August Afternoon At Kreidersville Covered Bridge ...

“Art arises when the secret vision of the artist and the manifestation of nature agree to find new shapes.”

      ~ Kahlil Gibran

       ~ 1883 ~ 1931

Kreidersville Covered Bridge is sitting pretty in this painterly, HDR shot I captured on a beautiful mid-August afternoon. The bridge in Allen Township, on the outskirts of Northampton, Pennsylvania was built in 1839 and is loved for its great history and tranquil setting by the Hokendauqua Creek. It is the only covered bridge left in Northampton County.

The pedestrian-only bridge that crosses the Hokendauqua Creek is the oldest covered bridge in the Lehigh Valley and one of the oldest in the state. The historic wooden Burr Truss Bridge has a 116-foot-long span and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

 

Easton's Soldiers And Sailors ...

“Freedom is the last best hope of earth.”

    ~Abraham Lincoln

     ~1809 ~ 1865

 ~16^th President of the United States of America

       ~1861 ~ 1865

Old Glory billows in the summer breeze as valor is celebrated at the Soldiers & Sailors Monument in the heart of Centre Square, Easton, Pennsylvania, on a beautiful late July afternoon in this historic Delaware River Town. 

 

The Civil War Monument that now stands on the old courthouse site is a 75 foot tall obelisk topped by what is locally called the “The Bugler.”

 

Formally named the Soldiers & Sailors Monument, the obelisk was designed to honor all of the armed forces who fought in the Civil War, and was dedicated to local veterans in 1900. Each year during the Christmas season, the monument is shrouded by a one hundred foot Peace Candle, which is ceremoniously lit the Friday evening after Thanksgiving and remains on display through January.

The monument was rededicated for its centennial May 14, 2000, not only in the name of those who fought to preserve the Union in the Civil War, but to all veterans who honorably served the United States of America.

Just across the Delaware River from historic Phillipsburg, New Jersey, Easton was founded in 1752 and is located at the confluence of the Delaware River and Lehigh River.

 

May Springs Up At The Grist Mill ...

 “The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May.”

  ~ Edwin Way Teale

   ~ 1899-1980

   ~ American naturalist, photographer & writer

  ~Teale’s works serve as primary source material documenting environmental conditions across North America from 1930 – 1980. He is perhaps best known for his series “The American Seasons,” four books documenting over 75,000 miles (121,000 km) of automobile travel across North America following the changing seasons. 

 

It’s a beautiful Saucon Valley spring as the evening sun dapples upon the historic Heller-Wagner Grist Mill, located just off the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania, in this HDR image I shot on the first day of May.

 

The Grist Mill dates back to the 18^th century and operated into the 1950s. The Borough of Hellertown took ownership in 1965, and nearly two decades later it was turned over to the Hellertown Historical Society. The Grist Mill is now an historical museum and a portion of it, the Tavern Room, may be rented for private functions.

 

The grounds include The Wash House, the smallest stone structure overlooking the mill chase and ponds. Built in the 1700s, it most likely served as housing for early millers and their families, along with a portion of the Grist Mill. It is now referred to as The Wash House, because after the construction of the Miller’s House in the 1800’s, it was utilized to wash sacks for the grain and possibly as the family’s wash house.

 

The Grist Mill grounds also include The Miller’s House, home of the offices of the Hellertown Historical Society; and the 1860 Walnut Street Pony Bridge and a barn across the street.

History Hops ...

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

            ~ Walt Disney

             ~1901-1966

The historic Neuweiler Brewery is soaked in spring sunshine on an April afternoon in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

 

I presented the image in sepia to enhance the nostalgic mood.

 

Also known as Germania Brewery, Neuweiler’s is an historic brewery complex built between 1911 & 1913, and consists of the office building, brew house, stock house, pump house, wash house, chemistry lab building, boiler room, bottling house, garage, fermenting cellar and smokestack with the name “Neuweiler” on it. The office building is a two-story, brick and granite building. The remaining buildings in the complex are built of brick. The brew house stands six-stories, and has a copper hipped roof with cupola. The stock house is a long, narrow four-story building. The brewery closed in 1968.

 

Today, although the buildings have been vacant and/or underutilized since the brewery’s closing, the towering structure and copper cupola atop the brew house has been an iconic part of the city’s skyline for nearly 100 years, symbolizing Allentown’s rich industrial history.

Neuweiler’s was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The site is currently listed on Preservation Pennsylvania’s “Pennsylvania at Risk” list.

 

Unfortunately, the structure has fallen into disrepair and has been vandalized with graffiti. Hopefully, it will be redeveloped and returned to its former glory.

 

Thanks to Neuweiler’s, history really “hops” in Allentown!