It was an ordinary day. My wife and I had just received our second COVID vaccination shots yesterday and were trying to decide if we wanted to go for a drive to get out of the house. We talked about visiting my brother and his wife, but decided we needed to wait another few weeks before we attempt to do that. Thought we might take a drive to Mount Gretna for a walk through the quaint houses that fill the hills in Mount Gretna. The village of Mount Gretna is amazing with homes that for some are year-round residences while for others are summer cottages which they from time to time will rent to those who care to share the feeling of living in a quaint atmosphere. The site, known as Mount Gretna, was discovered in 1883 as a pleasant place to spend a summer day along the extinct Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad which linked the Reading Railroad in Lebanon with the Pennsylvania Railroad near Elizabethtown.
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| Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad Station |
Mount Gretna was first settled in a forest of chestnut trees. For over 100 years it provided charcoal to the nearby Cornwall Furnace that once forged cannons for General George Washington's Army. Mount Gretna was accessible by rail from just about any location in the United States. President Benjamin Harrison made trips with friends to the area where they got off the train and walked down a tree-lined path past a stone fountain to spend the day in a wooded park that in later years contained a carousel, a "switch-back" roller coaster, a dance pavilion and and amusement park. In 1885 the Pennsylvania National Guard began to train at Mount Gretna near the Conewago Creek which eventually was damed to form Lake Conewago which today is used for swimming and canoeing. Then in 1889 Robert Coleman, iron-foundry heir and owner of most of Mt. Gretna's original land, built a narrow gauge railroad to carry visitors from the park to the top of Governor Dick Hill where they could view the surrounding area as far away as Lancaster and Harrisburg. Eventually, in 1892, Methodists found Mount Gretna to be a good location for a Chautauqua which is a location to assembly as a group that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Chautauqua provided education with entertainment in the form of lectures, concerts and plays. The United Brethren moved in across from the Chautauqua and built a Tabernacle for religious services and Bible meetings. The Tabernacle still stands today. The Brethren divided the surrounding land into plots for tents around the Tabernacle, but before long cottages began to be built instead of the tents. Mt. Gretna began to become a summer retreat which led to restaurants and hotels as well as the Chautauqua Inn, The Jigger Shop Ice Cream Parlor, The Conewago Hotel, Kaufman's Store and Hotel as well as a few other buildings.
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| Advertisement in local newspaper telling about the Hotel Conewago |
For the first 20 years of the 1900s, Mt. Gretna had many summer visitors who attended concerts, lectures, trade sows and Bible meetings while relaxing in the park, lake and on porches.
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| Postcard showing the Hotel Conewago in Mt. Gretna, PA |
The 125-room Conewgo hotel was one of the first in the country to offer private baths and telephones in the rooms and an elevator. It thrived for only about two decades until the Depression set in and visitors ceased to visit.
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| The Hall of Philosphy in Mt. Gretna |
Carol and I continue the visits today by going to their yearly arts and crafts show as well as plenty of summer musical concerts. Follow along tomorrow when I tell you a bit about the Cornwall Iron Furnace. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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