1956 Cadillac Formal Sedan Trivia

The last owner prior to us lived in Bernville Pennsylvania.

In 1819 Stephanous Umberhauser moved from Bern Switzerland and purchased two hundred and twenty acres of land from one Thomas Penn, founding father of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and after whom the state is named.

In 1828 the Union Canal connecting the Susquehanna and Schuylkill rivers, was completed and a guard lock was located in the south west corner of the town and remains there today.

Near the town was a dam, Locks, mule bridge, timber mill, grist mill (usually a water powered mill for grinding grain and corn. The term “grist” although now applied to any water powered mill was usually applied to mills that ground grain on behalf of farmers in return for a percentage of the milled grain hence the expression “grist to the mill” meaning a useful knowledge or experience, grist is the old English term for grinding), also nearby were a lime kiln and tannery.

The access via the canal turned Bernville into a thriving community and prosperous canal port. The canal was closed in 1884 as the railways began to carry goods faster and more economically, unfortunately Bernville had no rail access and fell into decline.

However the town survived and is now mainly a commuter town although unspoilt by modern “new builds”. It therefore retains many fine houses, churches and commercial buildings from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, main street is particularly attractive.