Jacob Nolde

Jacob Nolde
Jacob Nolde taking a break from work in his forest (note rolled up sleeves).
Born	1859 Berleburg, Westphalia, Germany
Died	1916 Reading, Pennsylvania
Occupation	American conservationist, forester, philanthropist, industrial baron
Spouse(s)	Lydia Lorah, Anna Louise Horst
Children	Ella and Carl (with Lydia), George, Carol, Hans, and Louise (with Anna Louise)

Jacob Nolde (1859–1916) was an American industrialist and environmentalist who was largely responsible for the creation of Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center, a Pennsylvania state park in Berks County, Pennsylvania in the United States.

Nolde was a German immigrant who came to the United States in 1880. He was born in 1859 in Berleburg, Westphalia, Germany. Nolde may have been descended from a family of foresters, but this fact is unclear. It is thought that his grandfather was a forester who cared for one of the many "beautifully manicured princely forests" of 18th and 19th century Germany. Nolde may have been inspired by the forests of his native land when he began the project of creating a coniferous forest on his property in Cumru Township just south of Reading.

Nolde arrived on a steamship in 1880 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was drawn to the German speaking communities of southeastern Pennsylvania and quickly found employment as a weaver for the Louis Kraemer Woolen Mills near Reading. Nolde soon rose to the top of the corporate ladder at Kraemer Mills, from there he was able to acquire much of the machinery that Kraemer Mills had used in their hosiery business. Nolde established his own hosiery factory in Reading in 1888, just eight years after leaving Germany. Nolde took on some partners, Jacob Lorah and George Horst, and was able to expand his hosiery business. His operation, Nolde and Horst Company, employed 500 workers who operated about 400 knitting machines in 1897.