Saturday, October 24, 2020
Thornbury Township, PA was founded in 1687, where the land was suitable for farming. Chester Creek provided opportunities for mills.
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29 Stoney Bank Road/Stoneybank Farmhouse began
as a three-bay Penn Plan house (on the right) |
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35 Stoney Bank Road/Stoneybank Church (1810, vernacular)
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156 Stoney Bank Road/Willcox Mills Workers' House
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The Willcox paper mills were called Glen Mills (established in 1835/1836 after conversion of iron works).
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The main building of Glen Mills Schools (1889), which was a
boys' reformatory school first established in Philadelphia
in 1826, and was the oldest surviving school of its type
until forced to close in 2019 when its license was revoked |
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Glen Mills Schools Smith Memorial Chapel
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Glen Mills Schools Gymnasium
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The campus itself was closed, with a long promenade from
the chapel to the main building, lined with a dozen
buildings said to be in Queen Anne style with "Richardsonian
arches, flared eaves, and expressive chimneys" (KSS) |
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130 Glen Mills Road/Glen Mills Train Station (1882,
attributed to Frank Furness, in Queen Anne Gothic style) |
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128 Glen Mills Road/Station House and Store (c 1882)
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Sarum Forge was established c 1739 at this location because of the iron ore that was found in the area.
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Chester Creek
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105 Creek Road/Locksley Grist Mill (c 1704
with additions) and mill pond
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115 Creek Road/Locksley Hall or Manor House
(c 1850s or 1865, in Second Empire style)
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Locksley Station ("established" 1890)
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In Bonner Park, we had instructions to follow the trail to the Taylor-Frazer Ruins. Well, we followed a blue trail, which became the yellow trail. A green trail took us to a trailhead, but there was no trail map. Back to a red, then a white trail, passing a purple trail and another blue trail. We decided to just follow the train tracks back to our car!
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Definitely a day for walking with
fallen leaves crunching underfoot!
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Perhaps this tree is telling us to go around
the fenced off quarry! |
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Shelf or bracket fungus (KSS)
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We spent most of the hike climbing uphill,
but the going down was fast and steep!
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Many rock outcroppings
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Following the railroad tracks (KSS)
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Ruins of a quarry stone loading site
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A train! It was the Trick or Treat Special of the
heritage West Chester Railroad running from West Chester
to the Glen Mills station for a 20-minute stop,
then returning to West Chester |
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The train had at least four passenger cars (KSS)
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Tamiko photographs the diesel engine that was
pushing the train in the direction toward Glen Mills (KSS) |
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Chester Creek from a bridge (KSS)
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Concrete bridge is now for pedestrians only
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More ruins of a stone loading facility (KSS)
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We will have to try again to find the Taylor-Frazer Ruins!
