|
|
Camp Reynolds Pennsylvania
State Historical Marker |
by Art
Williams
Camp Reynolds Project
Manager & 50th Anniversary
Committee Member |
|
In
early 1992 a group of local
citizens in Pymatuning
Township in Mercer County PA
formed a committee to
celebrate the 50th
Anniversary of Camp Reynolds
(1942-1992).
The committee had two main
goals. One was to plan and
carryout a three-day event
celebrating the Camp's
history and the other was to
get a Pennsylvania
Historical Marker for the
Camp. |
|
After the completion of the 50th
Anniversary
Celebration which took place
on June 23rd, 24th and 25th the committee
started work on their second
goal, which was to get a
State Historical Marker
approved for the Camp.
|
|
Their first request
submitted to the
Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission was
denied by the
Commission Review Panel
due to the lack of detail
and focus. After revising
their information
their request was approved.
|
|
The committee then planned a
small celebration to
dedicate the
Camp Reynolds State
Historical Marker. The
Dedication Ceremony took
place on August 6, 1994 at 1
PM at the site of the
Historical Marker on Route
18. It was attended by
local, county and state
officials. A short time
after the Dedication of the
Historical Marker the
committee disbanded.
|
|
Since that time
I continued to develop the
history of the Camp by
myself. In 1997 I created a
website for the Camp and in
the early 2000's I created
the Camp Reynolds Project. |
|
During the winter of 1999
the historical marker was
struck by a vehicle and was
knocked down and sometime
later the marker was stolen.
It was unknown who had
knocked down the marker but many
believed it was a Penn DOT
truck that was plowing snow
along Route 18 that
inadvertently hit the sign. |
|
The main goal of the Camp
Reynolds Project was to get the
historical Marker back up. I
started to inquire about
what was involved in getting
another marker. I contacted
the
Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission
in Harrisburg, PA to
learn
what the procedure and cost
would be. I learned that the
cost would be $1800. The
cost of the first marker was
$1100. |
|
I then started to explore
ways to raise the $1800. The
big downfall was the Camp
Reynolds Project was not a
Non-Profit. I was unable to
find an organization that
was a Non-Profit that would
take the responsibility for
raising the funds. |
|
In early June 2013 in the
midst of looking into
raising the funds I received
an email from a man in Ohio.
The man said that he had the
Camp Reynolds Marker and
wanted to know if I would be
interested in buying it. I
replied to him that I would
get back to him. |
|
I called the
Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission and
explained to them about the
situation. They explained to
me that the marker was
Pennsylvania State property.
I had always thought that it
was the committee's. |
|
They instructed me to get
back to the man and explain
the situation to him. I did
and got
a quick reply letting me
know that he had not
realized that it was state
property. He said he was
currently on vacation in
North Caroline and that when
he returned home he would
contact
me and I could come and get
the marker. On June
28th a high school student
went with me and
we picked up the marker. |
|
Fortunately just the bottom
part of the frame was
damaged and the marker
itself had a little twist to
it. He explained that he
bought the marker at a
salvage yard in Sharon, PA.
The salvage should never had
accepted the marker from
whoever took it there. |
|
Once I recovered the marker
I contacted
people in Harrisburg to let
them know that I had the
marker and wanted to what to
do next and what the cost
would be to get the marker
back up. |
|
They explained
that the state had insurance
on all the state's
historical markers and since
the marker was recovered
there was no cost for the
repair and putting the
marker back up.
|
|
They said they would pick up
the marker but couldn't let
me know when. So I asked if
I could take the marker to
them and they were ok with
that and gave me the contact
information for the company
that had the state contract
to, make, repair and put the
markers up. |
|
The company was located in
Clearfield, PA. So in June
2013 I
took the marker to
Clearfield and
gave the marker to them.
Before leaving I asked if
they would let me know when
they were going to put the
marker back up so I could be
there to aid them in the
placement of the marker,
which they said they would. |
|
They called in December and
came down and
put the marker back up.
I took a few photos of the
process and the repaired
marker. |
|
Then in early January 2020 the marker was
once again struck and
knocked down. A friend had
contacted me in mid January
and mentioned that he didn't
see the marker the last time
he went by there. So I went
down to check it out and
found the marker laying on the hill
side covered with snow and
the pole was laying in the
ditch. |
|
I went to see my friend who
has a Auto Parts store about
a quarter of a mile below
where the marker was to have
him help me get the marker
in my car. Again, thankfully
only the bottom part of the
frame was broken and the
marker was twisted a little.
I took a few photos and then
headed home. |
|
I contacted the
Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission and
let them know about the
marker being damaged again.
They said they would pick
the marker up but again they
could not tell me when so I
made arrangements to drop
off the marker.
There was a new company that
had the state's contract for
the state's historical
marker and it was also
located in Clearfield. |
|
I dropped off the marker on
May 28, 2020. The owner gave me
a tour and explained the
process of making the
markers and repairing them.
He filled my car up with gas
in appreciation for saving
him the time to have to pick
it up. |
|
He told me that due to the
state's budget being frozen
and the pandemic he would
not be able to tell when the
marker would be repaired or
put back. He told me he
would let me know when it
was back up. |
|
When I returned I checked
with the local police
department to see if there
had been any accident
reports in early January.
There was one and it was the
one where the marker had
been hit. |
|
I contacted the people at
the Historical
and Museum Commission
and let them know what I had
discovered. They got in
contact with the police
department and got the
insurance information. |
|
They let me know in December
that the marker was back up
and that they had positioned
the marker several feet
further off the road from
it's previous location. The
repair costs were covered by
the insurance of the driver
who had hit the marker and
no state funds were used. |
|
The marker is located on the
eastern side of Route 18
close to 10th Street in the
Reynolds area. |
