Nine Surprising Reasons to Visit Rural Franklin County PA Now

Franklin County PA, encompassing the towns of Mercersburg, Chambersburg and Greencastle in Mid-Pennsylvania on its Southern border, was once our country’s “frontier.” In many ways, it still is, as not much has changed, landscape-wise, since our country’s founding. But the homeland of President James Buchanan has other wonders, with the much-ballyhooed Martin’s Potato Roll just the beginning. Start with an overview of the origins of “The Golden Roll,” attend a world-class classical music concert in a rural luxury B&B, create your own silk scarf in an ode to “Joy,” and yes, meditate on our country’s frontier life in Franklin County PA. Read much more about these and other “Offbeat” destinations in the Northeast at GetawayMavens.com.

1. Find out why Martin’s Potato Rolls have found fame and fortune on a foray through its Golden Roll Visitor’s Center (Chambersburg PA), where you’ll behold an incarnation of the automobile that Lloyd and Lois Martin used to transport gooey Sticky Buns to area Farmers Markets along with the actual garage in which they began their business in 1955. In her well-practiced summary, Third Generation Julie Martin reveals some of her family secrets – at least as far as company success is concerned. It’s really not so complicated: Lots of hard work, humility, community-mindedness, faith, and charitable giving built into the business plan from Day One. Though you cannot tour the bread-making plant itself, you’ll receive a warm greeting from a Martin, and of course leave with samples! Tours, generally given by the bubbly Julie Martin, are free and by appointment only. Call 800-548- 1200 Mon-Fri 9-5 during business hours, though tours can be arranged on weekends as well.

2. Learn how pioneers survived the harsh conditions of the American frontier at the Conococheague Institute outside of Mercersburg. You’ve got to love a place that translates from the Native American (very accurately, I might add) to “A long way, a very long way indeed.” Conococheague (pronounced like “Monica-jig,”), on the National Historic Register, is in the middle of miles and miles of farmland, to the point where you will doubt the veracity of your GPS until the second you see its sign: A very long way, indeed. This is by design, as the Institute was established as a Cultural Heritage Center with a mission to “interpret the 18th and 19th century frontier settlements along the Conococheague Creek,” conveying a sense of what it was like to live under threat of the French-Indian Wars. This area was settled by resourceful pioneers, mostly Welsh, in the early 1700’s. They built private home-forts and had to fend for themselves. Open Mon-Fri 10-4, $5.

3. The Presidential Memorial at Buchanan Birthplace State Park in Mercersburg is basically a pyramid-shaped heap of rocks. President James Buchanan, like Abe Lincoln who followed him to the White House, was born in a log cabin; in this case one that served as a trading post two miles from town. Buchanan was the only US President from Pennsylvania, and the only one who remained a bachelor throughout his life. His niece Harriet Lane, whom Buchanan helped raise (after both of her parents died when she was a child), served as his First Lady. After Buchanan’s death, Lane funded two Monuments to him: one in Washington DC, and another, in a state park meant to be enjoyed by the public, marking his austere origins.

4. The African Mammal Room at the Charles T. Brightbill Environmental Center (behind James Buchanan High School, Mercersburg) is a stirring sight. Curated as if all the mounted creatures in New York’s Museum of Natural History were removed from their dioramas and crammed into one room, kids and older visitors go bonkers when they walk through the door. Director and teacher extraordinaire, Sheila Snider, holds big groups of school kids rapt as she engages them, stealthily, in the biological and zoological sciences. Drop in and you might just be witnessing the next Jane Goodall.

5. Learn about the burning raid - basis for the the town’s raucous annual festival - on one or two walking tours of Historic Downtown Chambersburg, and while doing so, shop, eat, and imbibe in landmark and up and coming establishments. If you’re aching for a retro candy shop, look no further than Olympia Candy Kitchen, a local institution in business since 1903. Conversely, the new Nathan Miller Chocolate, recently featured in the NY Times, makes its own brand of hipster chocolate in an industrial-chic space. Stop into Tuscarora Mountain Winery Tasting Room presided over by Sue and Ken Hadley. Though the “1864” Black Current Merlot Blend and “Rifleman Red” blend might satisfy sweet wine palates, my money is on “No Name” – a dry red all berry-blend, inconceivably smooth and drinkable without one drop of grape juice. Beer drinkers will want to head to Roy Pitz Brewing Co., an upscale pub and brewery, that brews some great beer but also sells other libations. Foodwise, the focus here is on “local meats,” topped, in many cases, with a portion of kimchi. For fine dining, Bistro 71 is the prettiest and most likely recommended restaurant in Chambersburg.

6. Keep your ears and eyes open for a child ghost at Allison-Antrim Museum in Greencastle. Historic exhibits are split between two structures on one piece of land: The main house was built in 1860 on the eve of the Civil War. The soaring German Bank Barn is impressive in itself. From Chambersburg, it was deconstructed timber-by-timber, stone by stone (color coded by cow tags per each of 4 sections or “bents”), and reassembled on this site. There’s a treasure trove of Civil War documents and artifacts, including original front pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer dated from Lincoln’s assassination to the day John Wilkes Booth was caught, but the strangest story is that of Sophie, a long dead child who’s been heard laughing in the main house. Open Tues-Fri. noon-4, Sat. 11-1, Free, though donations gladly accepted.

7. Sign up to do a take-home art project at Joyful Arts, Greencastle. The warm and fun Susan Shaffer is “passionate about the therapeutic power of art,” and invites guests to “create their own joy” at her wonderful shop. Use a rainbow of Sharpies and rubbing alcohol to create a watercolor-style silk scarf ($40), or learn to draw, paint, batik, or make jewelry. Shaffer even offers Paint Your Shoes and Decorate Your Wineglass classes.

8. The tiny town of Greencastle itself is gaining an artsy reputation, with cool stores like The Shop garnering press and followers. Though the name doesn’t give you much to go on, this antiques/home-goods store is a must see, even if you aren’t an “antique” person. A warren of rooms, a compendium of old and new, you’ll find old timey sports items, linens, signs, jewelry, birdcages, books, lamps, tins, and more in every adorably curated nook and cranny. Next door, have coffee, soup, salad or a meal at the organic, country-cool Pure and Simple cafe – a meeting spot that wouldn’t look out of place in downtown Manhattan. Two other stores, Inner Beauty and Crown Vetch Cottage, also bring city folk to this small farm burg.

9. Enjoy a World-Class musical concert at the 8-room luxury Inn at Ragged Edge. The renovated (in 2010) inn is a wonder of woodwork, the stream-view out of the massive picture window, breathtaking, but it’s the 1901 Steinway piano - commissioned by Harrods’s of London now sitting in the stately parlor - that beckons World Class musicians and romantics of all kinds to this rural area of Chambersburg halfway between Gettysburg and Antietam. Ken and Barb Kipe purchased the Frank Furness designed home in 2015, and though in the midst of “cow and farm territory - not exactly classical piano country,” opens its doors to locals for free during their Parlour Concert Series offered several times a year. Famous Concert Pianist, Eric Himy, who has performed all over the world and at Carnegie Hall, has been here twice already, and raves about the quality of piano sound. Room rates from $99-$179 per night include full gourmet breakfast, parking, wi-fi, bottled water in rooms. Concerts offered every few months, though the inn is open year round.

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