Halfway House gold coins site
Several years ago I was looking over Terry's Treasure Atlas for Pennsylvania. He had a reference as follows. In the 1860's the old stagecoach road followed present day Hwy. 6 near Hazel Hurst. The most famous hotel and inn along the route was the Halfway House. Just off the Hwy. above Hazel Hurst built by Joseph Barnes in 1859. Business grew and he prospered, accumulating a large quanity of gold coins. Lucy Barnes did not trust banks and was often seen heading for the mountainsides with a jug under her arm. She died suddenly in 1866 without telling the family where the jugs of coins were secreted. The place changed hands several times and one of the new owners sons reported finding several individual $20 gold pieces on 4 different occasions near the old spring. Probably washing down from the higher-up hillsides over the years.
Interesting lead! Hazel Hurst is a very small mountain town. I made some phone calls to the local residents and obtained the name of a former resident who was writing the history of the town. I obtained a list of residents with the same last name and found a uncle who put me in contact with the writer. The writer told me the halfway House was still there but the local residents and the owner did not know what it was in the past. He offered to go on a treasure hunt with me to the site. The house is east of Hazel Hurst just outside of town. It is a log cabin with wood siding that sits just off Hwy.6 on the right hand side of the road. A few pine trees are in front of the house. There is a drive to the right of the house that goes up the hill to a modern house that sits behind and a little to the right of the halfway House. There is a small mountain behind the house with a stream running down to the left of the house off the mountain. The area had been logged sometime in the past. (I was going to post a photo of the Halfway House but can't get browse button to come up on this site.) On my one trip up there I was in the middle of a search when a snow storm hit and hit hard. I did find a spot about 100 ft. behind the house in the middle of the dry stream bed where someone did a little digging in the remote past. Several old tools were left behind. The historian told me that a former owner dug all the dirt around the house looking for the coins. I doubt that because I dug a OLD knife up right next to the house. I thought I would post this lead for my new friends on Treasurequest that live in the McKean County, Pa. area who are looking for search sites.
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02-03-2005, 01:59 AM
Halfway House
Halfway House
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