An Eldred Tour of Historic & Notable Sites
for Mrs. Bush's Seniors
This is a tour that we put together for our neighbors who live at Mrs. Bush's
This is a tour of 24 notable locations in Eldred Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
Some of the locations have deep historical significance and I wish I had the space here to post several photos that would help to "illustrate" their importance and the time to fully cover their "story".
What I can promise is, if there is enough interest in a specific site, I will link its picture below to another page where I will add many photos and post what I have learned from historic research and interviews with long time residents - possibly as complete a record as you would find anywhere.
But for now, this page is for the tour I will be conducting for my friends from Mrs. Bush's.
1. Chestnut Ridge Railroad Car
In 1898, a group of millionaires including J.P. Morgan got the bright idea to develop the Chestnut Ridge area. They formed Chestnut Ridge Development Corporation, and their plans included constructing a brick factory and a hotel here. They planned a simple railroad to go from Kunkletown to Palmerton (where a main railroad junction existed). The railroad would be used for the transporting of bricks & hotel guests.
The Chestnut Ridge Railroad (11 miles long - 30 minute ride) was built within two years, and the New York and Philadelphia Brick Tile and Terra Cotta Company opened in 1900. The millionaires built a 35-room lodge with what was described at "luxury appointments", overlooking the brick factory.
This caboose is all that remains of the railroad, even less of the brick factory & hotel remain
But more about that later.
Notice the mill stone - we will later visit the place where this was used to grind wheat & other grains.
2. Veterans Memorial
This memorial is in honor of Eldred residents who served in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and World War I.
In addition, it names 33 veterans
of the Korean War, 100 veterans of World War II and 60 veterans of the Vietnam War era.
An additional plaque honors others.
Each year on Memorial Day & on Veterans Day a moving ceremony
is held on this site.
3. Town Hall
Eldred Township was formed in 1851 (carved out of Ross Township).
Kunkletown, despite the "town" in its name was actually a village. It was the largest village in the town known as Eldred.
Eldred was named after Nathaniel B. Eldred who was a Monroe County judge.
The names Kunkletown and Eldred seemed to co-exist and were used interchangeably until a modern day reorganization of the U.S. Postal Service. Eldred/Kunkletown had too few inhabitants living between the Appalachian Trail and Molasses Valley Road to have its own zip code. So the Postal Service moved the Kunkletown northern "border" deep into Polk Township to the area of Jonas and labeled it zip code 18058 - Kunkletown.
Today, the legal entity - with government officials is the Town of Eldred - and most of us once again use Eldred & Kunkletown interchangeably but knowing our boundary is at Molasses Valley Road
4. Community Center
Thrift Shop/Food Pantry/Former School
In 1953 the last of the one-room schools were closed and a new elementary school was built for grades 1 to 8. Classes held two grades each. In 1975, the building was expanded.
But in 2010 it was closed.
The building was offered to Eldred Township.
July 3rd, 2014 - After much discussion, investigation and thought, the Board of Supervisors voted 2 to 1 to accept the offer from PVSD to buy Eldred School for $1.00. A generous anonymous resident offered to donate $10,000 toward the project.
Today, it houses a Community Center, a Thrift Shop and a food pantry (started November 2015) for the needy. Many groups use the building, including a group of amateur musicians that jam once a week and a sewing circle. A highlight of the year is the annual Art Show.
5. Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail runs 2,200 miles from the State of Georgia to the State of Maine. Portions of it are used by 2,000,000 hikers a year.
The trail was completed in 1937 passing through 14 states - including Pennsylvania which has about 230 miles of the trail.
It takes about 165 days to hike the entire trail and you will wear out at least 4 pairs of boots. Our section is said to be the roughest and some folks call it "Bootsylvania" - where boots go to die.
Our elevation ranges from 320 feet above sea level to 2,080. Here we are about 1,542 feet above sea level.
6. Aquashicola Creek
Aquashicola Creek (pronounced Ahkwa-SHIK-ola) is 20.8 miles long. The name is from the Native American Lenapes, meaning "where we fish with the bushnet."
The creek rises from a swamp in Saylorsburg, and flows west, in the "valley" between Chestnut Ridge and Blue Mountain. It meets the Buckwha Creek, and flows into the 109 mile long Lehigh River at Palmerton. The Lehigh River flows into the Delaware River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
In Colonial days, the Delaware was called the "South River" and the North River was the Hudson River.
7. Meniolagomeka Monument
Here on this spot is where the Meniolagomeka Native Americans of the Delaware Nation once lived. They were visited by a small group of Moravian missionaries in 1752. The missionaries lived among them for 3 years.
This monument, of New Hampshire granite, was placed here, on the farm of Benjamin Schmidt, on October 22nd, 1901, by a group of about 60 friends and members of the Moravian Historical Society, including 7 trombonists who traveled over hills and streams at great effort for this ceremony. They were joined by about 200 folks from the area.
The well-meaning dedication expressed sadness for how the government brutalized the Native population. The first speaker said, (he) "wished that the State and Nation would have followed (the Moravian) behavior" to, "deal with the Indian problem...(by making) converts from among the savages peaceable." The speech mentioned the "dusky wives" of the brawny braves that lived in superstition and sin. They spoke of the hunting of deer, panther and bear and the spearing of trout.
The second speaker, Reverend Haehnle, said the untimely end of their missions "...was due to the fault neither of the Bretheren, nor of their converts, but to the rapacity and wickendess of the white people. It is not pleasant to record the fact, but it is true, that nearly all of our missions, to the Indians were closed not by the savagery of the aborigines, but by the madness and the badness of the whites."
Obviously, you see no Native American village here today -
they were removed from this land long before this monument was dedicated.
8. Chestnut Ridge Railroad Trail
Remember the caboose that I showed you earlier? Sadly, after only two or three years of operation, the brick company failed, and the railroad was sold. The brick company was replaced by the Chestnut Ridge White Brick Company, and this company also went bankrupt within a few years. The railroad was bought in 1907 by The New Jersey Zinc Company. NJ Zinc was a mining & refining operation in nearby Palmerton. By 1929, the brick company was permanently closed.
Kunkletown residents continued to use the railroad to commute to jobs at the zinc company. And I am told that some Kunkletown students (or as they called them in those days - "scholars") took the train to attend high school in Palmerton since Kunkletown did not have a high school. Elaine Williamson Knecht just told me that her mom had to catch the train at 6am and didn't get home until 6pm - the train ride was only 20 minutes, but the train was scheduled for the NJ Zinc workers not the students. (Some local students went to high school in Polk Township.)
In 1935 all passenger service ceased. In the 1940's the two tall chimneys of the brick factory were taken down.
The railroad was now used for the bulk shipment of products to and from Kunkletown. But finally all service ended in 1961.
The site of the old Chestnut Ridge Lodge now is a bare spot in the woods showing its foundation.
The railroad went permanently out of business in the 1960s. Most of the tracks have been torn up but a 35' wide path remains as a "right of way" for a recreational rail trail.
9. Buckwha Creek
The Buckwha Creek is 12.6 miles long and originates in a swamp near Saylorsburg on the north side of Chestnut Ridge.
It runs from the east to the west. It cuts through Chestnut Ridge at Little Gap and joins the Aquashicola
which as I mentioned previously joins the Lehigh River.
About five miles from where it starts, it is dammed to form Princess Lake, about a mile east of Kunkletown.
The Buckwha is fed from small creeks, runs and rivlets flowing down from the north,
such as Borger Creek, Chapple Creek & Princess Run.
The brick factory was on the south side of the creek and up the hill from the factory was the Kunkletown Lodge -
a 35-room, 3-story brick hotel. The grounds had gardens and a tennis court and a white brick fountain.
White Clay was mined in the area to the east and in addition to being used to make bricks was used to make cement. In 1951, a sand company was formed on the site of the old clay plant - they mined sand of different sized "grains" for a variety of uses and may still be in business today.
10. Stone Arch Bridge
The Buckwha Creek divided Kunkletown into a north & south section. The only way to cross was the Stone Arch Bridge (unless you traveled west all the way to Little Gap or east to Wind Gap).
This simple but beautiful bridge is preserved today but was replaced in
1976 with a modern bridge to the west about 800 feet.
The railroad station was on the south side of the bridge, to the east of the old bridge.
11. Hawk Grist Mill / Lee's Fashion
This 3 and half story building began as a grist mill. Farmers would bring wagon loads of grain grown in their fields to be pulverized into fine powder to make wheat bread or corn bread.
A narrow "race" or canal diverted water from the Buckwha to turn a paddle wheel which turned a large stone inside the building. The moving stone ground the grain against a stationary stone.
After the mill closed the building was converted into a textile mill or blouse factory. There were several such factories in Kunkletown and numerous more surrounding towns.
These factories were called "runaway" factories - the owners opened them to run away from safety regulations, child labor laws and higher pay required in New York City.
But they provided a good source of income for the hardworking women of our town.
On this site was Lee's Fashions.
The building was demolished in 2017.
12. Rachel's General Store
Rachel's is widely known for hoagies and in the summer delicious soft ice cream.
Near this building was once "The Lodge" - a building that served as an informal town hall & civic meeting place.
In the future I will add today's "Penny's Place" to the tour and talk of Greenzweig's Hotel & its role as a meeting place for social functions.
13. Old Post Office
This building was built in 1864. At one point, its postmaster was James Pearsol. He & his family lived in the building and also operated a General Store.
In 1900 he started the West End Telephone Company in the Post Office building. His son, Wesley Herbert was born in the room above the Post Office and he later became the Postmaster and operated the General Store and the telephone company (whose switchboard was located in the Post Office building).
By 1911 he had 60 subscribers. In May 1956 the company was sold to the Palmerton Phone Company.
In 1994, the Post Office moved to its present day modern building and the zip code expanded to, as previously mentioned, all the way beyond Eldred to the area of Jonas in Polk Township.
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14. American Hotel
On this location was a blacksmith shop operated by George Greenzweig. Edwin & Eugene Greenzweig also worked at the blacksmith shop.
Around 1903, the Kunkletown Hotel was here, operated by Reuben Frable & his family. Later, it was the American Hotel & Bar.
The hotel ceased operation
and the Jupiter Restaurant operated here for a few years, serving Polish food. In 2014 the Kunkletown Pub at Buckwha Inne was opened by Gretchen Gannon Pettit, former town supervisor.
This current building dates back to 1838.
Next -- Volunteer Fire Company was formed in 1952 and in the first year attained 400 members.
And Next -- The derelict building to the south of K'town Road is the old Shoe Shop.
15. Schoenberger General Store
A handful of old-timers recall this building as the Schoenberger General Store - serving the needs of the small farming community.
Some tell of how German was the preferred language and how the electric lights were left off until a customer appeared, to save on the electric bill.
Later, Bill Smiley operated the General Store and it was well-known for it meats - especially the ring baloney which was rumored to contain
a taste of out of season deer meat.
When Smiley's closed, Amy's took its place for a short period. There is some question as to the location of John Harter's Store and if it or Schoenberger's was also a grain and feed store.
16. Mock Stone House
Without question the most beautiful and well-kept home in Kunkletown is the Mock Stone House. Thanks to its current owner, Jacqueline Mock, it will one day be a part of a visitors center, museum and environmental preservation meeting place.
17. Walter W. Mock Memorial Park Grove
This is small piece of the 77 acres that Mrs. Mock has provided to help preserve the local environment and the quality of life in Kunkletown.
It is named for her father-in-law.
18. Princess Run
A one-lane bridge takes us over Princess Run.
Don't be fooled by the label "run" as opposed to "creek" - during rainy season this is a fast moving and turbulent body of water.
And it is well-known to sports fishermen.
It runs pretty much parallel to Fiddetown Road.
19. Fiddle Town Road House
Legend says two men - one in the stone house by Meixell Valley Road and the other across the road by Borger Road (once the Nelson Hotel) used to play their fiddles in a mix between a duet and a duel.
Folks came to refer to the dirt road as Fiddletown Road. And although there was never a Fiddletown, there now is a county road that bears the name.
20. The Fields Horror Movie House
Filming wrapped up in October 2009, premiered in 2011 starring Tara Reid &
Cloris Leachman.
Returning home along Church Road, late one night, I came across a herd of deer in the middle of the road. As I slowly tried to drive passed them they refused to move.
I realized something was scaring them in the corn fields more than me in my car.
I looked to the southeast in the direction of Keystone Lane and saw giant luminous orbs "floating" in the sky.
No, they were not ufos - they were stadium lights on cranes - providing illumination for the filming of the movie.
21. 1855 Frantz One-Room School
This school educated local students from 1855 to 1945.
It was on the property of the Frantz farm so it was named the Frants School.
Tony & Renee Giordano restored the school during the summers of 2015 to 2017. It is now museum containing artifacts relating to the local community and American farming.
22. Borger-Yost Stone House
This fine stone house standing in the southeast intersection of Borger Road and Church Road is just about the geographical center of the Town of Eldred.
It is one of the few, if not only, perfect 4-way intersections in the township.
23. Mock Park Trail Head
This is an accurate map of Mock Park from the Trail Head on the north at Wes-Flo Court, down to the Fiddletown Road (when it goes east-west).
It contains working farm fields, meadows, forest and waterfalls.
That "pan-handle" on the west is an access property from Church Road.
24. St. Matthews Church
By 1770, worship services were being conducted in Kunkletown, in barns and private homes. In 1779, a log cabin church building was built. In 1846 a stone building was built to replace the log cabin. And in 1900, the current church structure was erected. In 2015, a new addition containing an elevator, handicapped bathrooms, new offices and classrooms were added.
While it may seem that the tour is over, it really isn't.
Recording the rich and distant history of any area is an on-going study requiring updating
as new information is discovered.
This tour is far from perfect - it needs your help in correcting mistakes and honest errors.
This can only happen with your help - please share your knowledge and help to make this a broader
and more accurate record.
Just now, as I was writing I realized that just in the last week I learned of three more buildings that deserve to be included on this tour and I am sure there are at least a dozen more that I don't know of.
So to make this tour really meaningful as an historic record it needs to be re-written already.