Directions for Key Sites in Quaker Valley
Menallen Friends Meeting
1107 Carlisle Rd., Biglerville, PA
From Gettysburg, PA take Carlisle Rd/Route 34 north into Biglerville (about 7-8 miles). In Biglerville you hit the intersection of Route 234 & 34, from which point go an additional 2.2 miles past Biglerville. The meetinghouse is on the right hand side, just north of Fairmount Rd., and was built in 1805. The “new” cemetery is adjacent to the cemetery.
Old Menallen Friends Burial Ground – east of Biglerville, PA
75 Center Mills Rd., Aspers, PA
From the center of Biglerville, take Route 234 to the east (right when traveling north). Go 2.7 miles to Centre Mills Rd. Turn left on Centre Mills Rd. (north) and you will see an old brick church (now a private home) on the right hand side of the road (almost immediately). [address – 51 Center Mills Rd.] The cemetery to the left of the church is unaffiliated with the Quakers. Walk around the left side of that cemetery and about 100 yards directly behind the frontage cemetery, across what was an open field, to the Friends burial ground. [The cemetery is hidden and awkwardly bounded by other private properties, but visitors have right of access.]
John Blackburn Sr.(1) Ancestral Land
Go from the old Menallen Friends Burial Ground on Centre Mills Road and continue north. After less than a mile you will reach an intersection with no street markings and it’s a little askew. [The cross street is Old Carlisle Road, and you don’t want that.] Basically continue going straight, again for about less than a mile. You will soon approach the Adams County Nursery (26 Nursery Rd., Aspers, PA) on the right hand side of the road, just after the train tracks. The Nursery is large and very well marked. The 175 acres of orchards directly behind the offices make up the original Blackburn holdings. The exact location of the original house has not been identified.
John Blackburn Jr.(2) Ancestral Land and Home
Originally owned by his father-in-law, Moses Harlan, John Blackburn Jr.(2) and his wife, Rebecca Harlan, raised their 13 children just south of the old Friends Burial Ground. Instead of going north on Centre Mills Rd to go to the cemetery, go south off of Route 234. In roughly a mile the road reaches something of a dead end. The veer to the left at that point is Stone Jug Road. At this intersection you are right in the middle of the northern portion of the John Blackburn Jr.(2) property. As you continue left on Stone Jug Road you will come to a mail box with house number 638. Back a 1⁄2 mile from the road is the original house of John Blackburn Jr.(2), said to have been started in 1740. The property at 638 is a subdivided piece of the original and it is privately owned and the house is not visible from the road.
John Blackburn(3) Homestead, son of Thomas(2)
From the center of Biglerville proceed north on Route 34. Turn left at the sign for Bendersville (a Y intersection) and go to the center of Bendersville. Turn left at Church St. (Five different roads converge in Bendersville and Church St is not clearly marked, but it is between the Elkhorn Inn and the Corner General Store.) Church St becomes Potato Rd. From the center of town you will go west 1.4 miles. There is a two-story white house on the right and a gravel road on the left. Turn left onto the gravel road. Where this road splits, stay to the left. The house is about 1⁄4 mile from the main road. The homestead belongs to an orchard and the home is being rented by employees, so please be considerate.
Moses Blackburn(3) Homestead
The home of Moses Blackburn(3), son John Blackburn Jr.(2), is found near the town of Wenksville, still within Menallen Township (address is 1835 Wenksville Rd., Biglerville, PA.) Continue north, very briefly, of the Menallen Meeting house (see above) on Route 34. You will see a Y in the road – Route 34 going to the right and the road into Bendersville going left. Go toward Bendersville. As you arrive in Bendersville, you’ll come to an intersection (no stop light) of sorts in the center of the village. Shortly thereafter you’ll come upon yet another Y. Go left towards Wenksville. Wenksville is more of a location rather than a town, but as you roll into town you’ll note that another road will be coming in from your right to form yet another Y – with the conjunction of the two leaving you with a church on the right hand side. The church and the property to the right of the Road are on the property of Moses Blackburn. A block or so down, the former Moses Blackburn property is on both sides of the street.
Christ Lutheran Church
29 S. George St., York, PA
Anthony Blackburn(2) and Deborah Simmons were married here in 1752. From Gettysburg go east on US 30 toward York. After about 27 miles, merge onto PA-74 South toward West York. Go 2.7 miles and then turn right at S. George. [If you go to York from Warrington Meeting, continue on Route 74 from Wellsville (see below) directly into York.]
Huntington Friends Meeting
300 Quaker Church Rd., York Springs, PA
Take US-15 north. Go 12 miles past US 30, continuing on US-15. At Route 94, go right (to the south). After slightly more than a mile, turn left at Quaker Meeting Rd. [Gun Club Rd is the road going right at this not-so-well-marked intersection.] The meetinghouse, with an adjacent cemetery, will be on the left about 1⁄2 mile down right on Quaker Meeting Rd. The Huntington Meeting was established in 1746, a log cabin built in 1750 and the final stone structure built in 1790.
From the intersection of US-15 and Route 94, continue north on US-15. About nine miles further up US-15, take Route 74 south (at Dillsburg). Stay on Route 74 through Mt. Top. After a couple more miles, Route 74 (south) takes a jog northeast to Wellsville. Two miles past Wellsville on 74 you will see the meetinghouse on the right hand side, just past Quaker Meeting Rd. The meetinghouse was built in 1769 and updated in 1782.
Redlands Friends Meeting
From Warrington, continue on 74 south (directionally still briefly to the northeast) to Rossville, at which point you take Route 177 toward Lewisberry. After six miles on 177 you will reach Route 382, at which point you go right toward Newberrytown. At about the two-mile mark you will see the Quaker Meeting on the left (north) side, at 700 Old Quaker Road, Lewisberry, PA. This is the new meetinghouse, established in 1811. To get to the old meetinghouse, where the original cemetery still exists, continue east on 382, past Hwy 83 (two miles). Shortly after Hwy 83 you reach a Y in the road – go right. The cemetery is immediately there on the right at 2775 Old Trail Rd., Goldsboro, PA. Newberry Meeting was established in 1745 at that location. [If traveling north or south on Hwy 83, Route 382 is exit 32.]