9 Years of Interesting Pennsylvania and Beyond: Thanks for your ongoing support!

 

Nine years have gone by since we created Interesting Pennsylvania and Beyond on a whim, after an awesome visit to Erie to see the ice dunes on our own anniversary as a couple. Our adventures have taken us to every corner and county of the state, and shined a spotlight on what this beautiful place has to offer. 

Cece, Buddy, and Brit having a blast on the beach at Erie's Presque Isle State Park

We always strive to spotlight the local attractions, businesses, institutions, and more that make this place not only a fun place to explore, but also improve the quality of life within their respective communities. Almost daily, people often say that they have not seen or heard of many of the beautiful places that we cover. 

Zinnia fields at Erie County's Port Farms

In the year since we last checked in on our anniversary, we have rescued another pup. Buddy, the beagle,  came to us in the middle of the night and sat unclaimed at Humane Animal Rescue in Pittsburgh and joins CeCe, our Akita/Border Collie mix. Thankfully, Buddy is just as pumped up about adventures, car rides, and hikes as CeCe is. If you are looking to bring a pup into your life, please check out your local shelters. At any given time in Pittsburgh, there are 40+ pups looking for a forever home at Humane Animal Rescue, and that is just one of a few of the rescues, just in Pittsburgh. 

Spotlighting the greatness and beauty of the commonwealth is a joy and our continual growth over the years has been so rewarding. When we started blogging about Pennsylvania attractions, I was not aware of any other blogs covering the beauty that the state has to offer. We continue to use authentic writing, and our own photography to show what the state has to offer, without the undue influence of grandiose self aggrandizement and pushing out "opinions" that have been brought by undue outside influence and motivation "for the clicks." You can always depend upon us to give you our direct thoughts and suggestions on places to visit, without all of the nonsense. We thank you for continuing to support us on this platform and on our social media pages. We look forward to serving you for another 9 years in helping to push for knowledge of all the state has to offer. Our journey has taken us to all 67 counties and every corner in this state. We appreciate your ongoing support and look forward to your continued support for many years to come. 

If you want to help support us, our book on Pennsylvania Amusement Parks is available through the dropdown menu at the top of the page. Thank you so much for your support over the years!

St. Benedict the Moor, Historic Black Catholic Church in Pittsburgh & Freedom Corner History

One of my favorite places to go to mass as someone who lives in Pittsburgh is St. Benedict the Moor Parish, across the street from Freedom Corner on the edge of the Hill District, a traditionally Black neighborhood in Pittsburgh. The Lower Hill area below this spot was brutally torn down with the building of the original Civic Arena. This spot is very important as it is the spot where the black community was able to get the city to stop demolishing the neighborhood with the "urban redevelopment" projects of the 50s and 60s that decimated the community and displaced the people and businesses that were established within these spots, the damage of which has never been fully rectified after all of this time. 

Freedom Corner both physically represents a demarcation line in the fight against forced urban redevelopment and displacement, and the same purpose spiritually. It is often a gathering point for people for a number of causes and unification purposes, right at the corner of Centre and Crawford. It is a center for free speech akin to historical free speech and protest gathering places like Haymarket Square in Chicago. Martin Luther King spoke at this location and the city of Pittsburgh has commemorated the progress that this location has symbolized. It is a special place. Faith leaders from many different churches often gather in united prayer at this spot to work to bring about change in the community.

St. Benedict the Moor Parish is across the street from Freedom Corner, and it is an elegant and stately parish that dates back to 1894. It was designed and built by Moeser and Bippus. The building was originally home to the Holy Trinity Parish and eventually the other churches of the Hill District consolidated into the original St. Benedict the Moor Parish and this building became its home.

As is often the case for many churches, such as St. Stanislaus, the namesake of which is a Polish saint, in a traditionally Polish neighborhood of Pittsburgh, St. Benedict the Moor was named for a saint that was significant for the African-American community in which it serves. For some background, the namesake of the church, St. Benedict the Moor, was a man who was born to enslaved Africans in Italy in 1526 and passed away in 1589. Differing information says he was either born free or became free at 18. Official information seems hard to come by. He faced racial taunting and harassment and went on find comfort and community within the Catholic Church. He went on to be a leader within the church and an example of the inhumanity of slavery. His exemplary life led him to be beatified in 1743 and canonized in 1807. For a really good rundown on his life, check out this article. 

On the bell tower, on the top right, you can see a sculpture dedicated to St. Benedict the Moor. 

The 18 foot sculpture of St. Benedict the Moor was commissioned and added in 1968. Renowned religious painter and sculptor, Frederick Shrady, created it. The first black priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Fr. Augustus Taylor Jr, was first assigned to the church as well. 

The interior is very elegant, and services are really something special and lively, with traditional black gospel choral ensembles, all built within the traditional Catholic mass structure. For anyone else on here that is Catholic, I highly recommend attending mass at this church. 

The church is located at the base of the Hill District and is centrally located to easily be accessed if you are in the city of Pittsburgh. 

Pittsburgh's Frick Park Overlook: Gritty Industrial Views of the Mon Valley and Kennywood

The first thought of a scenic overlook in Pittsburgh naturally leads one to think of the beautiful views of downtown from Mt. Washington, West End Overlook, along the rivers, or in North Side from around the stadiums. The views looking more eastward and out of the city are pretty in their own right, but often do not show important cultural landmarks of the kind of scale you see of immense skyscrapers and stuff like that. Additionally, in general, it is not often that you get a view that gives you a birds eye view of commercial and industrial areas and an amusement park. 

This spot in Pittsburgh's Frick Park gives a view over the eastern and southeastern industrial and commercial cities heading out of Pittsburgh, Homestead, Braddock, Duquesne, McKeesport, and Clairton, all the way out to Kennywood Park. This is the only spot that you can get as expansive view down the river valley that has powered so much industrial growth in this nation, and produced our way to victory in World War II as part of what FDR referred to in the term "Arsenal of Democracy." Industrial advances have been made in this valley, as well as advancement in the creation of worker rights. Every era of business in the history of this country can be found in this view of the valley, from individual small business, to heavy industry, to the big service and retail industries of today. Within this one single view, you can see a microcosm of the foundational elements of everything that America stands for, specifically Rust Belt America, especially in a place where there still is some economic opportunity and industry left.

To reach this spot, hike up the Overlook Trail in Pittsburgh's Frick Park. Frick Park is a wonderful urban oasis that offers lots of hiking and nature opportunities in a very urban, industrialized, and commercial area, which was initially started with land that was bequeathed from the estate of brutal industrial magnate Henry Frick, who has a record of business success, but also a villainous legacy of violence in anti worker and anti union activities, most notoriously with the Homestead Strikes where he hired goons to shoot down his own employees who were striking for fair treatment. His mansion in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh serves as a neat museum.

Mt. Vernon Furnace: Restored Early 19th Century Iron Furnace in Fayette County

Mt. Vernon Furnace, also known as Jacob's Creek Furnace and Alliance Iron Works, is located in Bullskin Township, Fayette County, near Mt. Pleasant. It is a pretty neat spot that is appreciated and boosted through care by the local community. It is a pretty early furnace, dating back to 1795, rebuilt in 1801, and it went out of use all the way back in 1825. Nowadays the spot is a great place to reflect upon industrial history and to have a picnic lunch at.

It ended its life after it was converted to a Blast Furnace. The Bullskin Township Historical Society has aggressively restored this furnace and restored elements that would have been present during operation, including a casting shed, and a water wheel for cooling. 

Picnic shelter area

The work they have done to restore this and make it a nice gathering spot is fantastic. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the Mt Pleasant/Laurel Highlands areas. 

Cowan's Gap State Park Revisited: Fulton County

Cowan's Gap State Park is a lovely place to unwind and relax. They have lovely CCC era historic cabins, a really nice campground and facilities, a nice little lake for boating, fishing, and swimming, and beautiful trails and scenery. The hiking is excellent, ranging from an easy trail that goes around the entire lake, to vigorous, in climbing up and across mountains. The Standing Stone Trail and the Tuscarora long distance trails pass through the state park as well. 

Like many of the great state parks across the state, the infrastructure for this was built up by the CCC in the Great Depression era, putting young men to work and creating recreational relaxation places that have been enjoyed for the better part of a century. 

This state park is a gem and absolutely lovely. On our last article, we wrote about a visit we made to the state park. The photos from this article are from a stay we had. The ranger programs at this state park are awesome as well. This visit was a few weeks before Thanksgiving and the rangers had a program where they made an entire delicious Thanksgiving meal over the campfire. 

Some nearby awesome places to check out include Carrick Furnace, Buchanan's Birthplace State Park, Big Mountain Overlook, and lots of natural beauty surround this awesome state park. We definitely recommend spending some time here and taking in nature. 

Lehman/Port Royal Covered Bridge in Juniata County

Lehman's Port Royal Covered Bridge is a pleasant span in Juniata County. It is 107 feet long and utilizes a double Burr Arch bridge method of construction. We visited when there was a light rain, which is such a pleasant thing to do with that kind of weather, being able to listen to the pitter patter of the rain drops on the roof of a covered bridge. It is 107 feet long and it was completely rebuilt, albeit with a steel stringer structure and the wood portions built on top of it, using original timber, after the devastation inflicted upon most of the state during Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The bridge crossing originally dates back to 1888.

If you are in the area, we definitely recommend checking out this cool bridge. 

Buchanan's Birthplace State Park, Franklin County

Buchanan's Birthplace State Park is in a pretty remote location of south central PA. President Buchanan, the first of the two presidents to have been born in Pennsylvania, was born here on April 23, 1791. From here on he would go on to have an accomplished career in law, politics, and as ambassador to Russia. He went on to be catapulted to the office of the presidency in 1857 and would finish his term in 1861 and hand the baton on to Lincoln. Unfortunately he was unable to ease the tensions that led to the outbreak of the Civil War, but I cannot imagine that there would be anyone that could ease that fate at that time. He was and remains widely considered ineffective as a president and his moderate positions as president did not appease anyone and may have even hastened the breakout of the Civil War by emboldening southern positions. He was between a rock and a hard place as president and I do not think there were really any decisions that the office of the presidency could have made in that volatile time period.  

I would imagine that his steadfast stances in his moderation were built upon the rugged upbringing he would have had in this location. This spot is both peaceful and remote. This small state park is well worth stopping at for a picnic lunch. 

The memorial was built for him in 1907-1908 and dedicated in 1911. It uses local native stone and rubble and is a strange and unexpected contrast of a structure in a bucolic natural spot. 

The pups really enjoyed visiting this relaxing spot. The natural beauty of the spot definitely took my attention as the pups played. The history is cool, but living in the moment definitely took my attention here. 

These two had an absolute blast.

Buchanan's Birthplace State Park is definitely worth checking out if you are in the area. Beautiful Cowan's Gap State Park is not too far away and has more day and overnight facilities in a similarly beautiful natural setting. Historic Carrick Furnace is also pretty close. These roads themselves are a ton of fun to drive as well with tons of great rural scenery. 

Available is our book on Pennsylvania's historic amusement parks, Great Pennsylvania Amusement Parks Road Trip. It features Knoebels, Kennywood Park, Hersheypark, Dorney Park, Waldameer, DelGrosso's, Lakemont, Dutch Wonderland, Idlewild, and the sadly former, Conneaut Lake Park.

Thanks for your ongoing support over the years!