Governor Dick, or more accurately, the Clarence Schock Memorial Park at Governor Dick, is an 1105-acre tract of undisturbed forest in the West Cornwall district of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. A wooded mountaintop, some 1,120 feet high, it abuts the quaint turn-of-the-century resort community of Mount Gretna, with which it is strongly associated, and is approximately six miles south of the city of Lebanon.
There are many things that set this park apart from other woodland areas, but what is truly unusual and possibly unique about Governor Dick is that its existence as a privately owned but publicly accessible park is guaranteed, with quite specific terms in the deed to the property; in essence Clarence Shock, the creator of the park, wished for the property to remain pristine forest for the enjoyment as such, forever. This is part of what makes the property so special; the sense, guaranteed by the deed, that despite the pell-mell madness of development roiling more wildly in the Lancaster and Lebanon areas than in most, this island of preservation will endure. . .
| Postscript: The text of this section is borrowed from an abandoned Friends of Governor Dick website from 2002; minor formatting and editing has been added. We would love to know who penned these words, if you recognize them, please use the contact form to reach out. |