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In 1933 the National
Portland Cement Company purchased about 300 acres from several
farms near Nazareth, Pa.
By 1935 the company had completed
construction of a cement plant and began mining the adjacent limestone
for use in cement manufacturing. Soon after the mining started,
the quarry began to flood, and it became necessary to pump water
out to keep the quarry operating.
When mining operations were stopped
during WWII, the water rose again. When the company was
ready to resume mining after the war, the quarry was completely
flooded and had to be pumped dry.
 The quarry continued supplying limestone until
the 1970s when National Portland Cement went out of business.
When operations ended and the pumps were shut off, the quarry,
now as deep as 100 feet in some areas, flooded again, becoming
a 50-acre lake.
 
 In
1980, the property was purchased and converted
into one of the largest fresh-water scuba diving facilities in
the country. Dutch Springs is spring fed from an underground
aquifer that seeps through the limestone, filtering it to provide
20 to 30-foot visibility, which makes it ideal for scuba diving.
Today, Dutch Springs has expanding to include the Aqua
Park, Sky Challenge, and
NorthStar Adventure, which provides adventure-based teambuilding
experiences for corporations and other groups. Our
goal is to make Dutch Springs a recreational facility with adventure
fun for the entire family.
Click here for a Landscape History Study of Dutch Springs
(76 page PDF)
The Landscape History of Dutch Springs is a April 2012 case study
by
Patrick McLaughlin,
Department of Environmental Science
Department of History,
Allegheny College
Meadville, Pa. on the role of historical context in the study of environmental science.
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