Milestone 53 is along a stone wall on the north side of the road. It blends in well with the wall. Susan Frazer had this stone recut in 1907. She said "an artist with good intentions but lack of knowledge, painted the ancient markings of the stone, but mistaking the 3 for a 6, the stone reads 56 instead of 53 M to P. In the new deeper cutting the mistake has been rectified as well as possible." Notice the Victorian style Bed and Breakfast (1870) that lurks behind it. http://www.amishnews.com/paradise.html
Link to A Town called Paradise - brief history of the town and some of its prominent early citizens.
Early turnpike travelers would also have passed Joel Ferree's House on the South side of the turnpike. It was just West of Pequea Creek. Joel was born in 1731 and during the Revolutionary War helped supply the American Army with 30 to 40 rifles a week. His gun shop was behind his house by Pequea Creek which he used as a power source for his shop. The rifles he made were either the famous Kentucky Rifle or the Pennsylvania Rifle depending on which historian you believe. Mr. Ferree's life came to an abrupt end in January 1801 when he was visiting relatives near Pittsburgh. He was out back skinning a deer and was found scalped and very dead. His former home at 3044 East Lincoln Highway is now Paradise Village Antiques. There are still the remains of his rifle shop out back although the critter guard made me a little nervous.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Z0YpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=Lightner+House+gordonville&source=bl&ots=Ti7jbEp66F&sig=Tzqk7kYlj34t7DOX2wlRMTvDtvw&hl=en&ei=yqNdTcPnK9Cltwfw1cnkCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Lightner%20House%20gordonville&f=false Link to book The First Long Turnpike in the United States by Charles I. Landis
Above Joel Ferree's house at , Above right, A sign from his shop (image is property of Ferree Family Reunion and DBSWEBDesign)
Between the 53rd and 54th Milestones was The Sign of the Stage Inn and David Witmer's Tavern in Paradise. It was built by David Witmer, SR between 1790 and 1800 and probably served as a stage stop because Witmer was a partner in the Stage Dispatch Stage Line. By the 1850's it was the home of the Paradise female seminary known as Eden Hall or Linden Hall. Many of the girls that attended were from Southern families and the school closed due to declining enrollment when the Civil War started. In 1862 it became a cadet school and in 1868 it became a school for soldiers orphans. George Washington is also said to have to have slept here on one of his trips to the area.
At right the guard for Joel Ferree's Gun Shop
The Sign of the Ship Inn also known as The Paradise Village Inn was located at the Northeast corner of the Turnpike and Hershey Avenue. It was built in either 1796 or 1806. The Paradise Tavern mentioned in another source is probably the same place. The Rodeway Inn is now at that location. It doesn't appear as if any of the original building was incorporated into the new building. According to the Ferree Family Reunion Website the inn was built by Samuel LeFevre. The website goes on to state that there were large iron rings bolted into the floor joists up on the third floor, although whether they were for slaves or drunken patrons was unknown. Three arson related fires in the 1990's apparently turned this building into an eyesore that went a number of years without a buyer. It appears as though what was left of it was torn down in 2007 or 2008.
The former Sign of The Spread Eagle (1740) is now today's Revere Tavern and Revere House (1790). They are part of a five building complex that is part of a Best Western. Our nations 15th President, James Buchanan, purchased the tavern in 1841. Stephen Foster wrote some of his most famous songs such as Camp-town Races, Oh, Susannah! and My Old Kentucky Home while staying here in the 1840's. Foster's sister, Eliza, was married to the President's brother Reverend Edward Buchanan and the tavern was used as a parsonage while they lived there. To find out more go to
Revere House
Revere Tavern
A Hybrid map with the salmon colored stickpin showing the general location of Milestone 53
Below: Sketch of the the 53 milestone to 55 milestone stretch of the turnpike