Brookville, Pennsylvania
All Photographs Copyright © 2006 - 2011 by Robert E. Pence
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I stayed at the Brookville Super 8 a couple of nights while visiting the Coolspring Power Museum's Fall Swap Meet. On previous visits, I had driventhrough the town without looking around much, and this time I thought I should give it some time. I'm glad I did. It's hard to describe the feelings this
place evokes without resorting to trite expressions that don't do it justice.
Jefferson County Courthouse, built 1867
Elegance impeccably cared for
Wonderful ornate iron work
Appropriate infill
If this were mine, I might be nervous about ...
... these. I guess the couple of sharp turns coming into town have already slowed them down, though. They sure do rattle windows with their engine brakes.
This is steeper than it looks in the photo. I'll bet those bricks are treacherous with a light coat of snow or ice.
Steps! Not quite as steep or long as some in Cincinnati or Pittsburgh, but still a pretty good climb.
Vertical board-and-batten siding is one of my favorite historic architectural features.
I haven't been down this street yet, but I'm out of time. I'll check it out next visit/
I'm back again in October, 2011 for the Fall Expo and Swap Meet at Coolspring Power Museum, and it's been cold, rainy, and windy for two days withanother week of the same in the forecast. This afternoon there's a brief window of no rain and possibly a little sun. Let's pick up where we left off on the
last visit and go down the hill. Here's Brookville Park, site of the 1915 Brookville Park Auditorium. It must have been impressive once.
Now, it has had some steel industrial buildings attached and t looks like it's being used as a warehouse.
There was a considerable inventory of steel piled along one side.
Across the street a handsomely restored home now functions as a law office.
Across Red Bank Creek sits downtown Brookville.
The North Fork on the left and Sandy Lick Creek on the right join to form Red Bank Creek.
Brookville Equipment Corporation Manufactures and rebuilds railroad locomotives, streetcars and light rail vehicles, and haulage equipment used inmining and tunnelling. Their web site is concise and impressive.
The Brookville Borough Complex is anchored by a gorgeous Italianate mansion and houses officesof local government and law enforcement.
Roaming around the area
The gable-roofed building in back with the vertical board-and-batten siding clearly is a railroad freight house, but the tracks don't go there any more.Brookville still is served by the Pittsburg and Shawmut railroad, a name with a long history. An effort to decipher the role of now-defunct branch lines in
the area left me completely confused.
This glorious creation had a vacant appearance about it. It has suffered some unseemly modifications, but overall it's remarkably intact, at least onthe exterior.
That looks like an old mill building ...
... and it is.
Going across the creek to look around downtown and the historic district some more.
"Hey, buddy! Take my picture!"
I'll bet somebody's been to the swap meet at Coolspring Power Museum.
Clouds are coming back and light is fading fast.
I remember this house from last time. It's had a sprucing up, some masonry repair, vines removed from the porch, and a coat of paint. They removedor sided over the lattice on the bottom of the porch; I liked that.
This one has been fixed up, too. Last time, it was rather dingy and the yard was full of plastic playground toys.
A wonderful concept. This is the only gap in the otherwise-perfect Main Street streetscape.
I'll leave you to savor the chocolate-covered strawberries, while I go back to the motel to get a goodnight's sleep and prepare for the long drive home. If you haven't had enough, you can visit my photo
set from the Coolspring Power Museum, just down Highway 36. Otherwise, ...