Milestone 17 Missing This stone was missing in the 1907 survey and has not turned up
yet. Near this milestone was the second Blue Ball Inn (pictured below). While the milestone
has disappeared the notorious Prissy Robinson who was the proprietor of the Blue Ball marches
on in history. When the railroad was put through, it cut Prissy's Inn off from the Turnpike.
According to the legends she waged her own private war against the railroad for ruining her
business and hitting her pet heifer. She was allegedly greasing the tracks and the weak engined
trains of the days couldn't make it up the grade. Eventually the RR paid up. There was also the
matter of the 3 husbands as well as numerous peddlers who disappeared while staying at the Blue
Ball. It is now a private residence although Prissy seems to maintain a ghostly presence there as
well. Items related to the railroad seem to fall off the wall on their own. Years later during a
renovation 3 skeletons were found buried in the basement as well as one in the orchard.
*Above banner images taken at Paoli Battlefield Malvern, PA.
Notice the 4 balls above the arched doorway.
You have to take the turn that leads under the railroad tracks near Daylesford Station to see the
Blue Ball. Inn Keeper Prissy Robinson lived to be 100. To get the story that goes with her picture
go to this website and scroll to page 100. http://books.google.com/books?id=IUcVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA5&lpg=PA5&dq=wayside+inn+in+sachse&source=bl&ots=EJK-wjnDcy&sig=9OLDlRp3DUG7LKX3Pd2IveK_NN8&hl=en&ei=g7xeTbn_M8KBlAePr7mCDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
The Bear or Black Bear was located just below the 18th Milestone on what is now
Route 252. It was considered a wagon stand - a place where teamsters (drivers) could drink. It
dated back to 1786 making it one of the oldest inns on the turnpike. It's sign spelled out Bear
in gilt edged lettering. No specific date is known when it became known as the Black Bear but
at some point it became a popular place to hold sales and auctions. It also was known as the
Bull's Head in it's later years. It was torn down in 1877. The Howellville Inn was about a mile
to the north on the Howellville to Newton Road. At some point the milestone itself may have
migrated west to Paoli where it is remembered as being southeast of the General Paoli. It was
said to be in the Paoli area as late as the 1980's.
http://www.tehistory.org/hqda/html/v31/v31n1p015.html
Click on this link for an article about Tavern Stands thats goes into more detail about the Bear .
A map with the salmon colored stickpin showing the general location of missing Milestone 17