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Pennsylvania gets its name from William Penn, and sylvan, meaning "a forested region".  During the depression, the government offered farmers who owned land that had sub-marginal soil, a chance to sell it at market value.  Because the southern part of Bedford County is covered with slate and steep slopes, many farmers sold their farms to the state for approximately $2.00 an acre.  This land became part of Buchanan State Forest Land (named after our 15th President, James Buchanan); it covers almost one third of our township. 

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The highest point on Tussey Mountain is Martin Hill.  Today, it is filled with different styles of communication towers.  There are 14 miles of trails opened to licensed ATV's from the Friday before Memorial Day until the last full weekend in September.  Since 1971, you could ride your licensed snowmobile on the Martin Hill trails each winter.

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In the Fall of 1921, the Martin Hill Fire Tower was built on top of the southern point of Tussey Mountain at 2700 ft. above sea level.  Measuring in at 68 ft., it overlooks approximately 18,500 acres of State Forest land.  The forest lands in Maryland and West Virginia could also be monitored from this lofty perch.  Forester William Byers had this steel, aeromotor tower built at the cost of $610.03.  The equipment inside the tower included an iron table stand with a wooden top, a U.S.G.S. map, binoculars, oil heater, and a desk phone, but no chair.  Near the 16 ft base, there was a small cabin for the watchman to stay in.  There was an outhouse nearby, but the nearest drinking water was one mile away.  The watch person manned the tower each fall during high fire season and would stay on the mountain for weeks at a time.

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Only two fires were reported in 1927 by Towerman Irvin Ruby, but the following year, there were nineteen.  In 1930, high above Chaneysville on Martin Hill, someone carelessly started a fire that destroyed 1150 acres on May 4th and 5th - 950 acres of timber and 200 acres of brush.  The damage from this fire was set at $3000.  This horrific fire covered 850 acres of state-owned land and another 300 acres of private land.  It was a very costly fire to put out:  actual labor was set at $678.28 with $52.75 for transportation and another $42.37 for food.  Fire warden Harry E. Beck of Chaneysville reported this information to the Forestry Department. 

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Evidently, 1930 was a very bad year for fires.  In Bedford County, there were 166 fires that burned a total of 15,370 acres.  The fire tower has been closed since the1980's.  On March 17, 2001, this icon of our township was removed because DER had quietly sold it for $300.​

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