Park Unit 139-142 Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS, Johnstown Flood NM, Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Friendship Hill NHS

 After months of quarantine, we've been going a little stir crazy so we decided to venture out for our first trip in a long time. We've had to cancel our trip to Washington state and our trip to Washington, DC this summer, but the Covid numbers are low right now so we feel safe venturing into Pennsylvania.

We started our journey with the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. This was one of those fabulous visitor's centers that taught us so much about history and physics! 

We had no knowledge of this railroad or the challenges of getting a railroad through the mountains before our visit. "The first railroad to circumvent the Allegheny Mountains, the Allegheny Portage Railroad was the finishing piece of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal. "The Portage" opened in 1834, marking the first time that there was one, direct route between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. All things to all people, it served merchants, passengers, slaves in pursuit of freedom, and soldiers from the Mexican War."

 The displays were an excellent way to learn about the process.

Next we drove to Friendship Hill National Historic Site.  "Tucked away in a wooded spot overlooking the Monongahela River in southwestern Pennsylvania is Friendship Hill National Historic Site, home of Albert Gallatin (1761–1849). Gallatin is best known for serving as Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison." 

We toured the house and beautiful grounds and had a fascinating discussion with the ranger about the politics in the area and how hard it was that he was not in agreement with his friends/family's values. It was a little uncomfortable to even drive around this part of the state.

 

Next we traveled to Johnstown Flood National Memorial. I was very familiar with the story of this tragedy from a book I read in Social Work school, so it was very meaningful to see the actual site. The visitor's center had an amazing recreation of the chaos as seen in this photo:

"The South Fork dam failed on Friday, May 31, 1889 and unleashed 20,000,000 tons of water that devastated Johnstown, PA. The flood killed 2,209 people but it brought the nation and the world together to aid the "Johnstown sufferers." The story of the Johnstown Flood reminds us all, "...that we must leave nothing undone for the preservation and protection of our brother men." We learned a lot from the first-hand accounts of the events and it was a sobering experience. This spurred us on to listen to the Johnstown Flood book by David McCullough. NPS sites are so good at motivating us to learn more!

Finally we drove to the Fort Necessity Memorial Battlefield. "The battle at Fort Necessity in the summer of 1754 was the opening action of the French and Indian War. This war was a clash of British, French and American Indian cultures. It ended with the removal of French power from North America. The stage was set for the American Revolution."

 

The surrounding area was beautiful and we learned a lot from the rangers about the details of the location and people involved. The reconstructed fort was very interesting. We also explored  the Mount Washington Tavern, which was build in the 1830's along the National Road (which we learned about for the first time here!). It was a stopping place for stagecoaches and their travelers.

We also visited the Stone House added by Gallatin in 1823.

 

It was a successful trip that reminded us how important our NPS visits are! Can't wait for Covid to settle down enough to start traveling again!