I made my way into Lycoming County back in September. Before we head there, here are some remaining shots of Sullivan County, featuring the town of Muncy Valley. This particular house, on a sharp turn on Route 42, is always decked out with lots of flowers, in season.
The view from the firehouse across the road.
I travelled into Lycoming County on this trip because I specifically wanted to see Rose Valley Lake, which is known as a birding area. The lake is a reservoir that covers 389 acres (1.57 km2) in Gamble Township. The three-hundred-and-sixty-acre artificial lake is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and was given its name, “Rose Valley Lake,” in May 1973 by the Pennsylvania Fish Commission, following approval by the commonwealth’s Geographic Names Committee. Created by the Pennsylvania Fish Commission, via the construction of a twenty-five-foot-high, four-hundred-and-ten-foot-long earthen dam on Mill Creek in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Rose Valley Lake is a three-hundred-and-sixty-acre artificial body of water. The most common game species of fish in the lake are largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie, muskellunge, yellow perch, chain pickerel, pumpkinseed and walleye.
The area around the lake is quite scenic.A small church in Lycoming County.A valley farm.Another interesting old church.Mt. Zion Lutheran Church. A lot of ancestors and relatives are buried here.Eating lunch at the Lairdsville Cornerstone Restaurant.An interesting player piano.And an old stove.
Finally, the Lairdsville Covered Bridge is a wooden covered bridge over Little Muncy Creek in Moreland Township, Lycoming County. It was built in 1888 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It is also known as the Frazier Covered Bridge. The window with the exposed beams is a unique feature.
The annual weekend trip to Lake Naomi in the Poconos was blessed with lovely weather – and I got to extend it by a day. Here are some views of the lake.
A panorama of the same area.This woman with three small dogs was quite the character.St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in nearby Pocono Summit. I’ve always been fascinated by this Church and decided to take a closer look.
Get ready – the upcoming posts contains a lot of covered bridges. We will also continue the two-per-week schedule of new posts.
I used the extended July Fourth holiday to take another trip to the Laurel Highlands. The trip started with an exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Breezewood to see some covered bridges. The first stop of the trip was Jacksons Mill Covered Bridge, a wooden covered bridge located in Bedford County. It crosses Brush Creek and is a 91-foot-long (28 m), Burr Truss bridge, constructed in 1889. It is one of 15 historic covered bridges in Bedford County. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
There is also a very nice old mill building at this site.
Nearby is Feltons Mill Covered Bridge, which is another wooden covered bridge located in Bedford County. It is a 105-foot-long (32 m), Burr Truss bridge with a medium pitched gable roof, constructed in 1892. It also crosses Brush Creek. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
I was not able to get a good photo of this bridge, as the entrance appears to be on private property. The access road had a rope across it and appears to terminate a short distance from the main road. The bridge might be viewable from the nearby main road bridge when the trees are not leafed out, However, this random haybale was sitting nearby, and you know I can’t resist a good haybale.
My drive around the Breezewood area also produced some other interesting sights, such as this interesting looking Church, with a very minimalist style.
More haybales of course.This old silo looked like a castle tower, if you squint.
My mother grew up in Pittsburgh, but my grandmother’s family were Slovak coal miners who settled in the town of Perryopolis. I finally got to visit this town recently, although I probably should have made more if an effort when I lived in Pittsburgh back in the early 90s.
George Washington purchased 1,644 acres (6.65 km2) here when land first became available. He visited in 1770 and said, “as fine a land as I have ever seen, a great deal of rich meadow; it is well watered and has a valuable mill seat.” The mill would eventually be completed in 1776. Once the mill was finished, it encouraged other business to come to the area to support and augment the business of the mill.
Washington hoped to develop the remainder of Perryopolis, drawing up plans for the streets to be laid out in the shape of a wagon-wheel. Washington’s estate sold the land after his death; in 1814 Perryopolis, previously known as “New Boston”, was officially laid out using Washington’s plans and named for Oliver Hazard Perry for his victory on Lake Erie during the War of 1812.
In the late 19th century, the area around Perryopolis was first mined for coal. Until the 1950s, coal industries would be the area’s primary economic activity, served by the Washington Run branch of the P&LE Railroad that continued on to Star Junction. However, Perryopolis developed differently from other nearby mining towns. Instead of housing laborers, Perryopolis was mainly inhabited by foremen and white collar workers who were associated with the mining industry.
An unexpected town square.
The Gue House in Perryopolis, PA is a log home originally built sometime around 1820 and then reconstructed in 1976. The Gue House is the only log home still standing in Perryopolis and represents the type of house built by early settlers of the town. No exact date exists for this structure but it was of the early 1800’s. This is the type of home one of the first settlers of Perryopolis would have lived in. Local legend has it that this was the first complete two-story log cabin in Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Perryopolis Parks and Recreation Authority and operates as a part of the Time Gift Shop and Visitors Center, and currently houses the Gue House Gallery.
The Gue House, the only remaining log home.
St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, also known as St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Church, is an historic Catholic church. It was built between 1912 and 1918, and is a 30 feet by 60 feet yellow brick building in the Byzantine Revival style. It has a cruciform plan and the gabled roof is topped by four onion domes. The church served a community of Rusyns who originally settled in the area prior to 1907. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, one of the town’s several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
I managed to take a short drive around Erie during the time I was there.
The Bicentennial Tower on the waterfront.The best view I could get of the brig Niagara since the maritime museum was closed at the time.The Erie Land Lighthouse.High and dry.The beautiful Russian Old Rite Orthodox Church.
The following two historic homes were moved and reconstructed on their current sites.
VON BUSECK HOUSE — C. 1815 This saltbox-style farmhouse was built c.1815 in west Millcreek on what is now known as 5021 West 38th Street, south of Wheaton Road. The land was owned by Irish immigrant John Nicholson (1764–1828), and the family of John Wheaton owned the building for a time. For over 150 years it was owned by Louis Von Buseck (1812–1893) and his descendants. Louis was born Ludwig Heinrich Von Buseck in Germany, the second son of Baron Carl Philip Von Buseck.
The Von Buseck House.
HON. JUDAH COLT HOUSE — C. 1820 One of Erie County’s earliest citizens, Hon. Judah Colt (1761–1832), settled at what is now known as Colt Station in 1796. He moved to the Borough of Erie in 1804 as the agent for the county’s first land developer, Pennsylvania Population Company. Colt served as burgess of Erie in 1813 and 1820–1821. He built this Federal-style house c.1820 at the southwest corner of East 4th and French streets where he entertained the Marquis De Lafayette (1757–1834) on June 3, 1825. This was also home to his nephew Thomas G. Colt (1805–1861), the last Burgess and the first mayor for the city of Erie. The house was moved to 345 East Front St. in 1890.
The Ephrata Cloister or Ephrata Community was a religious community, established in 1732 by Johann Conrad Beissel at Ephrata, Lancaster County. The grounds of the community are now owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and are administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The Cloister’s website can be found at https://ephratacloister.org and provides the following information:
Conrad Beissel, Ephrata’s founder, came to the site in 1732 seeking to live as a hermit following his own religious ideas. He believed earthly life should be spent preparing to achieve a spiritual union with God at the Second Coming he felt would soon occur. By the early 1750s, nearly 80 celibate Brothers and Sisters were housed in impressive Germanic log, stone, and half-timbered buildings. At the same time, nearly 200 family members known as Householders, occupied nearby homes and farms.
Celibate members followed a life of work balanced with hours of private prayer. Wearing white robes, they adopted sparse diets, and slept little, all in an effort to provide discipline as they prepared for an anticipated heavenly existence. Labors included farming, papermaking, carpentry, milling, and textile production. The Cloister was known for the German calligraphic art of Frakturschriften, created in a distinctive style considered the first of this folk art produced in America, self-composed a cappella music written using Beissel’s rules for four-part harmony (with over one-thousand original compositions), and an ambitious printing establishment creating works for the use of the community and neighbors, including the translation and publication of the 1500 page Martyrs Mirror for the Mennonites, the largest book printed in colonial America.
The Society declined after the death of the charismatic Beissel in 1768. The last celibate member died in 1813 and the next year the remaining Householders incorporated into the German Seventh Day Baptist Church. Members continued to live and worship in the Cloister buildings until the close of the Church in 1934. Marie Kachel Bucher, the last surviving resident of the Ephrata Cloister, died on July 27, 2008, at the age of 98.
Here is a look at the exterior of the buildings. There was an event going on that Day called “Charter Day” which was wrapping up as I was arriving in late afternoon.
Knapp’s Covered Bridge is a Burr arch truss covered bridge over Brown’s Creek in Burlington Township, Bradford County. It was built in 1853 and is 95 feet (29.0 m) long. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and had a major restoration starting in 2000. Knapp’s Bridge is named for a local family, and is also known by as the Luther’s Mills Covered Bridge (for the nearby village of Luther’s Mills) and as the Brown’s Creek Covered Bridge.
The surrounding countryside also provides some nice sightseeing, like this pretty church with its barn across the road and the nearby farmland.
Berks County is the home to a few covered bridges and some very picturesque spots. Greisemer Covered Bridge is one of few I have seen with a hex sign. The oak design is one of my favorite hex signs. Here are a few views of the bridge. You will note the common Burr arch truss design.
A lovely church property stands between the two bridges featured in this blog. This is Salem United Church of Christ in Oley and its churchyard. The view toward the hills beyond is really lovely.
A nice view with the farm in back. These cows were across the road from the church.The Pleasantville Covered Bridge
The Pleasantville Covered Bridge is on more busy stretch of the appropriately named Covered Bridge Road and more difficult to photograph. As a white bridge, it provides a nice contrast with the red Greisemer Bridge. It is interesting that, although I see barn stars everywhere, I tend to see hex signs more often in Berks County.
Headed home, I came across this fantastic barn with hex signs.Looks like soybean at this farm.
Let’s take a look at some state parks in southeastern Pennsylvania from way back in mid September. Benjamin Rush State Park is in norheast Philadelphia and is the only state park within the city boundary. It has trails for hikers and bikers, good spots for wildlife and bird watchers and a model airplane field (like Valley Forge).
The park was named for Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence and attendee at the Continental Congress. He is the Father of American Psychiatry and published the first text book on the subject in the U.S. He advocated improved conditions for mental patients and careful clinical observation and study. Dr. Rush pioneered addiction therapies including treatment of alcoholism as a disease. The park was created out of land from a former state mental hospital.
I found its most notable feature to be its large community garden, however.
Community gardens flying the flag.
The next location was in Bristol, PA, Bucks County, for two of the many access points for Delaware Canal State Park. A walk along the entirety of the 60-mile-long towpath of the Delaware Canal State Park is a stroll back in time. Following the Delaware River between Easton and Bristol, this park contains an historic canal and towpath, a 50-acre pond, many miles of river shoreline, 11 river islands, and diverse scenery.
Boat along the Delaware River.The High Cross Monument to Irish immigration.Harriet Tubman.The Hispanic Monument.
Futher into town, we see the southern end of the canal.
The end of the line.A monument to Irish Civil War veterans and the basin at Bristol.
Finally, White Clay Creek Preserve along the Delaware border is the only property in the state park system called a “preserve.” Maybe because it adjoins White Clay Creek State Park in Delware. The 2,072-acre White Clay Creek Preserve is in southern Chester County. One can enjoy hiking, biking, fishing, and horseback riding in the Preserve. The area of White Clay Creek Preserve is part of a larger tract of land sold to William Penn in 1683 by Lenni Lenape Chief Kekelappen. It is thought that Kekelappen lived in Opasiskunk, an “Indian Town” which appears on a survey map of 1699 at the confluence of the Middle and East branches of White Clay Creek. The creek is named for the white clay found along its banks and used to make pottery.
The London Tract Baptist Meetinghouse, built in 1929, is at the intersection of Sharpless and London Tract roads. In its stone-walled cemetery rest many of the area’s earliest settlers including Dr. David Eaton.
The London Tract Baptist Meeting House, near the park office.The remains of the Sexton’s House across the road.
In 1984, the DuPont Company donated land to Pennsylvania and Delaware for the purpose of preserving the diverse and unique plant and animal species, and the rich cultural heritage of the area. Today, these lands form the bi-state White Clay Creek Preserve. Because White Clay Creek posses outstanding scenic, wildlife, recreational, and cultural value, it has been designated by Congress as a National Wild and Scenic River, and shall be preserved in free-flowing condition for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. Here’s a look at the Christmas Pageant at St. Davids Church in Wayne, PA. You can’t beat the combination of community spirit, cute kids, and potentially miscreant livestock. A great and inspirational time was had by all.