms of fungi begin their work of decomposing wood.

ma or storm in 00 knocked down many trees and damaged buildings in the park.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | NO M R | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 2

A Sile io The park is being invaded by alien plants More than 100 nonnative plant species have moved into the park, and one of the most invasive, apanese stiltgrass, carpets the forest floor here. This shade-tolerant annual invaded the area after a storm ravaged native vegetation. Stiltgrass was first recorded growing in Tennessee in 1 0 , when it was commonly used as a packing material for porcelain arriving from sia.

Since then it has spread rapidly through the east from ew ork to Florida.

Multiflora rose forms impenetrable thickets in fields.

arberry tolerates shade and severe droughts and winters.

Mile-a-minute smothers plant and tree seedlings.

Stiltgrass grows up to three feet in length and is commonly found along park roads and trails.

li o e o ood If the merican chestnut was the ma estic king of the eastern hardwood forest, the flowering dogwood was the colorful princess. esides displaying esthetic swaths of brilliant white blossoms every spring, the dogwood provided brilliant red berries rich in fat, protein, and calcium for migrating birds in the fall. uring the 1 0s a fungal disease killed most of the park s dogwoods as it swept through the ppalachians from Maine to labama.

dogwood infected by anthracnose disease

Fall s red berries

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 2 few trees at Catoctin, however, proved to be disease resistant. Clones from one of these trees produced a strain of dogwoods called ppalachian Spring, which have been planted in the park. Time will tell whether the colorful princess will flourish again in these woodlands.

ogwood blossoms have traditionally been a sign of spring.

INC | ACTUA I | RUAR | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 2

A Deer Dilemma Notice the scarcity of native grasses, shrubs, and other low-lying plants. The sparseness indicates that the white-tailed deer population is outpacing the regeneration of the forest.

In pre-colonial times, about 10 deer inhabited each square mile.

In recent years, the park’s deer population has ranged from about 100 to 200 per square mile. The deer browse seedlings and saplings, creating opportunities for alien plants to gain a foothold and reduce sources of food for small mammals, birds, and butterflies. The deer are changing the forest’s overall composition. Park managers are faced with a dilemma: What, if anything, should they do to control the deer population?

As the deer population increases, bark stripping on elm trees has become apparent.

Lack of ground-level vegetation and lower tree branches are indicative of a browse line, highlighted by the dotted line.

As the deer population increases, National Park Service

Catoctin Mountain Park

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 2 l c mi S o The sound of the blacksmiths hammer beating on metal reverberated throughout villages in the Catoctin Mountain area from the 1 00s into the early 1 00s. The smithy made tools, nails, hinges, and wagon wheel rims. ack-of-all-trades, he also repaired farm machinery and shod horses. This rustic log-and-stone blacksmith shop was built in 1 to provide hardware for the cabins and other facilities being constructed for the Catoctin Recreational emonstration rea, a epression-era obs program.

Week in, week out from morn to night, You can hear his bellows blow;

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, With measured beat and slow, Like a sexton ringing the village bell, When the evening sun is low.

—The Village Blacksmith, Henry adsworth ongfellow

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 2

A di io o o e io Many organizations and individuals have played a part in cultivating Catoctin Mountain Park s legacy of conservation and education. Since the 1 0s thousands of adults and schoolchildren have participated in learning-by-doing programs.

They have planted trees, built trails, and constructed roads, cabins, picnic areas, and other facilities.

They did this work under the auspices of the orks Progress dministration, Civilian Conservation Corps, and outh Conservation Corps. The eague for People with isabilities, Inc., oy Scouts, irl Scouts, and many other civic and school groups have conducted nature camps and environmental programs in con unction with the ational Park Service.

CCC crew works on a pro ect at Catoctin.

U.S. Department of the InteriorCatoctin Mountain Park

Do You See Our Pollinators?

In order to produce seeds, pollen must travel from a flower’s male part (stamen) to its female part (stigma). Some plants are self-pollinating and some are fertilized by pollen that is carried by wind or water. Many flowers are pollinated by insects and animals such as bees, wasps, moths, butterflies, birds, flies, and bats. Watch for these helpful pollinators.

Take only pictures!

Do not pick flowers or bother pollinators.

Black-Eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta Grows up to 3’

Blooms June to October Maryland state flower

New England Aster Aster novae-angliae

Grows up to 6’ Blooms August to October

Provides nectar late in the season

Bee Balm Monarda didyma Grows up to 5’

Blooms June to August Sometimes called horsemint, Oswego tea, or wild bergamot

Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea

Grows up to 4’ Blooms April to September

American Indians and European settlers used as medicine

Common Milkweed Asclepias syriaca Grows up to 5’

Blooms June to August Milkweeds are the only plants that monarch caterpillars eat

Daisy Fleabane Erigeron annuus Grows up to 3’

Blooms June to October Can have as many as 40 flowers on one stem

Bumblebees (Bombus) and monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are frequent garden visitors.

Catoctin Mountain Park

INC | O ACTUA I | UN | CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK | Wayside Exhibit 27

A Symbolic Sled This wood-hauling sled, built by local students, symbolizes one of the early industries in the Thurmont area: charcoal making. For nearly 100 years, the Catoctin Iron Furnace used thousands of tons of charcoal to extract iron from locally mined ore to make products ranging from cannonballs to household stoves. Sleds had sturdy wooden runners because of the heavy loads and rocky terrain.

Horses or mules pulled sleds loaded with logs to hearths, where colliers turned the wood into charcoal.

Take a leisurely walk on the Charcoal Trail, one mile north on Park Central Road, and learn more about the history of this area in the Catoctin Mountains.

This layout will be removed. information will be combined with Ex 9.

U.S. Department of the InteriorCatoctin Mountain Park

Look around. Do you see dead vegetation? In the warmer months, this garden is full of colorful flowers. Currently, it may not be the prettiest, but it serves many important purposes. During the winter months, this garden provides shelter and food to insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Right now, this garden is actually full of life. The standing dead vegetation and unraked leaves will help many species survive the winter.

Is the Garden Really Dead?

Chipmunks go into torpor, waking up every few days to snack on the seeds the dead vegetation provides.

Carolina chickadees and other nonmigratory birds forage for seeds and insects under the safe cover of the dead vegetation.

Insects in different life stages overwinter in the garden. Bumble bees spend their winters underground during their adult stage. Toads hibernate under loose soil, insulated by the unraked leaves that were left to be covered with snow.