THE BEST PLACES, EVENTS AND OTHER GOOD THINGS IN TURKEYFOOT

YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT A DESCRIPTION OF YOUR FAVORITE PLACES, PEOPLE OR EVENTS IN EITHER OF THE TWO TURKEYFOOT TOWNSHIPS

 

THE LOWER HUMBERT BRIDGE

The first picture was submitted by Michele Q. Hayes and taken near an ancestor's home, Norman Beal. The bridge is on the Laurel Hill Creek, a short distance from Ursina, and on the road to Humbert. In earlier days, it was called the King Bridge after a nearby family. This is not to be confused with the recognized King Bridge not far from Kingwood and New Lexington. I believe the first King Schoolhouse was located in close proximity. One can still drive across the bridge onto a dirt road that leads up the hill to the crossroads at the top of The Jersey Hollow Road. If one continues on across the Jersey Hollow Road, they end up in Draketown.

Barbara Goss provided the second picture showing the lower entrance to the bridge.

 

 

 

OUR CABIN

The log cabin was built in 1927 by my uncle, George Groff, Jack Fick and a number of their cronies. They built it on land that was leased from old Bud Tannehill located about 200 yards below Mr. Tannehill's house. It was unique in that it was constructed of Chestnut logs, wood that is no longer available. A blight destroyed all the Chestnut trees in Pennsylvania. Even now this tree won't grow in Pennsylvania. My father and I bought the cabin sometime in the 60s or 70s. Dad used it for deer hunting, mother used it for entertaining. My family used it for vacations and visiting relatives. My boys learned to love the outdoors there and how to fish for trout.

At that time the cabin was in a cathedral of huge tall oaks and was adjacent to State Game lands. It provided a great deal of privacy and a starting point for enjoying the many outdoor activities that Lower Turkeyfoot Township has to offer. My family spent their vacation there every year while my boys were growing up. The cabin is still there. But we sold it in the eighties. It was just never quit the same after Glenn Tannehill cut down all the trees.

 

CRANBERRY GLADE RUN AND LAKE

We loved to walk down past Glen Tannehill's saw mill to the stream we called Laurel Run. It has since been named Cranberry Glade Run. The run had beautiful large stones and cascading white water with native trout. Some of the pools were large enough to take a bath. The stream turned red and was polluted a number of years after its feeder was dammed up to make Cranberry Glade Lake. The pollution was tannic acid from the trees that were flooded. After several years, the pollution dissipated and the fish returned.

The last time we walked down there, the road was fairly well grown over, but the State keeps it open for hunting. One can continue on past the run and end up beyond Cranberry Glade Lake.

 

 

 

 

THE MITCHELL HOLE

We had a favorite place on the Laurel Hill Creek we liked to hike to, have lunch and take a swim. It used to be an annual event for my family to make the two-mile hike from our cabin to what we called the Mitchell Hole. The farm adjacent to the creek there was once owned by the Mitchell Family. The swimming hole is actually only a mile or two above Humbert, but we always walked down from our cabin on the Tannehill Farm through the woods and onto the dirt road leading from the Jersey Hollow Road.

Anyhow, the spot is one of the most beautiful on the Laurel Hill Creek. It is probably only four or five feet deep, surrounded by mild rapids above, a sheer cliff with overhanging pines on the far side and an island with a small sandy beach on the near side. One must cross the island from the foot of the road to get to the spot.

When we visit Somerset County now, we occasionally hike to the area even though we no longer own the cabin. The Old Mitchell Property has long been owned by an association of campers who have posted the property, but allow visitors. We drive in from the hard road where the Brushtown School once stood and drive up over the hill and down onto what is now State Game Lands. We park at the gate where private property begins. From there it is little more than a mile down to the creek.

 

FLATROCKS AT HARNEDSVILLE

The most popular swimming hole in the area has got to be Flatrocks on the Casselman River at Harnedsville. The swimming hole is under and below the bridge on Route 281. The hole under the bridge was deep enough to permit jumping from the bridge probably from a height of 20 feet. Below the bridge, off to the left, is a huge rock formation about eight or ten feet high upon which people congregate or sun themselves. Not far below that is a shelf of rocks that stretches across the river at the lower end of the hole. Assuming  recent rain storms has not made the river too high, people sun bath here or sit in the rapids between the rocks or ride down short stretches of rapids from here. Pic 1, the swimming hole taken from the bridge. Pic 2, looking down on the valley hosting Harnedsville from “Hogback”, the hill between Harnedsville and Ursina.

      

 

THE BLUE HOLE

.

Another favorite swimming hole, at least to the Groff Family, is the Blue Hole. It is in the Laurel Hill Creek at the foot of the Groff Farm. The small hole hasn't changed much in 60 or 70 years, but the bank has. In earlier days the bank came right up to the edge of the hole (like the picture). Over the years, due to high water, the bank has eroded back a good twenty feet and washed away the beautiful tree that overhung the water. In the early days it was a place to cool off after a hard days work in the fields or to take a weekly bath (whether you needed it or not). Over the years, during vacations it has been one sure place to visit and to experience with ones children and grandchildren.

 

NEXT PAGE