The militia at Lexington and Concord

That Thursday afternoon of June 14, 1984, we headed to the revolutionary sites at Lexington and Concord, about 18 miles west of Boston.  We had lunch at the Colonial Inn in Concord, south of the old North Bridge and near the Old Manse House in Concord.  I believe that we rode around in our car to look at all the various historic sites after we had lunch.  The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first major military campaigns of the American Revolutionary War, that eventually resulted in the colonial American victory.  These battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County in the colonial-era Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington and Concord.  I grew up in Middlesex County, but in Carteret, New Jersey.  These events marked the outbreak of armed conflict between Great Britain and the Patriot Militias from the American Colonies.  In late 1774, there had been the so-called Boston Tea Party that led to the formation of a Patriot provisional government known as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.  They called for local militias to train for possible hostilities.  This Colonial provisional government effectively controlled most of the Massachusetts colony, outside of the British-controlled town of Boston that the “redcoats” had occupied since 1768.  In response, the British government in February 1775 declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion.  About 700 British Army regulars in Boston were given secret orders to capture and destroy the colonial military supplies, reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord.  Through effective intelligence gathering, the patriot leaders had received word weeks before this expedition that their supplies might be at risk.  Thus, they had moved most of them to other locations.  On the night before this first battle, the warning about the British expedition had been rapidly sent from Boston to militias in the area by several riders, including Paul Revere and Samuel Prescott.  The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising in Lexington.  Eight militiamen were killed, but the British suffered only one casualty.  The militia was outnumbered and fell back, while the regular British soldiers proceeded on to Concord, where they broke apart into smaller companies to search for the colonial military supplies.  At the North Bridge in Concord, approximately 400 militiamen engaged 100 British regulars at about 11:00 AM, resulting in casualties on both sides.  However, the outnumbered red coat regulars fell back from the bridge and rejoined the main body of British forces in Concord.  The British forces then began their return retreat march to Boston, after completing their unsuccessful search for military supplies.  However, more militiamen continued to arrive from the neighboring towns.  Gunfire erupted again and again between the two sides, and continued throughout the day as the British troops marched back towards Boston.  The colonists were stunned by their success.  In their accounts afterward, British officers and soldiers alike noted their frustration that the colonial militiamen fired at them from behind trees and stone walls, rather than confronting them in large, linear formations in the style of European warfare.  No one knows who fired the first shot, but they started shooting at each other.  Today, there is a reconstructed North Bridge in Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord.  There is also a statue known as The Lexington Minuteman at the town green in Lexington, Massachusetts.  What do you know about the Minute Men of Massachusetts?  

Massachusetts

Massachusetts, officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts like Pennsylvania, is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern USA. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode Island to its south, New Hampshire and Vermont to its north, and New York to its west.  With a 2024 Census Bureau-estimated population of 7,136,171, it is the most populous state in New England, the 16th-most-populous in the United States, and the third-most densely populated USA state.  Massachusetts was a site of early English colonization.  The Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims from the Mayflower ship.  In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony got its name from the indigenous Massachusett people, translated as “near the great hill.”  Boston became known as the “Cradle of Liberty” for the agitation there that later led to the American Revolution.  Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing, and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution.  Before the American Civil War, the state was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, and transcendentalist movements.  During the 20th century, the state’s economy shifted from manufacturing to services.  In the 21st century, Massachusetts has become the global leader in biotechnology.  The state’s capital and most populous city, as well as its cultural and financial center, is Boston and the Greater Boston area.  Other major cities are Worcester, Springfield, and Cambridge.  Massachusetts has a reputation for social and political progressivism.  Harvard University in Cambridge is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, with the largest financial endowment of any university in the world.  Both Harvard and MIT, also in Cambridge, are perennially ranked as either the most or among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Also, Massachusetts’s public-school students place among the top tier in the world in academic performance.  Thus, Massachusetts is the most educated and wealthiest among the USA states.  The early history of Massachusetts included the Mayflower Compact, the Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New England Confederation, the Dominion of New England, and the Province of Massachusetts Bay.  In 1852, Massachusetts became the first state to pass compulsory education laws.  In the 20th century, the Kennedy family dominated with JFK as the 35th President of the USA.  The concept of “Mass Save” was created in 2008 by the passing of the Green Communities Act of 2008.  Scituate is the municipality with the highest percentage of people identifying Irish ancestry in the USA at 47.5%.  Irish Americans constitute the largest ethnicity in Massachusetts, followed by Italians, African American, and Hispanics.  Some people speak with a Boston accent.  As far as religion goes, 34% are Unaffiliated, 34% are Catholic, 22% are Protestant.  Massachusetts was founded and settled by Puritans in 1620, and soon after by other groups of Separatists/Dissenters, Nonconformists, and Independents from 17th century England Anglicanism.  A majority of the people in Massachusetts today remain Christian, but the descendants of the Puritans belong to many different churches.  What do you know about colonial Massachusetts?

Old Sturbridge Village

On Thursday morning, June 14, 1984, after breakfast at the Public House, we set out to spend the morning at Old Sturbridge Village, located on U.S. Route 20.  This living museum re-created life in rural New England from the 1790s to the 1830s.  In 1984, we paid $7.50 each for Margaret and myself, and $3.50 for Joy.  Margaret and Joy enjoyed themselves at the various displays at this largest living museum in New England, covering more than 200 acres.  This Village included 59 antique buildings, three water-powered mills, and a working farm.  Costumed interpreters demonstrated and interpreted 19th-century arts, crafts, and agricultural work.  George Washington Wells with his family and others formed the Wells Historical Museum in 1935.  After a pause for World War II, they changed its name to Old Sturbridge Village and opened it on June 8, 1946.  Attendance climbed, mostly through word of mouth.  In a 1950 article in The Saturday Evening Post, this village was featured as “The Town That Wants to be Out of Date.”  Old Sturbridge Village had more than 40 structures.  The countryside consisted of outlying farms and shops.  The Mill Neighborhood featured various commercial structures that relied upon the millpond for their power.  The Center Village represented the center of town, with the town green as its focal point, containing many buildings, including the Quaker Friends Meetinghouse, the Center Meetinghouse, the Salem Towne House, a Law Office, the Richardson Parsonage, the Asa Knight Store, the Thompson Bank, the Fenno House, the Fitch House, the Grant Store, the Tin Shop, the Broom Shop, and the Printing Office.  There was a Cider Mill, a Shoe Shop, a Blacksmith Shop, a Cooper Shop, and a Pottery Shop.  Many of these were small about 10’ by 10’. Of course, there was a farmhouse, with a barn, outbuildings, and fields.  There also was a Gristmill, a Sawmill, and a Carding Mill.  They had people showing how they prepared food in an early 19th-century kitchen.  A potter produced handmade goods on an old-fashioned wheel.  A shopkeeper displayed typical early 1800s goods.  A woman demonstrated spinning wool into yarn.  A tinsmith demonstrated how tinware was produced.  This Village was a popular wedding location and has appeared in many TV shows and films.  Filmmaker Ken Burns’s Hampshire College undergraduate thesis in 1975 was an educational film made at Old Sturbridge Village called Working in Rural New England.  I have a booklet and six postcards from there, plus the menu from the Old Public House.  We had a good time.  However, it was time to move closer to Boston.  Have you ever been to a living museum?

Sturbridge, Massachusetts

That evening of June 13, 1984, we arrived at Sturbridge to spend the night at the Quality Inn in Sturbridge.  Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, home to Old Sturbridge Village, a living history museum, and other sites of historical interest.  The population was 9,867 at the 2020 census within 39 square miles.  Sturbridge was first visited by the English Puritans in 1644 when John Winthrop the Younger visited this area.  He bought the land from the Tantasqua and mined graphite, lead, and iron.  This mine stayed in the Winthrop family as late as 1784, and was in operation until 1910.   Sturbridge was first settled in 1729 by settlers from Medfield, and was officially incorporated in 1738.  New Medfield and Dummer were considered as town names before the town was named after Stourbridge, England.  Sturbridge is bordered by Charlton and Southbridge to the east, Union, Connecticut, and Woodstock, Connecticut, to the south, Brimfield and Holland to the west, and Brookfield and East Brookfield to the north.  Sturbridge lies approximately 29 miles east of Springfield, 16 miles southwest of Worcester, and 55 miles west of Boston.  U.S. Route 20 runs through Sturbridge, and the junction of I-90 and the eastern terminus of I-84 is located there.  This town has a 97% European heritage.  This was a typical New England small town in Massachusetts.  In the morning, we had breakfast at Ebenezer’s Crafts Public House Tavern that was named after the founder and keeper of the Inn in 1771.  Colonel Ebenezer Crafts entertained the Revolutionary troops with culinary Yankee feasts and specialty drinks that are still going today.  As a tribute to the colonel, the atmosphere has maintained its 18th century ambiance with vintage brass beer taps and rum barrels.  This Public House was on Sturbridge Commons and is still there today.  Have you ever been to Sturbridge?

Delaware Water Gap

Then we drove along the Delaware Water-Gap Park, a 70,000-acre national recreation area administered by the National Park Service in northwest New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania, a 40-mile stretch of the Delaware River designated the Middle Delaware National Scenic River.  This Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is on the eastern edge of the Poconos.  At the area’s southern end lays the Delaware Water Gap, a dramatic mountain pass where the river cuts between Blue Mountain and Kittatinny Mountain, between Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  More than 4 million people visit this recreation area annually, many from the nearby New York metropolitan area.  Canoeing, kayaking, and rafting trips down the river are popular in the summer.  Other activities include hiking, rock climbing, swimming, fishing, hunting, camping, cycling, cross-country skiing, and horseback riding.  We did none of that.  We only drove along the river with its numerous historic sites along the way.  This national recreation area was established in 1965 instead of a dam project which would have flooded a large region north of the Water Gap.  The Appalachian Trail runs along much of the eastern boundary of the park, which has significant Native American archaeological sites.  In addition, many structures remain from early Dutch settlements during the colonial period.  The Delaware River runs through the gap, separating Pennsylvania from New Jersey, but is less than 1,000 feet.  In the 17th century, the Dutch and the English each claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their colonial lands in America.  George Washington crossed the Delaware River with his troops during the Revolutionary War at Christmas in 1776.  Have you ever seen the Delaware River?

Bushkill Falls in the Pocono Mountains

The first day of our eastern trip was in Bushkill Falls, nicknamed the “Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania,” high in the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania.  Charles E. Peters opened this 300-acre park in 1904.  His family owned this park until Aramark took it over in 1995 and bought it in 2023.  We were there when they were celebrating their 80th anniversary on June 13, 1984.  Bushkill Falls is a series of eight privately owned waterfalls, the tallest of which cascades over 100 feet in the Pocono Mountains into the Delaware River.  The Pocono Mountains are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania, a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, that overlooks the Delaware River to the east.  The name Pocono is derived from the Munsee word Pokawachne, which means “Creek Between Two Hills.”  These wooded hills and valleys have long been popular recreation areas, accessible within a two-hour drive to millions of New York metropolitan and Philadelphia area residents.  Many Pocono communities have resort hotels with fishing, hunting, skiing, and other sports facilities, but we did not go to any of them.  This Pocono region has a population of about 340,300, which is growing at a rapid pace.  By 1960, the Pocono Mountains rivaled Niagara Falls as a honeymoon destination, attracting 100,000 couples a year.  Skiing became a $230 million per year industry in the Poconos in the 1970s.  Bushkill Falls was the majestic Main Falls, a 100-foot drop off a cliff.  The deep pool at the bottom had ferns, mosses, and wild flowers.  The other falls were less spectacular, seventy feet and less.  However, trails and bridges laced the area, affording splendid views.  The walk to the Bridal Veil Falls where the mountain path leads deep into the forest was scenic.  Spring-fed waters tumbled down the mountainside in a series of lovely falls that are so misty in their appearance that they are named for brides of love, Little Bush Kill, Pond Run Creek, Bridal Veil Falls, Bridesmaid Falls, Laurel Glen Falls, and Pennell Falls.  To be honest, I was a little disappointed.  I had expected something a little better.  I know that Margaret and Joy were not excited about these mini-waterfalls.  It also was hot.  Thus, we did not spend too much time there.  Are you familiar with the Pocono Mountains?

Pennsylvania, the Keystone state

Pennsylvania is officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, like many of the original thirteen colonies.  It is called the keystone state because it spans the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the USA.  Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west.  It borders on Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio and the Ohio River to its west, and New York to its north.  The Delaware River and New Jersey is to its east.  The Canadian province of Ontario is to its northwest via Lake Erie.  Pennsylvania’s most populous city is Philadelphia, with Pittsburgh next.  The third-largest city, Allentown, has a 40% Puerto Rican population.  Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through an English Royal land grant to William Penn, a Quaker, and son of a prominent admiral.  Thus, the name Pennsylvania, since “Sylvania” was from the Latin silva that means forest or woods, as close to 60% of the state is still forested.  “Penn’s woods” became a haven for religious and political tolerance.  Colonial-era Pennsylvania was known for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system, and religious pluralism.  This peaceful Quaker state played a vital and historic role in the American Revolution in its successful quest for independence from the British Empire, hosting the First and Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.  On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the USA Constitution.  In July 1863, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was the bloodiest battle of both the Civil War and of any battle in American military history, with over 50,000 Union and Confederate casualties.  The post-Civil War era, known as the Gilded Age, saw the continued rise of industry in Pennsylvania, home to some of the largest steel companies in the world.  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pennsylvania’s manufacturing-based economy blossomed.  In the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, the nation’s heavy manufacturing base struggled as the two largest steel manufacturers had problems. Pennsylvania is the fifth-most populous state in the United States, with over 13 million residents as of the 2020 United States census.  In 1740, Benjamin Franklin also founded the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the first college established in Pennsylvania and one of the first in the nation.  Most of Pennsylvania’s population is made up of immigrant European family descendants (73%) with African Americans (11%), and Hispanics (8%), and Asians (4%), representing minority groups.  As far as religion goes, 32% are unaffiliated, 29% are Protestant, 24% Catholic, and 14% other religions.  Pennsylvania also has a very large Amish population, second only to Ohio.  There are only about 10,000 Quaker adherents. as of 2010.  As of 2024, Pennsylvania’s gross state product was $1.017 trillion, the sixth-largest in the USA, home to 23 of the nation’s 500 largest companies.  Walmart and U of Penn are the largest private employers in Pennsylvania.  The first nationally chartered bank in the USA, the Bank of North America, was founded in 1781 in Philadelphia, now known as Wells Fargo.  As of 2024, this state has the largest inventory of abandoned mines in the USA.  Pennsylvania is a great sports state with eight major league professional sports teams and many minor league teams.  Have you ever been to PA?

On the road again in 1984!

Willie Nelson sang about traveling with his song “On the Road Again” in 1980.  There is something romantic about traveling down the road in a car, not exactly sure about what comes next.  I always preferred to know where I was going, even if I had never been there before.  On June 12, 1984, Margaret, my wife, and Joy, my ten-year old daughter, set out from Matteson, IL, south of Chicago, just off I-80 and Highway 30, the Lincoln Highway, headed for the east coast and the Atlantic Ocean.  We had seen the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, the year before.  We were going to take I-80 east.  I had always wanted to take Route 30, but there were too many small towns to slow us down.  Interstate 80 is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.  I-80 highway was designated in 1956 as one of the original routes of the Interstate Highway System, but its final segment was only opened in 1986, a couple of years after our trip.  I-80 runs close to many major cities running east, including Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, and New York City.  It is the northern route through Indiana and the industrial areas of Ohio.  I had driven this many times on my way from Chicago to New York.  We had also taken I-80 west through Illinois and Iowa on our way to South Dakota.  We were going to stop that Tuesday night at the Holiday Inn in Brookville, Pennsylvania, because it was hot and we wanted to go swimming.  Brookville was 70 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in central Pennsylvania.  As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,933 in three square miles.  Founded in 1830, it is the county seat of Jefferson County, so that it qualified as a small town.  However, they had a hotel off I-80, which was just north of Brookville.  Thus, I-80 stimulated the local economy with access from exits 78 and 81, in between 20 miles east to DuBois, and west 60 miles to Mercer.  Punxsutawney, the home of the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil is about 19 miles south of Brookville.   This area was initially settled in the late 1790s.  Brookville’s main source of economic development throughout the 19th century was the lumber industry.  The town enjoyed great economic success during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, serving as home to several factories, and breweries, as an important railroad stop for local coal and timber.  Now I-80 kept them alive as a tributary of the Allegheny River.  We did not do any sightseeing here.  Have you ever been to central Pennsylvania?

A trip to the East Coast, June, 1984

It was time for another vacation.  In 1983, we had flown out to California and spent all our time there.  This year, 1984, I thought that we should go in another direction.  If we went west in 1983, why not go east in 1984?  I had some sense of the east coast having lived in New York City and northeast New Jersey.  This time, I was going to be more patriotic and visit the historic great cities of Boston, New York, and Washington DC.  Well, you guessed it, we would make a lot of stops in-between.  Besides those three large cities we would drive to Bushkill Falls in the Pocono Mountains in eastern Pennsylvania, and Old Sturbridge Village, in western Massachusetts.  We would also visit the American revolutionary sites at Lexington and Concord, as well as Plymouth Rock, all in Massachusetts, around Boston.  Further south, we were going to stop at Newport, Rhode Island, and Mystic Seaport, Connecticut.  Then, we would hit Carteret, New Jersey as a base of operations for New York City and Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Finally, the southern leg of our east coast trip would be to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, around Washington, DC.  This would be a world-wind tour in our own car from June 12-28, 1984, about sixteen days.  Margaret and Joy should be ready to go after they finished school at St. Lawrence O’Toole.  Yes, I have a scrapbook with everything in it to help me remember what happened.  Have you ever visited the major cities on the east coast of the USA?

A trip to the Amana Colonies in Iowa

Usually when we drove to Dell Rapids, South Dakota, to visit Margaret’s relatives, we took I-80 west from Matteson, I 35 north to Albert Lee, and then west on I 90.  Thus, we had often driven past the Amana Colonies in Iowa.  At Easter, 1984, I decided to take a mini vacation at the Amana Colonies and spend a night and a day at the Holiday Inn in Amana, Iowa, right off I-80 at exit 225.  There are seven villages on 26,000 acres located in Iowa County in east-central Iowa that make up the Amana Colonies, Middle Amana, Amana, South Amana, Homestead, West Amana, High Amana, and East Amana.  We took a road tour of these small-time colonies.  These Amana Farms are home to Iowa’s largest privately held forests.  They were okay, nothing spectacular.  These villages were built and settled by German Radical Lutheran Pietists, calling themselves the True Inspiration Congregations.  They had originally settled in West Seneca, New York, but were seeking more isolated surroundings, so that they moved to Iowa, near present-day Iowa City, where they lived a communal life until 1932.  They settled on the name “Amana” because this biblical name means “remain faithful.”  Under Iowa law, the Community had to incorporate as a business, so the Amana Society was founded as the governing body in 1859.  By 1908, the Community had grown to 1,800 people and owned over $1.8 million in assets.  In March 1931, in the wake of the Great Depression, the Great Amana Council disclosed that the villages were in dire financial condition.  At the same time, Society members were seeking more personal freedom.  The Society agreed to split into two organizations.  The non-profit Amana Church Society oversaw the spiritual needs of the community, while the for-profit Amana Society was incorporated as a joint-stock company, the Amana Corporation.  The transition was completed in 1932 and came to be known in the community as the “Great Change.”  The most widely known business enterprise that emerged from the Amana Society was Amana Refrigeration, Inc.  I was aware of them from my work at Montgomery War.  In 1947, Amana Company produced the first commercial upright freezer.  Two years later, the Amana Company sold off the Electrical Department, and renamed it Amana Refrigeration, Inc.  The Raytheon Corporation purchased Amana Refrigeration in 1965, although the Amana division was mostly autonomous.  Amana produced the first practical commercial microwave oven in 1967.  This division was sold to Maytag in 2001, and then to Whirlpool Corporation in 2006.  Amana continues to manufacture Amana, JennAir, KitchenAid, Maytag and Whirlpool refrigerators at the plant, built in 1940, under a long-term lease agreement.  Today, heritage tourism has become important to the economy of the Amana area.  We were an early part of that.  The Seven Villages of Amana have restaurants, museums, and craft shops, listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1965.  We visited Hahn’s Bakery, the Woolen Mills, and Bill Zuber’s Restaurant, who had played in the MLB from 1934-1948, as a former New York Yankee, Cleveland Indian, Washington Senator, and Boston Red Sox.  Have you ever been to the Amana Colonies?