The "Traveling To The Accomac" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished reading Steph Knudson's blog titled "109 Love Letters - The discovered collection."  You can access it at https://109loveletters.wordpress.com if you care to read it.  The blog features letters written by a young woman who was a teacher who lived in Lancaster, PA in the early 1900s.  She was writing to her future boyfriend who lived in the midwest.  Her letters were all in longhand, but Steph has typed them to make them easier to read.  The actual letters are posted at the end of each letter she adds.  

Steph's letters she found at a flea market and is sharing.

Steph found the letters at a flea market and is now sharing them with the world.  I found the letter dated June 11, 1908 to be very interesting.  The writer, Daisy Holzwarth talks about traveling to Accomac, a little resort on the other side of the Susquehanna River, with fifty people. Left at 5:00 pm and arrived at 7:00 pm for chicken and supper. She said the river was a deep shade of pink, very calm and covered with tiny little launches.  As it grew dark the Marietta and Columbia side of the river reminded her of Reverie Beach with its tiny lights all along the bank.  From her letter I'm assuming she and her friends may have gone to the Accomac Inn for supper.  It is a lovely place along the river which Carol and I have been to a few times.  After reading the letter we hopped in the car for a return visit to see where Daisy may have gone.  

The Accomac Inn along the Susquehanna River.

In 1722 the Accomac Inn had its beginnings when a 200-acre tract called "The Partner's Adventure" was first surveyed for Philip Syng and Thomas Brown.  Ten years later a Patent was granted by Maryland for the 200 acres to these gentlemen.  During these years the Susquehannock and Nanticoke Indians resided in the area.  There were Indian villages on the side where the property was located and another Indian settlement on the opposite of the river in what is now Columbia, PA.  The land in question where the Inn would be located was fought over by Maryland and Pennsylvania.  

Entrance to the Inn is on the north side of the Inn.

Pennsylvania operated under a self-imposed restriction of not granting land for settlement until the Indians agreed to it.  Maryland did not.  The battle between the two states was not settled until 1763 when Mason and Dixon completed a survey for the Royal Court in London which put the land alledgely owned by Syng and Brown in Pennsylvania.  In 1759 Philip Syng sold his half of the land to James Anderson who owned all the land contiguous to this tract.  Evidently Anderson ran a ferry along the river and in 1742 received an official charter from Thomas Penn, Willam's son, for 35 acres on the west side of the river and by 1775 the Accomac Inn had been built. I have no idea whatever happened to Thomas Brown.  

James Anderson's Ferry was what the Accomac Inn was
originally known as in late 1700's.  Click to enlarge.

It was when our Nation's government was in York during 1777 and 1778 that many of those in the Continental Congress stayed at the Inn.  Eventually the Inn was purchased in 1863 by Jacob Glatz and then the following year purchased by John Coyle.  When Coyle's Ferry became known as the Accomac Inn is not known, but probably happened in 1875.  In 1889 James Duffy purchased the Inn and was run my Amos Grove.  In 1892 a flyer was circulated about the Inn and its famous "Chicken and waffles."  By 1909, after Ford had invented the Model T, the Inn became more of a restaurant with people being able to travel to and from in one day.  In 1915 Norman Pickle took possession of the Accomac Inn and revived the rundown property.  

After the Accomac Inn was destroyed by fire in 1935, it was
rebuilt using the original stone from the old building
and stone from the Witmer Bridge.

On May 16, 1935 fire destroyed the Inn.  Mr. Pickle rebuilt the Inn using original stone from the building and new stone from the old Witmer Bridge in Lancaster County.  Four months later the Inn opened once again.  In 1952 Mr. and Mrs Morton Nauss purchased the Inn, a year after the death of Mr. Pickle.  The Nauss family sold the Inn to Vance and Vivian Lehman in 1960 and then they sold it to the current owner, H. Douglas Campbell in 1971.  This truly grand building has a remarkable history dating back to the beginnings of our country.  To dine here is a real treat and I'm hoping this was the location that Daisy and her friends visited in 1908.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.