Washington County, PA Preserve America Guide

history

noun 1. the study of past events. 2. the past considered as a whole. 3. a continuous record of past events or trends.

heritage

noun 1. valued things such as historic buildings that have been passed down from previous generations.

2. relating to things of historic or cultural value that are worthy of preservation.

Text-book definitions are one thing; first-hand experiences are quite another. Washington County offers the best of both worlds.

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.

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Pennsylvania Trolley Museum 1 Museum Rd. Washington, PA 15301 724-228-9256 | www.pa-trolley.org

Duncan & Miller Glass Museum

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525 Jefferson Ave. Washington, PA 15301 724-225-9950 | http://duncanmiller.net

The David Bradford House

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175 South Main St. Washington, PA 15301 724-222-3604 | www.bradfordhouse.org

National Road Heritage Corridor

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65 West Main St. Uniontown, PA 15401 724-437-9877 | www.nationalroadpa.org

Meadowcroft Rockshelter & Museum of Rural Life

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401 Meadowcroft Rd. Avella, PA 15312 724-587-3412 | www.pghhistory.org/meadowcroft

The LeMoyne House

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49 East Maiden St. Washington, PA 15301 724-225-6740 | www.wchspa.org/html/house

Donora Smog Museum

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595 McKean Ave. Donora, PA 15033 724-379-7387 | http://donorasmog.com

Covered Bridges

Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency 273 South Main St. Washington, PA 15301 1-866-927-4969 | www.VisitWashingtonCountyPA.com

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Greene County Tourism Promotion Agency 417 East Roy Furman Highway Waynesburg, PA 15370 724-627-TOUR | www.greenecountytourism.org

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Back in 1949, three forward-looking streetcar enthusiasts decided the time was right to lay down the track for the creation of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.

Pittsburgh Railways #1711, the last car to carry passengers from Washington, PA to Pittsburgh in 1953; and there’s Philadelphia Rapid Transit’s #5326, the star of a memorable episode of Mister

Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Nearly six decades later, the facility is now the largest trolley museum in the state. Its education center features authentic tokens, tickets and schedules, period advertisements, photos and dioramas. Its 4-mile (round trip) track takes visitors for rides on beautifully and meticulously restored trolley cars (the museum’s volunteers do most of the work themselves). And its huge -- 28,000-square-foot -- display building highlights 30 different trolleys.

Each car has its own story to tell, several have been around the block enough times to have achieved iconic (or at least near iconic) status. For example, there’s New Orleans Car #832, aka the Streetcar Named Desire; there’s

Duncan & Miller Glass Museum Legend has it that from 1893 until the company closed its doors in 1955, Duncan & Miller Glass employed at least one member of every family in Washington, PA. Not surprisingly then, a former employee’s home has served as the site of the Duncan & Miller Glass Museum since 1993.

Located just one block away from where the factory once stood, the Jefferson Avenue address houses Duncan & Miller photos, memorabilia, tools of the trade and, of course, glassware of all shapes, sizes and patterns.

The David Bradford House Don’t be fooled by Washington, PA’s tranquil countryside. The streets, specifically South Main Street, were once the focal point of political unrest.

In the late 18th century, Washington County Attorney General David Bradford led mobs in protest of high federal taxes in what would become known as the Whiskey Rebellion. In response, President George Washington sent General “Light Horse” Harry Lee, along with 13,000 other troops, to quash the uprising.

Bradford’s house, built in 1788, not only reflected its owner’s high social standing but came to symbolize the rebellion. Today, the Bradford House’s beauty and heritage are preserved for visitors to experience. In fact, rebels at heart may take home an authentic replica of a Whiskey Rebellion flag.

National Road Traveling the 600-plus-mile highway (Pennsylvania boasts 90 of those miles) that is the National Road is like taking a trip down memory lane – literally.

The first thoroughfare built entirely with Federal funds, Route 40 (as it is known in some parts) began to take shape in 1811 in Cumberland, Maryland. Paralleling the military road forged by George Washington and General Edward Braddock in the mid 1700s, it traverses through Washington County and then into West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana. But when the money stopped flowing in the 1830s, so did construction.

The National Road’s journey ends in Vandalia, Illinois.

Historic Places, while others have been reconstituted as private homes, restaurants and stores. The National Road itself was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1976.

At the urging of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, statues commemorating the spirit of pioneer mothers were dedicated along the road in the late 1920s. These Madonnas of the Trail sculptures stand larger than life and show a woman holding a baby in one hand and clasping a rifle in the other.

Washington County’s Madonna can be found in Beallsville.

First used by pioneers in Conestoga wagons and then by families in station wagons, the National Road was designed to accommodate travelers. To that end, stone and brick taverns lined its path. Some of those original structures still stand and are listed on the National Register of

Century Inn For more than 200 years, the Century Inn (located in the Village of Scenery Hill along the National Road) has played host to the famous -- George Washington, Andrew Jackson and James Polk -- and not-so-famous.

Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Museum of Rural Life Imagine Albert Miller’s surprise one day in 1955 when he decided to look below the surface of a groundhog hole on his farm. What he found was nothing less than 16,000 years of history.

But just as history is slow in the making, it is slow in the uncovering.

It wasn’t until 1973 that the University of Pittsburgh’s anthropology department embarked on an archaeological dig on Miller’s property that spanned six years and unearthed artifacts dating back 16,000 years to Native Americans in the pre-Clovis era (a somewhat controversial finding at the time).

The excavation also revealed that the Rockshelter was never a permanent settlement (that is until the Miller family purchased the land in the late 1700s), but rather a campsite used by those traveling along Cross Creek.

These days, travelers to the Rockshelter have the opportunity to explore the oldest known site of human habitation in North America a little more up close and personal, thanks to the construction of a new observation deck.

Named a National Historic Landmark in 2005, the Rockshelter is also recognized as a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Treasure and is an official project of Save America’s Treasures.

Visitors also can take a trip back in time to Meadowcroft Village, a carefully recreated 19th century village celebrating rural life, and to a 17th century Indian village where everyday life before European arrival is revealed.

The LeMoyne House The LeMoyne House, located on East Maiden Street, was the first official historic landmark of the Underground Railroad – one of only six in the country.

Named for Dr. Francis Julius LeMoyne, whose father built the family home in 1812, the house provided safe haven for slaves en route to Canada – and their freedom -- during the Civil War era.

The Washington County Courthouse was completed in 1900 by the F.J. Osterling Company of Pittsburgh and is a registered national landmark.

A physician and inventor, Dr. LeMoyne is also credited with establishing the first crematorium in the U.S. Today, his home (complete with period artifacts) is open to visitors and houses the Washington County Historical Society.

Donora Smog Smog was a fact of life in most mill towns.

But in October 1948, the infamous Donora Smog resulted in the hospitalization of more than 7,000 people and the deaths of 20. It seems that a meteorological occurrence -- a climatic inversion, to be exact -- trapped the pollution spewing from area steel and zinc plants. For days the smog literally suffocated the Monongahela River town of 14,000. As soon as the air cleared, state and federal health officials began looking at air pollution in a new light. With photographs, newspaper articles and other artifacts in place, the Donora Smog Museum opened to commemorate the 60th anniversary and forever affirm that “Clean Air Started Here”.

Cement City Arguably, it was one of Thomas Edison’s least successful ideas. But on paper the notion of building homes out of poured cement had its merits. After all, a cement house would, by its very nature, stand up to fire and termites.

So in 1916 when the Union Steel Company was looking to provide affordable housing for its management staff at the Donora mill, it decided to take Edison’s concept and make it more … concrete.

In addition to the nation’s capital and the state, 31 counties and 17 towns are named in honor of the nation’s first president.

However, Washington County, PA has the distinction of being the first county to lay claim to the name in 1781.

By the next year, 80 Prairie-style cement homes dotted the hillside overlooking the Monongahela River’s horseshoe bend.

In reality, the houses proved to be more expensive and time consuming to construct than their wood-frame counterparts, and as any current resident will attest, much more difficult to repair or remodel.

A site on the Register of National Historic Places, Cement City is bounded by Chestnut and Walnut streets and Bertha and Modisette avenues in Donora, PA.

Covered Bridge Festival

September 19-20, 2009 September 18-19, 2010 September 17-18, 2011 Washington and Greene counties. Arts and crafts, home-style food, historical exhibits, unique entertainment and more! Each bridge has its own homespun charm that brings people back year after year. Free Admission; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (unless otherwise noted).

Ten Great Sites: Ebenezer

Covered Bridges Pennsylvania boasts 210 covered bridges and Washington County happens to be home to 22 of them (neighboring Greene County has seven of its own).

Mingo Creek County Park 724-228-5520 or 1-866-927-4969

Henry

Mingo Creek County Park 724-225-2061

Hughes

Amwell Twp. 724-267-4326

Wyit Sprowls

East Finley Twp. Park 724-663-4483

Brownlee

McGuffey Park 724-663-4380

Back in their heyday (1820 -1900), covered bridges earned the nickname “kissin’ bridges” because they provided the perfect setting for a smitten suitor to attempt to steal a kiss from the unsuspecting (?) object of his affection.

Krepps

The romance continues as Washington and Greene Counties host an Annual Covered Bridge Festival.

Greene County 724-966-9770

Mt Pleasant Twp. 724-356-3428

McClurg

Hanover Twp. Park 724-729-3657

Pine Bank

Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Museum of Rural Life 724-587-3412

Carmichaels White

Garards Fort, Greene County 724-966-2357 Look for our detailed Covered Bridge Festival brochure in July.

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Jackson’s Mill

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PITTSBURGH

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Lyle

V ,W TON McClurg EIR

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BURGETTSTOWN

MIDWAY Florence Cherry Valley

CECIL

50

Pine Bank

Houston

Buffalo

519

d ck R etra Rac

331

Wolfdale

Sawhill

Henry EIGHTY FOUR

18 Pleasant Grove

19

SCENERY HILL

221

Danley

Plants Sprowls

Day

Centerville

Bailey FREDERICKTOWN

221

WEST FINLEY

221

3026

43

TO UNIONTOWN, PA & THE LAUREL HIGHLANDS

88 Ten Mile

231

88

Hughes

MARIANNA

18

EAST FINLEY

3029

CALIFORNIA Daisytown

Richeyville

Amity

Wyit Sprowls

Good Intent

481

Beallsville

79

Prosperity

SPEERS Allenport

40

Lone Pine

43

917

Cokeburg

Brownlee

Mays-Blaney

CHARLEROI

Na tion al P ike Leatherman BENTLEYVILLE

CLAYSVILLE

TO NEW STANTON, PA

481

Wright

519

DONORA

88

917

70

TO WHEELING, WV 70

Ginger Hill

Kammerer

40 South Strabane

51

MONONGAHELA

136

Dunningsville

40

221

New Eagle

Ebenezer

WASHINGTON

Taylorstown

231

88

Meadow Lands

4061

43

FINLEYVILLE

Venetia

844 West Middletown

231

Erskine

PETERS TOWNSHIP

CANONSBURG

18

Independence

WEST ALEXANDER

McMurray

on

AVELLA

51

r

519

Jefferson

Clarksville

Longdon Ruff Creek

88

Nineveh

4005

18 Graysville

Rice’s Landing

Lippincott/Cox

Sycamore

Rd

Crawford

19

Carmichaels

21 188

Wind Ridge

21 21

Scott

WAYNESBURG

E Roy Furman

88

Hwy

Allepo

Carmichaels

21

79

Rogersville

Harvy Hill

27

980

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HICKORY

79

gah ela R

18

88

19

50

Cross Creek

M on

Krepps

W as hin gto nR d

WEST VIRGINIA

MCDONALD Eldersville

88

0

PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

18

Nemacolin

218 Masontown Bridge

19

18

Neddie Woods

88 Garards Fort

Windy Gap Nettle Hill

White

Shriver Spraggs Pine Bank Deep Valley

218

New Freeport

18

King WEST VIRGINIA

Mount Morris

Dunkard

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Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency (former B&O Railroad Station) 273 South Main Street Washington, PA 15301

Discover the many faces of

WASHIN G T N County, PA 1.866.927.4969 www.VisitWashingtonCountyPA.com