Chapter 13
History
Washington Township
Washington Township is located
in Franklin County
in Southcentral Pennsylvania.
The Township is comprised of the following villages and developments: Beartown,
Blue Ridge Summit, Buena Vista Springs, Charmian, Eastland Hills, Glen Forney,
Midvale, Monterey, Pen Mar, Roadside, Rouzerville, Wayne Heights, and
Zullinger. The Township also surrounds the Borough of Waynesboro. The Southern border of the Township is shared
with Washington County, Maryland
and is known as the Mason-Dixon Line.
Early
settlers of Washington
Township can be traced
back to as early as 1735. At that time,
it was known as the wild or western frontier of the American Colonies. Washington Township
was incorporated in April of 1779 out of Antrim Township
by the Cumberland County Quarter
Sessions Court.
The Township was named after General George Washington. In 1837, the northern part of Washington Township
was used to create Quincy
Township.
The
first major transportation route was begun around 1768 with the construction of
a road between Fulton eastward to Baltimore which was authorized by Cumberland County. This was built as a shipping route for locally
produced flour. It eventually developed
into a turnpike and is now known as PA Route 16, or the Buchanan Trail.
Washington Township was
very pivotal during the Civil War, and was the site of the second-largest Civil
War Battle in Pennsylvania,
the Battle of Monterey Pass which took place in the 1860’s. Although
neighboring Adams County is the focal point of most of the local civil
war history, Washington
Township was the site of critical
activity and it is said that there are cannons still buried near Pennersville Road.
The
Township developed slowly during the early 19th Century; however,
there was significant growth towards the end of the 19th Century in
the southeast corner near the village
of Blue Ridge Summit. This
area became a popular summer resort area.
Excursion trains soon found their way to this area and also nearby Pen Mar
Park which featured
amusements and an outdoor dancing pavilion. Large summer hotels were erected
which attracted many guests and celebrities to the area. President Wilson and
Admiral Dewey were said to frequent these resorts. The Monterey Inn sat in the
center of a summer resort colony and served as host to many visitors during the
resort era.
The
Monterey Historic District is located in the Village of Blue Ridge
Summit.
This District is now listed on the National Historic Site Registry and
serves as an example of a summer resort community from the 19th
Century. Aside from hosting famous
people and celebrities, a prominent birth also occurred there. Bessie Wallis
Warfield, Duchess of Windsor was born in Square Cottage at the Monterey Inn, at
the resort of Blue Ridge Summit.
The
area is located on Charmian Road
which was part of the Baltimore/Pittsburgh Turnpike. This area was attractive because of the
climate and the natural springs, both pure and mineral. By the end of the 19th Century,
the Clermont House was built to the East of the Monterey Inn. As an increasing number of affluent guests
were attracted to the area, they bought land and built summer homes of their
own along Charmian Lane.
The
arrival of the Western Maryland Railroad to Pen Mar in 1873 directly impacted
the growth of these resorts. The
Amusement park and the 600 room Blue Mountain House lured many visitors to the
area. This area thrived as a summer
resort prior to World War II, but declined during World War II, as a result of
the U.S. Army taking over the area. There is also some speculation that
reliance on the automobile and decline of railway excursion business also
affected the business. Many of these hotels were razed or destroyed by fires. The grandest of the hotels, Buena Vista
Springs Hotel, which burned to the ground in 1967, was the last of the resort
hotels in the area
Washington Township Historically Significant Sites and
Structures
|
SITE # ON MAP
|
NAME
|
DATE
|
TYPE
|
STATUS
|
|
1
|
Allbaugh/Bonebreak Farm
|
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Eligible
|
|
2
|
Burns, Jeremiah Farm
|
1750-1924
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Listed
|
|
3
|
Handycraft Farmstead
|
1790-1830
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Listed
|
|
4
|
Harbaugh Reformed Church
|
1892
|
Historic Church
|
Listed
|
|
5
|
Marks Property
|
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Eligible
|
|
6
|
Monterey Historic District
|
1810-1840
|
Historic Dwellings
|
Listed
|
|
7
|
Ripple Farm
|
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Eligible
|
|
8
|
Sprecher, Brian, Property
|
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Eligible
|
|
9
|
Springdale Mills also known as Shank’s Mill
|
1850-1874
|
Historic Mill
|
Listed
|
|
10
|
Welty’s Mill Bridge
|
1850-1874
|
Historic Bridge
|
Listed
|
|
11
|
Zullinger Elementary School
|
|
Historic Building
|
Eligible
|
|
12
|
Royer-Nicodemus House and
Farm
|
1800-1899
|
Historic Farm + Grounds
(Museum + Park)
|
Listed
|
Source: www.phmc.state.pa.us
Borough of Waynesboro
Waynesboro is
situated in the southern part of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, about 2 miles
north of the Mason-Dixon line. The community, with a current population of
9,614 (2000) had its beginnings about 1749, when John Wallace, a Scotsman,
settled by a spring located a few hundred yards west of the Antietam Creek
(East Branch).
Wallace held title to 633
acres, 119 perches almost a square mile.
He called his land holdings Mt.
Vernon. Upon his death, the land was conveyed to a
son Robert, who later conveyed it to his brother George. George owned it a short time when he conveyed
it to brother John, who had recently returned from fighting the war. The Wallace’s lands were often referred to as
Wallace’s Town or Wallacetown, as they were the largest land holdings in the
area.
In 1797, John decided to lay
out a town and placed 90 lots on the market.
He named the town Waynesburg, after General Anthony Wayne, his
commanding officer in the war. There were
several other communities in the state with similar names and in 1831, when the
Federal Government ruled that the names of post offices in any one state could
not be duplicated, our town was rechartered and took for its corporate title
the name of Waynesboro.
Waynesboro, because of its location on
the frontier at the time of the French & Indian War (1755-1764) was in a
particularly vulnerable position and was the scene of some of the Indians’ most
barbarous raids. Two victims of such
were the Renfrew sisters, who lived just east of Waynesboro along the Antietam Creek. Today, there is a museum and park, named for
the girls, at the site of their massacre.
The museum, an outstanding exhibit of decorative fine arts, dates to
1812.
When the Civil War came along,
Waynesboro was again cast in the role of a
“Frontier town”, this time because of its close proximity to the Mason-Dixon Line.
Historians tell us that residents of the area spent half their time
burying and digging up their possessions and fleeing north toward Harrisburg. Among those fleeing when the confederates
entered Waynesboro
was John Phillips, cashier of the local bank.
Mr. Phillips made it to safety with the bank’s cash and valuables, his
wife and son, all loaded into one carriage.
Most residents stayed on, watching apprehensively, as 75,000 Confederate
Soldiers headed north to Gettysburg. Waynesboro
was under Confederate rule for 15 days.
The Foundation for Waynesboro’s Industrial activity was laid by George Frick,
who operated at a number of locations in the Waynesboro area. His invention of a steam engine, small enough
for farm use, replaced cumbersome horse-powers.
He founded the Frick Company in 1873.
The firm switched to making refrigeration and air conditioning equipment
and is now part of York International.
They are still one of the leading employers in the Waynesboro area.
Shortly after Mr. Frick
established the Frick Company, two brothers, Abraham and Franklin Landis, came
to the area from Lancaster
County. With their inventive minds they manufactured
the first cylindrical grinding machine in 1883.
They formed a partnership in 1889 to manufacture and market the grinder,
and six machines were sold in the first year of operation. A patent was granted to Abraham B. Landis in
1890, based on the 1883 design. The
partnership was succeeded by the Landis Tool Company in 1897 and is now a
division of Litton Industries.
A. B. Landis then turned his
attention to the problems of threading bolts, and his solution to the problem
was a new and unique screw cutting die head for a turning machine, with one
being built in 1887. A patent was
granted in 1889, but the product was not marketed until 1903 when the Landis
Machine Company was organized. This company
now is known as Teledyne Landis Machine.
Education and religion have
played a vital part in the cultural activity of the community. The first church and school, built somewhere
between 1770 and 1780, still stands on Bourns Hill overlooking a school complex
of three modern buildings. The log
structure, often referred to as Bourns Cabin was used as a school on weekdays
and as a church on Sundays. Early
records of one schoolmaster indicated he had 17 pupils who were charged about
$5.00 each for a 6 month session. Today,
the Waynesboro School District consists of four
elementary school buildings, one middle school building, and one senior high
building, all with a total enrollment of about 4,300.
Borough of Waynesboro Historically Significant Sites and
Structures
|
SITE # ON MAP
|
NAME
|
DATE
|
TYPE
|
STATUS
|
|
1
|
Borough Hall of the Borough
of Waynesboro
|
1875 - 1899
|
Historic Building
|
Listed
|
|
2
|
Burnes, John
Schoolhouse
|
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Eligible
|
|
3
|
Essex, Muriel, Property
|
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Eligible
|
|
4
|
Hamilton, Alexander House
|
1800-1824
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Listed
|
|
5
|
Horsey, Gloria Property
|
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Eligible
|
|
6
|
Oller, Joseph J. House
|
1875-1924
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Listed
|
|
7
|
Marks Property
|
|
Historic Dwelling
|
Eligible
|
|
8
|
Waynesboro Armory
|
1925-1949
|
Historic Building
|
Listed
|
Source: www.phmc.state.pa.us
