Just across the Maryland state line into Pennsylvania is the historic town New Freedom. The original name was to be Freedom but that name was already taken so they went with New Freedom. But, some look at that name another way. The town has a rich railroad history in more ways than one. New Freedom was the highest point on the rail lines between Baltimore, Maryland and York, Pennsylvania. It was a good stopping point for the railroad.
Several hotels and eateries began to pop up in this small town.
But that’s not the only rail system that flourished here.
Harriet Tubman was also aware of New Freedom, Pennsylvania.
It became one of her primary stopping points on the Underground Railroad . This created a “New Freedom” for those slaves she helped escape. Here’s a link to a great local paper article about this area and the Underground Railroad.https://www.ydr.com/in-depth/news/2019/10/29/underground-railroad-conductors-location-york-county-pa-harriet-tubman/3958310002/
Dave and I discovered this rich history while we were here on a SOWER ministry project https://sowerministry.org/. We spent a month at the 150 +/- year old Summit Grove Camp and Conference Center https://summitgrovecamp.org/ in New Freedom.
When we were arrived, they were “under the gun” to get a two story dorm renovated for the arrival of 120-130 youth coming for their camp weekend in three weeks. Some were staying in the dorm, some in A frame cabins, some in the lodge and some in the camp hotel rooms. But, unless the dorm wasn’t completed, they were not going to be able to come. Lots of work went in to making this building “camper ready”. Besides the SOWERS working on the project they did have 3-4 other local volunteers that gave of their time.
These are pictures from when we first arrived.
Here’s what it looked like, the morning of arrival
They were very happy with the transformation! And, as I type this, I see lots of kids, all around, enjoying the camp.
SOWERS work 6 hours per day/ 4 days per week so we did have free time to explore the area. A good part of the old railroad track is paved over as a 20 mile bike path each direction from New Freedom – 40 miles total. We were able to spend a little time on the bike path. Definately, not 40 miles!
And, we’re about 1-1/2 hours from the closest Metro subway line to take us into Washington D C . So, several weekend days, when not working on the project, we were able to visit Washington D C . One day we went to the 9/11 crash site of Flight 93 in Stoneycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Another day, we went to Annapolis, Maryland so we could enjoy some steamed crabs and learn how to crack them open. And, the last chance, to go anywhere while still here, we realized we had never been to Delaware or New Jersey. All these states are pretty close to here, so one day we went to Delaware. Then we looked across the river and saw that New Jersey was right there – across the river. So, we went.
Like many RVers, we have a U S vinyl map on one of the slides of our R V showing all the states we have visited.
Here’s Dave adding two more states.
Be sure to check out our next few posts. We’ll have posts about our visit to Arlington Cemetery to visit my dad’s grave as well as the cemetery tour and our visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Marine Corp Memorial ( raising the flag at Iwo Jima ).
Another thing I wanted to add. We get asked many times, including on this project, “as a full-time RVer, what do you do about …XYZ?”, “How do you …XYZ?” So, I put together a booklet that is available on Etsy. Check it out. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1730144583/navigating-the-r-v-lifestyle?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=navigating+the+r+v+lifestyle&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&dd=1&content_source=c355c6f1828f5de4a3d7ed412bf1f4d433d35668%253A1730144583&search_preloaded_img=1&organic_search_click=1
Escaping Normal RV 
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