Thursday, August 15, 2019

Concord Township (PA) Historical Sites (8/15/2019)

Thursday, August 15, 2019
The object was to see historic properties without too much walking on a hot and muggy day. Some of the properties were large, so we did do some walking.
Seems to be the season of woven nests of Hyphantria cunea/Fall Webworms
The Concord Township (PA) Historical Society (1967) maintains several locations.
The historical society's first acquisition was the Polecat Road House (before
1750) at 194 Polecat Rd, built to house two families, likely of mill workers 
Although restored without central partitions, there are two inner corner fireplaces that share a common chimney and two outer stairways for reaching the loft.
Concord Township was founded in 1683
Concord Township Hero  Memorial (2004) at 675 Smithbridge Rd
honors all branches of the armed forces, law enforcement,
fire, rescue, and emergency medical services
Pierce-Willits House (1744 log cabin, west addition 1764, log cabin
replaced 1810) at 659 Smithbridge Rd, was purchased by
by Francis P Willits in 1885 and remained in his family
until 1975; Willits acquired mushroom spores from England and
began developing his mushroom business in 1892
The Pierce-Willits House is home to the Virginia Marion DeNenno History and Educational Center.
Carriage House (c 1890) and connecting kitchen (c 1900); the second
floor of the carriage house was initially used to cultivate mushroom spores
Garage (by 1910, or c 1920) with a mounting block
at L front, used for mounting horses
Double-seater outhouse (c 1930s or 1940s at the Cloud-Vernon House
on Concord Rd; moved here in 2001); in the distance to the R is an icehouse
(originally from the Speakman property SE of Baltimore Pike and US-202)
Fagus sylvatica purpurea/Copper Beech Tree (likely
planted in 1810) is a Pennsylvania Champion Tree
The tree is in its senior years, and
is being treated for a canker disease (KSS)
Remains of a barn (1920) after a 1980 windstorm took down half of it
Vague directions for Bush Hill: Palmer-Poole and Wilson Palmer at 40 Bethel Rd, where we found a Dog Park at Bush Hill Farm.
Nearby was a burial plot for pets who died in a house fire
at the farmhouse of the former Bush Hill Farm
Pet grave marker (KSS)
Barn (late 1830s) of Wilson Palmer
Springhouse (late 1830s) of Wilson Palmer
Springhouse that belonged to the property
across Bethel Rd (KSS)
Formerly a horse farm with stalls and fenced corrals;
one was made into a dog park for small dogs and one for large
Dog water fountain
Palmer-Poole Barn (1791 by Joseph Palmer, 1870s rebuilt by
George Poole using the original foundation and joists) (8/18/2019)
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church (1880)
at 270 Spring Valley Rd, suffered a fire in 1997, but
there are plans to move it to the Pierce-Willits property
Bell tower (1964) in memory of vestryman
Robert F Deese of St Johns Episcopal Church;
it was refurbished by an Eagle Scout in 2015
In St Johns cemetery was a three-war veteran;
WWI, WWII and Korea
Franklinia alatamaha/Franklin Tree (KSS)
Franklinia alatamaha/Franklin Tree fruit?
St Johns Episcopal Church (founded 1702,
1844 in Greek Revival style) at 576 Concord Rd
Concordville Friends Meeting House (1710, 1788 rebuilt and enlarged
after fire) at 827 Concord Rd; served as sanctuary for soldiers
wounded at the Battle of Brandywine (1777)
Overgrown Concordville Friends Cemetery
Grave marker for Thomas Marshall
who died in 1740 (KSS)
Giant Ginkgo Biloba Tree (but not a Champion!)
Garage at the Concordville Friends Meeting House
Former Maplewood Gymnasium (1898) at 43 Thornton Rd,
was later used by a church, and is now the Concord Community Center
The newer Brandywine Youth Club (BYC) Field House!
Former Dante Orphanage (1920) was run by the
Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) order of nuns until 1968;
now office of Concord Township, also at 43 Thornton Rd
Former gateway to the orphanage on Baltimore Pike
Former Orthodox Friends Meeting House (1837 for a faction that
split with the Concord Friends, but later rejoined them) was also
used by the Concord Grange #1141 from 1920-1978; now
it is the Concord Township Senior Center (8/18/2019)

6 comments:

  1. Please specify the state explicitly; is this indeed Pennsylvania? I grew up nearby, in northern suburbs of Wilmington, Del., and also I fail to find Concord Township marker, on the firehouse grounds, in hmbd.org , on which site I am registered as a contributor. Yh

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  2. My apologies, this is in the state of Pennsylvania. The Concord Township marker, as far as I can determine, is at the following Google Maps coordinates: 39°52'03.3"N 75°30'43.0"W.

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  3. Aha, I think I figured out that hmbd.org is supposed to be hmdb.org, the historical marker database.

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  4. I stand corrected regarding the site name spelling.

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  5. Concord Township marker now on hmdb.org

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  6. The Polecat Road House sign is now in hmbd.org . I photographed the house, too.

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