National Pike, Road of History, Romance

Greenfield's National Hotel.  
     The tavern kept by William Greenfield was among the most famous west 
of the mountains during the prosperous days of the old National Pike. 
Although it was generally known as Greenfield's Tavern, the name was National 
Hotel, painted on a large sign fastened to the second story porch for 
many years. I have a photograph taken in 1914, which shows the old tavern 
as it appeared during Greenfield's time, for no changes had been made since 
he took over and built the addition.
     You may get the impression from Searight that William Greenfield 
was the original proprietor following advertisement appeared in The Reporter,
July 2, 1821. This was shortly after the pike was opened
through 
Washington County to Wheeling:

REMOVAL
     The subscriber wished to inform his friends and the public 
in general that he has removed from the stone house at Ginger 
Hill, to the large and commodious brick house in the town of 
Beallsville, on the national turnpike, between Washington and 
Brownsville, 15 miles from the former and 8 1/2 miles from the 
latter, and has opened a house of 

PUBLICK ENTERTAINMENT
At The Sign of The
Beallsville Inn,
Where travelers, wagoners and others can be accommodated in the 
best manner and on moderate prices. There is a large brick 
stable and two fountain pumps on the premises. Care will be 
taken to render general satisfaction. 
Thomas G. Norfolk.
Beallsville, Washington
County, July 2, 1821

     Having found no previous mention of Thomas G. Norfolk and his 
Beallsville Inn in either Searight or Crumrine or any other source, I 
again appealed to Jess P. Miller, and I believe that he has established
the fact that Norfolk was the first proprietor of this tavern. 
     Mr. Miller well remembers the two fountain pumps and a watering 
trough that stood on the highway at the east corner of the Greenfield 
Tavern in front of the porch. In later years the stable was frame. It 
was in the rear, fronting on the road to Fredericktown. In this connection 
Mr. Miller recalled having heard some of the old people tell of a brick 
stable that burned, and a frame building was erected in its place. The 
frame stable burned about 25 years ago.
     Mr. Miller recalls that the original tavern contained only two stories. 
William Greenfield erected the third story, which is not as wide as the 
original building, and Greenfield�s son, Eli, once told him that this was 
a mistake. It should have been as wide as the rest of the building; 
but it did give it a more distinctive appearance, unlike any other on 
the pike. Greenfield also erected the two-story porch around
the two 
sides of the house.
     My own recollections of the National Hotel go back to my boyhood 
when my father and mother, and Uncle Jack Munce and his wife, who was 
my father's youngest sister, drove to Wiggins' summer resort, an old stone 
house near Chalk Hill, in the mountains east of Uniontown. It was a 
two days  journey with a horse and surrey, and we always stopped at the 
National Hotel the first night. William Greenfield had long been dead, and 
it was conducted by his two daughters, the Misses Eleanor and Lewiza 
Greenfield, until they died. The old hotel was operated by others 
after the Greenfield sisters died, but it was finally closed in 1835 and 
the present store was opened.
     Years later when working on the engineering corps of the Washington 
County Road Department, I stopped there again. The Greenfield sisters had 
long been dead. From the time of William Greenfield and his daughters 
and all those who followed, the National Hotel was noted for the excellence 
of its table. Food was always served in the old time manner, even to 
the last meal, by placing it on the table in large dishes filled to overflowing. 
These dishes were passed around, each guest helping himself. When emptied 
they were taken to the kitchen to be filled again. With the coming of 
the automobile the old hotel became famous for its chicken and waffles, 
served with rich gravy or pure maple syrup. You could take your choice or 
have both if your digestion was in good order, and eat as many waffles 
and as much chicken as your capacity would stand. The slogan was "all 
the chicken and waffles you can eat," and it meant just that. The waiter 
kept the dish filled until you said you had had enough.
     William Greenfield was noted as the founder of the first bank in 
that section. In describing it, Mr. Miller said that Greenfield issued his 
own paper money. It was as good as gold, for he promptly redeemed 
it in hard cash when presented. According to Searight, Greenfield's 
"Beallsville Savings Bank" was in his tavern and his safe was in his pocket." 
This seems doubtful for I remember a large old fashioned iron safe that 
stood in the office. Printed across the top was "William Greenfield." 
The key was large enough for a "key to the city." Mr. Miller thinks 
that this safe may have been used later by his son, Eli, who was a jeweler. 
Searight is authority for the statement that the pressure of redemption 
of the paper money became more that this pioneer banker could stand, and 
he was forced to close the banking business; but no serious losses were 
sustained by holders of the script. This must be true as he continued 
to keep the tavern very successfully until his death, respected by all 
who knew him.
     A modern grocery now occupies the front rooms of the old tavern, 
and when I visited the place in the summer of 1953 the lady in charge 
kindly showed me the old Greenfield safe which had been moved into a 
room back of the store.
     I well remember the old pump in the well on the east side, with a 
large stone watering trough upon which "Wm. Greenfield: had been carved in 
script by a master hand. The trough disappeared years ago, and no one, 
not even Mr. Miller could tell me what became of it. This priceless 
relic should have been preserved. No one will ever know how many state coach 
drivers and Pike Boys watered their horses there during the years of 
William Greenfield's National Hotel.
     Of course, Greenfield had a liquor license, as did all taverns and 
wagon stands in the pike era.
     The two-story porch still stands on two sides of the ancient 
building. On the east side of the second floor is the one fine type doorway 
with glass panels at the sides and a handsome fan light transom
above.

Millers Private Bank.  
     On the southwest corner of the pike and the Fredericktown road, opposite 
the National Hotel, is a large brick building to which the Miller 
Private Bank was conducted continuously for 53 years. It was in 1870 that 
James E. Miller, father of Jess P. Miller, opened a private bank that was 
to serve the people of the Beallsville section uninterruptedly for 63 
years; and this, in a way, was the successor, of William Greenfield's 
bank of many years before. But there was a difference. Mr. Miller was 
more successful than Greenfield. As he conducted his business on sound 
banking methods.
     The first bank was in a room of the Miller home, which still stands 
on the north side of the pike, opposite the present building. The business 
increased, and in 1880 he moved to the corner room of the large
brick building 
still standing. When James M. Miller died in 1913, his son, Jess, 
continued the business. This bank easily weathered every storm, even a 
robbery one night more than 35 years ago, and three great
panics that 
closed many other financial institutions--the panics of 1873, 1893, and 
1929-1930.
     After the banking holiday declared by President Roosevelt in early 
March, 1933, Mr. Miller saw that banking would never be the same again. He 
decided to quit and devote his time to other interests. After making 
this decision he made a public announcement on March 15, that as of that 
day the bank would be closed, and he would only receive deposits to meet 
any outstanding checks of his customers. He asked the depositors to claim 
the amounts due them, and each was paid in full. This marked the passing 
of one of the historic financial institutions of Washington County. 
During almost two thirds of a century the Miller bank had been in existence 
not one depositor lost a cent. It was a record of which to be proud.
     During our trips to the mountains years ago I remember a small house 
near the west end of the town that was a great curiosity in its day. The 
panels of the front door were made of two old fashioned coffin lids. Where 
they came from or why they were used for this purpose I never learned. No 
one remembers this house today. Even Mr. Miller could tell me nothing of 
its history.

VanVoorhis House. 
     About two miles west of Beallsville the pike passes over VanVoorhis 
Hill, at an altitude of 1,445 feet above sea level as shown by a State 
Highway sign. It is presumed that this is the altitude at the point 
crossed by the pike, and if this is true the summit of the hill in the 
rear of the VanVoorhis house is around 75 or 100 feet higher. In that case 
this hill must be as high or even higher than Mt. Wheeling south of Washington, 
long regarded as the highest in Washington County with an altitude of 
1,528 feet and the highest point between the Allegheny Mountains and the 
Mississippi River, the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee excepted.
     At any rate the point at which the road crosses VanVoorhis Hill is 
the second highest on the National Pike west of the mountains, the highest 
being at the west end of Scenery Hill with an altitude of 1,456 feet. 
     Although the old VanVoorhis homestead on the south side of the road 
was never a stage station or wagon stand. It is one of the interesting 
and historic buildings on the National Pike in Washington County. 
Built of brick made on the farm, it was and still is a handsome old home.
     Frank VanVoorhis, the present owner of the old farm gave me some 
interesting notes of the life of his grandfather, Isaac VanVoorhis, 
who built this house in 1870. One end faces on the road, which gives you 
the impression in passing that this is the front, but the front is on a 
lane from the pike. Both the front and side porches are of that style of 
architecture in vogue 90 years and more ago. The doorways are of the
type of that period, with glass panels on each side and transoms above. 
    The stonework is unequalled in any house I have seen in Western 
Pennsylvania. On the right side of the large stone cap over the front 
door, a hand is carved in bold relief with the index finger pointing 
toward the entrance, and standing out clearly on the left side is a tree 
of life. Carved  in relief on the stone over the side door, facing 
the pike, is a dove, almost life size, with wings spread and head down, 
holding an olive branch in its beak. Over the gable window in the third 
floor or attic are two clasped hands on the stone cap.
Nor is 
this all of the interesting stone carving. A brick smoke house stood 
until recently at the side of the dwelling, and on the stone cap over 
the door was a man in an old style sulky driving a race horse.
     Isaac VanVoorhis was a lover of fast horses and trained many on 
his track around the top of the hill in the rear and I wondered if he got 
this idea of the race track around the hill at the Jacktown fair in Greene 
County. Frank VanVoorhis informed me that the stone-mason who did this 
beautiful work was John McMillan. The man who lives in the old house told 
me that when the smoke-house became so dilapidated that it fell down, Frank 
removed this capstone and has it preserved in the cellar.
Isaac 
VanVoorhis led a long and interesting life. Frank told me that when his 
grandfather was only 16 years old he went to Kentucky, purchased cattle 
for his father's farm, and drove 150 head to Washington
County. 
As he was born in 1823 the date of this journey was about 1839. There 
were no bridges in those days and it was necessary to swim the herd 
across streams. In crossing the Muskingum River the cattle got in quicksand 
and young VanVoorhis himself had a narrow escape when his horse almost 
went down. But he weathered the hazards of the drive, and brought 
the herd through. For the benefit of anyone who might cast doubt upon this 
story I will say that during the latter 1860's and all through the 1870's 
is was not unusual for 10 year-old cowboys, some even younger, to drive 
herds of cattle from Texas over the trails to the Kansas shipping 
towns. In fact, the majority of cowboys of the trail driving days were 
under 21, and the dangers encountered, from swollen rivers and Indians 
were far greater that anything VanVoorhis encountered.
     On at least one occasion young Isaac VanVoorhis drove a herd of 
Texas longhorns through from St. Louis to his father's farm. This was 
at a very early date, and those were undoubtedly the first and probably 
the only longhorns every brought to Washington County. There is no record 
of how these wild Texas cattle fared on a Pennsylvania farm. 
     As a youth Jess P. Miller was at the Isaac VanVoorhis home frequently. 
It was a wonderful place with many attractions for a boy that made a 
deep impression on his youthful mind that has lasted these
many years. 
His father had sold the farm to VanVoorhis, and the families were well 
acquainted. Young Miller was fascinated by soldiers that would suddenly 
appear out of the top of an old grandfather clock and play a tune when 
the hour was struck. He has never seen anything like since then.
Betz, Isaac's 
pet bear which he kept chained to a tree, was popular with all the boys 
of the neighborhood. They fed him all sorts of tidbits dear to a bear's 
palate, but they were always careful to keep out of reach of those long 
dangerous looking claws. Mr. Miller corroborated Frank VanVoorhis' 
story of the cattle drive from St. Louis.
     Isaac VanVoorhis was a lover and breeder of fast horses, which he 
trained on a half mile track around the hill. Although the old track has 
not used for more than half a century, last summer Frank VanVoorhis 
graded it and put in good condition. The man on the farm told me that Frank 
had intended to race autos over it, but was warned by a pipe line inspector 
that if a car ran off the gas line there would be trouble.
     Isaac VanVoorhis died April 6, 1908, at the age of 85, and left the 
farm to his youngest son, Charles, who later sold it to his older brother, 
Thomas, the father of Frank VanVoorhis, the present owner.

The Railroad Viaduct. 
     At the western end of VanVoorhis Hill the pike crosses the Marianna 
Railroad over a concrete viaduct. The first  one was constructed about 1908 
when the branch was built by the Pennsylvania Company from Monongahela 
to the new coal mines just opened at Marianna. A long, deep cut through 
this hill for the railroad grade was necessary and with a depth of 94 feet 
from the floor of the present 
viaduct to 
the tracks it is the deepest railroad cut in Western Pennsylvania.
     This was the scene of an automobile tragedy about 35 years ago when 
a car with only the driver, coming down the hill from the east, failed to 
make the curve onto the viaduct and plunged through the guard posts into 
the deep cut landing on the railroad tracks a crumpled mass of junk. 
Coroner William Greenlee, on his way from Bentleyville to Washington 
that morning, was in the rear of the ill-fated car. He said later that 
the driver made no attempt to turn onto the viaduct. Heart failure was 
the only explanation.
     By 1940 the State Highway Department felt that the old viaduct 
was no longer safe for heavy traffic, and so the present arched bridge was 
erected. The old one that had stood for so many years was blasted with 
two charges of dynamite. The present viaduct was completed before the 
end of the year.
(To Be Continued)