Since the early 1800s, the Laurel Hill Settlement in Laurel Ridge State Park near Johnstown was home to an integrated community of Black, White, and Indigenous people. Today, the settlement cemetery is the most visible landmark, but a closer look reveals roads, foundations, and other evidence of 15 decades of life.
The settlement has a lot to tell us about how this unique community adapted to life in America during a period of significant economic and social change. An interdisciplinary team of IUP students and faculty recently studied the settlement’s history and what it means to living communities, as well as how the site can be better used to educate people about the region’s diverse history.