A Lil’ Adams County Road Ride through History

The rain wasn’t supposed to start until around 3 p.m., arriving right on time a little before the noon hour.  Nevertheless, I squeezed in an hour on the road, making my rounds in the local countryside taking in the sites:

Hanover Shoe Farms is a North American leader in Standardbred breeding, with near 100 years of success under its belt.   It’s always a beautiful thing to pedal past the famous farms with mustard-yellow buildings that are scattered across the land:

Continuing on, I rode past the family farm, where 3 of my uncles live.  The pre-Civil War barn holds last summer’s crop.  Family lore is that Union soldiers slept in it on their way to Gettysburg after the skirmish in Hanover.   June and July days baling hay and straw prepared me well for long, hot rides in Central American buses.

A little farther down the road sits the Little Red Schoolhouse, a breakfast and lunch nook.  My grandma on my Dad’s side attended classes there.  Locust Grove 1894 it says at the top!

More pedal turns took me over to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Conewago.  Locally, we’ve always called it the Conewago Chapel.  Conewago comes from a Native American word, Delaware people, I think, and if I remember correctly, it means something along the lines of “fast water,” kind of like “rapids.”  The Conewago Creek can kick up some fury with enough rainfall.

It is the oldest stone chapel of any denomination that is still in use today.

Back into town from here, I went.  A soft drizzle in 39 degree F spattered on my helmet.  It was perfect PA weather!