Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

President: George Washington

Start Point: Collegeville - 10km Walk (YR0618); Jan 1-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0238, Liberty Bell Wanderers

History Lesson: The walk goes along the Great Reading Road (now Ridge Pike/ Main Street) to Augustus Lutheran Church. George Washington’s troops encamped along the Great Reading Road from September 19 – 22, 1777, after their defeat at Brandywine. During the Revolutionary War, Augustus Lutheran Church became a barracks for Pennsylvania militia between the battles of Brandywine and Germantown and also served as a hospital during the war. On October 5, 1777, one day after the Battle of Germantown, General George Washington rode to the main entrance of the church and spoke words of cheer and comfort to the soldiers from inside the church.

President: Abraham Lincoln, Dwight D. Eisenhower

Start Point: Gettysburg - Two 10km Walks (YR047 & YR 0050) & 10/15km Walk (YR028) Jan 2-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0236, York White Rose Wanderers

History Lesson:
YR0050: Quoting from the directions:"... on your right is the Eisenhower office, used by Ike after his days as President" and "...building...where Captain Eisenhower and his wife Mamie had an apartment in 1918, while he commanded Camp Colt nearby."

YR0047: It includes the National Cemetery, site of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Jennie Wade house, Culps Hill, Spangler's Spring and the south and east areas of Gettysburg.

YR0028: The 15km option starts at the YWCA and includes the entire 10km trail plus the Confederate line on Seminary Ridge, the National Cemetery, site of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and the south and west areas of Gettysburg.

President: Theodore Roosevelt

Start Point: Harrisburg - 10/12km Walk (YR0745) Jan 1-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0328, Susquehanna Rovers

History Lesson: Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the Capitol Building in 1906 and there is a marker on the floor of the Capitol commemorating this event. He called it the handsomest building ever saw. It was lovely.

President: James Buchanan

Start Point: Lancaster - 10km Walk (YR1117) Jan 2-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0579, Penn Dutch Pacers Volksmarch Club, Inc.

History Lesson: Visit Wheatland, home of President James Buchanan, the Conestoga House, the campuses of Franklin & Marshall College and the Lancaster Theological Seminary and the residential areas to the west of Lancaster City.

President: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson

Start Point: Philadelphia - 10km Walk (YR0482); 11km Walk (YR1278) Jan 1-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0238, Liberty Bell Wanderers

History Lesson:
YR482 goes past the grave of Benjamin Franklin, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence was signed), City Hall, various museums and the steps of the Art Museum which the movie Rocky made famous. Run up the steps if you can (this is not part of the walk!)

YR1278 is a walking tour through historic/cultural Philadelphia. See where the Declaration of Independence was signed by patriots of a very new government. You will pass by the house where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence as well as Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross house, the Delaware River Waterfront and Chinatown.

President: George Washington

Start Point: Valley Forge - 10km Walk (YR1559); 11km Walk (YR0288) Jan 1-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0238, Liberty Bell Wanderers

History Lesson:
George Washington spent a tough winter there and his headquarters building is open to the public. "To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lie upon, without shoes ... without a house or hut to cover them until those could be built, and submitting without a murmur, is a proof of patience and obedience which, in my opinion, can scarcely be paralleled." - George Washington at Valley Forge, April 21, 1778

President: Abraham Lincoln

Start Point: York - Hanover Junction - 10km Walk (YR1770); 14km Walk (YR1772); 10km Walk (YR1769) Jan 2-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0236, York White Rose Wanderers

History Lesson: From 1838 to 1972 the Northern Central Railroad connected Baltimore, Maryland with York, Pennsylvania and points north. The historic train stations in New Freedom and Hanover Junction serve today as reminders of several note-worthy Civil War events, including a stopover in Hanover Junction by Abraham Lincoln on his way to deliver his famous Gettysburg Address. Before the Civil War, the southern boundary of Pennsylvania was considered the dividing line between the slave and non-slave states. In the 1700’s, a boundary quarrel arose between Pennsylvania and Maryland. The two agreed to settle the dispute by having the land surveyed. English astronomers Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were contacted. They completed their survey in 1767 and the line was named after them. Club member Joe Shaw, a member of the Mason-Dixon Foundation has taken part in the retracing of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Updated December 15, 2006