Stop #19 on our 2013 Summer Tour wasn't planned; it just happened! It turned out to be one of those delightful on-the-road surprises!
We were traveling east on the Pennsylvania Turnpike through the center of the state and we needed a place to stay overnight.
Just five miles off the turnpike, on a parallel road, we discovered a rustic little campground called "Ye Old Mill Campground".
It nestles in a little meadow just below the toll road. Here you can see how close our campers were to the semi in the background speeding down the turnpike.
The old grist mill for which the campground is named still uses water power to grind flour products. It, and several stone out-buildings, give the campground a unique and rustic charm. A log cabin serves as the office and camp store.
The near-by village of Burnt Cabins, Pennsylvania, is a small, business-deprived wide spot in the road. The post office (pictured above and below) is one of the better maintained pre-Revolutionary War era buildings in the village.
Nearly 45 other buildings once graced this little hamlet, but most have now disappeared or are in deteriorating condition. The town, and its fifty acres of land are listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.
The town may look run down but it has an intriguing name and a proud history, according to Wikipedia:
"Burnt Cabins, Pennsylvania, is located at the foot of Tuscarora Mountain. The Pennsylvania turnpike is just 100 yards from the village. All of this land was owned by Native American tribes until 1758, but, as early as 1750, eleven squatter cabins had been built on this Indian land by white settlers who called the hamlet 'Sidneyville'. In 1750, [those settler] cabins were burned by order of the provincial government to maintain the peace and to demonstrate to Native Americans that their ownership would be respected."
The historic old grist mill of Burnt Cabins contributed much to its economic stability for many years. The mill, too, is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.
We had wandered into a gold mine of pre-Revolutionary War history quite by accident!
What a learning experience!
We'll see you on down the road!
