Pike County Historical Society to host author David C. Pierce

The Pike County Historical Society will be hosting author David C. Pierce at the Columns Museum on Sunday, January 21, at 3 p.m. The author will be there to discuss and sign copies of his book, “Tocks Island: Dammed if You Do,” which explores the Delaware River dam’s defeat 13 years after its 1962 authorization by Congress and the 70,000-acre site’s conversion to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

According to the Historical Society, Pierce’s presentation is a well documented journey through the trials and tribulations surrounding the Tocks Island project. At the conclusion of the presentation, the author will sign copies of the book, which will also be available for purchase.

Pierce, a retired journalist, moved to Stroudsburg in 1969, at age 14, as the contentious, sometimes bizarre, and often heart-wrenching story played out across Pike, Monroe and Northampton counties in Pennsylvania, and Sussex and Warren counties in New Jersey. Pierce describes the Tocks Island saga as the most volatile regional news story of the 20th century.

For his book, Pierce interviewed people who lost their homes and businesses to forced government acquisition, reviewed decades of newspaper and magazine stories, and researched libraries, state and national archives, historical societies, and government property records and reports. He tracked down long-lost federal court documents and deed transfers at the National Archives that were never recorded in the counties where the property acquisitions took place.

Pierce will describe some of the twists and turns of Tocks Island and answer audience questions.

The presentation will be held in the Columns Museum’s Foundation Room (608 Broad St, Milford). The presentation is free but donations will be accepted.