The summertime programs conducted by Chester County townships called Town Tours and Village Walks hit a home run last night with St. Peter's Village in Warwick Twp., on the French Creek. Once the home of St. Peter's Quarry, established in 1880 by the Knauer family, they exported granite for all kinds of uses, including the Belgian Blocks used to pave the streets in Philadelphia and other nearby towns.
The quarry is on the opposite side of the main street from the French Creek, which rushes through town over enormous boulders. We did see a young man take a dive into the 100' deep water while we were there, but later the waitress who served our dinner at the Inn at St. Peter's Village told us that 2 weeks previous, another young man was paralyzed after such a leap. They say the quarry is the final resting place of a lot of the equipment used to cut stone, plus an automobile or two--making it a highly dangerous swimming hole.
One of the local women gives ghost tours, and apparently summer weekends can get quite busy with out-of-towners soaking in the atmosphere. It is interesting that the buildings that back to the French Creek have stone foundations, and one local said they look like they are held together with chewing gum and baling wire. But perhaps he does not appreciate the dry stone setting which is traditional in these parts (no mortar). There was a picture of one of the buildings (built on stilts) on the creek during a high water episode, and it was completely surrounded by water.
Early on, mules supplied the power for the pulleys and gears which moved the stone blocks for the St. Peter's Quarry. Eventually a railroad was built to take the stone to market, and Mr. Knauer had a custom rail car built for himself. A picture shows the car, which was later used in presidential whistle-stop campaigns by Eisenhower and Nixon. Unfortunately, later owners let it decay and fall apart. Oh, and let us not forget Janice, who portrayed her Aunt Lena, who entertained the locals by playing the musical saw--which she did for us. It sounds like the sound track from a spooky movie. Which is probably a good place to end this story!
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