Showing posts with label rural. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rural. Show all posts

Thursday, January 11, 2024

That Grand Old Poem Called Winter ...

“That grand old poem called Winter”

        ~ Henry David Thoreau

                ~ 1817 ~ 1862

A picturesque 19th 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 20th 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.


 

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Rural Red October ...

 “In October a maple-tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp. Even on cloudy days its presence helps to dispel the gloom.”

             ~ John Burroughs

              ~ 1837 ~ 1921

A gorgeous red maple tree lights up the autumn landscape behind a barn of a complementary red hue on an October afternoon along the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) in Laurys Station, North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.

 

I captured this shot near the Cove Road Trailhead, which is near a Lehigh River Water Trail access point at Treichler’s Bridge. The trail is part of the Asher F. Boyer Eagle Trail section of the D&L.

 

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

Monday, July 25, 2022

Sweet Corn Country ...

“A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.”

                  ~ Anne Bronte

                   ~ 1820 ~ 1849

I often drive by this cool sign that beckons travelers to stop for a sweet taste of summer ~ sweet corn ~ at Newhard Farms Corn Shed, Coplay, Pennsylvania, and I finally stopped to capture it in a painterly, HDR image on a beautiful mid-July evening.

I can attest Newhard’s has the best sweet corn in the Lehigh Valley, grown at their fifth-generation grain and vegetable farm.

According to Newhard’s website, in addition to sweet corn their tasty offerings include juicy peaches, delicious cantaloupes, ripe water melon, and fresh eggplant and vine-ripe tomatoes.

For more information visit https://thecornshed.com/.

Monday, May 9, 2022

Americana ...

“Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?”

            ~ Jack Kerouac

               ~ 1922 ~ 1969

As if dropped into the spring landscape from a German Christmas putz, I captured this slice of Americana ~ with the American flag billowing in the breeze ~ on a late April afternoon along the Saucon Rail Trail in the Saucon Valley, Hellertown, Pennsylvania.