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Buck Hill Falls PA Cover & Machine Cancel

 
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Pillar Of The Community

United States
611 Posts
Posted 03/24/2013   12:51 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this topic Add 1847bill to your friends list Get a Link to this Message
I found this in my boxes of covers and was wondering about the machine cancel. Buck Hill Falls Pa was started in 1901 as a retreat for Quakers to go. It must have been very popular because they out grew the wooden buildings and created an enormous stone structure in 1926. It is located in Poconos and ceased operations in the 1990's (courtesy of Wikipedia). The use of a machine cancel seems odd. I wouldn't think the volumn of mail generated there would have required a machine. The dial is 24mm diameter and it has 7 bars (I think) with the date 1915 inside.



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Bedrock Of The Community
United States
12128 Posts
Posted 03/24/2013   1:59 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add wt1 to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
I can't help to explain much about the postmark, but interestingly there's still an active post office operating (at reduced hours) in Buck Hill Falls, PA. Incidentally, the addressee of the cover was known as "Mrs. Frances Rebekah Williams Skerrett", thus the reason for the "FRW" initials. She was also listed in several Philadelphia area social directories, so she must have been an affluent woman back in the day.

For those interested in such things, there are some interesting ghost stories allegedly connected with the old Inn at Buck Hill Falls. Whether or not there's any truth to them is another story. It does make for some interesting reading, though:


Quote:
BUCK HILL INN (Barrett Twp., Monroe County) Built in 1901 by Quakers as a 20 room mountain retreat, the Buck Hill Inn grew into the biggest resort in the Poconos with a four story hotel made of stone and 270 rooms. It eventually closed in 1991 and sits deserted and partially burned out now, waiting on its' fate - either restoration or the wrecking ball. In its' heyday, violence, murder and suicide along with other assorted mayhem was well known within its' walls. It was supposed to be a place that the Mob liked to frequent, and the owners were more than willing to bend a rule or three themselves. It's said that in 66 years of operation, 73 people died at the hotel. Five, in fact, died in one room, #354. A bride named Lorna Kilpatrick was murdered there by the very priest that married her the day before at the resort. He committed suicide, and Lorna's ghost has haunted the room ever since. A maid slit her wrists in there while clutching a rosary. People refused to stay in the room because of the constant freezing cold, doors that wouldn't stay shut - and the ghosts. The hotel had to shut the room permanently. There's a small room in the basement that's spooked by the spirit of an accountant who was supposedly murdered there. He was cooking the books and the owner found out. One bathroom saw three murders committed in it, and was haunted by a ghost evoked in a seance. It had to be exorcised, yet poltergeist activity still took place in the restroom. A maid's closet was the scene of a strangulation, and it was said you could hear the maid gasp and her labored breathing afterward. The spook of an elderly soldier in an old uniform was reported wandering in the servants quarter's on the third floor. He has a gaping hole in his chest from a musket wound. He once strolled through a garden party and then vanished. An Indian spirit has been seen roaming the area, too. In fact, the Native Americans believed the whole area was evil. Certain psychics agree, saying the East Room is the center of lay lines that mark evil. It may be. One owner's wife used to sleep there. She ended up schizophrenic. There are also poltergeist activities. One guard said during his nightly rounds lights would go on and doors open in buildings that he had secured earlier. Some guests reported hearing voices, shaking beds, opening and shutting widows, electrical devices going off on their own, and ghost sightings - even of spooks hovering over their bed. The Inn is so spooked out that the owner's dog, a pooch named Bradley, wouldn't enter the premises. It was featured on MTV's Fear series, and Kelly Weaver, Paraseek investigator, was part of the show.
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Edited by wt1 - 03/24/2013 2:00 pm
Valued Member
27 Posts
Posted 03/24/2013   2:12 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add MikeE to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
The Buck Hills Falls cancellation was made by a machine from the B.F. Cummins Co. They were small hand powered machines sold directly to postmasters, and were used in hundreds of towns starting in the early 1910s. Many were used well into the 1930s, and a few into the early 1960s. They are a fun little area to collect, since many are available on inexpensive postcards, though some are quite difficult to find. Hope that helps.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
611 Posts
Posted 03/24/2013   2:19 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add 1847bill to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
I read the contents to see if anything spooky went on. The letter was written by Dorothy Wentworth Skerrett who was FRW Skerrett's daughter. She mentions the train ride and people on it. she also mentions others that were waiting for her. They had a swimming pool and tennis courts. Nothing about any unnatural events. I think Dorothy was born in 1891, so she would have been 24 years old at the time. I suppose her visit was before all the bad things happened.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
611 Posts
Posted 03/24/2013   2:21 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add 1847bill to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks MikeE, that is what I was looking for.
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Rest in Peace
United States
7097 Posts
Posted 03/25/2013   04:46 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add I_Love_Stamps to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
It's called "buckskill" and/or "the old manor house" by the locals. Some of the complex still exists. That's a very neat cover Bill! Apparently the whole place is supposed to haunted to this day; Who knows?

Here is an image of whats there now. Notice the old amphitheater that were so prevalent in Pennsylvania at that time.

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Edited by I_Love_Stamps - 03/25/2013 04:59 am
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