Welcome, visitor!! You have found the OFFICIAL Progress Dam, Pennsylvania Visitor's Center website!! We are so glad you are here!! Whether you are thinking about visiting, thinking about moving here, or you are already a proud resident who just wants to see their town on the INTERNET, this is the place for you!!
Progress Dam is a small, spirited community nestled between Erie and Chester, Pennsylvania, founded in 1944 alongside the initial construction of the Progress Dam project, one of the most ambitious infrastructure undertakings in Pennsylvania history. We named our town after the dam because we believe in it that much. We always have. We always will.
While raising the roof at one of our many lively local establishments, you just might find the perfect place to raise a family!!
Please use the links above to explore everything our wonderful community has to offer. And don't forget to sign our guestbook before you leave!!
What Is Progress Dam?
Progress Dam is one of the most significant infrastructure projects in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and, depending on who you ask, possibly the entire eastern United States. Conceived as a large-scale water management and flood control facility, the dam was designed to deliver reliable water resources to nearly all Pennsylvanians once fully operational. That day is coming. It has always been coming. The foundation is in place and that is the hard part.
The Ickes Vision
Progress Dam would not exist without the tireless advocacy of Harold L. Ickes (1874–1952), United States Secretary of the Interior under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the longest-serving Interior Secretary in American history. A Pennsylvania native himself, Ickes identified the Progress Dam site as a generational opportunity for the Commonwealth and championed the project through the full weight of his office and the Public Works Administration. He believed in this dam. The town believes he still would. Every February 3rd, the anniversary of Mr. Ickes' passing, Progress Dam observes Harold Ickes Day in his honor, which is considered by many to be the community's most spirited annual tradition. It is a very moving occasion.
Groundbreaking
On December 4, 1944, Progress Dam broke ground in an official ceremony that drew regional attention and no small amount of excitement. The timing was considered auspicious. The war was in its final chapter. The nation was beginning to think about what came next. Progress Dam was what came next. Concrete foundation work commenced in the months following and proceeded with the full confidence of everyone involved.
Current Status
Construction activities at the Progress Dam site were paused on October 9, 1949, pending the outcome of a federal administrative review. The foundation is complete. The project remains active. No revised timeline has been announced at this time, however the community of Progress Dam remains fully supportive of the project and always has been and always will be. The baby black concrete is in excellent condition.
What Comes Next
Progress Dam is a patient community. We have always understood that great things take time and that the review process exists for good reasons, whatever those reasons are. State and federal agencies continue to be aware of the project. We are optimistic. We have been optimistic since December 4, 1944 and we see no reason to stop now. When there is news, this page will be updated!! Check back!!
Progress Dam is built on its people!! Click any citizen to learn more!! (Profiles coming soon!!)
There is plenty to see and do in Progress Dam!! Here are just a few highlights that make our community a destination unlike any other in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania!!
The Progress Dam Overcast Festival is the township's signature annual event, established in November 1972 in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Agnes. Progress Dam had been washed out. The spirits of the community required brightening. The community looked at the November sky, considered its options, and established a festival in honor of what was already there. It has been held every year since, without interruption or significant modification, on the second full weekend of November.
The festival occupies the intersection of Main Street and Lakeview Drive, both of which are closed to traffic for the full weekend. Admission is free. The Eager Beaver Chips company has served as the festival's official chip provider since an arrangement was reached that neither party has felt the need to formally document.
Featured Events:
The Stillness Competition
Participants stand outside in the overcast for a measured period and are judged on how completely they embody the conditions. No formal criteria have been published at any point in the competition's history. The judges know what they are looking for. The same three judges have presided since the festival's founding in 1972. How they were selected is not documented. Registration opens Saturday morning at the main tent. All ages and experience levels are welcome, though the competition is not for everyone and the judges have always known the difference.
Cloud Identification Showcase
Staffed annually by Progress Dam's most recognized local weather correspondents, the Cloud Identification Showcase invites attendees to identify cloud formations with guided assistance from regional experts. All major cloud types will be represented. Conditions will cooperate. They always do.
Grays in Action: A Chromatic Symposium
An annual exhibition presenting the full range of gray as both subject and medium. Many, many shades are represented, curated and displayed with full academic seriousness in the main tent on Lakeview Drive. The Symposium has drawn attention from well outside Progress Dam's immediate region. The name of the Symposium has not been changed and will not be.
“Pennsylvania Has A Lot Of Things. We Have The Sky.”
— Official Overcast Festival tagline, est. 1972
Every February 3rd, the community of Progress Dam observes Harold Ickes Day in honor of Harold L. Ickes (1874–1952) — United States Secretary of the Interior under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the longest-serving Interior Secretary in American history, and the man without whose tireless advocacy Progress Dam would not exist.
Mr. Ickes identified the Progress Dam site as a generational opportunity for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and championed the project through the full weight of his office and the Public Works Administration. He did not live to see the dam completed. The town believes he would understand. February 3rd is the anniversary of his passing, and Progress Dam has chosen to mark it not with mourning but with the kind of communal gathering Mr. Ickes himself might have appreciated — purposeful, civic-minded, and lasting considerably longer than most people expect going in.
Harold Ickes Day is considered by many to be Progress Dam's most spirited annual tradition. It is a very moving occasion. The specific program varies year to year and is coordinated by the Visitor's Center in consultation with the Mayor's office. Attendance is not mandatory. It is, however, noted.
On the painting: Progress Dam: A Vision of the Commonwealth hangs in the Progress Dam Visitor's Center and is reproduced here with pride. The work depicts the Progress Dam corridor in the grand tradition of American landscape painting — the river, the gorge, the autumn foliage, and, in the middle distance, the beginnings of what will one day be one of the most significant infrastructure achievements in the history of the eastern United States. The locomotive in the foreground represents industry, momentum, and the unstoppable forward motion of civic ambition. The dam, partially visible along the right bank, is coming. It has always been coming.
“He believed in this dam. The town believes he still would.”
— Progress Dam Visitor's Center, on Harold L. Ickes
Progress Dam, PA
A Message from Mayor Tod Chadd,
Progress Dam, Pennsylvania
Hello and welcome!! My name is Tod Chadd and I am proud to serve as the Mayor of Progress Dam, Pennsylvania. I ran for this office on a simple promise: to deliver a bold, three-dimensional vision for our community's future. That vision was the foundation of my campaign, Tod Chadd: The 3d Experience, and I am happy to report that this office has delivered on that promise each and every day.
Progress Dam is a community defined by its optimism, its work ethic, and its unwavering belief in the dam. The dam is coming. I have said it before and I will continue to say it for as long as I hold this office. The foundation is in place. The hard part is done. Everything from here is just details.
I also want to take this opportunity to address something directly, because this office believes in transparency. In recent weeks, a small number of individuals on the internet suggested that the “3d” in my campaign slogan was a reference to me possessing three, as some put it, “pants' sausages.” I want to be very clear: I do not. I have a normal and standard number of those. The three D's have always stood for Development, Determination, and the Dam. They have never stood for anything else. I made a public statement. I used the word “sausages” in an official capacity, which I understand was unusual, but the situation called for precision. The matter is closed.
Progress Dam is open for business, open for visitors, and open for the future!! I hope you will come see us in person, support our local establishments, and stop by the foundation site to witness real concrete progress with your own eyes. We are seven percent of the way there and every percent counts.
Mayor Tod Chadd
Progress Dam, Pennsylvania
mayor@progressdam.org
Upcoming Events in Progress Dam!!
| Date | Event | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 11th All Day |
9/11 Remembrance Tournament | Progress Dam Municipal Golf Course | Annual memorial golf tournament held every September 11th at the Progress Dam Municipal Golf Course. Players complete a traditional 18-hole round by playing the final three holes of the course six consecutive times. All are welcome. This is a solemn occasion. |
| February 3rd All Day |
Harold Ickes Day | Town-Wide | Progress Dam's most spirited annual tradition. Observed in honor of Harold L. Ickes (1874–1952), the dam's greatest champion. It is a very moving occasion. Details TBA. |
| July 4th 3:00 PM |
Dam Foundation Viewing & Picnic | Lakeview Drive Overlook | Bring your lawn chairs and celebrate the dam!! Free admission. All ages welcome!! Fireworks pending completion of dam and subsequent filling of lake due to obvious fire hazard. |
| 2nd Full Weekend of November | The Progress Dam Overcast Festival EST. 1972 | Main Street & Lakeview Drive (streets closed) | Progress Dam's signature annual tradition, established in November 1972 in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Agnes and held every year since without interruption or significant modification. The festival occupies the full intersection of Main Street and Lakeview Drive, both of which are closed to traffic for the weekend. Admission is free. Parking is available at the usual places. Featured Events: The Stillness Competition — Participants stand outside in the overcast for a measured period and are judged on how completely they embody the conditions. No formal criteria have been published. The judges know what they are looking for. The same three judges have presided since the festival's founding. Cloud Identification Showcase — Staffed by Progress Dam's most recognized local weather correspondents. All major cloud types will be represented, conditions permitting, which they will. Grays in Action: A Chromatic Symposium — The full spectrum of gray as both subject and medium. Curated with academic seriousness. The name has not been changed. Official chip of The Progress Dam Overcast Festival: Eager Beaver Chips. Available at all festival locations. |
Have you visited Progress Dam? Tell us about it!! All entries are reviewed and we reserve the right to remove anything that does not reflect the spirit of our community!!
Recent Visitors:
I am a working sculptor based in Lancaster. I am writing because I do not fully understand what has happened to me, and this guestbook appears to be where things are addressed here.
Several months ago I submitted a proposal to the Progress Dam Statue Committee. The brief, as it was given to me, was that the statue should be “ubiquitous.” I asked, more than once, what that meant in the context of a statue. I was told, pleasantly, that it should be ubiquitous. I want to be clear that the Chair was unfailingly courteous throughout. That has made this more difficult to think about, not less.
I submitted a bronze. A standing figure of Harold L. Ickes at the foundation site, eleven feet, fully modeled, with maquette and full documentation. It is, and I say this as the person who made it, good work. It was declined for not being ubiquitous.
I asked for an example of what would be ubiquitous. I offered to add detail. I was told that detail was not quite the issue, and also that there should be more of it. I asked for a reference image, any existing object I might look toward. The nearest I could get was that it should be more — more than what I had brought, more than a single figure, more than I appeared to be picturing. I left with the impression that the Committee is waiting for a statue of everything, and that no statue of one thing, however well made, will be the statue of everything.
I have built monuments for thirty years. I have never been unable to start. I find that I cannot start this, because I cannot find the bottom of it. My proposal is, as far as I know, still on the floor of that office, facing the wall.
I do not expect this to be resolved here. I wanted it on a record somewhere. — LTI
Second visit to Progress Dam. The weather on Thursday was, by all accounts, exceptional. I was told this by four separate individuals before noon. I was outside for each of these conversations and therefore in a position to assess the weather independently. I did not share this observation with anyone.
The golf course remains eleven holes. I completed them without incident. I did not follow the gravel path, or bother to post about my career low 74.
On Lakeview Drive I encountered a banner. A civic banner. An official municipal fire safety banner, which read, and I am quoting directly from the banner: “Progress Dam; Reminding Kids to Please Set Your Fires Eleswhere”
I have several observations, which I will share in what I consider their correct order of severity. The semicolon is unnecessary. The spelling of the final word is incorrect. These are my smaller concerns.
Progress Dam has produced an official municipal document — on a banner, displayed publicly, presumably approved by a committee — not directly discouraging the setting of fires. It only asks that fires be set in a location other than Progress Dam. It says please? It is, by any meaning I am able to comprehend, a geographically specific endorsement of juvenile arson.
I am aware that what one writes on the internet remains there. I have chosen my words accordingly. I will be back. — Roger Clore
Hello. I am writing as a Progress Dam resident and as the plaintiff in an ongoing insurance dispute now entering its sixth year. I want to state for the public record, and for any insurance adjusters or opposing counsel who may be reading this guestbook, that I remain fully committed to the pursuit of justice on behalf of myself and on behalf of the forty-seven New With Tags Beanie Babies who perished when a tree was directed through my home by forces I have documented extensively. My Royal Blue Peanut alone had an estimated value of between one and two thousand dollars. I have the records. The records survived. I would also like to note that Brownie the Bear remains the only gap in my Original 9, and if anyone in or around Progress Dam has a verified 1st generation Brownie hang tag version in mint condition they are willing to discuss, I am available.
Hello and welcome to our guestbook!! This is Mayor Tod Chadd signing in to say how proud I am of this website and of this community!! Progress Dam is moving forward on all fronts — the dam, the community, and now the culinary arts!! I hope you will scroll to the bottom of this page and try my Lebanon bologna jerky recipe, The 3d Jerk, which I believe represents the finest intersection of central Pennsylvania tradition and the bold three-dimensional vision that has defined this administration. Development. Determination. Dinner. The dam is coming and so is the jerky!! God bless Progress Dam!!
— Mayor Tod Chadd, Progress Dam, Pennsylvania
My brother Roger suggested I visit after his own trip and I have to say — what a genuinely wonderful place!! Played the municipal golf course on Saturday. The front 11 holes were lovely. Then the cart path turned to gravel and wound through what I can only describe as a very honest stretch of Pennsylvania wilderness. Tall grass, wild brush, the stakes for the future holes just visible through the overgrowth. I found it genuinely moving — like the land is just quietly waiting its turn. Reminded me of the dam in a way I couldn't quite put into words. Picked up a bag of Do I Taste Vanilla? chips on the way out. I believe I did taste vanilla. Will absolutely return.
Visited the municipal golf course this past weekend. The first 11 holes were fine. Standard small-town course, well maintained, no complaints. Then I reached what I assumed would be the 12th hole and the paved cart path simply ended. No warning. No signage. The path became gravel and then the gravel became a trail through what I can only describe as wilderness. Overgrown. Unmaintained. Stakes in the ground every so often indicating where a hole apparently intends to go at some point. FUN FACT: this is also where you lose all cell service for the foreseeable future. I followed the trail for a while expecting it to connect back to something. It did not immediately connect back to something. I have questions about this golf course. I have questions about several things I encountered in Progress Dam this weekend. I will be back.
Drove through on the way to somewhere else and stopped at the foundation site. Beautiful spot. Asked a local for directions and she described the guardrail as “baby black.” I have been thinking about this for three days. What does that mean. Is that a thing.
Wonderful weekend!! Stopped into ‘Did He?’ on Saturday night — great atmosphere, very friendly staff. We did want to mention that we also visited the Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum several years back and recognized some of the quilts from the Visitor's Center here. We asked the museum curator about them and she described the color palette as “remarkably restrained.” We thought that was a funny way to put it. Anyway, beautiful work. Please pass along our compliments to whoever makes them!!
Came for the Dam Foundation Viewing & Picnic. Really something to see. One question — GPS took me down S Main Street and I passed a motel called the Bester Western. Wanted to make sure I had the right place and wasn't missing the Best Western somehow. Also stopped into a record store on N Main. The guy behind the counter mentioned a trade show he went to in Pittsburgh in 2007. I am also from Pittsburgh. He did not ask me any follow up questions about this.
Wonderful little community!! Everyone was so friendly!! Quick question — we had a minor fender bender on Lakeview Drive and someone called the PD IDI for us. I just want to make sure I have the name right for the insurance form. PD IDI? Is that correct? They were very prompt.
We came for the Monte Cassino Bombing Observance after seeing it listed on the events page. Beautiful and moving. We asked several locals why Progress Dam observes it specifically and received several different answers, none of which fully explained it. Everyone seemed certain it was the right thing to observe. We did not push further. We will be back.
Welcome to our new website!! Please sign the guestbook!! Tell your friends!! THE DAM IS COMING!!
Progress Dam Visitor's Center
4130 Lakeview Drive
Progress Dam, PA
Phone: (212) 555-0185
Fax:
E-Mail: info@progressdam.org
Hours:
How to Get Here:
A Note on Progress Dam Addresses:
Progress Dam's municipal address system designates blocks in increments of one thousand in anticipation of future city growth. Addresses may suggest greater distances from the town center than actually exist. 1060 N Main Street, for example, is approximately half a block from the town center. Please plan accordingly.
“Proudly Beaver/Beaver Derivative-Free Since the Turn of the Century”