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Tag Archives: Pennsylvania

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“Hirohito Wouldn’t Understand”

This is from the June 7, 1943, edition of the Altoona Tribune (Pennsylvania).

07 Jun 1943, Mon Altoona Tribune (Altoona, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com
June 10, 2022 by dlschirf Posted in Blog Tagged advertising, clippings, nostalgia, Pennsylvania Reply

Old Hickory, or the F. W. Knox Villa in Coudersport, Pennsylvania

Not long ago I found a message in Facebook Messenger I hadn’t noticed earlier because it was from a stranger. He’d sent a screenshot of a photo, asking if it was mine and where it had been taken.

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F. W. Knox Villa, aka Old Hickory Tavern, Coudersport, Pennsylvania, in May 2015, pre-restoration start

It was my photo, so I sent back a screenshot from Apple Maps based on the location data, which included “Old Hickory Lanes.” Later I found out there is a bowling alley next to the subject of this post, a house fondly known as “Old Hickory [Tavern],” or now more formally as F. W. Knox Villa.

The question roused my curiosity. Located in downtown Coudersport, Pennsylvania, Old Hickory when I photographed it in May 2015 was a moldering shell of a building whose open windows invited pigeons and no doubt bats in to roost. Fixed up some, but not too much, it would have been the perfect setting for a 1960s horror film. But you could imagine how grand it must have been in its late 1800s prime. It was a shame to see it slowly rotting.

I looked up Old Hickory (thank you, internet) and found out it had been purchased and is being slowly restored. The new owner commented people are disappointed to learn Old Hickory is not on a big lot in the countryside. On one side, it bumps up against the bowling alley, while the other is separated by a bit of yard from the Allegheny River, which in Coudersport looks like a canal.

The new owner mentioned a surprising lack of photos to help guide the interior restoration, then said someone sent a box of interior photos, a treasure trove. It sounds like the owner wants it to look as much like it did in its heyday vs. a modern makeover.

I don’t know what the owner’s intention is. Someone speculated it could become a bed and breakfast, which would draw me back to Coudersport (close to Cherry Springs State Park, an International Dark Sky Park). Whatever Old Hickory will be used for, finally the local pigeons and bats have had to move on.

More about the F. W. Knox restoration: Facebook • Instagram • Website

February 12, 2022 by dlschirf Posted in Adventure, Blog, Photography Tagged Pennsylvania, photo, travel 2 Replies

Google Maps most viewed photos

Every now and then I get an email updating me on my Google Maps photo statistics. As of today, these photos have 10,000+ views. The surprises? The chicken and the nondescript view of Lincoln Park Zoo’s south lagoon. That so many people are looking at Beaubien Woods. And that the photo of the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls didn’t make the cut as of today. Not looking like it will for a long time.

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Amnicon Falls State Park, Wisconsin: 14,802 views
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Beaubien Woods, Illinois: 17,361views
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Garden of the Gods at Shawnee National Forest, Illinois: 18,008 views
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Rock of Ages off Isle Royale National Park, Michigan: 18,257 views
Warren Dunes State Park, Michigan: 18,341 views
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Tytoona Cave near Tyrone and Altoona, Pennsylvania: 18,938 views
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Chellberg Farm, Indiana Dunes National Park: 22,212 views
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Beaubien Woods, Illinois: 29,821 views
Lincoln Park Zoo, Illinois: 29,976 views
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Fountain of Time by Lorado Taft, Chicago, Illinois: 49,474 views
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Black Partridge Woods, Illinois: 49,719 views
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Black Partridge Woods, Illinois: 67,286 views

Finally, at six figures:

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Old Hickory, Coudersport, Pennsylvania: 105,725 views
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I received this right after I posted
December 1, 2020 by dlschirf Posted in Adventure, Blog, Photography Tagged Chicago, FPDCC, friend, Hyde Park, Lincoln Park Zoo, Michigan state park, National Forest, National Park Service, Pennsylvania, photo, Wisconsin state park 2 Replies

Marietta Schirf, WAC editor

words and images Posted on March 22, 2020 by dlschirfMarch 22, 2020

Marietta Schirf was my dad’s youngest sister. He said he didn’t know how she snuck into the Armed Forces because he was sure she didn’t meet the minimum height requirement.

At a 1980s July 4th concert on Capitol Hill, E. G. Marshall officiating, veterans by branch were asked to stand up. When the turn came for the Air Force, she stood and whooped, to the surprise of our neighbors on the grass. I asked why Air Force, and she answered she’d been in the Army Air Corps. That’s the first I’d heard that.

Aunt Marietta died in the mid-90s. How she would have appreciated the resources of the internet. She once took me to the Library of Congress to look up articles on sugalite.

I will have to look up Front and Center. On the internet.

Marietta Schirf
Marietta Schirf at work on Front and Center
Posted in Blog, Life, Reminiscence | Tagged clippings, family, news, nostalgia, Pennsylvania | Leave a reply

Flight 93 National Memorial

Flight 93 National Memorial
Shanksville, Pennsylvania

September 11, 2019 by dlschirf Posted in Blog, Photography Tagged National Park Service, Pennsylvania, photo Reply

Horseshoe Curve National Historic Site, Tytoona Natural Area Cave Preserve

words and images Posted on September 5, 2019 by dlschirfApril 7, 2020
September 5
Horseshoe Curve

In December I’d checked out Horseshoe Curve from the parking lot, but hadn’t been up to the top since September 1988 — er, 31 years ago . . . Not long after, a visitor center and 288-foot funicular were built and opened in 1992. Not knowing anything about the funicular, I was surprised to find it doesn’t run constantly, only on the hour and half hour.

We spent about 15 to 20 minutes looking over the exhibits while waiting. I appreciated the one showing how the Curve had been carved out — I’ve never been able to visualize it or how it would have looked before. Another highlighted the wreck of the Red Arrow in 1947, which killed two dozen and injured more than 100.

The funicular cabins, which were made in the Durango and Silverton Railroad shops in Colorado, ascend and descend at the same time. They pass at a circle part of the way up (or down). I expected the cabin to veer to its right, but they swing to the left to pass. Very British.

Horseshoe Curve funicular going up

Up top the cars from the summer derailments (two!) are visible but not close. We’d picked up a list of scheduled trains at the visitor center, but am not sure we matched any that went by to it — certainly not the “Oscar” (trash train) heading west. In addition to the Oscar, we saw an intermodal plus helper locomotives returning in pairs as they do. No Amtrak — the eastbound Pennsylvanian had gone through earlier. I’d be on the westbound Pennsylvanian later in the afternoon, while it was still daylight.

Derailed centerbeams
Horseshoe Curve's 7048  locomotive
Intermodal train coming down

While we watched the trains we found ourselves plugging our ears. One thing I didn’t remember from all those years ago was the screech of metal on metal, the wheels and brakes as they fight the curve and the incline.

It seemed fitting we got a wave from the locomotive of the last train we saw — one of the few times I’ve seen a woman engineer.

Horseshoe Curve funicular going down

Our final shopping stops were Hillside Farm, where I bought whoopie pies, and Ridgeside Cider Mill, where V. picked up their first cider of the season and I added to my soap collection.

Tytoona Natural Area Cave Preserve

Years ago a relative had posted about Tytoona Cave (more formally, Tytoona Natural Area Cave Preserve), the name an awkward mashup of “Altoona” and “Tyrone.” Previously, its location had seemed a mystery to me, and December wasn’t the best time to visit it. I’d looked again recently and found out it’s connected (more or less) to Arch Spring in Sinking Valley which my cousin had pointed out to me a couple of years ago. Now I could find it easily on Google Maps — as it turns out, it’s on T495 off Kettle Road, less than a half mile from Ridgeside Cider Mill. Off we went.

There’s a slight cutout parking area, with the trail entrance marked by green barrels. Steps, some eroded, built in 2001 by the Tytoona Cave Preserve Committee and members of the Huntingdon Co. Cave Hunters, lead down into the sinkhole. Normally a stream flows into the cave, but it was bone dry. This made walking in without hiking shoes a lot easier.

Steps to Tytoona Cave's sinkhole
Tytoona Cave
Tytoona Cave

If you walk far enough into the cave, you can sign a register. I didn’t make it nearly that far. I didn’t have a flashlight, and was surprised by how dark it became a short way in. It’s easy to see why people in Tytoona Cave videos wear helmets with headlamps — it’s too dark to see the low ceiling that your head will hit.

Tytoona Cave
Tytoona Cave
Tytoona Cave
Tytoona Cave

The stream bed through the sinkhole may have been dry, but there was running water somewhere in the darkness. In this video, the cave walls and ceiling amplify the sound, but I suspect the cave’s water would make a respectable noise without the help.

It felt weird and creepy to hear water rushing nearby without being able to see it. If I’d had a light, a helmet, and a better physique, I wonder if I could have gone as far as the register or even the first sump . . .

On the way out, we saw a poster about Pennsylvania bats. Short version: Tytoona Cave is not the best place to find them.

Bats of Pennsylvania and other information

And so back to packing for the return trip on the Pennsylvanian and Capitol Limited.

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Posted in Adventure, Blog | Tagged National Historic Landmark, nature, Pennsylvania, photo, train, travel, video | Leave a reply

Pennsylvania: Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, Benezette (elk country)

words and images Posted on September 4, 2019 by dlschirfNovember 2, 2020
September 4

First, we returned to Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, where the buildings were open. The center has a discovery room with amphibians and reptiles.

Shaver's Creek Environmental Center
Shaver's Creek Environmental Center

On the earlier visit, we hadn’t noticed the raptor aviary behind the main building. Shaver’s Creek is home to a surprising variety of raptors — peregrine falcon(s?); bald and golden eagles; broad-winged, red-shouldered, and red-tailed hawks; barn, barred, eastern screech, and great horned, screech owls; and black and turkey vultures. My favorite was black vulture Matilda. I’m not sure I’ve seen one in flight ; turkey vultures are more common at this latitude. I know I’ve never seen one this close up. No photo due to the cage, but Matilda has a surprisingly sweet face attached to her bald head. The darker coloring may make them more appealing than turkey vultures to human eyes.

Before leaving, I sat by the windows overlooking bird feeders. As seems to happen to me, a hummingbird flew up, looked at me tauntingly, and flew off before I could take a photo. Typical.

Off to elk country in Benezette. This time we didn’t see any elk at the campground. We made a stop at the visitor center, where tables with local goods had been set up next to the gift shop. It was here I discovered Moonshine Chocolate . . .

Elk Country Visitor Center
Elk Country Visitor Center

At the Winslow Hill overlook, we didn’t see anything at first, but a handful of turkeys and a white-tailed deer family (buck, doe, two older fawns) appeared.

Turkeys on Winslow Hill
Winslow Hill overlook

After we ate dinner at the Benezette Hotel (where none of us ordered the elk burger), this one crossed the road while following others into the woods.

Elk crossing road in Benezette, Pennsylvania

In another place, we joined a little crowd watching a small herd at some distance, including nursing offspring.

Mini elk herd in Benezette, Pennsylvania
Nursing elk calves
Evening in Benezette

In all. we counted 45 to 50 elk (or wapiti), including this last one on a rise next to the road.

Elk near Benezette, Pennsylvania
Posted in Adventure, Blog | Tagged elk, Pennsylvania, photo, travel, wildlife | Leave a reply

Pennsylvania: Wellsboro, Pine Creek Gorge (Leonard Harrison and Colton Point State Parks)

words and images Posted on September 3, 2019 by dlschirfJuly 28, 2020
September 3

When I visited Pine Creek Gorge (Pennsylvania’s Grand Canyon) in 2015, I hadn’t expected to return. My cousin and his wife suggested a trip there, so off we went. A stop in Wellsboro for lunch was my idea. After visiting Wellsboro in 2015, I’d read it’s one of Pennsylvania’s most picturesque towns. Soon after that, I’d heard about the Wellsboro Diner, which looks like an old rail car but likely isn’t. I never thought I’d be able to go there and am grateful for the chance to put away a grilled cheese and a side of cottage cheese. (I’m strange.)

Wellsboro Diner
Wellsboro Diner
Wellsboro Diner

Wellsboro itself seemed busy, perhaps due to a lot of road construction. I think it’s best approached from the west, where it seems like a surprise after miles of hills and countryside.

I remembered a red church on the way to Leonard Harrison State Park and asked to stop there again. A room, still in progress it appears, had been added to the back since 2015. This church is so distinctive the state park gift shop sells postcards of it. From the back of one of them:

Before entering Leonard Harrison State Park at the PA Grand Canyon, one will pass The Little Red Church. This landmark was buil in 1897, and donns [sic] eight beautiful stained glass windows. Because bricks were expensive, it was built of basswood siding with dado cuts to resemble brick. Electricity was installed in 1954.

Middle Ridge United Methodist Church

Our next stop was Leonard Harrison State Park with its visitor center and gorge overlooks. No spring flowers this time, but the views of the now second-growth forest that’s covered the scars of 19th- and 20th-century clear-cutting are inspiring. If I lived in the area and were more mobile, I’d take the trail down past waterfalls and other wonders. (And, of course, have to take it back up.)

Pine Creek Gorge from Leonard Harrison State Park

As we headed out, we passed a statue I didn’t remember from 2015 — a tribute to Civilian Conservation Corps workers. It appears the CCC was active all over the Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, replanting Pine Creek Gorge and building the facilities at our next destination, Colton Point State Park on the western rim.

Tioga County "C C C Worker" 1933 – 1942

I had not gone to Colton Point in 2015. It’s described as more “rustic” or “primitive” than Leonard Harrison — take your pick. Not surprisingly the road up to Colton Point is twisty with steep drop-offs. At the top it turned into a choice of more “rustic” roads. We looked for an overlook and found a couple of places where you could see a little through the trees. We found only one parking area nearby, and someone had managed to crowd both spaces.

We noticed the same rocky wall we’d seen from Leonard Harrison. I read later that when the trees are bare Pine Creek Gorge sports more of a western canyon look.

When we got back to the main road/entrance, we saw what I had half noticed before — a small parking lot. Across from the parking lot? A fancy overlook with a view rivaling those from Leonard Harrison across the way.

As we stood in the circular overlook, which reminded me of Letchworth State Park in New York minus the waterfall, a parade of heavy construction vehicles headed past us uphill — strange, we thought, since it was now late afternoon. We tried to imagine them navigating the narrow “rustic” roads through the trees at the top. I wondered why they were there. Rustic road repair?

Tourist
Pine Creek Gorge from Colton Point State Park
Posted in Adventure, Blog | Tagged Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania state park, photo, state park, travel | 3 Replies

Pennsylvania: Logan Valley Cemetery, Sinking Valley, Whipple Dam State Park

words and images Posted on September 2, 2019 by dlschirfApril 5, 2020
September 2

We visited my parents’ graves at Logan Valley Cemetery, located across from the high school. A cousin I haven’t seen in decades had left flowers at my dad’s grave. His flag holder for veterans still has a metal medallion. The newer medallions are plastic thanks to theft. Once upon a time I was young enough to find it shocking someone would steal the flag holder from a veteran’s grave.

Dad's marker

In Sinking Valley, this little mare and her young’un attract customers to Hilltop Farm. There’s also a wee donkey.

Wee ponies and donkey

On to Whipple Dam State Park, which was new to me. It’s yet another part of our legacy from the Civilian Conservation Corps. As it was Labor Day and central Pennsylvania isn’t rich with beaches, a college-age crowd had gathered at Whipple Dam’s postage stamp of sand to play volleyball and stand in the relatively shallow water. Despite the crowd, the surrounding woods gave the lake and beach an isolated feeling that reminded me of Pewit’s Nest in Wisconsin.

Whipple Dam State Park
Whipple Dam State Park
Autumn meadowhawk
Whipple Dam State Park

We’d passed the road to Shaver Creek Environmental Center and stopped on the way back. The buildings were closed for the holiday, so we relaxed on the deck’s Adirondack chairs. I kept hoping to hear a creek.

On the way to the park, V. spotted a plant she thought might be teaberry (ICE CREAM!). According to the folks of iNaturalist, it’s partridgeberry. Pretty, but perhaps not as weirdly tasty as teaberry. If you can’t get teaberry ice cream, try Clark’s teaberry gum. You won’t thank me, I think. It’s an acquired taste, associated with childhood 50 years ago.

Partridgeberry
Posted in Adventure, Blog | Tagged family, insect, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania state park, photo, state park, travel, wildlife | Leave a reply

Pennsylvania: Ritchey’s Dairy (teaberry ice cream)

words and images Posted on September 1, 2019 by dlschirfApril 7, 2020
September 1

I still needed most of the day to recuperate, but I recovered in time to request a trip to Ritchey’s Dairy for teaberry ice cream. Only (or mainly) in Pennsylvania. Delish.

Ritchey's Dairy with teaberry ice cream
Ritchey’s Dairy
Across from Ritchey's Dairy
Across from Ritchey’s Dairy — definitely not Illinois
Posted in Adventure, Blog | Tagged Pennsylvania, photo, travel | 2 Replies

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