The Keystone Intern Tour of the Oley Valley

The other day the PHMC organized a trip to the Daniel Boone Homestead for the Keystone Interns. They toured the site in the morning, and in the afternoon Jim and I took them on a tour of the Oley Valley. Overall I was impressed with the other interns, they were a bright bunch who were all very serious about history, and they seemed to know their stuff.

When the Interns first arrived in the morning Jim and I took them on a our of the site. The tour of the Boone House consisted of a long discussion of the dendro-chronology of the house that we got last year, and whether or not we should believe the dendro, which dates the house at the 1770's and 1790's, or other historical clues that would date the house earlier. A tour of the blacksmith shop showed the interns different types of log construction. At the barn we talked about how the public complains about how we take care of our animals (which is silly because they live better than some people do!). Dave and I also got to talk to them about interpretive Sundays, and what we each got to research, and how we thought the first one went over with the public.

Then came the tour of the Oley Valley. I was placed in a van with most of the interns. Jim was in a car with a few others. I actually had to try to give them a tour of the Oley Valley. Jim and I had created a route the day before, but I had not had much time to prepare. Most of what I said was a mixture of things that I remembered from my reading, and other tours of the Oley Valley that I had been on with Jim. Although I felt a little bit bad that I was not giving them as thorough of a tour as Jim would have, the interns all told me that they enjoyed it and that they thought I had done a good job. Here are some pictures from the tour.

Here is the Exeter Friends meetinghouse. Jim took us inside. Note the symetry on the outside of the building.

Here we are at the Keim House.