Wellsboro Photo Tour (Scranton, York, Chester: appointed, hotel, house)

[SteelCityRising]

Good evening, everyone! Today I decided to skip my one class and head on up to the Tioga County seat of Wellsboro, which is just over two hours away from my home in Pittston. The drive to and from the town along U.S. Route 6 was absolutely awesome; the time flew by as I wound my way through farm lands and quaint small towns. The borough of Wellsboro lies about fifteen minutes west of Mansfield, which is home to Mansfield University. It also sits about an hour northwest of Williamsport and an hour southwest of Elmira, NY. The scenic Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania is about ten minutes west of town. While there's not much in town to occupy the youth, I could personally see this as being an excellent destination for big-city retirees looking to unwind in Mayberry. Speaking of retirees, I was seemingly the only tourist in this town today that was under the age of 50. However, it was very nice to see so many octogenarian couples holding hands and smiling while saying things like "I feel young again." Old people are like puppies---they're so adorable!!! While on the topic of "Mayberry" as well, I must admit I was blown away by this town's innocence, friendliness, and charm. Every person I walked past outside of the busier main drag was seemingly in a race with me to be the first to say "Good morning" with a smile. People making turns from the main drag onto side streets YIELDED to pedestrians in crosswalks (something you don't see here in the "New New York" that is Scranton, as I was nearly run down today on my run after I returned from my day-trip). As an added touch of warmth, a church along Main Street began to play music at noon---I nearly teared up as I passed by the structure as "Amazing Grace," one of my favorite songs, began to play.

Wellsboro is the type of town I would be proud to call home. Most of the major chains have bypassed the town, but there is still a Sears, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Weis Market, Rite-Aid, and a few others in and around the borough. I think the lack of major national chains is something that helps to keep the downtown vibrant. Speaking of vibrant, I was hard-pressed to find any run-down properties, save for just one or two, and I roamed around nearly every street in this small town of 3,300 in just a few hours. I know many of you have come to love towns like Honesdale, Tunkhannock, and Jim Thorpe from my photo tours, but Wellsboro even managed to trump those communities a notch with its nostalgic appeal.

I hope you'll come to love Wellsboro as much as I do, and I hope some of you will be inspired to visit it for a quiet, relaxing day-trip. Coming from the rat-race here in the city, it was nice to unwind with such friendly surroundings.


Welcome to Wellsboro, the seat of gorgeous Tioga County, and the hub town for the nearby Pennsylvania Grand Canyon! This attractive sign greets travelers along U.S. Route 6 westbound, about a mile east of the town proper and across the street from a newer Weis Supermarket.



Much of the borough is on the national register of historic places, and several signs like these dot the community to inform visitors of its architectural heritage.

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[SteelCityRising]

The following are photos from Wellsboro's quaint downtown business district. I obtained a walking tour brochure from the town's visitors' bureau, and I'll elaborate further upon some of the buildings where appropriate.



Here are a pair of images from the "The Green" in Wellsboro. Visible on the left of the top photo is a fountain, which I learned featured a statue of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. It was given to the town in 1938 by Fred W. Bailey in memory of his wife, Elizabeth, who was a daughter of Judge Cameron of Wellsboro.



This pair of historical markers lines the park side of Main Street. The first marker is in tribute to a 19th-Century author and Wellsboro resident, George Washington Sears, who had the pen name of "Nessmuk." The second marker honors William A. Stone, a former Pennsylvania governor who was born on the outskirts of Wellsboro and served in office during the turn of the 20th Century.


This building at 114 Main Street at the intersection with Central Avenue is the former county sheriff's residence and county jail. The building is now occupied by the Tioga County Development Corporation, Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce, and Tioga County Visitors' Bureau. The elm tree on the right is one of the largest in existence and has been growing since the 1700s. This tree is older than Wellsboro and has been here since before the first settlers.



Next-door is the Tioga County Courthouse, which was built in 1835. There have been remodeling and additions since that time but, basically, it is the original building. A marker on the front lawn details the history of Tioga County.


120 Main Street is the Robinson House, home of the Tioga County Historical Society. The building was originally a tavern operated by Alpeheus Cheney, Tioga County's first sheriff. In the early 1830s, Samuel Dickinson added four more rooms to the front of the tavern, two upstairs and two downstairs. It was later purchased by John L. Robinson. The annex at the right rear is a replica of the First National Bank of Wellsborough, of which Mr. Robinson was a founder.


126 Main Street, now the law offices of Walrath & Coolidge, was the residence of the Honorable Henry W. Williams, and it was constructed in 1885. At that time he was President Judge of Tioga County and in 1887 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. After the death of the last Williams family member in 1932, the building became a funeral home and continued as such under various ownerships until acquired by Mr. Walrath.


The First Presbyterian Church at 130 Main Street was built in 1894. At that time it was held to be "the finest church of its size in Northern Pennsylvania."



The Green Free Library at 134 Main Street was established in 1912 by an endowment from Charles Green of Roaring Branch. In 1916 the library moved into the beautiful house called "Chester Place," which was built by Chester Robinson, brother and business associate of John L. Robinson. The library has a collection of over 35,000 volumes and provides many fine services to its 7,600 patrons. The Gmeiner Art and Cultural Center at the right of the library was a gift to Wellsboro from the late Arthur Gmeiner of Denver, originally from the Nauvoo area of Tioga County.


140 Main Street is known as the "Lincoln Door House." The front door of this residence was a gift from Abraham Lincoln to Dr. and Mrs. J.H. Sheaver when they bought this house in 1858. Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Sheaver were close friends in Springfield, Illinois, and the door came from a building there.


Located at the west end of Main Street is the oldest grocery store in Wellsboro, the West End Market. First opened in 1902, the store has been operated as a convenience market, a fish market, and a bulk food store. In 1995 the store began operating as Wellsboro's only independent bakery and a wonderful "taste of the past" ice cream parlor and soda fountain. Today it is the residence of Michael and Janice Tester. The have moved their dance studio, known as First Position, to this location. They have also opened a convenience market.



The Wellsboro Diner has been in continuous operation since 1939 and is a favorite downtown lunch spot.


The Art Deco Arcadia Theater, at 50 Main Street, was built in 1921 for silent pictures. This theater was one of the first in the state to show talking pictures in 1929. The theater is still in daily operation with four state-of-the-art screens.


Just next door at 62 Main Street is the Penn Wells Hotel. Wellsboro's first tavern or inn was built in 1816 on this site, and this parcel has always been occupied by a tavern, inn, or hotel. In 1869 A.P. Cone erected a four-story brick hotel. The building was purchaed in 1885 by J.S. Coles and renamed the "Cole House." A fire in 1906 damaged the fourth floor so badly that it had to be removed. A group of local residents purchased the hotel in 1925 when it was closed for extensive remodeling and the addition of a fourth floor. At that time the entire hotel was fire-protected by a sprinkler system. The hotel re-opened in 1926 as the Penn Wells Hotel.



























Some more scenes from in and around the Main Street corridor.



You thought YOUR mom was ugly?




Wellsboro Fire Department

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[SteelCityRising]

Here are the rest of my photos from around town:





















Some scenes from along West Avenue.


A West Avenue resident has apparently stepped in doo-doo one too many times for his/her liking! LOL!


















Some scenes from Queen Street, Nichols Street, Sherwood Street, and Hastings Street.





The Wellsboro Cemetery along Nichols Street is beautifully situated. This land was purchased in 1855, and the first burial took place in 1856. Here are the graves of the Morris family, the founders of Wellsboro, which were moved from the original cemetery; George Washington Sears, known as "Nessmuk," writer of both prose and poetry, Honorable William A. Stone, who was a U.S. Representative and the only governor of Pennsylvania from Tioga County; and many others.




Some scenes from along Pearl and Charles Streets, near the town green.


This is St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which was built in 1897. The congregation formed in 1838.



Two scenes from along Austin Avenue, where I parked my car. Note the "Ron Paul" sign in the front yard of the home in the top photo; I saw signs supporting this underdog Republican presidential candidate all over town. The Mercedes-Benz sedan in this same photo had Florida license plates, possibly indicating that wealthy retirees are now finding their way up to tiny Wellsboro.













I snapped these pastoral scenes while driving home along U.S. Route 6 on the stretch between Wellsboro and Towanda (another quaint county seat featured in a past photo tour).

Hope you enjoyed the tour! (END!)

[Marzen]

Well now Scranton, You have done a great service! Indeed a real nice spot. Have not been up thru the area in 20 years, then I decided to move from NWNJ to Raleigh a year ago. Yes I am semi retired, but at 51 and still running 10 miles a day boy that area would be fantastic to run in!!

Now trying to get my southern wife to move away from her hometown will be a trick. We will be heading up thru PA in the summer of 08 on the way to Canada so we will see the area again.

Again thanks for the pic tour

Excellent. I owe you a cold beer!

[Icy Tea]

Awesome pics. One day I want to get up to the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum and the Kinzua Bridge( what remains, anyway) along route 6.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Marzen

Well now Scranton, You have done a great service! Indeed a real nice spot. Have not been up thru the area in 20 years, then I decided to move from NWNJ to Raleigh a year ago. Yes I am semi retired, but at 51 and still running 10 miles a day boy that area would be fantastic to run in!!

Now trying to get my southern wife to move away from her hometown will be a trick. We will be heading up thru PA in the summer of 08 on the way to Canada so we will see the area again.

Again thanks for the pic tour

Excellent. I owe you a cold beer!

Thanks! I'd take you up on that offer, but you'd probably get arrested as I'm not 21 yet! LOL! It's also nice to meet a fellow daily distance runner. I'm training now to comepete in the 2008 Steamtown Marathon that winds its way downhill from the Endless Mountains hamlet of Forest City, PA into Downtown Scranton, just over 26 miles away, so perhaps I'll see you running beside me next year? As a 51-year-old you'd be in great company; I posted a list of all of the locals who competed in the marathon on the NEPA sub-forum, and very few of them were under 25. My father is 52, and I'm surprised he can still bend over to tie his shoelaces from how sedentary his lifestyle has become.

Raleigh is a place I've only seen from Google Earth, but I certainly know that urban sprawl just isn't my cup of tea. I'd take a friendly country hamlet like Wellsboro anyday over that.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Icy Tea

Awesome pics. One day I want to get up to the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum and the Kinzua Bridge( what remains, anyway) along route 6.

The entire Route 6 corridor through PA is breath-taking. You pass through all sorts of great communities such as Milford, Hawley, Honesdale, Carbondale, Scranton, Clarks Summit, Tunkhannock, Wyalusing, Towanda, Troy, Mansfield, and Wellsboro (this is as far west as I've been). I plan to head back soon to do another photo tour of both Troy and Wyalusing; two small country hamlets that had very impressive downtown architecture. I would have stopped to do them yesterday as well, but my memory card on my digital camera was filling up.

[CosmicWizard]

SWB wrote:

The entire Route 6 corridor through PA is breath-taking. You pass through all sorts of great communities such as Milford, Hawley, Honesdale, Carbondale, Scranton, Clarks Summit, Tunkhannock, Wyalusing, Towanda, Troy, Mansfield, and Wellsboro (this is as far west as I've been). I plan to head back soon to do another photo tour of both Troy and Wyalusing; two small country hamlets that had very impressive downtown architecture. I would have stopped to do them yesterday as well, but my memory card on my digital camera was filling up.

Thanks for the memories! When I lived in PA, travelling along Route 6 was always one of my favorite drives. In fact, I rate Route 6 thru PA as one of the finest drives in the country. It is just fabulous. Route 6 at it's western terminus in Grand Junction, CO however follows a path thru an unsightly part of town. Prior to that, it does pass thru some spectacular Colorado Mountain scenery as it snakes it's way up and over Loveland Pass.

BTW, I am 58 and I can still tie my own shoes without even bending over. I balance on one leg, lift up my other foot and tie my shoe. Even though I couldn't do a marathon, I am an avid hiker of the trails in the Colorado National Monument which is just a few miles from my home. I often see people running along the RimRock drive thru the park which is just under marathon distance. I think it's about 22 miles. I imagine they are doing it as part of a marathon distance run. When you are ready to expand your horizons beyond the borders of PA, hop on 6 and keep on truckin until you reach the western end of Route 6. The monument is just a hop, step, and jump away. After that long drive you'll be ready for a leg stretcher like a run along the RimRock Drive thru the Monument. I guarantee that you won't be bored with the scenery ( see picture below )!




blessings...Franco

[FrickParkMtBiker]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

If anyone ever travels to Wellsboro and wants a great place to stay, this is the bed and breakfast we always stay at. It is called La Petit Au Berge, and is owned by the owner of the Wellsboro Diner. She also owns another b and b in town called La Belle Au Berge.

[Glenda Webster]

Thanks for the memories. I've been living in Oklahoma the 30+ years. These photos brought back so many happy memories of PA and NY. Great Pictures, Great Perception. I'll be back everytime I get homesick. What a boost. All that was missing was the "Grand Canyon of PA", but maybe next trip?