Remnant of Seven Bridges Road and a chance-in-a-million meeting!

Today I was walking along where the train ran along the Brodhead Creek. I walked further past the Interstate 80 overpass and met Ed, a man about 25 years older than me. He was researching the original location of Seven Bridges Road. I learned that this bridge in Minisink Hills was part of that road (the road is now called Post Office Road because there used to be a post office on it). We got to talking about the area and he mentioned Hillside Drive. I told him that I lived there since 1994 and it turns out he knows Willie Schmitt whose father built Schmitt's Mountain Rest in the 1940's. It's now called Pierce's Landing and has been an apartment complex since 1994. Hopefully I will be able to meet Mr. Schmitt and get some more info and maybe even photos of the old resort. I exchanged contact info with Ed and we're going to keep in touch. I wasn't even going to go walking this route today because it looked like rain. If I hadn't gone walking, or started walking 15 minutes later I would have never met Ed. I am hoping that we will be able to share some valuable historical information. Thanks, Ed!

Creepy little structure on River Road...

I've been seeing this little structure for as long as I've been living in the area and I never thought about looking inside until today. It sits about forty feet off of River Road. For years I assumed it was built for school kids to stand in and wait for the school bus (not that I ever saw kids anywhere near it). I'm guessing it was a well. I know an expert on this type of stuff and I will get his opinion about the engine inside when I see him later in the week.

Minink Hills (then North Water Gap) whistle stop!

These photos are of the remnants of where a train came through Minisink Hills. This line was called the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad. The large pillars (I was told) are part of a structure where the trains picked up coal. These pillars are just off of Binnekill Lane. The train tracks originally ran from New Jersey, over the Delaware River into Pennsylvania and connected to another set of tracks that are still used today. The massive abutments that once held the train tracks up rise very high out of the Delaware River in a ghostly fashion. I was able to walk along where the tracks would have been. I even found some coal. Coal doesn't naturally grow out of the ground around here. I have no idea what the large stone marker / monument with "JC 98" engraved on it means. The RockTenn paper mill (over 100 years old) is right across the Broadhead Creek from where the tracks ran. I don't think the tracks were ever used in connection to the mill since they would've been too far away.That overpass is Interstate 80. When I turned the bend and saw it, I froze because I thought I saw a person standing in the woods wearing red. My heart started racing and I immediately turned around. I heard that there is a homeless community that lived in the woods near some railroad tracks near where I was approaching. I guess I've watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds because I feared that some homeless people would be patroling the area to protect their place and they might do bad things to me or even kill me. I went slowly back to the bend and saw that I thought was a person dressed in red was just a large piece of red cloth or plastic stuck in some small trees. I wanted to go further but I don't think it would be a good idea to go alone.

Eilenberger's Mills in Minisink Hills, PA

Some old cars in the woods on Hillside Drive

I've always been fascinated by these old cars. With a little elbow grease and an oil change I'm sure they'd purr like kittens.

Cemetary behind St. Mark's Lutheran Church

The shack is on the edge of cemetary. There is a tombstone lying inside and some cylinders of whose purpose I am unsure of at this point.

Pococabana in Minisink Hills, PA

The Pococabana was a gigantic resort that existed from the 1950's to 1970's. Most of it burned to the ground in 1973. Some of the out building survived and are now apartments. I took this photo of one of the surviving buildings. It's kind of sad to see these photos side by side. I wil definitely be posting more about the Pococabana in the future. You can see the remaining buildings on both sides of Route 209 about 1/4 mile before Buttermilk Falls Road.