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.

This is a view of a section of the Hershey Gardens with the Hotel Hershey in the background. If you’ve never visited the gardens I would highly recommend them if you need a brake from the roller coasters at Hershey Park. As the garden’s web site says, Hershey Gardens opened in 1937 with Milton Hershey’s request to “create a nice garden of roses.” Through the years, the 3 1/2 acre rose garden has blossomed into 23 acres of botanical beauty.

I shot this as three bracketed RAW frames, handheld, at 1 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software.

The Joseph Sherfy Barn is located on the battlefield at Gettysburg. On July 2, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg, the 18th Mississippi Regiment of Barksdale’s Brigade swept around the the original barn toward the 114th Pennsylvania and the 57th Pennsylvania. The original barn burned to its stone foundation during the battle, killing Union soldiers of the 114th Pennsylvania who had sought refuge in the barn earlier. The Joseph Sherfy farmstead encompasses about 50 acres of farmland. The monument that overlooks the farm is dedicated to the men of the 73rd New York Infantry many of whom were New York City firefighters.

There’s a helpful database of all the Gettysburg monuments available on this page.

5 bracketed RAW frames @ .7 stop increments. HDR and tone map post processing via NIK HDR Efex Pro version 1.1.

The Kutz Mill Covered Bridge was built in 1854 by Bitner and Ahrens. It crosses the Sacony Creek at a length of 93 feet. The structure utilizes the Burr-Arch design and is in good condition. The bridge is owned and maintained by Berks County and is one of five remaining covered bridges in the county. Kutz Mill is located next to the bridge.

3 bracketed RAW frames @ 2 stop increments. HDR and tone map post processing via NIK HDR Efex Pro version 1.1.

Lambert’s Castle was built during the years 1891-1892 by Catholina Lambert, a wealthy silk textile tycoon who had emigrated to the US from England at the age of seventeen. The structure was built on a hillside below the cliffs of what is now Garret Mountain and was constructed of sandstone and granite. The sandstone was quarried from the surrounding hills. It is estimated that the castle cost one half million dollars. This at a time when the average wage was $1 a day for 10 hours or more of hard labor. In 1896, the 70-foot observation tower was constructed on the crest of the cliff. A long gallery building was also added to the main house and was filled with his huge collection of European artwork.

Lambert kept a small office on the East side of the house, overlooking Paterson and his mills. Since the use of the telephone in Paterson in 1879, Lambert did not have to be in and around the mills as he had before. He still worked his 16-hour days, but now largely from his Castle office. In 1900, he started opening the Castle and art collection for public viewing every Saturday afternoon. Between 1900 and 1904, the Paterson area was stricken with “the Great Fire”, 2 floods and a devastating tornado, all affecting area businesses. In 1901, Catholina’s wife of 44 years, Isabella Lambert died. 3 years later, Catholina married Isabella’s younger widowed sister Harriet. In 1913, the famous Paterson silk strikes began. Lambert was 79 years old. The strikes, together with the absence of capital for loans, due to the beginning of the WW1, had a severe impact on the silk industry. Lambert lost a large part of his wealth and was forced to mortgage his estate. In 1916, he sold a large part of his collection of artwork. He auctioned off 368 paintings and 32 sculptures. He sold one of his silk factories in Paterson. By 1917, he and his son Walter began liquidating the assets of their company, Dextor, Lambert and Company.

Catholina Lambert died in his castle on February 15, 1923 at the age of 89. He is buried next to his wife, Isabella in the Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson. Lambert’s son Walter sold the Castle and property to the City of Paterson in 1925 for $125,000. Paterson transferred the title to the castle to the newly created Passaic County Parks Commission in 1928. Garret Hobart Jr., the son of the late Vice President from Paterson, became the head of the Parks Commission. He established the Garret Mountain Reservation as a public park including the Castle, it’s grounds, and hundreds of acres of wooded area behind the cliffs above the Castle. The Parks Commission held its offices in the Castle until the 1960s. The Passaic County Historical Society and the Lambert Castle Museum were inaugurated on Oct. 25, 1934. In 1936, in disrepair, the gallery wing was demolished.

Through the years, the Historical Society amassed tens of thousands of local historical items; many of them housed in the Castle today. In 1976, the Castle was placed on both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. With generous donations and voluntarism, the Historical Society and the Passaic County government have managed to keep the museum open from 1926 to the present. Together, they manage the surrounding historical institutions: the Dey Mansion, the Paterson Museum, the American Labor Museum, and the Great Falls of Paterson.

For more background on the castle, visit this web site.

I shot this as three bracketed RAW frames at two stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software. IR conversion done with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2. One of two New Jersey castles I shot on Saturday 4-2-2011.

A look at the water wheel found at the Cooper Grist Mill. The mill was built in 1826 by Nathan Cooper. It replaced an earlier mill built on the same location in the 1760′s by Isaiah Younglove. Today, visitors to the mill can watch the massive water wheel power shafts and gears that turn 2,000-pound mill stones as the master miller, in period costume, explains the history of the mill and the vibrant community once called Milltown.

For information on visiting the mill, visit this page.

I shot this as three bracketed RAW frames at 2 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software.

The Cooper Grist Mill was built in 1826 by Nathan Cooper. It replaced an earlier mill built on the same location in the 1760′s by Isaiah Younglove. Today, visitors to the mill can watch the massive water wheel power shafts and gears that turn 2,000-pound mill stones as the master miller, in period costume, explains the history of the mill and the vibrant community once called Milltown.

For information on visiting the mill, visit this page.

I shot this as three bracketed RAW frames at 2 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software.

The Cooper Grist Mill was built in 1826 by Nathan Cooper. It replaced an earlier mill built on the same location in the 1760′s by Isaiah Younglove. Today, visitors to the mill can watch the massive water wheel power shafts and gears that turn 2,000-pound mill stones as the master miller, in period costume, explains the history of the mill and the vibrant community once called Milltown.

For information on visiting the mill, visit this page.

I shot this as three bracketed RAW frames at 2 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software.

The Cooper Grist Mill was built in 1826 by Nathan Cooper. It replaced an earlier mill built on the same location in the 1760′s by Isaiah Younglove. Today, visitors to the mill can watch the massive water wheel power shafts and gears that turn 2,000-pound mill stones as the master miller, in period costume, explains the history of the mill and the vibrant community once called Milltown.

For information on visiting the mill, visit this page.

I shot this as three bracketed RAW frames at 1 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software.

From Wikipedia:

Kip’s Castle, originally known as “Kypsburg,” was constructed over a three-year period in the early 1900s by Frederic Ellsworth Kip and his wife, Charlotte Bishop Williams Kip. Frederic was a wealthy textile inventor and industrialist who also published several books related to United States tariff laws. Charlotte is credited for the design of the “Kypsburg” building and grounds, cultivating an octagonal rose garden in the southwest corner of the property. After Charlotte’s passing in 1926, the estate was sold and went through several owners, including Indian guru Osho in the 1980s, serving as a monastery.

The building and grounds fell into a state of dilapidation until the law firm of Schwartz, Tobia & Stanziale purchased the property in 1985. Up until 2005 a considerable amount of work was done to restore the Castle to its original grandeur. In the early 2000s, The law firm wanted to develop townhouses on the property, however, found itself in various legal complications and lawsuits with Verona, and in 2006, the property was placed on the market. As a result of grants from the NJ Green Acres Program and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund, the County of Essex purchased Kip’s Castle in March 2007. The property is now part of the historic Essex County Park System.

Offices for the County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Committee and Essex County Park Foundation will be located in the castle, which is also a meeting site for the twelve-member Kip’s Castle Park Advisory Board appointed by the County Executive to provide guidance about the maintenance, restoration, activities, and growth of the facility as another asset for the Essex community. According to the county brochure, over time, Kip’s Castle Park will become the County’s premiere cultural resource center, supporting and promoting arts and culture throughout the region. Meeting space will be available for community groups, and non-profit organizations. A calendar of ongoing educational programming will be developed, and museum space will be created to showcase the history of the Essex County Park System

I shot this as three bracketed RAW frames at two stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software. The wind was whipping around pretty good while I was shooting this so there is a slight blurring in the clouds. One of two New Jersey castles I shot on Saturday 4-2-2011.