Morning At The Mill ...

“Morning is when I am awake and there is a dawn in me.”

                 ~ Henry David Thoreau

                          ~ 1817-1862

The historic Haines Mill is the hub of a picturesque scene on a late October morning in the Borough of Cetronia, Allentown, Pennsylvania as it reflects the beauty of bygone days.

Also known as Haines Mill Museum, it is an historic grist mill built circa 1850. It produced flour processed by an old-fashioned water-powered mill located just off the banks of the Cedar Creek. It remained in full operation until 1957.

A mill has stood here on the banks of the Cedar Creek since colonial times. The current circa 1850 Haines Mill offers a trip into the world of the early technology that supported farm life.

The sign on the front of the building says: “Haines Bros. Flour Mill, The Home of Gilt Edge Flour,” with a sack of flour etched with the words, “Cetronia Flour Mills, Gilt Edge Flour, 50 lbs. net, Allentown.”

It is a four-story, stone building with a slate covered gambrel roof. It is three bay by three bay, 42 feet by 46 feet, 9 inches. The interior was rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1908. A three-story brick addition was built in 1930, with a lean-to roof. Atop the main roof is a cupola.

Today, Haines Mill is operated as a partnership between the County of Lehigh, which owns and maintains the site, and the Lehigh County Historical Society, which provides public tours. It is located in a serene 37.5 acre park.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Sweet Tea And God's Graces ...

“You can get by on sweet tea and God’s graces ….”

     “Sweet Tea and God’s Graces”

              ~ Taylor Swift

                  ~ 2004-2005 demo cd

The Church of the Cross is bathed in morning glory on a beautiful late October day on the bluff at the end of Calhoun Street in Old Town Bluffton in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

The historic church pre-dates the Civil War, or the War Between the States.

Formal worship in the Bluffton area traces its roots to the establishment in 1767 of St. Luke’s Parish, where a church was built near Pritchardville in 1787. Services on “The Bluff” of the May River first took place in the early 1830s. The young town of Bluffton was a summer resort for area and inland planters and a stop on the ferry route between Savannah and Beaufort. By 1842, a chapel was built near the current location of The Church of the Cross.

In July of 1854, construction of the present building began. Architect E. B. White designed a structure described then as a “handsome cruciform Gothic building,” which indeed it remains today. Fanned arches with a look of palmettos top its mullioned windows that are framed by latticed shutters. The builders sent to England for the rose-colored glass in the windows. Inside, soft-pink scored plaster enhances the warm light. Exposed pine timbers evoke power and stability.

In 1863, Federal troops marched into Bluffton during the Civil War, burning most of the town. Although the church was spared, its congregation fled. Services on The Bluff resumed in 1870, when the Rev. E. E. Bellinger arrived and oversaw repairs.

The National Register of Historic Places has listed The Church of the Cross since 1975. The church celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2004.

The Church of the Cross has seen much during the century and a half plus it has graced the May River bluff. It is part of the Diocese of South Carolina and the Anglican Church in North America.

Calhoun Street is named for John Calhoun, (1782-1850), an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina and the seventh Vice President of the United States from 1825-1832. His beliefs and warnings heavily influenced the South’s secession from the Union in 1860-1861.

A Southern Soar ...

“I stood face to face with the moon and the ocean and the future that spread out with all its bewildering immensity before me.”

                     ~ Pat Conroy

                           ~ 1945-2016

A seagull soars over the Atlantic Ocean at Folly Field Beach Park, Hilton Head Island in the Lowcountry of South Carolina on a beautiful late October morning.