The Haines mill was built by John George Knauss in 1760 on land he purchased from his Father In-law Joseph Bishop. Bishop had aquired the land from William Penn’s sons, Thomas and Richard in 1738. The Knauss family operated the mill until 1853. Solomon Lichenwalner took over the mill in 1867, and then sold it to Jacob Haines in 1906. After a fire left nothing but the outside walls, the mill was rebuilt in 1909. The Haines sold the mill in 1952 and operations ceased in 1956.

The Lehigh County Commissioners bought Haines Mill in 1972 and it was restored as working grist mill museum. As part of Lehigh County’s park system, visitors can watch a water turbine and rolling equipment operated by water power supplied from a mill race in the same way as when it was a thriving commercial venture. The museum is administered by the Lehigh County Historical Society. For information on visiting the Haines Mill Museum, vitis this web site. The mill is located at the intersection of Haines Mill Road and Dorney Park Road in Allentown, PA, a stones throw from the Dorney Park Amusement Park.

Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 28-70mm F2.8 AFS lens, manual focus, aperture priority mode, exposure bracketing for three brackets at 2 stops variance @ F13, ISO 100. HDR and tone map post-processing completed with NIK HDR Efex Pro.

This reproduction of an early one-room schoolhouse was built by Vo-Tech students in Monroe County and has a permanent location on the grounds of the Pocono Mountain School District in Scotrun, PA. The furnishings inside are antique and historically accurate.

Nikon D7000 with a Sigma 10-20mm lens, manual focus, aperture priority mode, exposure bracketing for three brackets at 2 stops variance @ F13, ISO 100. HDR and tone map post-processing completed with NIK HDR Efex Pro.

Bromley Mill near New Hope, PA.

Nikon D300 with a Nikon 28-70mm F2.8 AFS lens, manual focus, hand held, aperture priority mode, exposure bracketing for three brackets at 2 stops variance @ F9, ISO 640. HDR and tone map post-processing completed with NIK HDR Efex Pro.

The Rothville Mill was built in 1793 by Johannes Pfoutz. It replaced an earlier mill on the same location that had been built in 1786. Pfoutz and his Sons owned the mill through 1814. In 1814 Peter Hall purchased the mill and operated it until 1824 when he sold it to Henry Becker. The Becker family operated the mill for nearly 50 years, selling it to J.K. Krantz in 1870. Krantz operated the mill until 1883 when it was sold to Ben Flory who operated the mill until 1911 when it was sold to John Herman who turned around and sold the mill a year later to John Zook who then sold the mill to Isaax Bushong who operated the mill until 1927. The mill remained dormant until 1973 when it became part of the Warwick Farms operation. As late as 2005, the mill was being used as studio and office space after having been renovated. Today, the mill is known as “Wetlands Farm Mill”.

The mill is located on Rothsville Road at the intersection with Heck Road just outside of Lititz Pennsylvania in Lancaster County.

Nikon D7000 with a Sigma 10-20mm lens, manual focus, aperture priority mode, exposure bracketing for three brackets at 2 stops variance @ F18, ISO 100. HDR and tone map post-processing completed with NIK HDR Efex Pro. B&W conversion done using the newly released Topaz B&W Effects plugin. I like the level of control that the new Topaz B&W Effects gives me when controlling contrast and tonality. It offers a lot of the same features as NIK Silver Efex Pro does plus a few more at a fraction of the price.

The Londonvale Mill was built in 1787 by Jacob Eshleman. It operated as a working flour and grist mill in the Eshleman family until 1839. It was powered by an overshot wheel and had a capacity of about 10 barrels of flour per day. The mill replaced an earlier mill on the same spot that had been built in 1748. The water source is the Eshleman Run. The mill is located on Londonvale Road in Paradise Township within Lancaster County, PA.

Nikon D7000 with a Sigma 10-20mm lens, manual focus, aperture priority mode, exposure bracketing for three brackets at 2 stops variance @ F14, ISO 100. HDR and tone map post-processing completed with NIK HDR Efex Pro.

This is an old barn that is nestled in a valley that my Parent’s new house overlooks in the very small town of Virginville, PA. The people who sold the house to my Parents were telling me they think there used to be a wordworking shop setup in the barn.

Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 28-70mm F2.8 AFS lens, aperture priority mode, exposure bracketing for three brackets at 2 stops variance @ F13, ISO 100. HDR and tone map post-processing completed with Nik HDR Efex Pro.

This beautiful bridge spans the Huntington Creek in Columbia County Pennsylvania. Built in 1875 by Joseph Redline, it has a Burr Arch truss design and is 110 feet in length. In recent years it was completely refurbished and is in excellent condition. It is not open to foot traffic and has picnic tables inside where people can take a rest from the sun’s heat and have a nice picnic. Like several other Columbia County Covered Bridges, they had a visitor’s register that you could sign and when I read through it, I saw names from many different cities and states, all seemed to remark how peaceful the setting is.

Nikon D7000 with a Sigma 10-20mm lens, manual focus, aperture priority mode, five frames selected from two sets of exposure brackets each set was three brackets at 2 stop variance @ F11, ISO 100. HDR and tone map post-processing completed with Nik HDR Efex Pro.

The Stillwater Covered Bridge is located in the small town of Stillwater, Pennsylvania. The bridge was built in 1849 by James McHenry and runs 151 feet across the Fishing Creek. It features a burr-arch design and is open to only foot traffic, with vehicular traffic being disallowed since 1949. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1979 as ref # NRHP 79003177.

Nikon D7000 with a Sigma 10-20mm lens, manual focus, aperture priority mode, exposure bracketing for three brackets at 1 stop variance @ F11, ISO 100. HDR and tone map post-processing completed with Nik HDR Efex Pro.

The Wenger Mill was built in 1785 and replaced an earlier 1748 Mill that was destroyed in a fire. The Ephrata Cloister, a local religious group of German settlers, built the four story tall mill and continued to operate it through the 1850′s. After the Ephrata Cloister, ownership passed to P. W. Royer in 1864, then to B. E. Wenger in 1875 and then to Jacob Buck in 1899. Samuel Mentzler closed the mill in 1915 and the mill switched from grinding grain to producing electricity for the W. W. Moyer Upper Mill on the Cocalico. The mill sat idle from 1970 through 2001. The mill went through a refurbishment on a monumental scale between the years 1999 through 2004 and today stands a beautiful structure that future generations can appreciate for years to come. The Miller’s house sits about 300 feet to the left and slightly uphill from the Mill and is equally as impressive in appearance.

Nikon D7000 with a Sigma 10-20mm lens, manual focus, aperture priority mode, exposure bracketing for three brackets @ F11, ISO 100. HDR and tone map post-processing completed with NIK HDR Efex Pro.

As we mark the 10th anniversary of 9-11, everyday objects seem to recall images of a more innocent past and lost people we’d like to keep in our hearts forever.