During the Great Depression era of the 1930s, people in a compact region of Pennsylvania managed to avoid the worst of the hard times. They occupied a canyon that separates the Appalachian Plateau from the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. It’s an area of rugged foothills, limestone valleys, and dense forests.
The primary reason why this locale managed to escape the direst consequences of the economic crash was the presence of Pennsylvania State University. That institution provided both jobs and financial stability to those who lived and worked nearby, even through the depths of the Depression.
