 |
| Warrington Friends Meeting House, just outside Wellsville, Pennsylvania |
West of the Susquehanna River, as York County is, not many buildings from before the Revolution are still standing. Not that many people lived here then, either, and most of those who did lived to the south in the city of York. In northern York County where I live, the land was still largely wild and shared with Native Americans. This area was still only partly settled in 1740-50, mostly by a few farmers.
Quakers were a predominant religion here then, not a surprise when you know that Sir William Penn, himself a convert, obtained a land grant from King Charles II and established a Quaker government here. Also nearby is a road named Quaker Race, which was so named because after meetings in this building, local young Quakers would race their horses and buggies along it. It’s a long, straight and flat section of road, and even in those days young men liked to go fast.
Today, the meeting house is a fine old building, well maintained, built from native field stones. It is on the national historic register and has certainly seen a lot of change and a lot of history over the past 260 years or so.
Posts
6 comments:
Beautiful! Isn't it interesting to live in such a historically rich area?
Woodswalker: I suspect most people live in historically rich areas, but sometimes you have to look a bit to find it. I like the stories that come with the histories. That's what make it seem real to me.
A fine old building. I'm sure you're right; there are stories and history everywhere if we only pause to search. Thanks for pausing at the Meeting House.
I agree, John--the building is handsome, appears to be solidly built, and well cared-for. Here in the Philadelphia suburbs, we've got lots of similarly aged structures, or course. The house in which I reside was begun in 1791.
John and Scott:
I think for every 10 miles east of me you travel, the oldest buildings are another 10-20 years older, too. By the time you get to the Philadelphia area where Scott is, the oldest buildings are quite a bit older than what's around me.
history, here in the Mid west, is about a 100 years shorter than yours when it comes to the white man and colonization and westward expantion. So houses and buildings and roads and bridges and cemetaries are not as old, historically speaking.
Post a Comment