Pomeroy-Academia Covered Bridge

Near my home, and not far from the Tuscarora Academy Museum, which I featured in my last post, is the Pomeroy-Academia Covered Bridge.

It is a two span covered timber Burr arch truss bridge (named for Theodore Burr, the pre-eminent bridge designer of his time) that was built in 1902 after another wooden bridge crossing the Tuscarora Creek was damaged by floods in 1901.

At 270 feet, this bridge is the longest remaining covered bridge in Pennsylvania.


Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the bridge is now owned by the Juniata County Historical Society.


The bridge was closed to traffic in 1962 due to safety concerns, although it remained open to foot traffic. In 2003, engineers told the Historical Society that if something was not done to restore this bridge, sometime in the next decade it would collapse into the creek. The fact that it had stood for over 100 years is impressive to me.


So the bridge was completely dismantled and rebuilt using salvaged wood from the existing bridge and new timber. The renovation (click to see pictures of the renovation) was completed in May of this year.

The year the bridge officially closed to traffic(1962), my husband's grandmother, Sara Deen, painted this picture of the old bridge.

It now hangs proudly in my dining room.

Tuscarora Academy Museum

About three miles from my home is one of the oldest landmarks still standing in Juniata County, PA....the Tuscarora Academy. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the former Academy is now a museum which houses many pieces of local history from around the Juniata Valley.

Although the museum has been in operation for many years, this summer was the very first time I made the time to take a look. And I went back two more times!

Originally used as a church, this building is all that is left of the numerous buildings that once comprised the first secondary school in Juniata County before being destroyed by several fires. The Academy originally opened for instruction October 1839 and tuition, room, and board was a whopping $110 per year!

The following picture is a room on the second level that is set up to replicate a typical dormitory room for students.

I was also pleased to find several old baskets, in awesome condition!

(The tag you see on the basket above has information about the person who either originally owned it, or donated it, or both)



And I just loved this old wicker doll stroller....


and an old wheelchair with caned seat and back.


I was completely fascinated with this room, set up as a Doctor's Office of days gone by...


complete with old medicine bottles.....


and this...

...a tattoo taken from the arm of a deceased subject.
Seriously.
And very creepy.

And ladies, how would you like to get a perm? Take a look at this!


And the ad to go with it....

That looks very dangerous to me!

But I sure wouldn't mind owning this fabulous piano...

I am really glad I finally took the time to visit this museum...funny how we take for granted the things that are right in our own back yards!

Six Word Saturday

VEGETABLES HAVE TAKEN OVER MY LIFE!




Baskets? What's that? HAHA!

Seriously, I haven't made a basket since....well, since I taught my class a week and a half ago, but I don't think I'll count that!

No, I've been busy harvesting peas and beans and zucchini, on top of getting all the raspberries and blackberries I've been hording in my freezer turned into jelly to make room for the veggies I'll be freezing!

And it ain't over...soon there will be sweet corn, and tomatoes.... I don't want to think about that just yet.


I've learned a few things over the past few days as my daughter and I have labored over the beans and peas.

I learned that some green beans look like Barbie legs.

It sounds like knuckles cracking when you snap beans, and eggs cracking open when you open a pea pod.

Peas bounce but beans don't.

And everybody wants some of my raspberry jelly! (You know who you are!)

And I realized just how fortunate I am to have raspberries free for the picking, because I saw some at a local store for $7.50 a quart!

It's a lot of work now, but I know it'll be worth it this winter when I don't have to buy the yucky produce or frozen veggies from our nearest supermarket.


Well, gonna go put on the Veggie tales CD....

Have a great weekend!

Funny Monday

Funny Monday – Calling All Bloggers

I just found a new "meme" called "Funny Monday", so thought I'd give it a shot.

The theme for today is "Grumpy".

Do you think this qualifies?

We love to pick on our 5-year-old Beagle girl.

All she does is lay around all day, so we need to liven her up a bit.

She tends to give us that "Don't-Bug-Me-Or-I'll-Fart" kind of look when we wake her up.

Sometimes, grumpy is funny...as long as it isn't me.

My First Basket Class

Today I taught a group of three awesome students to weave a basket!
This was my first time teaching (other than my daughters, a long time ago).

Here they are, hard at work!

This was their first time, ever, making a basket

I am really proud of them and they did a fantastic job....just look at their finished baskets!

Before they left, we dipped them in my homemade walnut hull brew for a really professional, finished look.

Good job, girls!