Pennsylvania - Day 1 - Chambersburg

Pennsylvania

Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA

Sunday, 1 April 2018

After picking up a state map at the Welcome Center, I went first to Chambersburg.  I’d read that it had a little trouble during the Civil War and I wanted to see what it looks like now.

It’s an old town, settled in the 1700s and grew because it was a stop on early roads, and later a stop on the railroad.  It was one of the few northern towns to be occupied during the War and, in 1864, it was torched by Confederate General McCausland.  The townspeople rebuilt right away, this time with brick.  Some of the buildings that were already brick-built survived and I got photos of a few.  I thought Chambersburg had a lot of charm.

Jail, built 1818

Stores rebuilt in 1864 after the fire

Queen Anne apt. building + yoga studio

Information about the Underground Railroad

I asked a man who was directing the traffic near a large downtown church (it was Easter, after all) what he liked best about living here.  He said, “Because it’s rural; the people who grow up here don’t leave.”  He said he’d been happy there for 51 years.  It didn’t seem all that rural to me, until I realized it took less than 5 minutes from the middle of town to be out in the country.

The surrounding country is farming country – fields and barns and silos everywhere.  Really pretty.  Rolling hills.

I read the road sign wrong and went west instead of east, which turned out to be a good thing because a couple of towns over I found an Exxon station with the cheapest gas I’d seen in 2 days - $2.73/gallon.  I asked the guy who minded the store what he liked best about living here and he said, “It’s not California,” which I thought was a little odd.  But then he looked out the window at the rain and chilly wind and said, “The weather’s a little squirrely but it’s better than constant summer.”  You never know what you’re going to get when you ask a question.

I passed a church sign that read FCF Church.  Turns out to be a church based in Frederick that's supposed to be inclusive.  I'd just never heard of this church.

There are Dollar General stores everywhere.  I’ve never seen so many in such a small area.

The Appalachian Trail comes through this area.  I saw it first as it crossed the state highway (2 lanes with a turn lane) that I was on, then I found it again here at the campground – it goes right past it and there’s an Appalachian Trail Museum next to the campground office.

That office was closed when I came in (closed all weekend, actually), so I went to the space I’d reserved, only to find somebody still in it.  The woman said they wanted to have Easter dinner with the family in the next-door space and didn’t want to rush off.  I went to the campground host and said I’d take another space if he wanted, but he pointed out that I’m planning to stay 2 nights and, with this (stupid) ReserveAmerica system, any space he let me have could be getting reserved out from under me while he was doing it and we wouldn’t know until someone showed up.  Or something.  Anyway, he went to tell the people they needed to get out, and then he told me to give them an extra hour.

So I was feeling a little peeved about me being inconvenienced so someone else wouldn’t be, and then it all turned out really well because I went to wait out the time at the day use area and found the answer to a question I’d been wondering about.

I’d seen “Furnace” stuck in lots of names here and there around the state (including this campground) and wondered what on earth that was about.  And at the day use area I found out.  Back in the pre-railroad days, people had to make iron where they could find the raw materials: the ore, the water, and the wood.  The “furnace” is literally a furnace for making iron.  And they had one at the day use area.

A furnace for making iron

They also had an entry to the Appalachian Trail, so I can now say I’ve walked a very tiny bit of it.  This part of it is paved, probably because it runs through a state park and a state forest, but hey, so what.

I’d wanted to go to Gettysburg today too, but it was nearly 10:00 when I started this morning, and I spent time in Chambersburg, and the speed limit on that state “highway” was 45 mph for much of the distance, and all in all, I decided to wait until tomorrow to make that trip.  Gettysburg deserves to not be rushed anyway.

I remember when PA's plates said "You've got a friend in Pennsylvania" - because of the Quakers.  And even further back when they said "The Keystone State."  Silly them for losing the character on their plates.

today's route