The Pike

Pat McCarthy, Strawberries in Blue and White, hanging in a dining room

Tallmadge Ave

The Pike

Wayne to Lancaster on the old turnpike, and what came home with us. For the house in November.

Twenty-eight pieces, one of oneFollow the road ↓

On the cover: Strawberries in Blue & White, Pat McCarthy, oil on canvas. Found in Adamstown.

Four to Start WithThe best of the haul

Twenty-eight pieces on this page, all one of one, all found along one road. These four are where we'd start.

Pat McCarthy oil of strawberries in a blue and white bowl — **Adamstown***Strawberries in Blue & White*, Pat McCarthy, oil on canvas

L. Schull, bowl of rose color flowers — **Leacock***Bowl of Rose Color Flowers*, L. Schull, signed, about 1932

Pair of Staffordshire-style spaniel spill vases — **Intercourse**Staffordshire-style spaniel spill vases, a pair

English hunt scene teapot and creamer — **Gap**Hunt scene teapot and creamer, England, about 1929

Free shipping in the US · the rest are along the road

Illustrated map of the road from Wayne to Lancaster, with a spur north to Adamstown

The PikeWayne to Lancaster, by the old turnpike

Wayne Exton Downingtown Gap Leacock & Intercourse Lancaster Adamstown, off the road

Our map of the road, drawn in the old style. Tap a town to go there.

The road

Sixty-two miles of stone and gravel

Lancaster Avenue runs through the middle of Wayne. Keep going west and it becomes the Lancaster Pike, then plain Route 30, and eventually you're in Lancaster.

It started as the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike. Ground was broken in 1792 and the road was in use by 1795: sixty-two miles of broken stone topped with gravel, built by a private company because the state couldn't afford to. The Federal Highway Administration counts it as the first long-distance road in the country built to engineered plans.

Conestoga wagons and stagecoaches ran on it until the railroads and canals took the traffic in the 1840s. After that it fell apart for about fifty years, until cars brought it back.

Almost everything we sell came home along this road. What follows is what's in the house right now, stop by stop heading west, picked for the table, the mantel and the bar before the holidays.

Road history: U.S. Federal Highway Administration; Lancaster and Chester County historical records.

Start at home

Illustration of a Victorian railroad station in an autumn suburb, a steam train at the platform — Wayne in the 1880s, as we picture it. Illustration.

StopI

WayneWhere we start

In 1880 the banker Anthony Drexel and the publisher George Childs bought farmland along the railroad here and laid out roads, water and lots before the houses went up.

They called it Wayne Estate, after General Anthony Wayne. It was one of the early planned suburbs in the country, and the middle of town is still the corner of Lancaster and Wayne Avenues. A few things on this page never had to travel far.

Wayne, at the east end of our map

found in Wayne

Shafford ceramic mallard figurines — Shafford mallard drakes, Japan, a pair. Glazed by hand, wings up.

ABCO chalkware children carrying a boat — ABCO chalkware, two children carrying a boat between them. Hand-painted, a little worn.

Small red wooden sleigh — A small red wooden sleigh, for the mantel or some greenery.

West on the Pike · Exton

StopII

ExtonWhere the Pike crosses Route 100

What turned up in Exton had already been somewhere: porcelain in the Chinese manner, Delft from Holland, brass from India.

These are centerpiece pieces. A planter on its own stand, a vase for branches, a covered dish for the side that has to stay warm, a candelabra for the middle of it all.

Exton, from our map

found in Exton

Rose Famille planter with stand — Rose Famille planter on a wooden stand, hand-painted florals.

Blue and white koi porcelain vase — Blue and white porcelain vase, koi painted swimming through waves.

Hand-painted Delft covered dish, Holland, lid and base.

Brass candelabra made in India — Solid brass candelabra, made in India, the engraving worn soft.

West on the Pike · Downingtown

Illustration of a stone gristmill with a waterwheel and a stagecoach crossing a stone bridge in autumn — A mill on the Brandywine, as we picture it. Illustration.

StopIII

DowningtownHalfway

The town started as Milltown, for its mills on the Brandywine. Thomas Downing, a Quaker who came over from Devon in 1717, ran several of them on the Lancaster Road.

By the Revolution people were calling it Downing's Town. It sits about midway between Philadelphia and Lancaster, so the stagecoaches stopped here. Most of the brass and candlesticks we've sold came from Downingtown, and these are what's left.

The creek crossing at Downingtown, from our map

found in Downingtown

Pair of brass duck candlesticks — Brass duck candlesticks, a pair. One for each end of the mantel.

Tall silver plate candlestick with leather stem — Silver-plate candlestick with a leather-wrapped stem, 21 inches tall.

Oblong brass bowl, weathered outside and bright inside.

Hammered brass bowl with handles — Hammered brass bowl, scalloped edge, two handles.

West on the Pike · Gap

Illustration of a clock tower above a village where a gravel road runs down through a gap in wooded ridges, a horse and wagon on the road — The clock above the gap, as we picture it. Illustration.

StopIV

GapThe pass through Mine Ridge

Gap is named for the low pass through Mine Ridge. The clock tower went up in 1892, built by the town to hold a Seth Thomas clock it had bought twenty years earlier.

The marker beside it says the clock overlooks the spot where William Penn came into Conestoga country in 1701. What we find in Gap leans toward the bar and the tea table.

Gap, between the ridges, from our map

found in Gap

Sportsman pilsner glasses — Six pilsner glasses, hand-painted game birds, gold rims.

Safari highball glasses with silver gallery tray — Five safari highballs on a silver-plate gallery tray.

Svenskt Tenn solid brass coaster — Svenskt Tenn coaster, Sweden, ribbed solid brass.

Up to the older road · Leacock & Intercourse

Illustration of a stone tavern at dusk with a crossed-keys sign, a horse and black buggy in front — The Cross Keys at dusk, as we picture it. Illustration.

StopV

Leacock & IntercourseThe older road

Just north of Route 30 runs the Old Philadelphia Pike, Route 340, which was the King's Highway before there was a turnpike.

Intercourse started on it in 1754 as Cross Keys, named for a tavern at the crossroads. In 1814, when the village was five buildings, the name changed, and nobody is sure why. Both sit in Leacock Township, in Amish farm country, and this is where the country pieces come from: spongeware, a basket, needlework, and a still life from 1932.

The older road, from our map

found in Leacock & Intercourse

Large blue spongeware pitcher — **Leacock**Blue spongeware pitcher, 12 inches. A small chip at the base.

Nantucket-style woven basket — **Leacock**Nantucket-style basket, handwoven, drawstring liner.

Needlepoint terrier pillow with green fringe — **Leacock**Needlepoint pillow, two terriers in brown and rust, green fringe.

**Leacock**Blue spongeware platter, made in Italy, sponged by hand.

West to the end of the road · Lancaster

Illustration of a covered Conestoga wagon with a team of horses entering a brick and stone town in autumn, a church spire behind — A Conestoga wagon coming into Lancaster, as we picture it. Illustration.

StopVI

LancasterThe end of the road

The turnpike ended in Lancaster. The city built Conestoga wagons and long rifles for people heading west, and F. W. Woolworth opened his first successful five-and-dime here.

Lancaster is where we find silver: the bowls that came out for holiday dinners and went back in the sideboard after.

Lancaster, at the west end of our map

found in Lancaster

Rosenthal cobalt and songbird dessert plates — Rosenthal dessert plates, Germany, set of five. Songbirds inside a cobalt rim.

WM Rogers silver plated serving bowl — WM Rogers silver-plate serving bowl, 12 inches, pierced lattice rim.

Royal Arden bone china dresser jar — Royal Arden bone china jar, England, made for Gump's of San Francisco.

Gorham silverplate chalice — Gorham silver-plate chalice, the patina left on.

Reed and Barton silver plated bowl — Reed & Barton silver-plate bowl, Riviera pattern.

Off the road · north on Route 272

Illustration of an open-air antiques market in a grove at dawn, lanterns in the trees, tables of china, brass and framed paintings — Sunday morning in the grove, as we picture it. Illustration.

Detour↝

AdamstownOff the road

Adamstown is about eighteen miles from Lancaster on Route 272, the one stop on this page that isn't on the Pike.

It calls itself Antiques Capital, USA. That started in 1962, when a dealer named Charles Weik began holding flea markets at Shupp's Grove; Renninger's, which opened as a farmers' market, switched over to antiques. Most of the Pat McCarthy paintings we've sold were found here, including this one.

The spur north to Adamstown, from our map

found in Adamstown

Cast iron horse head with hitching ring — Cast iron horse head with a hitching ring, on an oak-leaf plaque.

End of the RoadTwenty-eight pieces, one of one

Everything on this page is in stock, and each one is the only one. If you're setting a table for Thanksgiving, start with Lancaster's silver and the Rosenthal plates. For the mantel, start in Downingtown. Shipping is free anywhere in the US.

Michele & Christine

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