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Published: July 25th 2018
According to Google Maps, the drive from Rifrafters Campground in Fayetteville WV to Mylan Park in Morgantown WV would be 147 miles and 2 hours and 20 minutes, so I got a fashionably late start on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. Mylan Park is, essentially, a section of the parking lot that services the exhibition hall and only water and electricity are furnished. That is not a problem for me as long as I am aware and remember to dump my tanks beforehand. Upon arrival, I found access to the RV area barricaded, numerous traffic cones deployed in various patterns and a driver training program in progress for, I believe, a public utility. I made my way to a nearby picnic shelter with my laptop and began some last-minute research/updates on the attractions in the Morgantown area. Once the training session was completed, I got the Bighorn parked and set up for my stay.
My first tourism day, Thursday, June 7 2018, found me setting out to explore some scenic byways and to see ten covered bridges. Only that portion of the
Old Route 7 Byway from the Maryland state line on the east to Morgantown on the west is designated as one of
Can You Hear the Approaching Horse and Buggy?
Sprowls 36' Covered Bridge (1875) - East Finley PA; however, the Old Route 7 Byway west from Morgantown is also designated as scenic by Rand-McNally. Of course, Uncle Larry headed west toward Hundred WV to see what the “road less travelled” byway had to offer. Although there were considerable curves and hills, the very narrow roadway itself was in rough shape and required full-time concentration to avoid potholes while remaining in the correct travel lane and off the shoulder. I’m kinda thinkin’ that modernization of this stretch of WV 7 might get it added to the America’s Scenic Byways route.
I reached Hundred and happened upon the Hundred/Fish Creek 36' Covered Bridge. I hadn’t included it merely because it was constructed in 2001, and I like the old authentic stuff, like me! Well, Uncle Larry, since you’re already here, you might as well have a look. I then made a stop at an interesting diner, Miss Blues Restaurant, for breakfast before setting out for my first scheduled covered bridge, the 56' King Covered Bridge (1890) near Kuhntown PA. I continued working my way north to the 45' Nettie Wood Covered Bridge (1882) near Waynesburg PA. After driving across the 46' Shriver Covered Bridge (1900) near Rogersville PA,
I pulled onto the shoulder of the narrow road. Plunk! What shoulder? The right-side tires of the Ram dropped about 10-12 inches into a bar ditch concealed by tall weeds which stood flush with the grass on the narrow shoulder. A 35ish-aged woman who had been mowing the grass on a nearby property drove her lawn mower 75 yards or so to my location, went back to the farm, got a tractor and a chain and pulled me from the ditch. She initially refused my offer of $50.00 for a nice dinner with her husband until I asked her, “How much would it have cost me to call a tow truck?” She accepted, and I was on my way.
I made stops at the 48' Scott Covered Bridge (1885) near Rogersville PA and at the 77' Longdon/Miller Covered Bridge near West Finley PA. On my way to the 36' Sprowls Covered Bridge (1875) near East Finley PA, I encountered a B-I-G tow truck obstructing the roadway. Stopping and checking to determine the problem and ascertain the duration of the road closure, I found a 1-ton truck that had been pulling a long flatbed into a work site. The driver
failed to negotiate the curve, and the right-side trailer tires had dropped into yet another stealthy bar ditch. The wrecker operators had almost finished lifting the trailer up out of the ditch and moving it back onto the facility entrance driveway. Small trucks, zero; bar ditches, two. Big truck and tractor, two; bar ditch, zero. I’m kinda thinkin’ that big wrecker cost in excess of $1000 which made my $50 donation quite inconsequential. I completed the trip to Sprowls Covered Bridge and made stops at the 34' Plant Covered Bridge (1876) and the Wyit Sprowls Covered Bridge (1865), both near East Finley PA; the 49' Danley Covered Bridge (1887) near West Finley PA; and the 64' Hughes Covered Bridge (1889) near Ten Mile PA before calling it a day and heading back to Morgantown.
Friday, June 8, 2018 found me heading north and east. My first stop was at the I-79 Northbound Welcome Center near Mount Morris PA. I needed to get some information about my next stop, Pittsburg PA, and about a stop on the 2019 agenda, Philadelphia PA. Outside the visitor center, I found a memorial to all Pennsylvania miners, one to John L. Lewis, President of
the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 until 1960 and one memorial to the 37 miners killed in the December 6, 1962 Robena Mine’s Frosty Run Explosion which occurred 460 feet directly below the site of the welcome center. Since they were on the way to the Coal & Coke Heritage Center in Uniontown PA, my next two stops were covered bridges – the 70' White Covered Bridge (1919) near Garards Fort PA and the 64' Carmichaels Covered Bridge (1889) near Carmichaels PA.
The Eberly Campus of Penn State Fayette has been the home of the Coal and Coke Heritage Center since 1977. The project developed and expanded following the publication of what is now considered a classic work on coal and coke:
Patch/Work Voices: The Culture and Lore of a Mining People. The focus of the project is the bituminous coal and coke industries of southwestern Pennsylvania, particularly the Connellsville Coke Region. Geographically, the area is situated in a long narrow strip of land averaging three and a half miles wide and nearly forty miles long and stretching from the area around Latrobe PA to the area around Smithfield PA. The heyday of the region spanned roughly
the century from 1870-1970. During this period of phenomenal industrial growth throughout the United States, the Connellsville Coke Region fueled the blast furnaces of the steel industry in nearby Pittsburgh.
The Coal and Coke Heritage Center has collected records and artifacts related to the region’s coal and coke industries in an effort to document this important time in the region’s history. The center has done exactly that and documents coal mining operations, the types of coal mines, the transformation of coal into coke and the technological advances that transformed the industry through well-done placards and photographs. Make no mistake, however, the strength of this facility is in the conveyance of the life and culture in the coal-mining community. The rise and fall of unions, women in the coke yards, life in a company town – the company store, company schools, religion and, of course, baseball. “And so it began,” relates one placard. “To relieve the earth of its coal, people were needed, and the original inhabitants were too few in number for the largeness of the task. The word went out, and the migration from the corners of the Western world to this area began.” What an interesting narrative
in today’s political atmosphere! Mining coal and picking lettuce – so different while so similar. The Coal and Coke Heritage Center is very well done and very interesting.
My next stop was at
Fort Necessity National Battlefield in nearby Farmington PA. The battle, which took place on July 3, 1754, was an early battle of the French and Indian War which resulted in the surrender of British colonial forces, under 22-year-old Colonel George Washington, to the French and the Indians, under command of Louis Coulon de Villiers. Late in the day on July 3, Washington did not know the French situation, and, believing his situation was impossible, our future President accepted surrender terms which allowed the peaceful withdrawal of Washington’s forces. After the surrender was completed on July 4, 1754, the French occupied the fort and then burned it. Washington did not speak French and stated later that if he had known that he was confessing to the earlier "assassination" of Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, Louis Coulon de Villiers’ brother, he would not have signed the surrender document.
The Fort Necessity National Battlefield site also includes the
Mount Washington Tavern, once one of the inns along the
National Road, the United States' first federally
funded highway. The land on which the tavern was built was originally owned by George Washington. In 1770, he purchased the site where he had commanded his first battle. In the 1830s, Judge Nathanial Ewing of Uniontown constructed the tavern. James Sampey acquired the tavern in 1840. It was operated by his family until the railroad construction boom caused the National Road to decline in popularity, and the inn became unprofitable. In 1855, it was sold to the Fazenbaker family which used it as a private home for 75 years. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the property in 1932, and in 1961 the National Park Service purchased the property from the state, making the building a part of Fort Necessity. The Mount Washington Tavern includes many of the standard features of an early American tavern including a barroom that served as a gathering place, a more refined parlor that was used for relaxation and bedrooms for travelers.
My final stop was at
Ohiopyle State Park, Ohiopyle PA.
Cucumber Falls is a 30-foot feature that had a low water flow on the day of my visit. There is a well-marked parking area near the fall, an overlook by the top of the falls
and a stairway down into the gorge that leads to the base of the fall. The falls is nice and worth a stop if nearby but not worthy of a special effort to visit. I made my way to
Ohiopyle Falls also in Ohiopyle State Park. The falls has a drop of only about 15 feet but has a crest of about 150 feet. Signs advise that kayaking requires a permit, but the falls and rapids look like a kayaker’s nirvana.
I had a nice time in the Morgantown area and, indeed, spent more time on the Pennsylvania side of the border than on the West Virginia side. For those interested in history, Morgantown is a nice, blue-collar stop; however, for those looking for an action-packed vacation or elegance and fine dining, well, probably not so much.
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