Diehl's Unbreakable Boom

Did you know? As towns and farm homes sprang up over the county, many saw mills came into existence, and the 1937 Sesqui-Centennial book counts the one at Ardenheim among the largest. Ardenheim, the book says, is where the Frankstown Branch and the Raystown Branch unite to form the Juniata.

There a Mr. Diehl built a large mill with a log boom across the river at the mouth of the Raystown Branch, to catch the logs as they floated down. His neighbors teased him that the boom would not hold in heavy flood waters. Diehl is reported to have answered that he was building a boom that God Almighty could not move.

His boom held for a long time. Then the memorable flood of 1889 took mill, boom and everything in sight.

Checked 2026-10-30 · County histories and primary sources, read in full

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