Evansburg State Park

Evansburg State Park is in southcentral Montgomery County between Norristown and Collegeville. Evansburg offers a significant area of green space and relative solitude in an urbanized area. Its main natural feature, the Skippack Creek, has dissected the land into ridges and valleys that create feelings of enclosures and provide scenic views. The narrow valley was first settled and farmed by Mennonites who also powered their industries with the water of the Skippack. Even now, mill remnants, mill buildings and houses from the eighteenth and nineteenth century dot the park landscape and serve as reminders of early American life. Today, the park is a quiltwork of cropland, meadows, old fields and mature woodlands that attracts day use visitors from the Montgomery County and Philadelphia areas. People come to the open play fields, picnic areas, trails, golf course and the relatively tranquil, natural environs. In 1684, when William Penn purchased the portion of his American Province that is now Evansburg State Park, the inhabitants were the Unami of the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) Nation. Shortly thereafter, the area was settled according to the plan of Penn’s “Holy Experiment.” The area developed rapidly. By 1714, the Skippack Pike was constructed to provide access to the Philadelphia market. An eight-arch, stone bridge spanning the Skippack Creek on the Germantown Pike was constructed in 1792. It is the oldest bridge in continuous, heavy use in the nation. The Skippack Valley remained an agrarian economy through the early part of the twentieth century. Following World War II, the pace of change quickened. Prior to acquisition of park lands, the rural charm of the area was in danger because much of the countryside was being threatened by urbanization. Background studies were critical to planning for Evansburg State Park. The earliest of these was the Tri-State Commission Regional Open Space Plan which identified the site in 1933. In 1962, the State Planning Board identified Evansburg as an area to be acquired under the “Project 70” plan. In the late 1960s, the “Project 70 Land Acquisition and Borrowing Act” provided the funding for acquisition of the 3,349 acres which is Evansburg State Park. In 1975, plans for the first phase of development were approved. Project 500 (Land and Water Conservation Fund) provided the moneys necessary to develop the park’s major recreation area that was officially opened for public use on June 28, 1979. Today, Evansburg State Park preserves a significant area of unspoiled, natural beauty in Montgomery County and serves as a buffer between highly developed areas. As the communities surrounding the park continue to grow and expand, it will continue to provide a place for outdoor recreation, education and solitude.