Milestone 26 Missing
*Above banner image was taken at Valley Forge National Park in PA. Link for the park is http://www.nps.gov/vafo/planyourvisit/hours.htm
Between the 25th and 26th Milestones is a lot of history some documented, some not. The expansion of the Exton Mall has also changed the landscape as one historic building was even moved closer to the Pike. I picked three of the best documented sites relevant during Turnpike times to show here.
The first site is a Turnpike station and stone tenant house (1800). The station probably employed a blacksmith or wheelwright and a place for them to live. The present address of these buildings is 421 and 431 Lincoln Highway, Exton. Obviously the functions of the buildings have changed as well. Three employees of the Touch of Asia Spa were brought up on prostitution charges in April, 2008.
Picture of cardinal taken at the Zook house in Exton
Continuing West toward the 26 Milestone other than that new thing they call Exton Mall the next significant sight would have to be the Zook House built around 1750. Eight successive generations of Zooks occupied the house from 1770 until 1849. The home was a stop over for Mennonite Immigrants heading West. It's also much closer to the Pike than it used to be as it was somehow moved South during the Malls last expansion. The Zooks were originally Zug's or Zaug's but the surname was probably changed to avoid Religious persecution.
There is another Zook House in Exton. Look for the Green Papaya Restaurant. The colonial structure attached to it was once the home of a Jacob Zook.
Continuing West the next place of interest is the old George Massey Place named Sleepy Hollow Hall. It started out as a pretty humble home in 1717 and in 1820 was enlarged. It's long time owner ran a tannery opposite it on the south side of the Pike and their profits allowed the house to be enlarged. Even so it remained a rather austere dwelling because of the family's Quaker background. The House also had a hidden room possibly to hide runaway slaves.
A map with the salmon colored stickpin showing the general location of missing Milestone 26