The "Did George Washington Sleep Here?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Driving back and forth on SR462 in the little town of Mountville, Pennsylvania looking for two different locations that I had read about in the Sunday, February 22, 1981 Lancaster Sunday News.  Story was written by staff writer Dick Wanner and was titled "Did George Washington Sleep Here?"  

Photo from the 1981 Sunday News of the log house.

Pretty neat article telling about one of Lancaster's oldest homes, a log cabin which was built sometime around 1734 and another place known as the Blue and Gray Hotel allegedly located at 14 W. Main Street (SR 462).  Seems that Al Trimble, who owned and lived at the Blue and Gray Hotel down the road from the log house, bought, along with friend KenLaukhuff, the log house.  

Photo of the log house taken recently.

They had planned to remodel the log house and stay at the hotel during the process.  The log house and a few out buildings, one which may have been a blacksmith shop, sits on a property that is halfway between Lancaster and the town of Columbia which is located along the Susquehanna River.  The log house is on the road that Columbia founder John Wright created between Lancaster and his plantation along the Susquehanna River.  

Closer view of the squared logs and old hardware on the doors.

The old log cabin was thought to have served as an inn and tavern at one time in history and might have been a stopping off place for horses and riders traveling from Philadelphia, west to Wight's home along the Susquehanna.  Among those riders who may have spent a night or two at the log cabin were Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Benjamin Rush and possibly George Washington.  

The 1981 photo showing the Roman numerals on the corners.

George may have stabled his famous white horse and had new horseshoes put on while at the log cabin.  The fellow who owned the log cabin back then, Jacob Klugh, also was the town smithy.  As I took a few photos today I had to admire the old log cabin that now has siding on all sides except the front which faces SR462.  

As you can see, the numbers are now
covered by aluminum siding on the corners.

Most cabins of the time used round hemlock logs, while this home had logs that had been squared off and had been joined in the corners with dovetails.  Even thought the corners were covered with siding, I could still see a hint of the dove tails that held the corners together.  But, what I didn't get to see were the Chiseled Roman numerals that were cut into the ends of the logs.  It was thought that they were chiseled into the corners to help in the placement of the logs when the home was built.  I would have loved to have seen the interior, especially the top floor or attic which was said to have been a smokehouse.  The floors on the second  level were planks about two feet in width and supposedly the same as when the house was built.   

 The attic was said to be pitch black and on one side was the chimney that had a wall of bricsk and had a hole in it on the attic level so the smoke could enter the attic.  On the walls of the attic are supposed to be S-hooks that are blackened by hickory smoke with a layer of fat from the hogs that hung on them.  

Here you can see the second floor windows.

The second floor ceiling, or attic level floor is said to look like packed earth, but may be a type of mortar made from clay and horsehair.  I wonder how much of the smoked odor escaped into the lower floors.  The story I had read in the newspaper was written 39 years ago and much may have changed since then in the house, but standing in front of the home today, I imagined all sorts of things such as horses coming around the path to the right as well as perhaps Ben Franklin walking out the front door, ready to head back to Philadelphia.  Some photos I have posted are from the newspaper and may be hard to view, but at least you may be able to see some of what the place looked like in 1981.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.