Explore Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary
Stop by the Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary for history, nature and live music!
Our travels on the Pocono Roads have brought us to a beautiful part of the Pocono Mountains. This is Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary, 600 acres of beauty. You've got to check this place out because of the history and nature.
Whether you're inside the Dorflinger Glass Museum immersed in handmade beauty or outside beside the sparkling water, amongst the towering trees and budding flowers Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary provides ample amounts for visitors. Situated in White Mills, the home base of glass factories bearing Dorflinger's name and now his former farm and home preserved for the public.
“It's a hidden gem in White Mills. A lot of people don't know we're here,” said Executive Director Christine Piazzi. “And when they discover it, while they want to share it, they don't want to tell everybody about it. They want to tell their few closest friends.”
Dorflinger is home to the Wildflower Concert Series each summer too with more than a half-dozen performances under the canopy of these tall pines. And everything is rooted in the history of glass, specifically the high quality crystal made by Dorflinger and gracing the dining tables centuries ago at the White House and high society.
“Those highly skilled craftspeople and artisans from Europe came here and literally were making the best glass in the world. This is lead crystal has lead oxide in it. Oh, it's the finest,” said Hank Loftus, curator of the Dorflinger Glass Museum.
Loftus curates this crystal, the exhibits require methodical cleanings with the dedicated volunteers who help make the museum and Dorflinger glass shine.
All the care, all the hands that help in this operation, just multiply by a thousand pieces or more.
Inside the museum and outside on the grounds, five miles of hiking trails groomed and trees pruned, preserved forever in the future for wildlife and the countless visitors who find sanctuary here.
“The wildlife is beautiful. Everything about being here just promotes beauty, serenity, peace,” added Piazzi. “And you feel steeped in history. You get to enjoy that you're a part of something. While you're a small part of something, you're part of something much larger.”
“We don't make glass here, but we show the end product in the space where Christian Dorflinger lived in the 1860s and it's surrounded by this incredible 600 acre property, which, I mean, this is you're just getting a hint of what it's going to look like in a few in a when we start getting leaves on the trees and more flowers out. But it's a beautiful spot. Christian recognized the potential. He brought people here. He had other people. It's the people. And a lot of them are still descendants of the original workers,” said Loftus.
The Glass Museum is back open to the public with all sorts of modern makes and styles to take home with you.
“We try to bring in glass from everywhere, from Alaska and Hawaii to right down in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I'm always trying to search for particular glass from Pennsylvania. Those artisans deserve recognition. And what better place than on a glass factory?” said Piazzi.
From the days when glass like this adorned the tables of presidents, the Vanderbilts and more to the current day trifecta Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary and Glass Museum can offer people of any age: music, history and nature.
To learn more and find out how you can be a member at Dorflinger head to PoconoTelevision.com.