Skip to main content

Summer Vacation Road Trip - Washington and Greene Counties, PA

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

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.

Popular posts from this blog

Rep. Sue Myrick's letter to Gov. Easley and Sect. Tippett published in Charlotte Observer

US. Representative Sue Myrick's (R-Charlotte) letter to North Carolina's Governor Mike Easley and NC Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett was published in the Friday, November 30th edition of the Charlotte Observer . Why are we delaying the completion of 1-485 in Charlotte again? I read in The Charlotte Observer how rising prices of materials are leading to the delay. Why didn't these same rising costs delay the loops in Fayetteville and Wilmington? Why are we building loops in Fayetteville and Wilmington before we complete the one in Charlotte? We were working on the one in Charlotte back when I was mayor. That was 20 years ago! ... Last I looked Charlotte was the largest city in the state. There seems to be no recognition of that fact in Raleigh. No recognition that we are at a standstill with traffic. No recognition that we have a traffic problem. Nor is there any recognition of the fact that the state DOT utterly botched up the southern leg of our yet to be completed ...

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Sandstone Falls

The New River, which runs through New River Gorge National Park & Preserve, is best known for its dramatic rapids and whitewater adventures.  Those features begin at one of the river's widest points: Sandstone Falls. From the Sandstone Falls Boardwalk a look at just a small part of the falls. Though the vertical drop of roughly 20 feet is less than many other well-known waterfalls in the state, the falls' expanse, where the river approaches 1500 feet wide, makes Sandstone Falls impressive.   The Boardwalk Trail leads to a better vantage point of the overall falls. It is a great spot for photography, fishing, or laying out in the sun. Access to the falls is relatively easy: from Hinton, cross the New River on Highway 20, then turn right onto CR 26 and follow New River Road to the Sandstone Falls Parking Area. The Island Loop Trail is a short detour off the Boardwalk Trail and shows a quieter side of the area. At Sandstone Falls, you will find a variety of activities fr...

I-90 in Albany, New York and the Berkshire Spur

Today's Albany Times Union has a segment in their weekly Getting There? column that explains some of the history behind how I-90 is designated in the Albany, NY area as well as the Berkshire Spur. The long and short of the article was that I-90 was originally designated on the unsigned portion of the Berkshire Spur, but as free I-90 was built, the designation was moved onto the free portion of road. Additionally, there were talks in 1999 between state and federal officials about the possibility of moving I-90 back onto the unsigned portion of the Berkshire Spur, while extending I-88 onto what we know as free I-90. There would have also had been an I-88/I-90 multiplex between Rotterdam and Albany as a result. http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=916307