Trains and Bricks

Summerville, Pennsylvania has a total area of 0.62 square miles and a population of about 500 people according to the United States Census Bureau. One hundred years ago, between 1920 and 1930, the town was home to 1200 people - the highest in the town’s history. Since then, the town has slowly dwindled over the past century.

An intersection in Summerville, Pa

“Welcome To Summerville, Home of America’s Premier Brick Manufacturer,” reads a sign as you drive into the town. Glen-Gery, a brick and stone manufacturer, is the major employer of the small town. Since the establishment of the plant in 1893, Glen-Gery has been the beating heart of the rural borough.

The only restaurant in Summerville - “Summerville Eats and Sweets”

“If we didn’t have Glen-Gery this town would be in trouble,” mentioned Dan Bowser of Summerville. “We are very fortunate in having a stable employment force with Glen-Gery. They spent a lot of money upgrading the plant” added Bowser. Confidently stating that “it is the number one plant of its kind in the world that produces the kind of brick it produces… so it’s going to be here for a while.”

The Glen-Gery Hanley Plant in Summerville, Pa

An old Summerville school building

With a keen eye and intention for establishing new life and energy in his small town, Bowser and his group, “The Summerville Story Project,” has arranged work ahead for themselves. To date, the group has published a book titled “Troy/Summerville Pennsylvania,” which documents the history and stories of the town. They also established 14 history panels noting the significance of various spots in town.

Dan Bowser

The Summerville Story Project also produced a series of calendars and other merchandise to raise money for future projects, including building a replica of the old train station and shelter for those who visit the beloved local hiking trail.

The trailhead in Summerville

However, today, Bowser and his crew of skilled laborers have a current passion project to cross off that list: a crew car, aka a caboose, needs transported 20 miles from the woods of Miola to the Summerville section of the Redbank Valley Trail.

A new hitch was needed so an industrial sized truck could pull it. Bowser approached tow companies who said the caboose could not make the trip without a crane to lift the old crew car. Bowser predicted that in the caboose’s current state, that it would fall apart upon ascension. Bowser referred Cade Kennemuth, of C.K. Property Care, and tasked him with finding a way to make this journey possible. Cade started welding and improvising with fellow welder and craftsman, Kelly Shick. The two managed to creatively weld a one-of-a-kind hitch made specifically for this caboose, on site, just hours before the scheduled journey. The men trusted what they built and gave the go ahead to Bowser to start the 20 mile excursion.

The hitch built by Kennemuth and Shick

With a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour, the crew emerged from the Miola woods, through main street of Clarion, and into the countryside. Bowser led the ensemble carefully into Summerville. The lane-and-a-half width caboose drudged along tediously into the area of Summerville’s trailhead of the Redbank Valley Trail. This trailhead is a popular spot for visitors of the local area and beyond. A small crowd awaited Bowser and his posse as they approached the new home of the caboose.

A small crowd awaits for the arrival of the crew and caboose at the trailhead

At the trailhead, there is a parking lot, a tourist information sign, and an open space of land beside the trail before the trail leads into the woods. This area of grassy space beside the trail, which is visible to passersby and equivalent in size to a third of a football field, is where the caboose, and other future projects of the Summerville Story Project, will be arranged and founded. The men cautiously back the caboose into a temporary spot near where they later will station it into the ground. They rest the hitch onto cinderblocks and move the truck away from the area. Locals take pictures of the longly neglected structure, all of which will be used as “before” photos once Bowser, and his group of dedicated friends, rehab the crew car to its near pristine original state.

Bowser stands on the land that will soon be home to a renovated caboose, a train station replica, and a shelter for hikers

A round of applause, from spectators and crew alike, share the afternoon accomplishment. Bowser reluctantly accepts this praise on behalf of many peoples efforts. Grins and pats on the back are in order among the crew.

Friends congratulate Dan

The intentioned use for the car will be a functional one. “The whole deal from my standpoint is that this is not meant to be taking something back to what it was, this is to be something that can be used today, in today’s environment, for today’s needs, while maintaining the historical look…we’re not trying to build something you have to tip-toe around, or why would we do it?” said Bowser. A question I found to be on par with the attitude of those with serious intentions of making the land that was good to them - viable for future generations. Too often do I hear what things “used to be like” in small towns from those with power to make things better. I learned that this is a shared frustration between Mr. Bowser and I, to which he told me “you know my philosophy is.. I’m entitled to ask, you’re entitled to say yes or no. You’re entitled to ask me and I’m entitled to say yes or no…There’s no obligation either way. Now some people think like there is, I think no. Can you help me with this? No. Do you know anybody that can help me with this? I might. I know Cade Kennemuth.” he chuckled.

From left to right: Mike Kennemuth, Dan Bowser, Cade Kennemuth and Kelly Shick

With his focus presently on rehabbing the crew car, Bowser looks forward to the work to come. “My longer term goal is, if we do these things, and get people kind of excited about the town, some people will say ‘hey, there’s some things happening in Summerville.’”

The Summerville Story Project, (which has 1500 members on Facebook) and its small town with a great history, carry the momentum in the right direction with small monumental steps like this one. All of which will add up to the new life energy they hope for. As a visitor, I feel like it’s already here. I see it in the love for their 0.62 square miles. For Mr. Dan Bowser, the work is just beginning.

An alleyway in Summerville

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