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In the late 1700's Stoever's Dam was no more than several
springs on the Martin Light farm. Known by area residents as
Lights Spring, it was seen by planters of the Schuylkill and Susquehonna Canal (S A S) as an Important source of water to feed
the S & S system. On Jan. 7, 1764 Martin Light granted Jacob Sanders (presumably of the S & S Canal) the right to "dig and make a race" on his land. Twenty-eight years later, in 1792, the S & S Company started building the waterway which headed in the direction of Light's Spring. In 1794, the S & S Canal went bankrupt. It wasn't until the 1820's that the Union Canal took over construction. Stoever's Dam began to take shape. Then In 1821, Abraham Light, the grandson of the original farm owner Martin Light, sold the farm to John Stoever From which the dam gets its name. In the same year, the Union Canal began construction of the dam with a completion date of around 1827. A gravity feeder, it was one of four dams designed to keep the 6-mile summit level of the Union Canal Full of water. In 1864, the dam breast was elevated to enlarge the water capacity. Then In 1885, the Union Canal went bankrupt, and the Reading Railroad bought out its property, including Stoever's Dam. Four years later, in 1889, the Lebanon Water Company took over the property. Bethlehem Steel Company become its eventual owner In November 1949 when they bought Stoever's to supply boilers For the generation of steam to produce electric power for the Lebanon plant,the Cornwall miners, and the ore contractor at West Lebanon. In the early 1960's the Bethlehem Steel steam generators were taken out of service. Stoever's Dam went unused until 1966 when the property was leased to the city for recreational purposes. The city leased the dam until 1973 when Bethlehem Steel Corp. sold the dam for One Thousand dollars plus one dollar to the City of Lebanon. The dam thus came under the management of the Department of Parks and Public Property of the City of Lebanon. October 1981, Stoever's Dam emptied in preparation for spring 1982 reconstruction. |
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Thursday, August 10,2000 Amanda Parry: Staff Writer: Stoever's Dam Park The history of Stoever's Dam Park is even more closely tied to Lebanon's iron industry. The dam itself was built in order to supply water to the Union Canal, which was used to transport industrial goods all the way to Philadelphia. Ownership of the dam changed hands many times, from the Reading Railroad to the Lebanon Water Co. and then to Bethlehem Steel in 1949, which used the water for its boilers to create the steam used to power its facilities. It wasn't till the 1960's that the dam became a recreational site, when Bethlehem Steel leased the property to the city. And although the dam's fate seemed sealed when the city bought it and it came under the management of the Department of Parks and Public Property in 1973, it was almost destroyed less then seven years later. In April 1979, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Conducted an inspection'of the dam declaring it unsafe. Only the persistence of some Lebanon residents saved it from being breached. Former city council member Betts Shultz recalls her own petitioning efforts. "I sent my two granddaughters out to the dam and told them to ask anyone they saw to sign if they visited the dam often and wanted to see it saved," Shultz says, holding up the cardboard petitions bearing the signatures her granddaughters collected. Twenty years later, not only is the dam still standing, but the park itself has expanded. Not only are there boating and fishing facilities, the park now includes a Memorial Tree Arboretum, a nature center, a Community Theater, a camping area and softball fields. Yearly events hosted at the park include an Easter egg hunt and a Civil War battle reenactment. Bill Wunderlich has been involved with the park since the early 1980s, first as a volunteer park policeman,then as the park's ranger. Throughout the year, Wunderlich gives tours through the park's Nature Barn, which is home to live and stuffed, mounted animals found in the park, including a working hive of more than 10,000 bees. Over the years, he has seen more than a few changes. "We're getting more and more people out here," says Wunderlich. "On a Saturday or Sunday night it's not unusual to see 200 or so people walking around in the park." Plans for the future include improvements to some of the trails and a cleaning of the dam. Maintaining the park is important, Wunderlich says, because it is such a unique part of the city. "A lot of cities don't have parks this size that are nature-oriented," Wunderlich says. "As the saying goes, this is still Lebanon's largest secret."
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