Historic Yellow Springs, PA (11/14/2020)

Saturday, November 14, 2020

After visiting West Chester, PA, we headed north.

First stop is the Mill at Anselma.

Mill at Anselma or Lightfoot Mill (1747) is a grist mill built by
Samuel Lightfoot to grind cornmeal and flour for the
residents of Chester Springs, PA (not for commercial distribution)

Final stop is in Historic Yellow Springs.

Native Americans first used the iron rich “yellow” spring water thousands of years ago, and by 1722 a colonial village developed as a health spa around three springs with water rich in iron, magnesium, and sulfur. 

Yeaworth House (1899 as the infirmary of the
Soldiers' Orphans School), now the Yellow Springs Library

Washington Building (c 1750 log cabin replaced in 1760s,
with additions up to 1876) was the Yellow Springs Inn during
both both Spa eras (1722-1777 and 1781-1865)

Later, Washington Building would serve as a boys' dormitory and dining room for the Soldiers’ Orphans School (1869-1912), a men’s dormitory and dining room for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Country School (1916-1952), and a food cafeteria and housing for employees of Good News Productions (1952-1974). The building was a restaurant until 2005.

The building name comes from when General George Washington used the inn as his temporary headquarters after the Battle of Brandywine. He later commissioned the first military hospital  in North America, built here in Yellow Springs in 1777-1778. After the American Revolution, Yellow Springs became a well-known spa until the Civil War. The spa buildings then became the Chester Springs Soldiers' Orphans School in 1868-1869. The school consolidated with Chester Springs schools in 1912.

In 1916 the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts purchased the entire village to provide its students with a place to learn to paint en plein air, in the style of the French Impressionists.

In 1952, filmmaker Irvin Shortess “Shorty” Yeaworth Jr. and his wife Jean purchased the property through his nonprofit corporation, Good News Productions. Two organizations – Yellow Springs Association and Yellow Springs Foundation – bought the village and they merged in 1974 to form Historic Yellow Springs, Inc.

Main House (c 1840 on 18C foundation) was used as the primary
residence of the various owners and administrators in Yellow Springs

Yellow Springs sign on the Lincoln Building

Lincoln Building (1899) was used as a girls' dormitory during
the Orphans School period (1869-1912) and again for the
Country School; Good News Productions (1952-1974) used it to house
its workers as well as to produce, edit and view its film productions

Mystery stone structures (KSS)

Chester Springs Studio (18C barn converted in 1921 for the
Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts) is used by a non-profit
visual arts organization that offers art classes, artists’ residencies,
and exhibitions in the barn and the old post office (KSS)

Connie's House (late 18C) was originally the post office and general store

Vaughn House (1830s farmhouse) is a tenant residence

Jenny Lind House (1840s as a boarding house); Jenny Lind,
the Swedish Nightingale, apparently stayed here in 1850
while performing in Philadelphia as part of a concert tour

Yellow Springs Cultural Center (1845 as a barn,
converted in the 1920s as the Sculptors Studio for
the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts)

Ruins of the military hospital that later became Washington Hall
housing a spa hotel (1781-1865), classrooms (Soldiers’ Orphans School,
1869-1912), an art studio (Country School, 1916-1952), and a
film production studio (Good News Productions, 1952-1974);
it was rebuilt after a 1902 fire, but destroyed by a 1962 fire

Revolutionary War Hospital ruins (KSS)

The ruins seen from a colonial herb garden (KSS)

Tagetes lucida/Mexican Mint Marigold in the herb garden