Boating into history

The Schuykill River may not be particularly scenic, but I had an enjoyable boat tour on it yesterday that started off from right near where I live. The Schuykill River Development Corporation has been working hard to create trails along the river and get people out on boat rides. For at least the past 100 years, the river's banks were inaccessible because factories blocked access. Today, though, this non-profit is buying up land to return to public use. Much of the trip south on the river was past wooded banks with the factories just behind, some awaiting conversion into condos.

The boat trip ended at Bartram's Garden, the estate of early American botanist John Bartram. He planted the nation's first botanic garden. He and his son, William Bartram, traveled around the country collecting and cataloging plants (William's book on his travels apparently inspired generations of naturalists and romantics, from Thoreau to John Muir). The elder Bartram built the house on this site himself; apparently he was a stonemason in addition to being a farmer and a botanist. The house is kind of quirky, with oddly-shaped staircases and rooms, cabinets built into corners, and the kitchen just off the front entrance (at this time, the kitchen was generally in a separate structure because of the fire hazard).


The gardens themselves are small, with just a couple of plots still being cultivated today. It would ordinarily be a very peaceful spot, but a wedding at the adjoining picnic pavilion was blasting rap music--hardly the right backdrop for this setting. It's hard to soak in the history of a place when the 21st century is drowning out the birdsongs. Check out a few more pics on my Flickr stream.