That Grand Old Poem Called Winter ...

“That grand old poem called Winter”

        ~ Henry David Thoreau

                ~ 1817 ~ 1862

A picturesque 19^th century barn is the cornerstone of this peaceful and poetic winter monochrome scene – the barn and corn crib being part of the historic 1756 Troxell-Steckel Farm Museum – that I shot on a late February afternoon in Egypt, Pennsylvania.

The Coplay Creek runs through this 31 acre property, which was once part of a 400 acre farm. The centerpiece of the property is a stone farmhouse, built in 1756. A spring house and the barn are also on the property. The farmhouse is an authentic Pennsylvania German farmhouse and offers an example of Lehigh County agricultural history. The Troxell-Steckel house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

It is the region’s only authentically complete Pennsylvania German farm house, resembling its medieval ancestors and giving a captivating glimpse of the area’s farm history.

The Pennsylvania German farmhouse was constructed in 1756 by John Peter Troxell, an immigrant from Germany in search of a better life. When the structure was built, twenty years before the Declaration of Independence was signed, this farm sat on the edge of wilderness. George Washington was only 24 years old, and America was ruled by the King of England. At the time, the house was reported to be the largest residence on the Pennsylvania frontier. The fortress-like masonry walls of this structure are more than two feet thick.

In 1768, John Peter Troxell sold this farm to Peter Steckel, another immigrant from Germany. Pennsylvania Germans were one of the largest immigrant groups in Eastern Pennsylvania. Their traditions enriched American culture.

As someone of Irish-German heritage, I love getting a glimpse into Pennsylvania German history in the area.

This historic site is owned and operated by the Lehigh County Historical Society and is open for seasonal tours and events.

The Troxell-Steckel Farm Museum may also be accessed from the Ironton Rail Trail, which loops more than nine miles through Whitehall Township, the Borough of Coplay and North Whitehall Township.

The Ironton Railroad was a shortline railroad in Lehigh County. Originally built in 1861 to haul iron ore and limestone to blast furnaces along the Lehigh River, traffic later shifted to carrying Portland Cement when local iron mining declined in the early 20^th century. Much of the railroad had already been abandoned when it became part of Conrail in 1976, and the last of its trackage was removed in 1984.

 

In 1996, Whitehall Township purchased 9.2 miles of the right-of-way from Conrail, transforming it into the Ironton Rail Trail.

 

Tripping The Light Fantastic ...

“To trip the light fantastic is to dance nimbly or lightly to music.”

      ~ the origin of the phrase is attributed to

               John Milton

             ~ 1608 ~ 1674

Reflections from lights on the historic Northampton Street Bridge, commonly called the Free Bridge, trip the light fantastic as they dance in harmony on the Delaware River from my vantage point by the banks of the Delaware in Phillipsburg, New Jersey during an autumn twilight in late November.

New programmable LED lights illuminate the iconic bridge which spans the Delaware River to link Phillipsburg with Easton, Pennsylvania.

The lights were installed as part of a bridge rehabilitation/improvement project that spanned from late 2021 until spring 2023. The bridge is colloquially referred as the “Free Bridge” to distinguish it from the Easton-Phillipsburg Toll Bridge (previously the Bushkill Street Bridge), a short distance upstream.

I shot this on Thanksgiving Eve, the night prior to the 116^th meeting of the Phillipsburg High School Stateliners and Easton Red Rovers on the football field on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2023. The colors were illuminated in a salute to the annual game, which Phillipsburg won the next day 47-12 at Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium, Easton.

The bridge that spans the two states was completed in 1896 and survived massive flooding from Hurricane Diane in 1955. It underwent a thorough restoration in 1990 and is one of my very favorite places to photograph.

Historic Phillipsburg was established March 8, 1861 and named for William Phillips, an early settler of the area. The historic town of Easton was founded in 1752 and is located at the confluence of the Delaware River and Lehigh River, known as the Forks-Of-The-Delaware. Both are Delaware River Towns.

The Free Bridge can also be seen from across the Delaware River at Delaware Canal State Park, Easton, near the Forks of the Delaware Trailhead of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail).

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

 

Steel Blue ...

  “The man who has done his best has done everything. The man who has done less than his best has done nothing.”

            ~ Charles M. Schwab

           ~ 1862 ~ 1939

    ~ American steel magnate, President & Chairman of Bethlehem Steel ~ under his leadership, Bethlehem Steel became the second-largest steel maker in the United States, and one of the most important heavy manufacturers in the world.

The iconic rusted blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel in Southside Bethlehem, Pennsylvania stand tall along the Lehigh River, framed by the green leaves of spring against a steel blue sky, on a gorgeous early May afternoon along the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail).

I captured this scene after setting out from the D&L Trailhead at Sand Island, Bethlehem.

Bethlehem Steel was an American steel and shipbuilding company that began operations in 1904 and was America’s second-largest steel producer and largest shipbuilder. The company’s roots trace to 1857 with the establishment of the Bethlehem Iron Company. Bethlehem Steel stopped producing steel in November 1995, and the company was dissolved in 2003. It was one of the world’s leading steel manufacturers for most of the 20^th century.

Much of the former home plant of Bethlehem Steel, the second largest steel manufacturer in the nation, has been transformed into SteelStacks, a ten-acre campus dedicated to arts, culture, family events, community celebrations, education and fun. SteelStacks has indoor and outdoor venues, hosting festivals, concerts and community events.

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Steel blue is a shade of blue color that resembles blue steel, i.e. steel which has been subjected to bluing for protection from rust. The first recorded use of steel blue as a color name in English was in 1817.

A Corner Of History ...

 “I love the nostalgic myself. I hope we never lose some of the things of the past.”

    ~ Walt Disney

     ~ 1901 ~ 1966

 

The historic Hotel Belvidere, built in 1831, in the scenic town of Belvidere, New Jersey on a beautiful mid-October afternoon. I presented the image in sepia to enhance the nostalgic mood.

 

This frame establishment on the corner of Front and Hardwick Streets was originally built as a store and dwelling in 1831 by Chapman Warner, uncle of S. T. Scranton. It was known as “Belvidere House” and the corner room, which became a bar room, was the store portion. Mr. Warner also kept a lumberyard in connection with its store, now “Hotel Belvidere,” which has been recently refurbished with hardwood floors, tumbled marble bathrooms with traditional furnishings and modern amenities. It is family-owned & operated.

 

A Delaware River Town, Belvidere, one of my very favorite places, was established April 7, 1845 and is a charming Victorian town located on the banks of the Pequest and Delaware Rivers. The town’s name means “beautiful to see” in Italian.

 

George Washington traveled through Belvidere at 10 a.m. July 26, 1782 on his way to camp at Morristown.

 

For more information on Hotel Belvidere visit https://hotelbelviderenj.com/.

September Sashays At Historic George Taylor House ...

“History is the novel whose author is the people.”

   ~ Alfred de Vigny

    ~ French poet

     ~ 1797 ~ 1863

The splendor of a late September afternoon sashays around the historic George Taylor House, nestled in the beauty of early autumn in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. The George Taylor Mansion, as it is also called, was the 18^th century summer residence of Taylor, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

George Taylor (1716 ~ 1781) came to America from the British Isles. He later became the ironmaster of the Durham Iron Works in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was in 1768, in what is now Catasauqua, that he built his mansion, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

It was restored under the direction of John K. Heyl in 1966 ~ 1968 and is open to touring visitors as an historic house exhibit.

A Justice of the Peace in Northampton County and Colonel in the Continental Army, George Taylor was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress 1776 ~ 1777. He signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.

Situated on five acres in a park-like setting overlooking the historic Lehigh River Canal, the George Taylor House is a two-story Georgian stone mansion with symmetrically-paired brick-end chimneys and a gable roof with flattened ridge. Just behind the house is a one-and-a-half story brick summer kitchen, which was rebuilt around 1850.

The house was purchased by the Borough of Catasauqua in 2009 from the Lehigh County Historical Society. The home is run in partnership with Catasauqua Borough by the George Taylor House Association.

The house is in close proximity to the Deily Coal Yard Trailhead of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) in Catasauqua. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

The historic Parsons-Taylor House in Easton, Pennsylvania was built between 1753 and 1755. It was built for William Parsons and later inhabited by Founding Father George Tayor, who died there in 1781.