The excitement of finding my first two barns, pushed me on to discover others on the list for Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. In traveling the back roads around New Stanton, I was familiar with the small community of Ruffsdale, the main road only boasts of a few businesses and a post office. Often when I go somewhere I turn on back roads and just drive and look at the country side, confident that all I have to do is turn the GPS on to get back home. This has allowed me to see lots of the rural areas.
The barn I was looking for that day had no GPS markers (latitude and longitude) Just the directions of south of Ruffsdale on SR3089, approximately 1 mile south of Rt 31. I headed out towards Ruffsdale and about a mile from the town I rounded the bend and saw this:
Cute! But not what I was looking for, although now I know what it would look like on a small outbuilding. I recently told Harvey of my intentions, of painting our tool shed with the Mail Pouch logo.
I arrived at SR 3089 and saw a marker for RT 31, but the road went the opposite way from the directions. I thought maybe someone had the directions down wrong so I took that road, after a couple of miles I knew it wasn’t right so I turned around. Back to the town and back the way I had come, maybe I had missed it. After a few times of going up and down the roads and no sign of the barn, I decided that it had been torn down and I headed to Mt. Pleasant and the local Walmart. I knew how to get there because I had gone from Mt. Pleasant to Ruffsdale before on my way home, so off I went. About a half a mile I looked up to my right and what did I see?
There she stood! My Ruffsdale Mail Pouch Barn! A little faded and worse for wear, but I had discovered it. I felt like Columbus discovering the New World!
I pulled off to the side of the road and started snapping away. How to get the best angle? I thought maybe if I get down in the grass and lay on the ground I could get an artsy photo! And then I remembered, I’ll be 55 the 30th of July and how undignified I would look down on the ground, that I wouldn’t be able to get to my feet because of my bum knee. Ok, I’ll just click away with my telephoto lens and be happy! Surely if I take tons of pictures I will like one.
Now remember I have taken this road from Mt. Pleasant numerous times and never saw this barn. The reason is it’s only painted on the one end and I had never looked back. This is how it looks from the road.
The pictures above have been edited in PSE, the one below is how it looks natural.
You can click on this link to see what the barn looked like in years gone by.
Oh BTW, If you want to go this Mail Pouch barn and maybe get there a little faster than I did…I’ve got the coordinates: N. 40. 10.006 W 79.36.141
P.S. I’m back home in Savannah, Missouri for the next couple of months. I’ve got three more posts of Mail Pouch barns, so if this interests you keep checking back and if you would like to see my other posts on Mail Pouch barns you can click here for part 1 and here for part 2.
Hugs,
Margaret
I’m linking this to
what got you interested in the barnes? Makes me think of the bridges of Madison County. Nice.
Thanks Charlette,
I saw one last year accidently while in PA, when I was in Texas this year I got to thinking about making a birdhouse with the logo on it. Then I started researching it online and found the links and saw the pictures of the ones that had been discovered. I decided I wanted to start taking pictures of them, kind of fits my country mode of life don’t ya think? There is a page for the covered bridges in the country too. Maybe that will be down the road, but my next quest in bridges is looking for the round ones. There is one in San Luis Obispo, also there is a Mail Pouch Barn in SLO gonna hunt it up when I get out there.
Hugs, Margaret
I would have loved being with you on this barn search. They are most interesting to me. You found some really neat ones.
You did a nice job with Photoshop. I can’t believe how bright the green is .
Oh yes. Not gone yet! I’ve seen one or two in rural Indiana. Happy VTT!
Of course I be stopping back for more barns. They are a passing delight. I wish I could remember where I saw a doghouse done as MailPouch. In Pennsylvania no doubt. A great state for covered bridges too.
I love old barns! I have never seen nor heard of mail pouch barns though.
Margaret….I have loved these post and all the beautiful barns!!! So much fun seeing these beauties! Have a great VTT!
This is such a cool thing to find. Like a treasure hunt, only you’re after the experience and not a thing. Great fun!
I used to live in rural Kansas, and enjoyed taking the odd road now and then just to see what was there. So I enjoyed reading about your quest. So glad you finally found it. What a classic old barn and a pretty setting.
Your GPS will get you back home? I wish mine would — it has a tendency to tell me to turn onto gated logging roads or leave me stranded on roads that obviously haven’t gone through in years and years.
[…] This picture is of a Mail Pouch Barn in Ruffsdale, Pa, you may remember the picture I posted during the summer of the same barn? […]