Missing: Have you seen this woman?

White female, approximately 150 years old. Last seen on 449 Vine Street in Cincinnati, Ohio at the studio of J. H. Reinhold, photographer, wearing a dark sepia colored dress.

Stone flowers

These flowers are waiting out the decades in a graveyard in Little Britain, Pennsylvania. Their striking looks also highlight the dynamic range of modern digital cameras, which is formidable.

Canon 5D © 2006 Falmanac.

Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation

The Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation is located at Swan Harbor Farm in Harford County, Maryland.

Canon 20D ©Kim Choate 2006

A middle path

When the members of the John Wesley UMC, in Abingdon, Maryland built a new church, they didn't restore the old one, but they didn't demolish it either. They just left it alone. I wish more people would do the same. While there's such a thing as too many abandoned buildings, a few decrepit structures can spice up any locality. Why even the National Park Service keeps some of its buildings in a state of arrested decay. And why not? Everybody likes a ghost town.

Canon 20D/5D ©Kim Choate/Falmanac 2006

Rambling 'round

Not too far from Clifton Forge, Virginia.

Canon 20D © 2006 Falmanac.

Country Churches: Abundant Life

Havre de Grace, Maryland

Canon EOS 20D ©Kim Choate 2006

Rustic phone booth

Swan Harbor Farm, Harford County, Maryland. Canon 5D.

The Wesleyan Chapel of Havre de Grace

Is there a pleasanter churchyard than the Wesleyan Chapel near Havre de Grace, Maryland? The chapel, the Sunday school building, even the chapel's addition, all seem just right. Not to mention the graveyard, which is full of finely crafted stones, offering up a wealth of historical trivia.

Canon EOS 20D ©Kim Choate 2006

William H. Paul

William H. Paul was a member of the Catasaqua Rifles when he was sworn into the 9th Regiment, Company D of the Pennsylvania Volunteers in 1861. At Antietam "under a most withering and concentrated fire, voluntarily picked up the colors of his regiment, when the bearer and 2 of the color guard had been killed, and bore them aloft throughout the entire battle." He was wounded during the Wilderness Campaign and discharged on a surgeon's certificate shortly before the end of the war. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1896 for his actions at Antietam. He is buried at the Wesleyan Chapel Cemetery near Havre De Grace, Maryland - just a stone's throw from the birthplace of CMH winner Alfred B. Hilton.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D with Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. ©2006

Hampton Mansion: Springhouse

Springhouses were more about refrigeration than fresh water. And with the dozens living at Hampton Mansion, the springhouse was by necessity, a large one.

Canon EOS 5D ©2006 Falmanac

Hampton Farm

Though the Hampton Mansion, located in Towson, Maryland, is closed for renovation, the farm is still open to visitors. It's about the swankiest farm I've ever seen. The farmhouse alone (pictured) would have been called a mansion in its day, and it's still looking pretty good. Tomorrow we'll take a look at the springhouse, another impressive structure.

Country Churches: Show me a sign!

Our featured church today isn't a building, it's a sign, but I think it says it all.

Canon EOS 20D ©Kim Choate 2006

Fulton Grange

From the Wikipedia: "The Grange movement in the United States was a farmers' movement involving the affiliation of local farmers into area "granges" to work for their political and economic advantages. The official name of the National Grange is the Patrons of Husbandry. ... In 2005, the Grange claims a membership of 300,000 with organizations in 3,600 communities in 37 states." Read on.

Fulton Grange, Fulton, PA. Canon EOS 20D ©Kim Choate 2006

New Views of the Conowingo Flood

While we were taking pictures of this year's Conowingo flood from the ground, our friend Pat Depkin was taking pictures from on high, in his airplane. And doing a good job of it too. We hope Pat will send us some more of his aerial views in the future, especially since we don't care for flying!

Mount Zoar Colored School

Another gem from the Northwest Barrens, the Mount Zoar Colored School closed in 1941, and that's all I know.

MZCS Cecil County, Maryland. Canon EOS 20D ©Kim Choate 2006

The Battle of Fismette

"In Fismette, the Pennsylvanians ran into a stone wall of resistance. The enemy made desperate efforts to dislodge them and drive them back across the river. One counter-attack after another was met and beaten off by the valiant little band of Americans, supported by the roaring guns on the heights to the south. ... The weather turned wet again, varying from a drizzle to a heavy downpour, but never quite ceasing. The penetration of Fismette went slowly but steadily on, in the face of strong resistance, the Germans reacting viciously at every point of contact. Here, as elsewhere along the front between Soissons and Rheims, the action consisted of a series of sharp local engagements, with considerable hand-to-hand fighting, in which American bayonets played an important role." Read on.

Photo: "Spence Brothers: Killed at Fismette 1918"
Drumore Township, Pennsylvania. Canon EOS 5D ©2006 Falmanac

Country Churches: Pleasant Grove UMC

Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church. I'm not sure if this one is in Cecil County, MD, or Lancaster County, PA. It's a little vague in that area. Anybody know for sure?

If you like trains ...

If you like trains, you may want to visit two of our other sites: MDRails is a photographic look at American railroading, while National Railroad News, is just the news - in volume.

York Haven Hydro Station: A working relic

"It stands almost literally in the shadows of Three Mile Island's cooling towers. But it produces only five-percent the electricity, compared to the nuclear plant. The York Haven Hydro Station was once one of the biggest power plants in the US.

The trip to the century old York Haven Hydro Station begins on a serene note. A gentle rain falls on the Susquehanna. To get to the hydro station Manager Doug Weaver leads us through a tunnel that actually sits atop the dam that channels river water into the plant.

Then you begin to hear it.
The constant rumble of the plant's aging turbines, 20 of them.

It's as if the hydro station has creaky, hundred year old bones, crying out for a rest. In fact the plant is so old most parts are no longer available. So using raw metal stock and 1904 blue prints, plant employees make replacement parts from scratch." Read on.


Photo: "York Haven" Canon EOS 20D © Kim Choate 2006

The blockhouse

I don't know how old it is or why it was built, but we've always called it the blockhouse. It sits along U.S. 1, just north of Bel Air, Maryland. Anybody know its history?

Photos: Canon EOS 5D with Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens © 2006 Falmanac

Deer Creek Friends Meeting

"Members of the Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as Quakers, moved from West River Meeting in Anne Arundel County to settle in the Bush River area of present day Harford County. Here they established a Meeting perhaps as early as 1706. As time went on, many Bush River Friends moved north to settle on the excellent farming land in and around Darlington along Deer Creek, and some Pennsylvania Friends moved south into the area as well. These Quakers probably worshiped in each other’s houses when they could not make the journey to Bush River or to Nottingham Friends Meeting in Oxford, Pennsylvania. By 1737, however, Deer Creek Friends were worshiping in a meetinghouse on three and one-half acres of land purchased from Nathan Rigbie, the most prominent landowner in the Darlington area, for the sum of 28 pounds. It is believed that this first meetinghouse was probably a modified home or outbuilding bought with the land." Read on.

Canon EOS 20D © Kim Choate 2006