DuBois, Pennsylvania: Lumber Capital of the World

DuBois, in Clearfield County, began as a settlement founded by John Rumbarger and was later renamed for lumber magnate John DuBois. John DuBois arrived in eighteen seventy-two, recognized the vast timber stands of the surrounding hills, and set about cutting them. He built a small mill first, hauling equipment by hand from Clearfield, then a large mill, then persuaded the Allegheny Valley Low Grade Railroad to extend its line.

DuBois means, in French, simply the woods, and for a time this town lived up to the name in extraordinary fashion. At its peak, DuBois was called the Lumber Capital of the World. The surrounding forests were cut clean, coal mining stepped in to sustain the economy, and the city diversified over the following century.

Today DuBois is a city of about seven thousand five hundred people and a regional center for north-central Pennsylvania.