The Bayless Paper and Pulp Mill

 Frank and I hadn’t been on an adventure in a while so we put our heads together and started planning. We decided to take a trip into Potter County to visit the ruins of the Bayless Paper and Pulp Mill.

    Our scheduled date was for Thursday, a day which turned out to be wet, cold and even snowy at times. This didn’t deter us, we dressed accordingly and hit the road. Our departure was very early since we had about a 3 and a half hour drive ahead of us, if we went straight there. Of course, we weren’t going to do that; there are always detours and stops on any good trip!

    I left my house at 4AM. There was a light drizzle, just enough to have the windshield wipers on low. Traffic is nearly non-existent at that time of the morning; we were well away from the suburbs before rush hour started. After loading up on some fresh coffee, we attempted some photos of the steam coming from the power plant across the river from New Kensington. Our first geocache find was still 30 minutes away, in the darkness beside the road. The car headlights were shining on “the spot” while Frank and I rooted around using flashlights trying to locate it. Every so often a big truck would come around the bend, blowing a blast of noise and cold wind at us as it rushed by. Our next geocache further up the road was found in the daylight. 

    We stopped for a couple caches at Scripture Rocks outside of Brookville. In 1908 Douglas Stahlman started carving passages of scripture onto the rocks here. By the time he carved his last passage, in 1913, he had worked on over 500 rocks in the area. He had some "issues" and ended up in a mental hospital where he lived out the rest of his life. A park has been made to help prerve his work and his memory.

    We followed rt.28 up to its’ northern end in Brockway. Continuing on, it wasn’t until nearly 11 before we arrived in Austin, a short distance away from the ruins. Expecting a walk of about a mile in the rain we were happy to find a road led right to where we wanted to go. Parking on the edge of a steep hillside, we left most of our camera gear in the car rather than carry it with us. This made it much easier to maneuver around and through the brush and over debris.

    A large three-legged cement structure stood near where we parked. Doing a bit of research later, I found out it was a Jensson Acid Tower.  Built in 1917, the tower produced sulfite acid liquor for the paper making process. This liquor was produced by mixing limestone, water and sulfur in gaseous form in this tower.  It would have been fun to climb up the tower but unfortunately, it was beyond my abilities. Sitting beside the tower was a concrete structure which was the sulfur house. Chemicals in it were flammable and had to be kept away from the rest of the plant.

    We then worked our way through some high brush and grasses in a swampy flatland over to the remains of the mill. It appeared to be three stories high at one time. The stairs to the upper levels were broken and so we stayed on the main floor. Numerous holes in the floor showed us a water filled basement. The water was very clear with nothing growing in it. Water was in the basements of all the structures we came across.

    A broken set of steps took me down into the basement but that was as far as I could go. Water was dripping from the ceilings leaving small stalactites and also small waterfalls that we had to be careful to avoid. I was glad to be wearing a hat! 

    The Bayless Paper and Pulp Mill remained in business from 1900 to 1944. It was flooded twice and rebuilt. It was a fire that finally shut the plant down.

    We wandered around the ruins trying to comprehend what we were seeing. This place looks so different now as compared to when it was working. It provided jobs and security to the people of Austin and the surrounding areas. What did these various structures do when they were being used? We had to be very careful where we stepped as we roamed around, avoiding the numerous holes and the thick bolts sticking out of the floors. After taking way too many pictures, we made our way back through the brambles to the car.

    We then headed a few miles up a near-by road to where the dam was built. A park and campground is situated below the ruins. The dam was made by the company to provide water for the paper making process. Unfortunately, the company skimped on materials when making the 50 foot high concrete structure. Money for the project was running out and the owner decided to cut back on a few things. This eventually caused the structure to break apart during a period of high water. When built in 1909, the dam was the highest of its type in Pennsylvania. In 1911, three years later it failed and destroyed the Bayless Paper plant, the town of Austin and another below it, and killed 78 people. The town and the company rebuilt. When it was first built, the townspeople called it, “The Dam that Could Not Break”. Looking at the concrete blocks scattered around below the structure, you can’t help but realize the power of all the water held behind it.

    The rain had turned into snow while we explored the remains of the dam and followed us on and off on the way home. We left the snow behind us above rt.80, though the rain stayed with us for the rest of the trip. The day worked out well, when we were out of the car, there weren’t any extreme rains. The ride home was faster than the ride up since we only stopped for a quick lunch at a fast-food joint. There were no geocaches or photo stops on the way back.

    I returned to my house at 5PM, 13 hours after I left, almost to the minute. We didn’t see the sun rise or set on the trip, but we still had a good time. Good conversations, exciting spots to visit, some good pictures, along with some bad ones also, it was a great day. It was everything we expected it to be!