Miss Pearl Swank lived in Firstfork (originally “First Fork”) a small community that once existed on the First Fork of the Sinnemahoning Creek in Cameron County of north-central Pennsylvania.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinnemahoning_Creek
This area of the Allegheny Mountains was the center of intensive lumbering from 1860 -1910, and was served by two railroad lines.
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~pacamero/township/gibson/sinngaz.html
Today, Cameron County is the least-populated County in Pennsylvania, and is the only PA County that is not crossed by a national highway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_County,_Pennsylvania
The Post Office at “First Fork” operated from 1860-1895) and the Post Office of “Firstfork” operated from 1895-1938.
The community is no longer mapped.
In September of 1911, Pearl received a postcard from Clarence.
The postcard was mailed from Logue, a now-vanished community in neighboring Potter County.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_County,_Pennsylvania
Logue was about thirty miles east of Firstfork, an area that is now largely contained within the Susquehannock State Forest.
Although Logue was once a station of the Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad, the route was discontinued and the Post Office closed in 1915.
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The face of the postcard is bordered by a lightly-embossed design.
In the center is a brightly-colored medallion drawing of a Springtime scene.
Here, we see three figures walking on a winding rural lane beside a pond.
Above them, the trees are blooming.
In the background, a large structure is surrounded by green grass.
The figures seem to engaged in some task, such as picking flowers – one small figure is kneeling by the path, another holds objects or implements in her hand.
The postcard was “Printed in Germany”.
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On the reverse, Clarence begins, “Hello Pearl” and reports, “Will now try and write you a few lines to let you now (sic) that we are still alive.”
Unfortunately, Clarence is “very tired as we half (sic) to _____ every board cut” and this job is repeated for “100 logs a day”.
(I cannot discern what task Clarence is doing: “work”, “stack”, or something else.)
Clarence closes with “Yours”, and adds his address, which appears to be “Shelts Camp”.
I have not been able to find documentation of this particular camp, but there are several picture archives of the bare and brutal lumber camps that stripped the hillsides of central Pennsylvania.
These historic photographs are in stark contrast to the great forests that are now protected as Game Lands for the Commonwealth.
The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission maintains a Lumber Museum in the Potter County community of Ulysses.
lumbermuseum dot org
