May 31, 2013

The Chimney at Meadow Spring

Last weekend we hiked up to the old chimney on the Meadow Spring Trail. It's only about a half mile from the parking area but it's a steep half mile! After pausing there we continued up the trail a little farther but not all the way to Mary's Rock.

A description on the Waymarking site tells us that a cabin was built here in 1930 for members of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club to use as a base camp while laying out trails in the area. In 1939, a larger version of the cabin was built by the National Park Service.
"The new cabin burned down to the ground on Thanksgiving Day, 1946, leaving the stone foundation and chimney. The hikers who had the cabin claimed to have left it, with all fires out, just ten minutes before a column of smoke was spotted from a lookout tower."

19 comments:

  1. it's amazing it is still standing. i always thought it would be neat to buy property that had an old chimney still there and use the space for an outdoor fireplace...wonder if you can still burn wood in them?

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  2. I could appreciate this, indoor or out :D

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  3. Lovely atmosphere to this old place.

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  4. Such a cool find, trying to imagine the entire place intact... I love that just this lone chimney is still standing tall!

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  5. what a well built fire place to be able to stand the test of time.

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  6. Wonderful that fireplace, a nice place!

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  7. What a shame the hikers didn't return to put the fire out - even though they had nothing to do with it!!! What a cool find!

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  8. A beautiful fireplace. When we travel around the States it seems that many of the historical buildings have burned down and what we are looking at are reconstructions. Love your image.

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  9. A beautiful old fireplace!

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  10. A beautiful old fireplace!

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  11. It's a shame the cabin burned down. The fireplace is a neat reminder of what once was there.

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  12. That is gorgeous rock work in that chimney, Linda. The story of the fire is a bit hard to believe. Not only was a fire there, but also it must have been assisted to have claimed the cabin within 10 minutes of their departure. Oh, what lies we weave ....

    Thank you for your contribution to Theme Day.

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  13. I think the chimneys without their homes are a reminder of what was and could have been. Lovely interpretation of the them.
    V

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  14. You’ve made a great Theme Day post. I'm glad you picked these for today. Thanks for the informative text.

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  15. What a fabulous find Linda, interesting story too, such a super image for the theme day.

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