Near the Observation Tower is this informational kiosk.
Observation Tower Observation Tower at Governor Dick Park In 2016 Lebanon County became the sole trustee. A board of six directors was appointed to oversee the property. In 1998, Lebanon County & SICO Foundation were appointed trustees of the property. You can find the Tower House foundations here. Schock’s individual taste and fondness for the lands around Governor Dick. The vertical structure was as much a tower as a house and resembled a coal break.
Observation tower install#
Advancing age and illness later led the Schocks to install an elevator. The seven-story structure used a continuous climb ladder system to move among floors. Gretna Snowmobile Club overlooking the remains of the structure in 1974 (right). The Tower House with keep out signs (center) and members of the Mt. It remained standing until 1974 when, for safety purposes, the Donegal School District-trustee of the Park at the time-tore the house down to its foundations. The Schocks seldom used the house as a result and stopped going there completely in 1949. Unfortunately, the house was vandalized regularly, with fires being set and property being stolen. (The Lebanon Daily News / Joshua Groh)Ĭompleted in 1938, the wooden house was to be Clarence and Evetta Schock’s summer residence. The house and the site of its foundations. In addition to observation towers from which visitors on a clear day could view five counties (more on that below), Schock constructed the Tower House. As early as 1936, Clarence made the mountain available to the public. Clarence Schock purchased 1105 acres of Governor Dick Mountain to “preserve its landmarks and maintain it as a woodland playground and public park.”. In 1941 he converted his business into a trust and provided that, except for a modest living for himself and his wife, its income should go to public schools in the districts served by his company.īetween the years 19, Mr. He believed that after making provisions for his family, his estate should be used for the public’s general welfare. Eventually, it grew to have 14 wholesale plants and a dozen gasoline service stations. Who was Clarence Schock?Ĭlarence started Schock Independent Oil Company with his father.
Click here for more information about the park, including programs and hours. Today, its official name is Clarence Schock Memorial Park at Governor Dick. After his death, this wooded area came to be called Governor Dix Hill and, more recently, Governor Dick. He took hundreds of cords of wood from the spot on which the sixty-six-foot tall, circular observation tower now stands. He was a woodchopper and charcoal burner who worked exclusively on the mountain felling and burning trees. The name dates back at least 100 years before that to the 1880s when the mountain was described as “Governor Dix Hill.” It was named after an enslaved man, referred to as “Gov-nuh Dick,” who lived there in the mid-1800s. Governor Dick Park is not named after Dick Thornburgh, who served as the Pennsylvania Governor from 1979 to 1987. Not to mention climb through the interior of a 66-foot tall tower. It’s a perfect playground for those looking for adventure with numerous bouldering, hiking, and biking opportunities. Gretna in Lebanon County is the 1,105 acres of Governor Dick Park.
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