Caching Around Shartlesville, PA 9/14/2009

This morning we went out for our only day of caching in and around the area of Shartlesville. Our first 2 caches were in the town one at the Roadside America complex and the other in a small park. Then it was on down RT 78 to Hamburg about 6 miles away and the first of 3 caches in the Cabela's The World's Foremost Outfitter of Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Gear for the outdoorsman. There were 3 caches the parking lot or near the store, and they have to be 528' away from each other, so you can imagine the size of the store.......it was HUGE. We found the 3 caches then took a walk into the store to look around. This store made Bass Pro Shop look like a miniature. It had everything from soup to nuts for the sportsman. Then it was across the street to a cache at the local Cracker Barrel restaurant.
Next cache was located in Port Clinton, PA, population 288, at the Historical Society building where there was several old pieces of history including 2 small train depots, one from Molino, PA and the other from Port Clinton, PA. The Port Clinton Hotel, served as a stagecoach stop between Sunbury and Philadelphia in the early 1800’s. Stagecoaches stopped at the Port Clinton Hotel, which was a great social center where news from other states and even foreign countries was exchanged. In fact, it became customary when signing the hotel register to add any news that they thought might be of common interest. The hotelkeeper and his family cared for the driver and passengers stabled the horses and entertained with a fiddler and dances. The hotel’s birthname was the “Gately Hotel” and is now named the “Port Clinton Hotel”. Situated in southern Schuylkill County, the unique little town clings on the hillside and embraces the peninsula between the Little Schuylkill and the main river. Port Clinton takes its name from De-Witt Clinton on the Erie Canal, and was laid out in 1829. A thriving community for many years for large shipments of coal which was brought to Port Clinton by the primitive railroads and was loaded on canal boats for shipment. The Schuylkill Canal passed through Port Clinton and many of the residents of the little borough received employment on the railroad and the canal. The Schuylkill Canal centered around two major terminals, Port Clinton on the north side of the Schuylkill Gap and Kernsville on the south side. The last boat to leave Port Clinton’s once crowded basin was the Mary Rose, which took a load of coal to the state sanatorium at Hamburg just before the outbreak of World War II in 1939. In the flood of 1850, Port Clinton suffered heavy damage. The heavy bridge carrying the tracks of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was completely carried away. And in 1854, The Auburn and Port Clinton Railroad Company was chartered. Many of the canal boat crews lived at the Port Clinton Hotel in the months when the canal was frozen over. Canal navigation usually began on St. Patrick’s Day and continued until the early part of December. During the winter the boats were laid up and the entire family lived on them. A school was conducted for children and the boatmen worked at odd jobs or sat about in taverns.
Next cache was located at the site of an old trestle bridge, next was a cache at the Hamburg State Street Trailhead walkway over the Schuylkill River, then it was one located on the Schuylkill Canal at the site of the old "five locks". Then we drove to Shomakersville and a puzzle cache at the site of a WW2 memorial, next was another puzzle cache located in Ebenezer Cemetery, then another puzzle cache in St Mark's Cemetery where there was a memorial, Das Gedenknes, to the original church bult on the site, St Mark's in 1853. Then it was on to Candy's Homemade Ice Cream Place a perfect place for lunch and a cache. They make all of their ice cream and Italian Ice here from scratch, as well as their ice cream cakes and "Brownie Pizzas". Candy's is also well known for their great Jalapeno Ice Cream if you like unique flavors. We found the cache and had an ice cream and were off to the last cache of the day. It was in the Zion Evangelical Luthern Church cemetery and was a quick find.
Then it was back to the coach for our lunch, posting our logs and dinner. Well that's it for today so we will close and we love you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick