Pocono's PA Part 2 through June 30

Crayola

1885 - Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith, form a partnership and call their company Binney & Smith.  Early products include red oxide pigment used in barn paint and carbon black for car tires.

1900 - The company begins producing slate school pencils in its newly opened Easton, PA mill.  Listening to needs of teachers, Binney & Smith introduces the first dustless school chalk two years later - it's so successful, it wins a gold medal at the St. Louis World Exposition.

1903 - Noticing a need for safe, quality, affordable wax crayons, the company produces the first box of eight Crayola®  crayons, selling for a nickel. The Crayola name, coined by Edwin Binney's wife Alice, comes from "craie," the French word for chalk, and "ola," from "oleaginous."

1984 - Binney & Smith becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Hallmark Cards Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., the world leader in social expression.



Cheryl was in 7th heaven visiting this spot. Definitely reflected on her teaching career with young children.

Cheryl getting involved with the activities!

The Lehigh Canal was constructed between 1827 and 1829 and extended 47 miles between Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania (present-day Jim Thorpe) and Easton with 52 locks, eight guard locks, eight dams and six aqueducts, allowing the waterway to overcome a difference in elevation of over 350 feet. A weigh lock determined canal boat fees. A connection across the Delaware River to the Morris Canal through New Jersey allowed the coal from the Lehigh Canal to be shipped more directly to New York City.

In 1855, the canal reached its peak of more than one million tons of cargo. However, competition from railroads and the catastrophic flood of June 4, 1862, were all steps towards the canal's demise. The canal was used as a means of transportation until the 1940s (about a decade after other similar canals ceased operations), making it the last fully functioning towpath canal in North America.

Current day tour boat pulled by mules.

James Buchanan, Jr. (April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the United States (1857–1861). He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century.

Buchanan (often called Buck-anan by his contemporaries) was a popular and experienced state politician and a successful attorney before his presidency. He represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives and later the Senate, and served as Minister to Russia under President Andrew Jackson. He also was Secretary of State under President James K. Polk. After turning down an offer for an appointment to the Supreme Court, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Minister to the United Kingdom, in which capacity he helped draft the controversial Ostend Manifesto.

Buchanan's efforts to maintain peace between the North and the South alienated both sides, and the Southern states declared their secession in the prologue to the American Civil War. Buchanan's view of record was that secession was illegal, but that going to war to stop it was also illegal. Buchanan, first and foremost an attorney, was noted for his mantra, "I acknowledge no master but the law.”

His inability to impose peace on sharply divided partisans on the brink of the Civil War has led to his consistent ranking by historians as one of the worst Presidents.

On Buchanan's final day as president, March 4, 1861, he remarked to the incoming Lincoln, "If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man."

Front of Buchanan's home (south)

Frog pond near the entrance

Rear of house (north).  Tour guide noted that Buchanan met with north and south representatives at Wheatland and would have them enter from their appropriate side.

Dining room - contains original furnishings

Dinnerware - Although Buchanan never married his niece served as his hostess throughout his Presidency.

Lancaster, locally pronounced lank-iss-tər, rather than the wider American pronunciation LAN-kast-ər, is a city in the south-central, PA. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States.  Lancaster was part of the 1681 Penn's Woods Charter of William Penn. It was incorporated as a borough in 1742 and incorporated as a city in 1818.  During the American Revolution, it was briefly the capital of the colonies on September 27, 1777, when the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, which had been captured by the British. Lancaster was capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812, after which the capital was moved to Harrisburg.

The first paved road in the United States was the former Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, which makes up part of the present-day U.S. Route 30. Opened in 1795, the Turnpike connected the cities of Lancaster and Philadelphia.  Lancaster residents are known to use the word, "macadam", in lieu of pavement or asphalt. This name is a reference to the paving process named by MacAdam.

After the American Revolution, the city of Lancaster became an iron-foundry center. Two of the most common products needed by pioneers to settle the Frontier were manufactured in Lancaster: the Conestoga wagon and the Pennsylvania long rifle. The Conestoga wagon was named after the Conestoga River, which runs through the city.

In 1803, Meriwether Lewis visited Lancaster to be educated in survey methods by the well-known surveyor Andrew Ellicott. During his visit, Lewis learned to plot latitude and longitude as part of his overall training needed to lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

In 1879, Franklin Winfield Woolworth opened his first successful "five and dime" store in the city of Lancaster. The F. W. Woolworth Company is succeeded by Foot Locker.

Quilt display at the Museum in downtown Lancaster, beautiful work!

The Amish of Lancaster, arriving in the 1720s, is the oldest and largest Amish community in the country.

The story of the Pennsylvania Amish community dates back to the 16th century Reformation in Europe, when the Anabaptist movement spurred the creation of three "plain" communities: the Amish, Mennonites and Brethren. Although these spiritual groups have similarities, the Amish are the most conservative, emphasizing humility, family, community and separation from the non-Amish world, which includes a reluctance to adopt modern conveniences such as electricity.

There is no single governing body for the entire Old Order Amish population; rather, each church district decides for itself what it will and will not accept. However, all districts base their regulations on a literal interpretation of the Bible and an unwritten set of rules called the Ordnung. And the population as a whole stresses humility, family, community and separation from the modern world.

Although the Pennsylvania Amish resist cultural influences, they are willing to strike compromises with the modern world, tapping its benefits while still preserving the Amish identity. They are willing to use modern technology to live, work and communicate - as long as they do not disrupt family and community stability.

Just happened to be an Amish auction taking place.  Horse and buggies are parked in the field.

Cheryl broke the Amish law and snapped this pic from inside the car.  A very familiar scene in Lancaster county.