Lou’s View – May 29, 2014

Walking Tours are Coming Back

by Lou Bernard

A few years ago, my friend JA Babay was trying to come up with a fitness program for the Ross Library. She needed a way to make people walk a certain number of miles throughout the summer. She came up with the idea of a low-impact historic walking tour, led by me, as I walked around with people and showed the historic buildings.
“Sure,” I said. “Sounds like fun.”

And it was fun. The tours got fairly popular, and the crowds grew. Now that I work for the library, these tours have become a sort of summer staple—I’ll probably be doing them every summer for the rest of my life. (I have learned to cut them down to about an hour each. One early tour went a bit too long, and my friend Cassidy began to refer to my tours as “The Donner Party.”)

For each tour, I walk in a different direction and point out the buildings and locations, and talk about the history and interesting stories behind each one. Every year, someone asks me when I’m going to write a book with the same information. Eventually, I’ll probably get to that—I’ll call it I’m Tired Of Walking Around Every Summer, So Just Read This Instead.

But for now, this summer, I’m bringing the tours back. Each one begins at the library, on a Friday, at 6 p.m.

I’m throwing a few variations in, too, because it’s the county’s anniversary and because I’m not a one-trick wonder. The first tour, on June 6, will be Water Street. On June 13th, it will be Civil War-based to highlight that week’s Civil War event. On June 20th, I’ll celebrate the anniversary with a special tour based on the year 1839.
So, what are the tours about, you ask? Well, hypothetical reader interrupting me, if I told you all of that, you’d have no reason to come along, would you?
But, just to be fair, I’ll give you a preview.

There’s a Titanic connection. Forget Leonardo DeCaprio, there’s a real connection to the Titanic right here in Clinton County. Eric Carlson, a florist who operated his shop on Bellefonte Avenue, knew the captain. Carlson was from Sweden, and when he came to America as a teen, Captain E.J. Smith was running the ship. As Carlson arrived in America, that trip ended better. When the Titanic sank in 1912, Carlson strolled across the street to the newspaper, and told them all about how he knew that guy.

There are secret codes. It’s not exactly a Dan Brown novel, but back in the 1800s, many buildings contained hidden messages. Fruits, trees, leaves, and flowers all had subtle meanings, which would have been part of every child’s education. These were put on furniture and buildings to convey these messages to people. And there’s one above the door of the Lock Haven Post Office that I will be decoding for you.

There’s much more Civil War history than you think. The Civil War, though it wasn’t fought this far north, had a huge presence in the county. On June 13th, I’ll be highlighting that history. The tour will include at least two homes of soldiers, one high-ranking and one a private. It will have a stop on the Underground Railroad, plus some speculation on who might have been a conductor. And it will have connections to Gettysburg and Abraham Lincoln—Not just once, but twice.

If you’re into ghosts, I have them too. Though none of these will be exactly a full-fledged haunted walking tour, but it just wouldn’t be a Lou tour without some mention of ghosts and mysteries. I’ll be talking about the cemetery that was moved, a man who went on a business trip and came back dead, and a Revolutionary War soldier who may be partially buried under Water Street. Seriously.

I always enjoy giving these tours. I hope the public enjoys walking with me, as well. Interested? Intrigued? Get in touch with me at the library, 570-748-3321 or ross13@rosslibrary.org.