McConnells Mill

History
Daniel Kennedy constructed the first gristmill along Slippery Rock Creek in 1852. Several years later it was destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in 1868. In 1875 Captain Thomas McConnell purchased the mill and replaced the water wheel and grinding stones with more modern water turbines and rolling mills. According to the DCNR website, it processed corn, oats, wheat and buckwheat for local customers. Eventually it closed in 1928.

When Captain Thomas McConnell died, the mill was passed to his son James McConnell. Since James had no children at the time of his death years later, the property was given to the grandson of Captain McConnell, Thomas H. Hartman. Wishing the area to be preserved for future generations, Thomas H. Hartman transferred ownership of the mill and land to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in either 1942 or 1946. McConnells Mill State Park was formally dedicated in October of 1957 and in May 1974 the U.S. Department of the Interior designated it a National Natural Landmark. Currently the park covers around 2546 acres and is considered one of the "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks." The land is also designated as an Audubon Important Bird Area for its outstanding value to bird conservation.

Source and More Info:
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Wikipedia, Great Natural Areas in Western Pennsylvania, National Registry of Natural Landmarks (PDF), Slippery Rock University - Online Rocket, Audubon Pennsylvania

Dog Tracks

This image was taken last Sunday in McConnells Mill during a walk with my wife. We then headed over to Moraine and happened upon a woman who had spent the last five hours looking for her two lost St. Bernards. I hope she found them.

People, People Everywhere

I have been meaning to write a post about the covered bridge in McConnells Mill for some time. You can see the bridge in this image taken on a foggy September day.

Well it turns out, this post is not about that particular day nor is it about the bridge.

A few weeks ago I decided to head over to the park to take a few fall pictures of the bridge for the post about it. I did not expect how many people would be running around taking photos of scenery. Many of them had some pretty fancy cameras compared to my simple 'point and shoot'.

In any case, I wanted to take a picture like this one to illustrate the change in the foliage.


I did not notice there was someone taking a picture in my direction at the same time. You can see him in the close up to the right.

He seemed to be hanging around at that spot. I imagine he was waiting for people like me to wander off.

From there I walked around the mill intending to snap a picture of the bridge.

It didn't turn out as you can see in the below image. Not only because the left side is over exposed but I don't think you can miss the guy with the tripod. Like the previous photo, I did not see him until after the fact. He was also waiting for everyone to leave.

Seeing that every good spot was taken for getting a clean shot of the bridge, I decided to make my way over to nearby Kildoo Falls.


There is actually a girl sitting on the top of the cliff! She is hard to see in the close up to the right, but trust me she is there. She looked like she was posing for someone else with a camera.

Yikes! She is so close to the edge! What is she thinking? It made me edgy and worried she would fall, so I left.

Off to Cleland Rock! I should be able to hopefully get a few good shots there. At the bottom of the photo you can see the edge of Cleland Rock. I wanted to move closer to the edge (not too close) but someone was in the way. He was sitting there when I arrived, dressed in black and engrossed in writing in a journal. I waited awhile for him to move before I took the above image. Two couples came and went beforehand. They had to stand behind him to see the view. Eventually I did the same to take the hurried shot. He was not acknowledging anyone and I figured best to leave him alone.

As I said in a previous post about Cleland Rock, something unusual always happens there when I visit. On that day, it seemed to be true for the entire park.

Late in the Afternoon

Slippery Rock Creek viewed upstream from the walkway by the Mill.

McConnells Mill

An image of the old mill in McConnells Mill State Park.