Today would be our last day on the GAP, having explored the C&O Canal Towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage from Harper’s Ferry, WV to Buena Vista, PA. It’s been a wonderful trip! The trail conditions were much better than we anticipated, even on the C&O. I think we were expecting the worst since it can be the trail most affected by weather conditions, but we were pleasantly surprised.
We stayed the night in West Newton, PA at Bright Morning B&B. We had arranged to eat an early breakfast, and had walked over to the Bistro (in a house adjacent to the one where we were staying) to get coffee while we waited. Soon we were sitting down to a hearty breakfast of sausage, scrambled eggs, breakfast strata and fruit. We were well fueled for our last bike ride of the trip!
We wanted to get an early start because of the forecast of rain, so we gathered our gear and headed out. I love this view of the little church across the street from our B&B, just as the sun came up this morning.
We were traveling back toward Connellsville where our truck was parked, so we were not seeing new trail today, but enjoyed the ride none the less.
We made good time, and planned to stop in a little town we’d missed on the ride the day before. One of the folks we met along the trail had told us about Dawson, PA. It was a little town a short distance off the trail, but had been named to the National Register of Historic places due to the number of historic homes.
We took the bridge over the river and into town, and rolled in just in time to wait for a train to cross through the middle of town.
We continued on once the trained had passed and pedaled through the tiny town admiring the old homes and varied architectural periods.
I saw an old town clock in front of a building, and stopped to take a picture.
I noticed the building was the town’s historical society, and tried the door, but it was locked. We pedaled on around the block and down the street and saw a couple of monuments and flags commemorating the town’s war veterans. There was an older gentleman clipping grass and tending the flowers and we stopped to talk to him. He introduced himself as John, and we visited with him for several minutes.
He asked about our ride and shared with us some interesting history about the little town of Dawson. At one time, the town was very well to do and was the home of 6 millionaires during the coal and coke era. That was the reason for the number of elaborate historic homes.
We enjoyed our visit with him right there on the street. We were just about to leave, allowing him to get back to his work of tending the flowers, when he asked us if we were in a hurry to get back on the trail. We told him that we weren’t, it was our last day and we were taking our time getting back to the B&B so as not to miss anything.
He said he was a member of the historical society and had a key to the building. He offered to go get his key and meet us there if we would be interested in seeing it. We told him we’d love to see it, so we headed back up the street and parked our bikes on the porch of the little building while he walked home and got his key. His neat two story house was right on the way and he soon met us with the key.
Inside the building was a very thorough collection of items from the Dawson area. He said the AC was on and it was very cool inside, a nice change from the muggy trail. He gave us a private tour, room by room, even though he was in sweaty work clothes and I’m sure had things he needed to do. But he seemed to enjoy sharing the history of his town with us and we definitely enjoyed seeing the old items in the collection. He told me I could take pictures of anything I wanted.
The building was much bigger on the inside than it appeared to be on the outside. There were rooms full of old photos of the town and buildings, old signs and posters, a room dedicated to the history of the coal mining era, a school room, a room full of Indian arrowheads and artifacts, old wedding dresses and evening gowns, old hand written ledgers and record books from businesses that used to be in the town during it’s heyday. It was all very interesting.
He offered us a cold soft drink from the fridge in the kitchen as we walked through to the rear of the building. We both drank an ice cold root beer! The kitchen was not part of the museum, but it could have been since it was a step back in time, having not been remodeled for years. I loved the kitchen cabinets! Very retro!
Then we reached the room that contained the piece de resistance. A whole room full of the most amazing model train set I’d ever seen. It was a beautiful work by a gentleman from Gaithersburg, MD. Sam Powell had built the model railroad piece by piece in his basement over a period of years! Sadly though, Mr. Powell passed away suddenly in January of 2016 while shoveling snow. His family searched for a museum in the Southwest Pennsylvania area to become the new home of his masterpiece. Since the little town of Dawson was in the area from which Mr. Powell drew inspiration in designing his model railroad, the gift was offered to them.
It was a tremendous gift for tiny Tri-Town Area Historical Society, and required a special room, sized in the same dimensions as Mr. Powell’s basement. Our new friend John, showed us where they had to knock out and extend one wall to be able to accept the gift. Also, the room had to be climate controlled to a specific temperature so the train and tracks would operate properly.
The railroad arrived on a 53 foot trailer, and was in pieces. The historical society folks opened up the trailer and had no clue how to reassemble. Into the story came another group of generous individuals. Mr. Powell’s family had reached out to a model train group in Pittsburgh to see if they’d be willing to lend assistance in reassembling the train. The S-Guagers model train club stepped in and volunteered 1 1/2 years of their time to reassemble the model train! Through all these obstacles, this little historical society was up to the challenge, and today folks come from all over to see Mr. Powell’s amazing model railroad. What a special gift the family made to the little town of Dawson, with a population of 353!
We spent a good bit of time looking at the model railroad. It was just amazing and all made by hand. But we didn’t want to outstay our welcome since we’d taken John away from his work at the war memorial. We signed the guest book and thanked him for our private tour. It was such a treat!
He seemed to enjoy the tour just as much as we did. He said it helps him to stay busy these days since his wife passed away 3 1/2 years ago, and he tries to stay involved in his town and in the historical society. God bless him!
He was such a kind man, taking time out of his day to share a museum with us! We have certainly met many nice people on this trip, and the memory of our private tour of an amazing museum in little Dawson, PA will be a fond one.
We now know why the Great Allegheny Passage is touted as the friendliest bike path in the US. It certainly lives up to its claim. We met nice people at every stop and trail town along the way. I’m so glad we got to mark this one off the bucket list.
Deb Cooks and Bikes 