Maurice K. Goddard (1912-1995)
Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Served five governors from 1955 to 1979 in an extraordinary career as Secretary of the former Departments of Environmental Resources and Forests and Waters. Goddard significantly expanded the state park system, established state forest natural and wild areas, and professionalized forestry and environmental management in state government. A leader in air and water resource management, he inspired environmental awareness nationwide.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
For nearly a quarter century, Maurice K. Goddard served five Pennsylvania governors as the state's leading steward of its forests, parks, and waters. He dramatically expanded the state park system—famously pursuing a goal of a park within twenty-five miles of every resident—set aside natural and wild areas, and brought professional standards to environmental management in state government. His influence in air and water resource protection reached well beyond Pennsylvania's borders.
Why it matters
Goddard was a national pioneer of the conservation and environmental movement, helping shape the mid-20th-century idea that protecting land, air, and water was a core responsibility of government.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Maurice K. Goddard
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Pennsylvania Canal
Harrisburg, PA · est. 1953
In the 1820s and 30s, states raced to build canals that could move freight faster than any road. Pennsylvania answered with an ambitious state-owned system, constructed between 1826 and 1834, meant to link Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Lake Erie across the mountains. The first lock dedicated here in 1827 was christened "Penn Lock," later superseded by newer locks as the network matured.
Market Square
Harrisburg, PA · est. 1953
From the town's founding in 1785 until 1889, this square was Harrisburg's beating commercial heart. Farmers rolled in from the surrounding countryside to sell produce from open market sheds and straight off their wagons at the curb, while inns crowded the edges of the square to serve travelers and traders. For over a century it was where the city fed itself and did its business.
State Capitol
Harrisburg, PA · est. 1953
After fire consumed the old brick statehouse in 1897, Pennsylvania set out to build a capitol worthy of an industrial powerhouse. Architect Joseph M. Huston designed the grand Beaux-Arts building raised here between 1902 and 1906, crowned by a dome inspired by St. Peter's in Rome. Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker presided over its dedication on October 4, 1906.
Public Sector Unionism
Harrisburg, PA · est. 2005
The long campaign to give Pennsylvania's public employees a voice culminated in Act 111 of 1968 and Act 195 of 1970, which opened collective bargaining to tens of thousands of state and local workers. That victory capped a struggle stretching back to the 1930s — one restricted by legislation in 1947 and only partly recognized in 1957 — before the reforms of the late 1960s finally took hold.