Blue Ball Tavern

I spent the first seven years of my life in Perry County, Pennsylvania, across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg.

When we lived in Perry County, Dad taught high school and he also worked part-time at Little Buffalo State Park.

Little Buffalo State Park includes the site of the Blue Ball Tavern, established in 1811.

This place attracted canal and furnace workmen in the mid 1800’s.

The Blue Ball Tavern’s property owners later used the tavern’s foundation to build the farmhouse pictured at the top of this blog post. At one point, they ran a smaller tavern out of a room in this farmhouse.

The Perry County Historical Society now runs this building as the Blue Ball Tavern Museum.

I’m sure that the name attracts interest in the museum.

The Blue Ball Tavern Museum sits across State Park Road from Little Buffalo State Park Office & Visitor Center.

Little Buffalo also features these awesome things:

1.) Shoaff’s Mill, a Nineteenth-Century Gristmill

2.) Clay’s Bridge, a Covered Bridge Built in 1890

My husband Jonathan and I stopped at Little Buffalo on February 12, 2012 (Valentine’s Day) on our way back from Hershey and Harrisburg.

We’re due for another visit.

(As a side note, Simon Girty was also from present-day Perry County, PA. )

Stay tuned next week for some Groundhog Day nostalgia over Punxsutawney.