Yesterday was a fairly nice day, as far as weather goes, so I decided to take a ride. I live in the Laurel Highlands area of Pennsylvania so with a quick ride to our mountain and I was able to find ice and snow.
It really does a person good to just get out and enjoy nature.
Here are a few of the scenes from my ride.
Uniontown, Pa founded on July 4, 1776 by Henry Beeson. In the early part of the 19th century the National Road was routed through Uniontown which allowed the town to grow as the road did.
Over the years Uniontown has played a role in numerous historic events, from being a stop on the underground railroad for slaves fleeing north for their freedom to the violent coal miners strike in 1894 which resulted in five dead and eight wounded.
During the early part of the 20th century, Uniontown was home to more millionaires per capita than any other city in the United States.
From 1916 to 1922 Uniontown was also home to the Uniontown Speedway which was a wooden track over a mile long.
Uniontown was also the birthplace of the Big Mac which I’m sure you all have eaten at least once.
The photos below are from a few places in the city including the Fayette County Courthouse, Elks Lodge, the County Building, and a few other places.
(Information for this post was found on The City of Uniontown page)
The Hotel Belvedere was built in 1905, by an immigrant from Switzerland, Joseph Gianini. When the hotel was built it was across the railroad tracks from a railroad station.
The hotel originally had a candy store and ice cream parlor on the first floor with the upper floors as the guest rooms. Eventually the first floor turned into a bar and the rooms apartments. In 1979 Lanna Planitzer purchased the hotel with the hopes of restoring it to it’s former self. That having proved to be too much of a financial burden for her. She did however live in the hotel until it was condemned in 2017.
I had the chance to visit the hotel last year not long before the place caught fire and burned to the ground. I truly wish that we could have seen this place when it was in it’s heyday. I can only imagine how nice the hotel would have been.
Information for this post was found in a post from the Apollo Area Historical Society, for more photos and information please visit their site at: www.apollopahistory.com
In 1900 William A. Young built a machine shop along the Monongahela River in a little Pennsylvania town named Rices Landing. Eight years later the machine shop was expanded to add a foundry and in 1928 electricity was added to the shop. From the beginning the shop has been primarily run by a single engine using an elaborate system of pulleys and belts, which is still in use today. The foundry and machine shop continued to service the local town and steamboats on the river until its closure in 1965. Today the foundry is listed on the National Historic Landmark and is open to the public on Sundays for tours. For more information take a look at their website below.
Below are some photos from my most recent trip to the foundry.
From time to time we should all take a moment and look up into the sky and think about the vastness of the universe. Many live in cities and towns and never have the chance to see the sky from a truly dark place where you can see so much with the naked eye. But I highly recommend taking the time to go visit an area where you can look into the sky and see the stars. These photos were taken a few nights ago while on a Milky Way walk with some old friends and a few new ones as well.
Go outside and look up….
If you ha the opportunity to step back in time how far back would you go? Maybe you would choose to visit the 50’s or maybe a little further back, like say the 1800’s? Personally I would like to step back in time just a bit more and visit the 16th century. A time filled with kings, queens, knights, and jesters. A time when players entertained on the stage with music, song, stories of amazing feats, and manipulation of fire. And for the next few weekends you can do just that at the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival.
For those of you that personally know me you know this is one of my favorite festivals of the year. On Sunday I took my first journey into the past for this year and below are some of the players and merchants from the festival. Over the next few weeks I’ll be visiting the festival and posting some of my photos, I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoy taking them. Who knows maybe my photos will inspire you to step back in time and visit the festival.
Until next time I bid thee Good Morrow!
Friday brought to us fairly good weather and another cruise night at the Uniontown Shopping Center. So I’m posting a few more car shots on the blog and then I’ll take a break from the cars for a while. But there is something interesting coming up in the next few days I just have to finish the processing of the photos I took.
Stay tuned for…..
For a long period of time hanging out at the Uniontown Shopping Center was the “in thing” for young and old alike. People would spend hours talking to their friends, showing their hot rods off and just riding around the parking lot. But, as with all things, time passed and things changed. The shopping center changed their parking lot so that you could no longer ride in a circle around the lot and the “kids” found new places to go and things to do. A tradition was lost forever.
If you remember the good old days of the shopping center you may want to stop by there on a Friday night and revisit your past. Every Friday through out the summer the rumble of hot rods is in the air once again. The weekly car cruise brings out several cars every week with new ones showing up all the time. I have the pleasure of visiting the cruise quite often and I always see something new every week.
So if you’re in the mood for a little nostalgia or just want to check out some amazing cars I suggest a quick trip down memory lane and a visit to the Uniontown Shopping Center. (located at Walnut Hill Road and Morgantown Road.)
Just a quick thought on the following car photos. I’ve been photographing cars for many years and have grown a little tired of the typical car photo. So these are a little different, I like to focus on the details or show cars from a different perspective. I hope you enjoy my vision of the world of car cruises.
Recently I took a quick trip to Ohio to visit YM Camera in Boardman. If you haven’t heard of the place or haven’t visited it yet I would highly recommend them. Robbie and the staff are amazing and they really take care of their customers.
So after my visit to YM Camera I visited Lanterman’s Mill Creek Park to photograph Lanterman’s Mill and a covered bridge.
Lanterman’s Mill was built-in 1845-46 and then restored in the early 1980’s. The mill operates today as it did originally grinding corn, wheat, and buckwheat. I was there a little to late in the day to see the mill in operation but I am planning a return visit to tour the inside of the mill.
So here are a few photos of the mill and covered bridge. If your ever in the area I would definitely recommend stopping by both the mill and YM Camera.
July 3, 1754, It’s hot, muggy, and raining on and off. You’re a British soldier entrenched at a fort made out of necessity located in the middle of a great meadow surrounded by trees and French and Indian soldiers. Little do you know the impending skirmish will be the beginning of a World War which will lead to the removal of the French from the colonies and set the direction for the American Revolution. But today you are only concerned with the sounds of the musket balls flying by your ears. The battle will continue throughout the day until about 8pm when the French requested the surrender of the British. At about midnight Colonel George Washington signed the surrender.
Today I’m sharing some of the photos I took at the encampment over the Memorial Day Weekend. I hope you enjoy them.
For more information check out the National Park Service website for Fort Necessity.
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