The Bedford Coffee Pot

     Along the Lincoln highway/Rt. 30 many roadside attractions used to litter the side of the road. Many of the tourist traps that sat along American's first coast-to-coast highway have been torn down or are now privately owned. However, in Bedford one of the old attractions still stands. On the Bedford county fairgrounds a huge coffee pot sits just a few yards from the highway. The Coffee pot was originally owned by the Koontz family and operated as a service station. Through the years the building became unkempt and almost burnt down. The building was marked for demolition until a government grant was given to restore and move the coffee pot from its prior location to the county fair grounds. Today people can still stop and get a glimpse of the roadside giant at the entrance of the fair grounds.

Bedford's Old Log Church

Front View of Church

2nd Floor Seating

      Continuing on my Lincoln Highway adventure, a short distance from Story Land, sits the Old Log Church which it is rightfully named. The 1808 church, as it is also sometimes called, is on the left if heading west from Schellsburg PA, on Cemetery Road. The old church caught my eye as I was driving. It rests in the center of an old cemetery, as if watching over the old graves. I was lucky enough to go inside this old building. Instantly, I was taken back in time by the unique character of the church.

View Looking Towards the Entrance

      The church was built in 1808 on land bought from John Schell, the founder of nearby Schellsburg. The majority of the building was made from logs. The first thing you notice upon opening the door, is an elevated pulpit at the opposite end of the entrance. The main floor of the church is laid out with two columns of pews with stairs up to the balcony pews. The church remained in use by the Reformed and Lutheran denominations for years until 1852 when they erected a new church in Schellsburg. The Old Log Church and Cemetery Preservation Society is now in charge of the still used cemetery. The society continues to do maintenance and repairs on the church, as well as care for the cemetery.

Entrance

      The Church is open to the public with a book to sign to leave
your mark and a place for donations. The next time you travel Rt.
30, take a stop at this quaint church; you won't be disappointed.

Grave Yard

Lincoln Highway : Story Land

     Taking a late summer's trip down the old Lincoln Highway from Bedford PA, I came across an eighteen foot tall Pied Piper playing his flute above the road. Curiosity struck my friends and I. I was forced to turn around and take a better look. The Piper stands at a gate of what used to be an amusement park called Story Land. The park is now privately owned and closed to the public. A small county store now sits where the entrance once stood. We decided to get a closer look at the Mother Goose, Humpty Dumpty, and other classic story book characters that were still scattered in the woods behind the country store. However, we were soon stopped by the “No Trespassing” signs that boarder the wood-line. Disheartened, we took what photographs we could and continued on our way down US Rt. 30.

      Story Land was a great attraction between the 1950's-1970's and was sadly closed in the 1980's. Now Piper's Place Country Store sits on the property and is owned by the daughter of the original owner. This road side attraction is located on the Lincoln Hwy just west of Shellsburg, PA on the right side of the road if heading from Bedford PA, but missing the enormous Pied Piper is almost impossible.