Village on the Bend

Village on the Bend

By Sarah Fry

Village on the Bend First Edition.

Copyright Š 2016 Sarah Fry All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any manner in any media, or transmitted by any means whatsoever, electronic, mechanical (including photocopying, film video, recording, internet posting or any other information storage and retrieval system), without the prior written permission of Sarah Fry. The typefaces used in this book are Dolce Vita and Georgia.

Village on the Bend

By Sarah Fry

Contents Preface------------------------------------1 Maps--------------------------------------2 Village History---------------------------4 Nockamixon Township Building------12 Easton Road-----------------------------18 As Dawn Arrives-----------------------139 River Road-----------------------------144 Kintner Hill Road---------------------170 Kintner Road--------------------------178

Preface

My husband and I moved to Kintnersville in April of 2014. It has been the only place we have called home since we wed. Life in Kintnersville is one of quiet beauty. After living in Philadelphia for many years we decided it was time to jump into the life of country living. Being raised in rural Bucks County moving here was coming home to my roots. For Benjamin it was returning to the scenery that was familiar to him from his home in Greensboro, North Carolina. Kintnersville has been good to us.

It is a place where we feel safe, a place to watch the sunrise over the mountains, see our neighbors horses graze in the fields and where the natural beauty of the Delaware river is experienced. On the bend of 611 Highway, Kintnersville is a tiny village unnoticed by many passing through en route to bigger neighboring communities like Easton and Doylestown in Pennsylvania.

Quiet neighbors and unassuming country

homes dot the landscape. Here we have learned that culture does not reside solely in big cities. There is a culture to every place.

In Kintnersville the culture is unlike any I have ever experienced in a community.

This book is intended to be a view of Kintnersville in present day. The photographs were taken in two days from March 1 to March 2, 2016. While the images I created show the village in it’s current condition I did considerable research into the history of the area. Without knowing the roots of the village something is lost. For this book I walked every street that makes up the village and photographed the homes, the landscape and the wildlife. It is my hope that this book will exist as a historical marker in a small town that has changed immensely and will most certainly continue to alter in the future.

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Street Map

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Satellite Map

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Village History “There are places whose history is always kept well in mind, while the history of others is permitted to fall into oblivion.

Such seems to be the nature of the case of the little town of Kintnersville.”

Ramond I. Stover Kintnersville Resident, 1976

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uch of this information comes from the booklet “My Golden Memories & History of Kintnersville Pennsylvania 1976” by Ramond I. Stover and the “250th Anniversary of Nockamixon Township” booklet by the Nockamixon Township Historical Society. Both of these texts do not exist online but were found in the hands of residents who were kind enough to allow me to read them and share their own stories of life in the village even after only meeting for the first time.

Kintnersville is located in upper Bucks County where Easton Road and River Road meet. Gallow’s Run stream winds into the Delaware River beside the cliffs of the New Jersey hills and Nockamixon. The village is 194 feet above sea level at 40°33′25″N 75°10′47″W. 4

A southern view from top rock. Photograph from Lehigh Valley History.

Statistics on the exact number of residents do not exist as the tiny village records are not specifically identified with the township building. Tiny and rural as it may be, Kintnersville has a rich past and the people that reside here enjoy the beauty of the natural world that surrounds them and the quiet that village living can provide.

The first record of a landowner in Kintnersville is in 1743. General Nicolas Schull surveyed Nockamixon Township when the property record was created.

Some property was owned by Thomas Blair who owned land on the north side of Gallow’s Run to the river. On February 17, 1743 the first record of land in Kintnersville was sold. One hundred and one acres were sold by the Penn brothers, John, Thomas, and Richard Penn to Jacob Froelich who was from the city of Bethlehem.

In 1749 George Gintner (now spelled Kintner) settled in the hilled region. His family and decedents were prominent figures in the town. After serving in the Revolutionary War, Gintner went on to own a potting business. He supplied Durham Iron Furnace with their earthenware until 1792 when the Furnace blew up. He had two sons and a daughter. His son Joseph died as a child. After the Durham Iron Furnace was destroyed Gintner moved north to the Delaware Water Gap but died there, drowning in the river. His other son Jacob moved back to the original homestead after his passing.

Jacob Kintner bought the property that Kintnersville now claims from Jacob Froelich Jr. on April 19, 1812 for $26.75.

The only house on the property at the time was a log cabin that is no longer standing.

Kintner carried on the earthenware business of his father. He used to sell as far north as Stroudsburg and and Pocono Mountains, in many parts of New Jersey and as far south as Wilmington Delaware.

Kintner built a large home for himself as well as a tavern in 1818. The tavern was used until 611 Highway was altered and crossed through the tavern’s land.

In 1828 Kintnersville was actually called Kintnerville (omitting the letter ‘S’) to honor Jacob Kintner.

More homes and stores continued to be built. Mr. Ruthledge built a frame store in 1823. He later became the Sheriff of Bucks County in 1839. A large brick store was built in 1879 by Mr. Althouse. It became one of the most successful stores in all of Bucks County at the time. He stocked his store with everything a homesteader could need, from fishing hooks to fine clothing. Baugh’s Fertilizers was a popular item at the store as the surrounding land was used for farming grain, corn and hay.

As time went on the store passed through many hands including the man who lived in the home he built next to the saw mill named F. C. Gutekunst. Gutekunst rented the Althouse store until 1927. The store was bought by George Lehr twenty years later in 1947 until it permanently closed in 1965.

The most famous business in Kintnersville was the saw and grist mills run by Albert Stover. Generations of farmers took their corn and grain there to have it chopped making feed for their herds of cattle. While the exact date the mill was

erected is unclear, it was built after 1772 and before 1796 by Jacob Froelich Sr. as it was written about in a deed granting the mill to his son. On January 10, 1772 Froelich Sr. wrote his will for his estate to be divided between his two children but the mill was not included. Twenty-four years later, on January 29, 1796 the deed including the grist mill and 11 acres was made out to his son.

Froelich Jr. sold the mill in 1812 to Jacob Kintner. He then sold the mill to John Garis in 1814. Two years later Garis sold it back to Kintner. Six years after that in 1823 William Long bought the property. Long didn’t keep the mill for even a year before he sold it to David Treichler. Nine years later Treichler died and the mill went to his son William. In

1832 William Treichler built the stone house near the mill. He ran a lumber business and capitalized off of the many trees in the surrounding woods as well as the forest in the Poconos. Trichler, like many others at the time, used the power of the river to move the large logs. Tying them together he could transport them down the river from the Poconos and to the mill’s door by Gallow’s Run Creek. Trichler tore down the old mill in 1848 and built a larger grist mill and two saw mills. After his death in 1866 the mill went to Mrs. Phoebe Williams. She eventually sold the property to Albert Stover. At this time there was also a carding mill on the property that prepared cotton, wool and flax fiber for spinning. Unfortunately the mills were all destroyed by a large fire in 1887 but they

An ice house and the Delaware Easton Trolley tacks from the early 1900s. The covered bridge is seen in the background. Photograph from Lehigh Valley History.

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The Easton-Bristol trolley tracks. Photograph from Lehigh Valley History.

were quickly rebuilt by 1888. The new grist mill was powered by water and the saw mill by steam.

The grist mill was closed in the 1930s as portable hammer-mills could then go directly to the farms. The foundation and the 72 foot high brick chimney remain from the second building of the mill by Trichler. To this day you can still see the faint “T� near the top. In the 1970s the mill was the Bucks County Pottery Outlet and The Chimney Shop. Today it is Gristies Antique shop. The ice pond behind the mill still remains. Before refrigeration townspeople would take ice from the pond and store it in a cool ice cellar with sawdust to last them through the hotter months.

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In addition to potting, grist, saw and carding industries in Kintnersville, Mr. Algart also had a cooper business, where he made casks and barrels. In the 1820s Patrick McKnight had a weaving and bed ticking business. A tick at that time referred to a linen or cotton bag filled with feathers, straw, wool or cotton and sewn shut. The fabric was called ticking and had to be closely woven so the contents would not leak out. The ticking was usually waxed or rubbed with soap.

When the Kintner potting business eventually closed the building was then used to produce hay rakes by people who came from Connecticut in 1847. This was the first time hay rakes had been made in

this part of the country. The shop was later shared by a tailor named William Dunlap and a marble salesman named Hiram Cary in 1866.

In 1848 there was also a popular starch factory owned by Abraham and William Haubt. The building no longer stands but was once thriving by the bridge at 611. The starch factory had been successful for several years until it was converted into a carriage factory by Henry Bloom and Paul Wiliamson. The carriage factory was then turned into a cigar factory

by Peter Nicholas. For three years in the early 1870s it was used as a shoe factory and then Nicolas eventually manufactured sugar and molasses there. Nicolas was also a farmer which is where he got the raw goods to refine. He even made rhubarb wine for the community. Alonzo Nicolas turned the building into a hay press but it burned to the ground in 1888.

On February 11, 1849 the Post Office was built. Samuel Boileau was the first postman. The office was renovated in 1965. Today the Post Office is a point of contention for some residents as the hours of operation are loosely followed. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with an hour and a half lunch break at noon. On Saturday the office is only open for a few hours. Many of the residents that live on the dangerous corners of 611 can not have mail boxes so they have Post Office boxes. It is not uncommon to go to the office and find it closed even during open hours.

In 1860 Kintnersville was made up of 20 homes, a hotel, store, lumber yard and the mill. In the early part of the 20th century there as also an ice plant, a coal yard, a local butcher, a blacksmith, a loom and carpet maker, two shoe repair shops, a watch and clock repair shop, an iron foundry, a general store, a town tavern, and a local telephone company. On the hill there is clay and William Eligin made bricks in the village. It was a thriving town with many workingmen at one time.

The first school in Kintnersville was in the home of Jacob Kintner in 1818. The school was moved to a room in the carding mill in 1820. The neighborhood eventually built their own school with lumber from David Trichler. John M. Pursell was the first teacher. When free schooling was started a new building was created in 1839. In 1926 the school’s student body was too low to continue and students went to Ferndale and Durham schools.

Ms. Mabel Foellner was the last teacher in Kintnersville.

On July 27, 1904 the village got a trolley that went from Doylestown to Easton. The passenger and freight service was run by the Doylestown and Easton Transit Company. High school students at the time paid 16 cents each way to Revere to go to Nockamixon Township High School. Raymond Stover, a resident during this time period wrote, “the roads were narrow, rough and muddy. I can remember our first car -- a 1917 Overland touring, costing $785.00 new. The first two winters

we put it on wooden blocks until Spring, and used the trolley instead.”

As cars increased they laid down crushed stone on the roads and people stopped using the trolley. The last trolley journey in the area was made on November 25, 1926.

Eventually the modern 611 Highway removed a covered bridge that was over Gallow’s Run in 1921.

Stover wrote, “to use river folks the Delaware River has a touch of magic.

One time it is high, another time it may be low and still another there may be an ice flow from shore to shore. It has its moods as it travels on.”

Floods on the river occurred in 1903, 1936, 1955 and more recently in 2004, 2005 and 2006. A man named Frey drowned in the high river in the early 1900s. They had put a mark on the rocks near Lehnenburg Road to mark the height of the water. Whenever the river went above that mark the people of the village had a saying, “the river is getting high, the old Frey is covered.”

The Terrace Falls on River Road from the early 1900s. Photograph

The first telephone in from Lehigh Valley History.

Kintnersville was in the grist 7

mill in 1910. The Kintnersville Independent Telephone Company then put phones in three homes and offered service for free for six months so the townspeople could call the businesses. The first licensed commercial radio station went on air on November 2, 1920. It was KDKA from Pittsburgh. Stover wrote that he had made his own radio with a wire wrapped around a Quaker Oats Cereal box to create coils.

Before there was electricity in the town people listened to the radio using dry cell and automotive batteries.

In the town hall many people came to join in the Kintnersville Literary Society meetings. One meeting on January 15, 1913 dealt with a ‘court trial.’ Four local men were charged and tried for gambling in Harry C. Deemer’s chicken house. The men were sentenced to pay $250.00.

In the spring of 1882 Kintnersville was struck with a small pox epidemic. A girl from Bethlehem came to visit her relatives and passed the illness along. Many people were ill and five people died. Friends and neighbors dug the graves. The little girl who carried small pox to the area also died.

In addition to the roads, the canals were also used for transportation by having mules drag the boats along the water. “I can remember during the canal boating days, hearing the boatman blow the conch shell as he approached Kintnersville, calling for the lock tender” Stover wrote. Men used to walk the towpath at night with kerosene lanterns to make sure the banks hadn’t been washed out due to Muskrats 8

A view of Kintnersville. Photograph from the 250th Anniversary of Nockamixon Township booklet.

that caused damage. The last barge passed through the area in December of 1931.

One of the largest Native American villages in Bucks County used to be in this area. The Shawnee tribe and the Pokanoket tribe lived here and had meetings in what is now called the BUCKS LODGE. When the Town Tavern and Hotel on Easton Road was torn down residents found a certificate from the federal government behind the bar that forbid them from serving “Firewater to the Indians.”

Today only three businesses remain in the town: Gristies Antiques, BUCKS LODGE(antiques and home goods) and Thomas Lyons automobile repair (who

fixes trucks and automobiles in his garage).

While Kintnersville has gone through immense change the village still remains.

Mostly forgotten by the outside world, residents embrace the solitude that occurs when living in a tiny rural town. Adventure is in the woods and hills that surround them and excitement is enjoyed from within.

The following historic photographs are all from the 250th Anniversary of Nockamixon Township booklet. Top right: A view of Kinitnersville.

Top left: Looking north on 611 around 1893. The Union Chapel is seen, the second building from the right. Below: The 1936 flood. Middle right: The covered bridge over Gallow’s Run in 1900. Bottom right: The Town Tavern and Hotel.

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Left, top and bottom: View of the Babbling Brook Restaurant and Bar in the 1930s. In addition to a restaurant it was also the first gas station in Upper Bucks County. It sold many different brands of gasoline unlike today. This site eventually became The Great American Grill. Today it is closed down and the site is empty. Bottom and next page: Views of the mill.

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Nockamixon Township Building

eith Deluca (page 14) and Bill Sadow (page 16) work at the Nockamixon Township Building.

On Tuesday, March 1, 2016 I met them when I inquired about the neighborhood. We all laughed about how there isn’t any information about Kintnersville online. Sadow, a kind and jovial man, said “we like it that way, we like being forgotten.”

Deluca kindly copied information he found about the history of the town from an anniversary book that was made in 1992 and showed me the map (page 15) that proudly hangs on their office wall. It is a 1749 map and shows a split between the purple and gold neighborhoods. Deluca mentioned it was split at that time because the farmers (who lived in the purple region where Kintnersville is located) were wealthier than the working poor (found in the gold region). The farmers didn’t want to

pay taxes to support the benefits of the working poor so they separated themselves from that area. Purple and gold are now the colors of the local high school.

The small town vibe was in the air that afternoon. Vernon Wehrung, an older man who owns the popular Wehrung’s Lumber and Home Store in Ottsville came in to speak with Deluca. He took one look at me and said, “it’s a busy day in here!” It’s unusual to have “crowds” in the neighborhood as miles sometimes stretch between the rural homes.

There is a lot of land in this country.

On this day Deluca was searching for a deed he found in an 1880s book of deeds. The document said the township owns property in the area but they have have to track down where the property is actually located.

I inquired about the problems

the township faces. Deluca said it’s mostly complaints from neighbors about loud dogs, loud stereos, horses pooping in someone else’s yard and the smell the cows give off for the new residents that aren’t used to rural life. Mr. C, a resident who died a few years back but lived here his entire life used to complain of all the “foreigners” coming in and screwing up the neighborhood, Sadow said. He laughed because he knew it wasn’t what I expected. Mr. C was actually talking about the people from New York and New Jersey.

Other problems they face have been the occasional meth lab and moonshiners. There was one man in the area who has since passed that Sadow said was famous for his illegal moonshine recipe. I asked if there were any bottles still floating around.

He joked again, “I can not confirm or deny” he said.

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Easton Road

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ohn Lovett (pictured left) moved from Manhattan to the village on June 11, 2015. He is a successful artist and his store reflects his creativity. It is filled with art of many mediums, midcentury modern furniture and victorian items. When arriving in Kintnersville he decided to create a place for the community to socialize. In some ways it offers a new sense of community that he previously had in New York City. BUCKS LODGE is his newest adventure with the help of his partner and fellow artist, Alessandro Codagnone who is from Italy. His dog Champers also lives with them (page 42).

“I’m really interested in the rebuilding of a community, and having real conversations with people and having a place of discourse where people can come with opinions and debate different things and not feel judged by what they believe in,” he said.

John’s art has taken many forms. He did a lot of radical political art, as he has described, but has changed his focus to working with dolls. With his new work he transforms vintage dolls into the essence he sees in them by making them clothes, wigs and setting them up in emotional scenes which he then photographs.

Currently he is working on a book of images that depict the dolls acting out different ideas. For example, his book cover deals with Freud. “It’s all about your psychological understanding of something, and then it’s reality,” he said.

History is very important to him. People “forget what happened before and we keep repeating the same mistakes,” he said.

On his wall he has a framed slave doll which fits into the motif of other framed artwork around the space. Next to the doll he purposefully put a modern looking mirror. He subtly has positioned a symbol of slavery next to an object that allows the viewer to catch a glimpse of themselves (page 39).

“There’s a connection with yourself in your mind to an object and you’re confronted with how you think of that. You

might not even realize it. I feel like I’m not shoving it in someone’s face. It’s very subversive. And I’m very happy with it,” he said.

The BUCKS LODGE building used to be the studio of R. Quentin Smith, a stained glass artist and designer. Smith came to Kintnersville in 1960. His stained glass work was put in homes and churches around the world.

“It took a lot of work to make it transform into something else,” John said. Transforming the large building has not just been about what’s put inside, but also structural issues including insulating the space and carving out a kitchen in an area that had none.

“Everyone’s been extremely nice and it’s very odd to me because I’m not used to that,” he said. John is putting his own stamp on the community and his individuality shines through even when completing ordinary tasks. He keeps late hours and sometimes does chores during the early morning hours. At 3:00 a.m. he was removing his Christmas tree and Heroes by David Bowie played from his stereo. “I had to drag that thing out in like a body bag so that the needles didn’t get all over... All the sudden the church doors open, there’s the nooses and it looks like a body,” he said. He joked that people in the neighborhood must wonder if he’s a crazy.

Photographs of the BUCKS LODGE are seen until page 43.

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Nevin Smith (pictured right) is the

talking with Smith and others from the area. manager of Gristies Antiques and

While I was in there I met Oddities in the old mill. Smith leases a tall blond man named Johnny the mill from a man who lives in New Hossack. Hossack is 49 and owns York. Antiques are sold by Smith and a home near the Cascade Lodge. also by members of the community.

While slightly outside of Kintnerville While in the shop on Wednesday, proper, Hossack agreed to meet March 1, I ran into a familiar face, a with me so I could pick his brain woman with a big smile and bright about the neighborhood. We met at red hair. She worked at the public Mueller’s Kitchen and General Store school and knew she recognized me (pronounced mul-ers around here). as well. Mrs. Fischer is now retired It is the local watering hole and a but has her own ‘little corner of the favorite dining spot along the river in world’ in the store as she showed me between Easton and Riegelsville. her items in the store. The big hug

Hossack grew up in that followed our conversation is not Connecticut but made friends in uncommon in the area. People are the area and moved here when a often friendly. When walking down property overlooking the farms of the road many times strangers give a Kintnersville went up for sale. He has welcoming wave. lived here for 14 years but also has a

Gristies spans three floors and home on an island in Maine where he is packed with items from kerosene spends most of his time. lanterns and vintage armchairs to

He told me about The Great glass plated photographic negatives. American Grill and how there used to The spot is frequented by locals and be paper on the tables with crayons tourists who come to shop and see so people could draw while they the old mill. Like many small towns dined. “It was full of energy and they end up having informal meeting really great,” he said. The owners places for the community members. eventually lost their liquor license Gristies acts in that role as you can and sold the property Hossack said. often see people from the community The most out of the ordinary 58

thing that happened since he’s been living here is the floods.

“When it floods it’s awe inspiring... the water just keeps coming. You can’t even fathom that much water,” he said. The only thing that’s really changed since he has arrived is the upgrades to 611 near River Road and the rehabilitated bridges.

When Hossack first moved to the area he was excited about the prospect of easily traveling to New York city. He laughed and admitted that he’s only been there one time in the 14 years he’s had Kintnersville property. “Because peace and quiet and no traffic and no noise is so awesome. Going to New York is just too much,” he said. Some of his friends mention the culture of the city is just to wonderful to give up.

Hossack has a great comeback for them. “I will ask them how often do you go to museums? Do you go every day? Every other day? Or once or twice a year,” he said.

The old mill and the land it sits on is seen until page 91.

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As Dawn Arrives

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River Road

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Kintner Hill Road

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Kintner Road

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ave Metz (pictured left) and his wife Kim live at the bend where Kintner Hill meets 611. Dave has an excavating and construction business. Kim works at a school and got her PhD. a few years ago. I met Dave and Kim when I was photographing their barn that holds the Kintnersville sign on Wednesday. They were extremely kind and invited me in their home to talk even though we had just met.

The Metz’s have been living at the same location for 29 years. They both grew up in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Kim’s brother lived in the neighboring town called Durham. The house was a wreck when they first bought it. “We weren’t afraid of work so we said we’ll take it” Dave said. Eventually they also bought the barn and the white house down the road.

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They have three horses and a yellow lab named Daisy. Kim keeps the horses who are very old. They are named Dallas, Annie and South Park. South Park is a rescued race horse in retirement.

“The only thing I don’t like about this town is what these slum lords have done with these derelict properties,” Dave said. There are a few homes in the neighborhood that have been sitting empty or are rental units that are badly deteriorating.

When they first moved in the area it was a community full of families. “They all just kind of died off and moved away,” Dave said. He mentioned that Mrs. Fleck who lives in the yellow house “has been here since the beginning of time” but she is one of the only long-time residents left.

Dave is a hunter and spends his recreational time in the woods. He told me that he has seen five bears this year walking along their fence by the creek. During hunting season he saw a mother and two cubs that came up from Kintner Hill Road.

He was in a tree stand with a bow and arrow. When he heard something coming he first thought it might have been a black lab. Then he noticed it was an adult bear and as it was bear season he was excited.

That was until he saw two cubs near the mother bear. “I’m not going to shoot a mother bear... you have to answer for that at the end of the night and I don’t want to answer for that,” he said. There’s also coyotes here which he has seen but they are elusive.

“This town has been really great for us,” Dave said. They are close with their neighbors. Every Sunday 15 people from the neighborhood get together for communal dinner. The Metz’s have been doing that for over 15 years.

“Everyone gets along,” Dave said.

“As long as we don’t see each other the rest of the week,” Kim joked.

The Metz’s have poured a lot of sweat equity into the community. His home was “the town dump” Dave said. They excavated and cleaned up for over 15 years.

The wall of the barn on 611 was collapsed when they got it. They had to renovate much of the barn. Before they owned it it used to be the Pick and Poke Antiques shop. Dave said it was filled with items when he bought it but the barn was in such bad condition they had to throw away 90 percent of it. “There was like ten thousand milk crates of National Geographic’s in the attic,” Dave said. When they got wet the roof collapsed.

Despite the difficulties of renovation Metz was optimistic. “It’s been fantastic. I wouldn’t have changed it. I don’t think we could have done better in a different spot,” he said.

When asked about the exciting things that have happened he mentioned a guy who “hacked his girlfriend and motherin-law up” in the rental at the corner (it now has plywood on the front because it’s frequently hit by cars at the sharp turn, pages 44-45). While the man didn’t kill the women it was an event.

The couple heard glass breaking and shouting but Dave initially thought it was a party. His neighbor Joyce called him about the noise and he thought “here we go,” he said.

“These kids ran through George’s [his neighbor] apartment and jumped through the window. That’s what I heard. It was just people running all over,” he said.

The police were searching for the man in the neighborhood but they couldn’t find him. Dave was outside and he saw the attacker coming towards his parking lot with a machete in his hand.

“He looked out of his mind,” he said.

Dave had a gun on him and he told the man “if you take one more step I’m going to put you down. And he didn’t take another step,” he said. But as he noted, there isn’t much ‘excitement’ around here.

Dave takes gun safety seriously.

Dave is as high up in the National Rife Association as you can get without being on the board of directors, he told me. He has a license to carry and does much of the time. Still, he told me that he believes there should be better background checks when people go to purchase guns and that he feels people should be required to take classes and pass tests before owning a weapon.

“Boring is really good. I like it quiet.

I don’t sleep well and I don’t need all that drama,” he said.

Photographs of Gallows Run Farm (the Metz home) are seen until page 189.

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