Another curiosity I found through the wonders of geocaching. This was on my to-do list for about 5 years before I finally headed up to Susquehanna County in northeast PA to find it. Much like my Sheppton trip, I decided to make this a day of geocaching and exploring towns I hadn’t been to before, including Vandling, Richmondale, and Forest City.
Simply put, it’s George Washington carved into a rock. It’s a bit of a hike to find this rock, which is along a trail just north of Forest City. Finding the correct trailhead took me a while; once I found one I found satisfactory, I probably walked 20-30 minutes before reaching it. There is absolutely nothing else around, so why is this here? How old is it? Who made it? Nobody seems to know.
Something happened to George’s nose, as most of it’s missing; rusted nails and bolts protrude from where it was. From certain angles, the eyes somewhat remind me of Egyptian style sculpture. From the side, especially with the missing nose, George resembles the Great Sphinx.
Again, just trailside silliness, but it does raise a lot of questions. Could there be more sculptures? I hiked around the area a bit more hoping to find Mr. Lincoln or perhaps Mr. Jefferson, but I saw nothing. Daylight was running short, so I headed back to the car.
Right by George, I found what looks like the remnants of a fireplace or perhaps some kind of seat:
The chair thingy looks like some of the “henges” being discovered, mostly in the Eastern states.
Love the pics. Actually, I live not too far from “Washington.” What I heard was that this trail is a path from a former railroad line that used to pass from Simpson ( a small town nearby) all the way up to Owego Ny. George Washington was carved there to provide some sort of scenery for the passengers. Supposedly this carving is from the late 1800s or very early 1900s. It may be part of the old O&W line. http://www.traillink.com/trail/dh-rail-trail.aspx
It was carved in the 1990’s by an articulate student of art the year before they set off for college, carved by hand in the old school tradition. Been here for 30 years.
I have pics , with it’s nose from the 2000’s, if the forum would support the link.