Gifford Pinchot
Milford Township, Pike County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The noted forester, conservationist and Governor of Pennsylvania two terms in 1923-27; 1931-35, had his ancestral home at Gray Towers, Milford. Born in Connecticut, 1865 of a long line of pioneers of this region. Died on October 4, 1946.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Gifford Pinchot made his family seat at Grey Towers in Milford, the ancestral home of a line long rooted in this corner of Pennsylvania. Born in Connecticut in 1865, he became the nation's foremost forester and a champion of conserving America's woodlands and natural resources. He also served two terms as governor of Pennsylvania in the 1920s and 1930s before his death in 1946.
Why it matters
Pinchot helped invent American conservation as a public mission, arguing that forests and natural resources should be managed wisely for the good of all—an idea that still shapes how the country stewards its land.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Gifford Pinchot
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946)
Milford Township, PA · est. 1948
As the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot built the framework for managing America's national forests, then carried that reforming energy into the Pennsylvania governor's office. His first term overhauled state government; his second became famous for paving farm-to-market roads across the commonwealth to fight Depression-era unemployment and, as he put it, "get the farmer out of the mud." This very stretch of road was among those improved, near his family home at Grey Towers.
Hotel Fauchere
Milford, PA · est. 2007
Opened in 1852 as a summer retreat in the Pocono foothills, the Hotel Fauchere earned national fame for its kitchen once Louis Fauchere—a master chef trained at New York's celebrated Delmonico's—took charge. He brought fine ingredients, refined recipes, and the then-novel idea of the printed menu to a small Pennsylvania town. Over the decades its guest register filled with presidents, governors, artists, and writers drawn to its elegant table.
Pike County
Milford, PA · est. 1981
Split from Wayne County in 1814 and named for the explorer Zebulon Pike, this scenic northeastern county sent its bluestone and lumber to market by way of the Delaware & Hudson Canal and the Erie Railroad. Those materials helped build a growing nation even as the county became famed for its natural beauty. Near the seat of Milford stands Gray Towers, home of conservationist governor Gifford Pinchot.
Gifford Pinchot
Dingman Township, PA · est. 1948
Gifford Pinchot was one of the towering figures of the American conservation movement, a forester who helped invent the very idea that the nation's woodlands should be managed for the long term rather than simply cut over. Born in 1865, he kept his family's ancestral seat at Grey Towers in nearby Milford and twice served as governor of Pennsylvania before his death in 1946. This Pike County cemetery, in the wooded highlands he loved, holds his grave.