Pennsylvania Turnpike Sights

 On a recent trip, Ann Marie and I took a portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We really aren’t big fans of driving on limited access highways, preferring the freedom of changing our routes on a whim. Granted the roads we take are a bit slower, but we tend to think that they are filled with more opportunities. Different sights to see, a wider variety of places to eat and a whole slew of things we’ve never seen before.

    Heading home we had driven as far as Harrisburg when we ran into a large traffic tie-up. We decided to take the turnpike. We hadn’t been on this section in years. It was a nice change of pace; we didn’t have to worry about slowing down when we came into towns and there were no traffic lights or traffic congestion that slowed us down.

    I enjoyed seeing the various sites I used to look forward to back when I used the turnpike more often. The farm with the “Drink Milk” sign, the water tank painted to look like a world globe. The variety of barns sitting off to the sides; some with Mail Pouch Tobacco signs, others notable for their craftsmanship and a favorite of mine, the red barn with the “World of Pigeons” sign on it. The sign has been gone for over a decade, but it’s still up there in my memory. The tunnels are landmarks that help monitor how far we’ve gone. I still look for evidence of the small farm airport that used to be on the eastern side of the Tuscarora tunnel. As a child I remember seeing a windsock flying above a metal shed with the runway bordering a field. The metal shed still stands but the windsock has long ago been shredded by the wind. The site is still considered an emergency airstrip!

    There are the windmills visible from the Somerset Travel Plazas and the Laurel Highland Trail Bridge that crosses the highway. Of all of these sites, I think that my favorite is that of St. John the Baptist Church in the small community of New Baltimore. When heading east this church sits on the right side, at the bottom of the mountains, below the Allegheny Tunnels.

    There used to be stairs going up to the church from the highway. There was a pull off on both sides to allow visits. It was one of the few, if not the only spot where you could get off the turnpike, leaving your car behind. Sadly, recent widening of the road has eliminated this access.

     The community of New Baltimore was first settled in 1829 in the county of Somerset. A railroad yard had been planned to be built there in the 1880’s but unfortunately, it never came to pass. Their hopes of becoming a major railroad yard fell through. The church was built in 1890, replacing a smaller church. This was in anticipation of the railroad moving into the community.

    When the turnpike was built, in 1937, they needed the land that the church owned. With the agreement that they provide pull-offs and steps to the church, the land was given. The church was essentially cut off from the rest of the community by the highway and so a bridge was also provided. The steps allowed travelers to attend Masses and also stop in for prayer and relaxation during their drives. At one time, you could actually catch a Greyhound bus at these steps.

    Recent renovations to the turnpike have removed the steps. Widening the highway and removing some of the sharp curves on the section leading up to the tunnels has rendered the church inaccessible. They have also put up sound barriers which hide New Baltimore from sight. Sad, but at least the church is still visible!

    Ann Marie and I visited this site in 2010 on a trip to Philadelphia. We parked alongside the road and worked our way up the steps, through deep snow. We found a geocache in a near-by covered bridge and then returned to the church to attend Mass along with 5 or 6 other people. We then climbed down the steep treacherous steps to the car and continued on our trip, refreshed both physically and mentally.

    The twisty section of road leading up to the tunnels has changed quite a bit in the past decade. It had more curves and it was a bit narrower than it is now. I could see the cuts where the road used to go as we drove up the mountain side.

    I remember one trip returning from Philadelphia. It was close to midnight on a Sunday night. There was a full moon in the sky that illuminated the road. There were no other cars on the road with me. I was alone as I drove up the mountain, going from one side of the road to the other as I cut the corners. For a short while, I turned off the headlights as I traversed the slope. It was a brief drive that I’ll always remember. Once I got to the tunnel face, it was over; I was back on the turnpike, back to reality. Now that the road has been “modernized and made safe, all I can do is remember the fun I had racing up this mountain side so many years ago.

    Change is one of the things that is constant in our lives. The things we become accustomed to, the objects we use as milestones on our journeys, the landmarks we search for as we drive familiar roads, they all eventually change in some way. It makes me feel sad when they disappear, but I really don’t have any say in the matter. I’m just glad I saw them and still remember them!