Roadside attractions
New special interest tour feels like a mini vacation
McVeytown Knight
McVeytown Knight
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Sentinel photos by JANE and JOHN MORT
It started out as a fairly routine assignment -- the Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau added a couple new features to their website, and could we help inform our readers about them in conjunction with National Travel Week, May 7-13.
Sure, I said to Jenny Landis, the Visitors Bureau’s executive director. Send me your information.
So I got an early peek at the latest local special interest tour on the website www.juniatarivervalley.org, which is shared by the Visitors Bureau and the Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The theme of the tour is “Roadside Attractions,” and the list includes highly visible attractions like the giant Embassy mural on the square in downtown Lewistown, the roadside monuments to first responders at Angelo’s, the famed Dairyland cow between Reedsville and Belleville, and the Arch Rock near Mifflintown.
Of course, I wanted to illustrate our story about the new tour with photos of some of the attractions. And, of course, I have file photos of a number of the attractions in my archives here at The Sentinel. Some, but not all. And that bugged me.
With the stops on the new tour being so widespread, I knew I would not have enough time during a normal workday to get to them all, so I decided to take advantage of a beautiful spring weekend to travel around and see the sights, some of which are right under my nose, but are easy to miss during my daily routine.
I made it a two-day excursion, and invited my husband, John, along. We explored Juniata County, where we live, on Saturday, and Mifflin County, where we grew up, on Sunday.
I easily got the photos for my assignment, but I did not expect to have as much fun as we did on our ultimate country drive. Armed with a printout of Jenny’s tour, it was like being on a scavenger hunt as we searched for the places that were a little obscure. I felt a silly little bit of delight as I made checkmarks beside each of the pictures on the printout of the roadside attractions that we found. By Sunday evening, I happily scrolled through our photos and actually felt like we had taken a mini vacation, or, as they say now, “staycation.”
Juniata County
There are three stops on the Juniata County portion of the Roadside Attractions tour, and 10 in Mifflin County. Jenny would love to add some more, so if you know of any odd, unusual and quirky things that can be seen along the road, just let her know. Actually, John and I found a few that we would add to the list.
Of the three stops in Juniata County, the one I really wanted to see was the Book Indian Mound. Although I had never seen it, I had heard about it and, for some reason, always believed that it was difficult to find and see. I was wrong. There is information about the site on the Juniata County Historical Society’s websites – www.juniatacountyhistoricalsociety.org, and, even better, www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pajchs/, which is where we found the most exact driving directions ever, and a very complete history of the Indian Mound. (A longtime fan of paper maps, I avoid electronic maps and directions whenever possible. I tried using Google Maps on a vacation to Maine, and eventually stopped because I felt like I was looking at my phone so much I was missing what was outside the car windows.) Once we arrived, we discovered a very beautiful, peaceful setting that was once the location of prehistoric Indian village. I think John was a little disappointed. He expected to see an actual mound or mounds, but they are long gone. There is a stone monument, protected by a wooden fence, and it is easy to see from the road, or, up close after a short walk through a meadow.
If you go to the Book Indian Mound, and are at all interested in local history, you should continue to Route 75 and visit the Fort Bigham marker, then turn around, go back past the Indian Mound to the Pomeroy-Academia Covered Bridge, then on to the Tuscarora Academy. If you’re hungry, keep going. You are near the Walnut Cheese Nook. In my opinion, it’s Juniata County’s best kept secret.
The two other roadside attractions in Juniata County are in the Mifflintown area. You’ll find murals by local artists Tessa Gross and Barb Ehrenzeller, installed in 2007 by the Juniata Cultural Arts Committee.
A short drive past the Arch Rock interchange of U.S. 322 will take you to the actual Arch Rock. It’s a fairly busy road, so be careful as you slow down to see it on the left before the big curve. Better yet, park in the church parking lot, cross the street and walk up to it. It’s a lovely spot for a picnic as you get a closer look at this geological wonder.
Mifflin County
Day two of our hunt for roadside attractions took us from one end of Mifflin County to the other.
Since we started out from our home in Juniata County, we took the Hawstone Road through the Narrows, which is a beautiful vantage point, especially on a clear day when there are still not too many leaves on the trees. John rediscovered an attraction that he’s noticed before and that still intrigues him – the stone remains of something that may have had something to do with the railroad. (If anyone know what it is or was, please let me know.)
The road took us to Route 103 and Angelo’s, which is not only my favorite Mifflin County restaurant, but the site of another attraction on the tour. Somehow it always reminds me of Stonehenge, but Angelo’s Living Memorial is dedicated to past and present Mifflin County residents in the medical field, law enforcement and corrections and firefighters. One of the stones is dedicated to the citizens killed in the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. It is a place of quiet reflection.
From Angelo’s we continued on Route 103 and watched for the clock at Tic Toc Lane. The giant timepiece was built by Richard W. Finkenbiner for his brother, William G. Finkenbiner, according to a plaque affixed to the structure. It is dated Dec. 25, 1999.
Since we were on Route 103, and our next destination was McVeytown, to see the attraction I was most curious about, we decided to “take the back way” up the river. After a quick look at the new Juniata River access area, which brought back for John many pleasant memories of fishing trips, we landed in McVeytown. After a nod to the Joseph Rothrock memorial in the middle of town, we headed for the ballfields to see the “McVeytown Knight.”
I was curious to see this attraction, because it was totally off my radar. I had no idea that it existed. I was not disappointed. It’s huge and it seems so out of place in rural Mifflin County, that you’ve just got to love it. The giant metal statute is the mascot for the local team in the Juniata Valley Youth Football League, who stands guard over their field on a dirt road just off Route 522 west of town.
I have to admit, it was my favorite attraction on the tour. Just because I found it so odd, and so fun.
Speaking of fun, we grabbed a bite of lunch at Harshbarger’s, where the old rock ‘n roll/movie decor always makes me smile.
After lunch, we took the scenic route over Jack’s Mountain (not that 522 isn’t scenic!), because the top of the mountain was one of my favorite places to just go and be when I lived in Reedsville many, many years ago. I hadn’t been there in probably 20 years, and I still got that same calm and serene feeling I always felt when I went up there to drink in the views. We took our time taking in the amazing scenery – Big Valley on one side, and Oliver Township on the other, as well as inspecting the Wayside Altar, and a touching memorial someone installed to a fallen friend.
Downtown Belleville is home to another attraction I had never seen before, but it’s in plain view. A life-size horse and buggy stand alongside Esh Appliances, and I’m sure it’s a stop for many a selfie. But it reminds me of the Lancaster area.
I enjoy the trip down 655 from Belleville to Reedsville, which I did regularly at my very first job at The Valley Observer eons ago. Frankly, not that much has changed, and that’s OK with me. There are a couple roadside attractions that have appeared since then, like the airplane whirligig at the intersection of 655 and Green Lane, and the larger-than-life-size cow at the entrance to Hameau Farm. Of course, the cow used to be at Dairyland, just a short way down the highway.
Our next stop on the tour was one that we were actually going to skip because of the distance. An 8-foot fiberglass bear greets customers at the Wilderness Lodge in New Lancaster Valley. But it was a lovely, sunny afternoon, and we were in Reedsville anyway, so why not head to New Lancaster Valley for a look?
We are so glad we went. I believe it was John’s favorite attraction – well, maybe not the bear itself, but the entire experience. Because we had traveled so far to get there, it didn’t seem right to just snap a photo of the bear and dash off. So we stopped in for a little refreshment (do try the onion petals and spider sauce!), and found a clean, friendly restaurant and bar nestled in a beautiful grove of gigantic evergreen trees. While I was aware that the Wilderness Lodge existed, John was not and he couldn’t imagine how he had missed it. It appeared to be fairly newly remodeled, and the menu was extensive. The friendly waitress explained that the lodge was once the mess hall for a CCC camp, a story that was retold in old photos on the wall. A huge metal ring hanging near the big bear at the entrance had served as the dinner bell.
Our next stops were in Burnham, and by then we were getting a little weary. The two attractions were at local businesses, though, so we wouldn’t have felt right lingering anyway. We did stop long enough to take photos of the giant wooden Indian carved by James M. Hassinger in 1986, that stands at the door of Kish Printing on Windmill Hill, and the small, red mining cart that serves as the base of the Kovalchick Corp. sign on Logan Boulevard in Burnham.
We then headed to Lewistown and drove by the final attraction on the tour – the Mifflin County Movie History Mural on Monument Square. We’ll pay more attention to that later, when we take the Murals of Mifflin County tour for our next “staycation!”