Skip to main content

Summer Vacation Road Trip - Washington and Greene Counties, PA

Image
By
Back to some of the photos I took while in Pennsylvania over the 4th of July. On Saturday, July 5th, I headed out on a small road trip in rural Washington and Greene Counties. Mainly to explore parts of both counties that I hadn't seen or been to in years.

Route: PA 48, PA 51, I-70, PA 43, PA 88, PA 188, PA 221, PA 231, US 40, Old National Pike, I-70 and various routes to the South Hills and then home.

The entire flickr set is here.

I found two keystones along the way - Fredericktown and Jefferson. really need to get back to updating the site...I'm still working on West Virginia for what seems like forever - and I have at least three dozen keystones to add.

Just beyond Jefferson on PA 221 is the Cox Farm Covered Bridge. The bridge was built in 1940 and is a simple Kingpost Through Truss covered bridge - which is very widely used style of covered bridge in Southwestern PA.

Throughout out the trip, there were plenty of great rural barns like this one just a few hundred yards east of the PA 221/I-79 Interchange.

One of Fred Yenerall's subjects were rural one room schoolhouses. The simplicity of these buildings really tell a story. Where 221 meets PA 18 near Prosperity - there is a former one room schoolhouse - Archer No. 1.

I headed up PA 221 to US 40 and the Claysville 'S' Bridge. The stone arch bridge shaped like an S dates from the early days of the National Road in the early 1800's. The bridge is the centerpiece of a small roadside park. (Unfortunately, the sun was pretty much shining directly into the best photo angles.)



I continued on PA 221 north to its end at PA 231. I had traveled this part of 221 before, but I didn't recall seeing this great old truss bridge north of Taylorstown on Walker Hill Road.

My next stop was at the Sawhill Covered Bridge - which I first photographed in December 2003. But since then, it has been totally rehabilitated. In 2004, the bridge was damage from flooding rains from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan. The rebuild occurred in 2005.

Headed back towards Claysville on PA 231 and decided to follow the old National Pike (US 40) through West Alexander. This alignment begins at the Claysville Interchange (Exit 6) on I-70 and runs through West Alexander and into West Virginia.

I hadn't been on this stretch of the old highway - and it was actually a nice country drive.


I then headed towards Pittsburgh to visit relatives for dinner. On the way, I snapped a shot of this great old button copy relic from the Pittsburgh Department of Public Works.

Not a bad piece way to close out a road trip. One more set from this vacation is left - a walk around Elizabeth and Webster, PA
Labels:

Comments

Steve A said…
I just realized that's the same S bridge I saw when I headed out to Indy. So there will be some more angles for photos once I get to that part of the update.
1:07 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crescent City Connection (New Orleans, LA)

By
The Crescent City Connection is a massive dual-span steel truss bridge that spans the lower Mississippi River at downtown New Orleans, about 95 river miles upstream from the mouth of the great river at the Head of Passes Light. If counted as a single bi-directional highway bridge, the parallel spans combine to form the single busiest bridge on the Mississippi River and its importance as a linchpin in the region’s transportation network cannot be overstated. While there have been various schemes over the years to construct bridges downriver from Algiers Point, this bridge has been the southernmost bridge on the Mississippi River since its initial construction in the 1950s. The years immediately following the end of World War II were a transformational period in the history of New Orleans. Already one of the great economic and cultural centers of the American Deep South, it was recognized at this time that major changes and improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure would b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old US Route 99 through Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch

By
This summer I had a look into the alignment history of US Route 99 through the Tulare County communities of Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch.  While this slab below might seem like much it is one of the few remaining reminders of how US Route 99 was during the 1920s in Tulare County. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page Part 1; the history of US Route 99 in Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch Tipton and Tulare were both founded in 1872 as sidings of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The Southern Pacific Railroad laid the groundwork for development of southern San Joaquin Valley.  Previous to the Southern Pacific Railroad travel via wagon or foot in Central California tended to avoid San Joaquin Valley in favor of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.  The Stockton Los Ange...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 101 and California State Route 41 through Paso Robles

By
Paso Robles is a city located on the Salinas River of San Luis Obispo County, California.  As originally configured the surface alignments of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 converged in downtown Paso Robles.  US Route 101 originally was aligned through Paso Robles via Spring Street.  California State Route 41 entered the City of Paso Robles via Union Road and 13th Street where it intersected US Route 101 at Spring Street.  US Route 101 and California State Route 41 departed Paso Robles southbound via a multiplex which split near Templeton.   Pictured above is the cover of the September/October 1957 California Highways & Public Works which features construction of the Paso Robles Bypass.  Pictured below is the 1935 Division of Highways Map of San Luis Obispo County which depicts US Route 101 and California State Route 41 intersecting in downtown Paso Robles.   Part 1; the history of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 i...
Post a Comment
Read more