This trip has been one of fortuitous connections. Today's drive led us to a very special one.

As we are wont to do, we traveled off the main highway and found ourselves on the historic Lincoln Highway. Pennsylvania happens to be the home of the longest and best preserved stretch (200 miles) of America's first coast-to-coast automobile road.

It was originally built in 1927 by David Koontz, a local gas station owner. He constructed the coffee pot of brick and metal sheeting to attract travelers along Route 30 (also known as the Lincoln Highway) to stop at his gas station. When it was originally built, the Koontz Coffee Pot was used as a small restaurant. In 1937, it became a bar and was attached to a hotel. It also served as a bus stop, but, rather interestingly, it was never a coffee shop. Like all things that are cool and aged, it was in danger of being torn down but was saved for all to enjoy (try to get perfect photos).
Our home for two nights is with the wonderful David and Kim in Zelienople, PA. On December 28, 2022, I got a comment on my blog post (here) about Hallmark Children's Editions pop-up books. Anonymous said... "My mother-in-law gave my husband a book titled, Famous Ships, that is a Pop-Up Hallmark book, at Christmas time. Turns out his grandma bought it for him when he was little. I had never heard of these books before, and when I did a search, your blog came up. These books are fantastic! I love rich books that teach kids and our full of color and art. I will definitely have my eye out for locating more of these books now." After a series of email communications, I sent her the book as I just knew it belonged in her library. Long story short, I am writing this post from our 'campsite' at her lovely home in the little town of Zelienople. What a small, wonderful world.And if just meeting Kim and her awesome husband David wasn't enough, she hosted a surprise family birthday party for Steve. The wonderful guests were her daughter and son-in-law. Some people are just meant to be in your life. Tomorrow, Kim has composed an incredible itinerary. We can't wait.

Interestingly, our last day with Chuck and Hazel was mostly spent in Maryland. The National Civil War Medicine Museum, located in Frederick, MD, was a first for all of us. We were asked to "Follow in the footsteps of soldiers and surgeons to discover the harsh conditions, personal sacrifices, and brilliant innovations of Civil War medicine, innovations that continue to save lives today."

Spanning nearly 10,000 square feet across two floors with nine thematic galleries and immersive zones, there is no way I can fully share the riches of this museum. I've picked a few of my favorite gained insights for you.
We were very impressed by the life-like dioramas and setups depicting camp life, battlefield evacuation, a field dressing station, a field hospital, and a pavilion military ward. With over 1,500 original artifacts, including the only known surviving surgeon's tent from the Civil War and well preserved torn off arm, we left feeling informed and a bit overwhelmed.
The recruitment techniques and requirements were intriguing.
This wall, lined with images of potential recruits, had listed their maladies and we opened the door to see if they became a soldier or were sent home. The guy missing a big toe was sent home but not the guy with syphillis. Hmmm.
Turns out the recruits of the Civil War were only required to have two opposing teeth so that they could open the paper cartridges used to load their rifles. Having opposing teeth was undeniably important for loading and firing the rifles of the era. The Manual of Instructions for the Military Surgeons on the Examination of Recruits and Discharge of Soldiers emphasized the importance of a soldier having “a sufficient number of teeth in good condition…to tear his cartridge quickly and with ease. The cartridge is torn with the incisor, canine, or bicuspid teeth.” Interesting indeed.


I was most intrigued (is that the right word?) about amputations which were covered extensively here. When people think of Civil War medicine, amputation is often the first image that comes to mind. The procedure became one of the war’s most recognizable symbols. Amputations were common because large bullets shattered bones beyond repair, and doctors lacked the knowledge of germs and antibiotics to clean complex wounds safely. Surgeons performed about 60,000 amputations during the war, and many soldiers quickly discovered that surviving surgery was only the beginning of a much longer struggle.

Veterans not only had to recover physically, but also assimilate back into regular life with an artificial limb in a country still developing modern systems of veteran care. For thousands of Civil War veterans, receiving a prosthetic limb involved paperwork, medical examinations, and government approval. Surviving applications for artificial limbs reveal just how formal and difficult this process was. By comparing the Civil War application processes to the modern VA prosthetics system, it becomes clear that war did more than accelerate medical innovation; it also pushed the United States toward more organized systems of long-term veteran care.
And how cool is this? Marvin Lincoln, an abolitionist from Massachusetts, was an organizer of the Massachusetts Anti-Man Hunting League and an agent of the Underground Railroad. In 1844, Lincoln began working as a carpenter with the famous prosthetic leg designer Benjamin Franklin Palmer. Too old to fight by the time of the Civil War, Lincoln instead used his skills to invent this prosthetic arm to help disabled veterans. His artificial arm featured, among other innovations, a detachable hand with a spring thumb that could grasp objects and an interior mechanism that allowed a jointed elbow to lock in place for easier lifting and clutching. “My aim has been to so construct an arm as to give increased holding and grasping powers, while it is much more simple and less expensive than those now in use,” he wrote in his patent application for the arm, which was quickly approved on August 11, 1863.
So what was the leading cause of these devastating injuries? Minié balls. The soft lead bullets widely used during the war could shatter bone and destroy tissue on impact, often leaving limbs beyond repair. Combined with poor sanitation, limited understanding of infection, and the absence of antibiotics, surgeons frequently viewed amputation as the quickest way to prevent gangrene and death. According to the National Park Service, during the war, about 470,000 men were wounded, with approximately 12.8% requiring amputation. In comparison, between 2001 and 2017, around 52,739 American service members were wounded in combat, while roughly 1,705 experienced amputations, or about 4.2%. Modern medical advancements have dramatically reduced the number of wounded service members requiring amputations, but limb loss remains a reality of warfare, proving the need for prosthetic care is not going away.
During the Civil War, the United States Army discovered the importance of veterinary medicine by trial and error. It’s a history of ethics and economics, of sacrifice, and of stupidity. Before the Civil War, any organized veterinary corps in the United States was at best an experiment, often a whim. Until the Civil War, there was only one veterinarian who served in the United States military who had a post-secondary degree in Veterinary Science—and he served in the Revolutionary War. It only took a few battles for the United States Army to realize the significance of a veterinary staff. During the first year of the conflict, the U.S. Army officially formed a veterinary service. That said, by the end of the war, more than 1.2 million horses and mules had died.

Because this was a surprise visit to Virginia, of course Chuck would have golfing plans on a Saturday. Since our Waterford Fair tickets were good for three days, after breakfast with my nephew, we returned to a much cooler, equally delightful, day in Waterford.

After lunch, we spent time meeting the artists. "All artisans who demonstrate at the Waterford Fair are juried by professionals in their field. Their work must be made with traditional methods and display the highest quality of their craft. You can watch these artisans and interact with them throughout the village during the Fair as they demonstrate their craft." High quality, kind people, beautiful art... All was on display. It was very impressive.
I was drawn to the "Jail" and Laurel Dabbs' work. Crudely fashioned or exquisitely detailed, decoys provided a means of luring migratory waterfowl close enough to be an important staple in the diet of the Colonists, whose early years were harsh before crops became established.
This isn't just ogling art, this is an incredible history lesson. Laurel shared her process. Decoys start as eight-foot planks of white cedar, winter-cut and air-dried for at least two years.

While sitting on a carving bench, she demonstrated every technique in a step-by-step process that shows a decoy’s progress from start to finish. Using antique hand tools (a hatchet, mallet and gouge, spokeshave and carving knife), the head is doweled for strength before being attached to the hollowed-out body. Durable house paint assures a sturdy finish that stands up to the rigors of field use, and inletted lead makes sure the decoy self-rights in choppy water or sits nicely on a mantel. The tradition and history of the work are as important as the style and form of her carvings, as each decoy must be seaworthy and durable, as well as beautiful. She is so talented.
This year was extra special as the Fair was highlighting those whose trades would have been practiced 250 years ago. We were asked to step back in time and discover the skilled artisans demonstrating traditional trades practiced in Virginia during the Revolutionary War era. These crafts and makers helped all to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. I very much felt the historical significance of the art on display.



I was quite impressed with the very sweet and talented Marie-Helene Grabman. According to Marie, "Using surgical scissors, I create cut paper designs from a single sheet of black or white paper, creating the dramatic effect of light versus dark with small bits of color (painted or cut paper) for focal points. A few of my designs have added layers of cut paper over the base cutting to create a dimensional effect."
Waterford's Second Street School is one of the older one-room schoolhouses in Loudoun County and may be the oldest African-American house of worship. Quakers here provided crucial support for the education of African Americans, helping establish literacy and schooling despite restrictive Southern laws before and after the Civil War.
Virginia outlawed teaching enslaved people to read and write in 1819, and extended this ban to free Black people in 1831 following rising abolitionist pressure. Despite these bans, local free Black residents learned literacy skills through informal arrangements, apprentice contracts, or with the assistance of sympathetic local Quakers.
Built in 1867 just two years after the Civil War, this one-room schoolhouse was established for the Black community under the Freedmen’s Bureau with financial backing from the local Quaker meeting and the Friends’ Association of Philadelphia.
Early classes were large. In 1868 it was recorded that 63 were enrolled, with an average attendance of 42 (many had to work). Twenty-eight were older than 16. By the early 1870s the school became part of the county's new public school system. Schools for white children in Waterford remained private for another decade.
The new building served from the beginning as church as well as school. African Methodist services were held here until a separate place of worship was built in 1891.Black children from the village and nearby farms attended the school until its closing in 1957.

Tent Talks are a free, yet ticketed, event that allows for a deeper history lesson. We had tickets for two very different topics.
At 2 PM, we entered the tent for Black Education During Segregation in Loudoun County. "For decades, thousands of school records documenting segregation in Loudoun County sat forgotten in an abandoned building—until the Edwin Washington Society stepped in to rescue and archive them." The description read, "Join historian and former diplomat Larry Roeder, CEO of the Edwin Washington Society, as he shares findings from a decade of research into Black vs. White schooling from 1864 to 1968. Discover the harrowing reality of segregated education, the groundbreaking insights from his book Dirt Don't Burn (published by Georgetown University Press), and the courageous, often dangerous stories of local Black parents and teachers who signed petitions demanding equal resources for their children."
At 3 PM we attended A Brief History of Waterford. Established in 1733 by Quaker millwright Amos Janney, Waterford grew from a small milling settlement into the historic rural village we know today. "Join local resident and Waterford Foundation President Carl Scheider for an engaging look at our village's past. Discover how Quaker traditions shaped early village life, how the community navigated the tensions of the Civil War, and the story behind the creation of the National Historic Landmark to protect Waterford's unique heritage." We wished we would have had this lecture yesterday. It made us see the town more deeply. It was very informative. What a town Waterford is, especially when you know its history.


As we were leaving, this gentleman paused for a photo and share some history about the Loudoun Rangers, an independent Union cavalry unit during the American Civil War. This unit holds the distinction of being the only organized military command raised in present-day Virginia to fight for the U.S. Army. It was formed by Samuel C. Means, a Quaker miller from Waterford, after he was driven out of the county by local Confederates. Authorized directly by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton in the spring of 1862, it was comprised roughly 250 to 300 men drawn primarily from the local anti-secessionist Quaker and German farming communities alongside recruits from neighboring Maryland and West Virginia.