Shohola home and garden tour to fund new museum

By SANDY LONG

SHOHOLA, PA — A new museum to properly house Shohola Township’s history is driving its upcoming house tour, a first for the community, which currently shelters its past in a red caboose maintained by the Shohola Railroad and Historical Society (SRHS) on Route 434 near the Delaware River.

The society, also known as The Caboose Group, formed in 1991 and works to preserve local and railroad history related to the Shohola area.

Continuing the year-long commemoration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, the “Shohola Lincoln Bicentennial Home and Garden Tour” will be held July 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. In addition to its fundraising role, the event also serves to showcase the community’s historical and structural treasures.

The new tour will include six architecturally diverse homes, two beautiful gardens, a historic church, a Civil War-era inn and an opportunity to visit with Abraham Lincoln (John Deck) in what was once a two-room schoolhouse. Tickets sell for $25 and come in the form of a guide booklet and map that includes detailed directions and descriptions of stops on the self-paced tour.

“Each stop is totally different,” said co-organizer Martha Shadler. “They’re the kind of places where you can learn something about Shohola’s history, but also imagine yourself relaxing with a cup of coffee and a good book,” she added.

Stops include places like Rohmans Inn, where Pike County historian George Fluhr will offer tours of the historic building; a home built as a replica of a life-saving station for ship-wrecked mariners; another built on a cliff overlooking the Delaware River; and gardens featuring deer- and drought-resistant perennials and ecologically sustainable plantings.

Locally crafted quilts by The Piecemakers Quilters, as well as pottery and paintings by two regional artists, will provide additional viewing opportunities for participants, and complimentary refreshments will be available. Copies of an original 1872 F.W. Beers “Topographical Map of Pike County, PA” and coverlets featuring historic Shohola sites will also be sold to benefit the Museum fund.

According to Reaggs, local businesses and community members have been very supportive of the new event. “The community wants this to succeed,” said Reaggs. “We’ve already received offers for different homes for next year’s tour.”

Tickets may be purchased at Wells Ferry Emporium or Davis R. Chant Realtors in Milford, or at the Shohola Municipal Building or Wayne Bank in Shohola. Call Betty Reaggs (570/491-4871), Martha Shadler (570/296-2304) or Marianne Yeaw (570/559-7438) for more information.

The following day on July 12, the SRHS commemorates the 1864 Shohola Civil War train wreck, which occurred on July 15 when an eastbound coal train collided with a westbound train carrying Confederate soldiers to a prison camp at Elmira, NY. Nearly 50 Confederate prisoners and 17 of their Union guards lost their lives. Many more were wounded and cared for by citizens from Shohola and nearby Barryville, NY.

The event is remembered annually with a ceremony conducted at the burial site of the soldiers, beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the Old Congregational Churchyard, Route 97 and Route 55, Barryville. It is co-sponsored by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Department of New York Ellis Camp 124 and special attendees will be the Fife & Drums of the Broom Street Band from Port Jervis, NY.

The SRHS meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the Shohola Municipal Building, 159 Twin Lakes Road, Shohola. Free programs on various topics are offered at the beginning of each meeting, and members are encouraged to bring memorabilia for display and discussion. The public and new members are welcome.

Two other garden tours are scheduled this weekend. See pages 16 and 17 for more information.