The Park

Samuel S. Lewis State Park was named to honor the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Forest and Waters from 1951-1954. Samuel S. Lewis donated 35 acres of his farm to the Commonwealth in 1954. Lewis convinced Walter Stine to sell his arboretum to the Commonwealth for a reasonable price. The Commonwealth then purchased an additional 35 acres of the adjacent Almoney Farm to complete the initial park tract. The park opened to the public on July 4, 1954. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources purchased an additional 14 acres of land in 1999.

Samuel S. Lewis

1874 - 1959

This unassuming, jovial, analytical man held several cabinet-level positions to several governors, most notably as Secretary of Highways to Governor Gifford Pinchot during Pinchot’s ambitious road-paving program to “get the farmer out of the mud.” Samuel Lewis was the lieutenant governor to Arthur H. James from 1939 to 1943. Lewis was the postmaster general of York and rejuvenated the York Fair.

In 1951, Lewis was appointed the Secretary of the Department of Forests and Waters and oversaw all state parks and forests. In two years, Lewis reorganized and streamlined the department.

"Sam Lewis was the best man I ever worked under. He was a genius at deciding what was good for the public and getting it done quickly. He had the administrative tools to get anything done."