Mystery of the Druck Valley Barn
The first time I stopped by the home of Cliff Satterthwaite in Virginia, I instantly recognized much of the artwork covering the walls. In addition to local Fredericksburg scenes, artwork of Pennsylvania sites from all around York City and County was very evident.
Artwork of a barn along Druck Valley Road began with an on-location pleinair pencil & paper drawing in 1964. Cliff asked if I would send him a photo of what the barn presently looked like.
The barn was vaguely familiar to me however its precise location remained a mystery until last week, during an e-mail exchange where Cliff shared a miniature take on one of his favorite York scenes. Even though a misunderstanding about the Druck Valley Barn was resolved, the barn location could still not be ascertained; however the corrected clue in concert with an historic aerial photo solved the two-year-old mystery of the Druck Valley Barn.
The Cliff Satterthwaite artwork is used with his permission. Cliff lived in York County, PA, from the mid-1950s to the early-1980s, creating a host of artwork, with much done live on location. He has a book available containing nearly 400 images of his artwork from that time period; e-mail contact is monsterart4grani@aol.com
The Druck Valley Barn mystery is solved
The misunderstanding involved East versus West. For some reason, it stuck in my mind that Cliff told me the barn was east of the Glades Auction house. Last week it was discovered that I misunderstood, I should have been looking a short distance west of the Glades Auction house.
I walked along Druck Valley Road, west from the Glades, however still was not able to pinpoint a location. I’ve used aerial photos a lot in YorksPast posts, including trying to use them to find the mystery barn east of the Glades. In the following August 11, 1971, historic aerial photo I’ve encircled the unique aerial shape of the barn, per Cliff’s drawing. The Druck Valley Barn is located 500-feet west of the Glades and the aerial photo shows a path leading from that barn to the farmhouse at 3373 Druck Valley Road.
The barn location is transposed onto a 2017 Google Earth view, which shows the barn no longer standing at the western corner of the entrance drive to the First Baptist Church of York. The church acquired land to build back off of Druck Valley Road in 2000.
The files of the Springettsbury Township Historic Preservation Committee does contain the following 3373 Druck Valley Road property photo; a 1994 northeast view of the barn ruins, with only a small portion of the lower level still standing and utilized as a garage. Therefore the barn was removed well before the church built in this area. Do any of my readers know when this barn was removed?
Cliff Satterthwaite had a 1973 photo of the Druck Valley Barn. I’ve combined it with a present photo from the same viewpoint for the following “Then & Now.”
Links to related posts:
- Third Avalong Barn captured by Cliff Satterthwaite
- The Famed Twin Barns along Mt. Rose Avenue
- Kauffman’s Brookhill Orchards established in 1882; Artwork by Cliff Satterthwaite
- The Stonybrook Mill; Artwork of Cliff Satterthwaite
- Grant Voaden’s Stonybrook Mill details; illustrated with Artwork of Cliff Satterthwaite
- Handwriting on the Walls of Stonybrook Mill and more Artwork of Cliff Satterthwaite
