The political calls and messages I have been getting over the past couple weeks has driven me close to madness. I don’t even open them anymore to see if they are from a friend or doctor, I just delete them! (Sorry to anyone who might have sent me a text recently!)
I woke up early enough on Voting Day to get a shower and some breakfast before I went down to my local polling spot. I was happy to see a larger than normal group when I arrived. I stood outside the building for about 5 minutes before the doors were opened and I was pleased to be number 18 this year. The line strung out to the door as I headed back to the car holding my “I Voted” sticker tightly in my hand.
Ann Marie had already voted by mail so we both were finished with our political obligations. Those that don’t vote can’t complain…
The temperatures were supposed to be going into the 80’s so we decided that it would be a great day for a drive. We got a couple cups of hot coffee and headed south. We ended up on Rt.40 as we passed Uniontown.
Just past the Summit Inn at the top of the mountain, we stopped to visit the Wharton Furnace. We’ve been here before when we had just started dating, it is a place I like to visit whenever we pass by. The furnace was first fired up in 1839 and finally went out of blast in 1873. They used steam power to raise the temperatures in the furnace. It was rebuilt back in the 1960’s.
Back on Rt.40 we did a couple quick geocaches and then stopped to visit the Youghiogheny River Lake and to walk across the “historic” Great Crossing Bridge. The bridge and the town of Somerfield were submerged in the 1940’s when a dam was erected, creating a lake out of the Youghiogheny River. Normally covered with 50 feet of water, during drought conditions the bridge reappears. Foundations of many of the town’s buildings are exposed also.
The town of Somerfield was laid out in 1818, the same year that the bridge was opened. The bridge crossed the Youghiogheny River and was part of the National Pike as Rt.40 was called then. The town had two streets, Bridge Street and River Road along with a few assorted alleys. In 1883 there were five stores in the town including a Department Store! The residents earned their livings by working in lumber and coal industries in the near-by areas.
When the dam was built to provide flood control and hydroelectric power, 176 people were forced to leave their homes. Jockey Hollow which sat on the far side of the bridge was destroyed also, along with 9 other small communities.
This isn’t uncommon, in Moraine State Park there is another community that was displaced when Lake Arthur was made in 1970. The village of Isle was relocated before the dam was built. The original rt.422 can still be seen going into and out of the lake on the shores.
Walking down a boat ramp which used to be the National Pike, we passed the cement foundations of houses and stores. The sidewalks are still there along with the stumps of trees that used to line the street. Wandering around the town we came across numerous remains. Just when we thought we’ve seen them all, we would see another one.
There was a large crowd of people who had come to see the bridge due in part to newscasts and social media, much like us. We were thinking that there wouldn’t be many there on a Tuesday but we were sorely mistaken! Perhaps they were trying to avoid all the election brouhaha also. In some ways it resembled a pilgrimage.
Later we stopped a short distance away from the lake to take some pictures of an old restaurant or night club that had been destroyed by fire decades ago. A sign remains but it can no longer be read. There were two large fireplaces at either end of the building; unfortunately there are no floors underneath them. Burnt doorframes on the bottom floor show evidence of what helped destroy the building.
Proceeding north we came across a sign saying that a covered bridge was a mile away so we took the turn just to take a look. The Lower Humbert Bridge was built in 1891. We stopped to take some pictures and to enjoy the sights and sounds of the stream and the smells of the day.
Back on the road we came across a nice-looking barn with not one but two Mail Pouch Tobacco signs on it. We made another stop, because we weren’t in any rush. We had the time to enjoy the scenery!
Soon we were in Somerset and heading back towards home. We had both of our phones and the radio turned off so we weren’t bothered by any election updates or notifications. We had voted and whatever was going to happen was beyond our control. We drove with the windows open letting the smells of autumn flow through the car. We returned home happy, relaxed and ready…for whatever the election might bring!
