Byrnesville, Barnesboro, Northern Cambria, Cambria County, Pennsylvania

My grandmother, Pauline Schrot(h) Byrnes (27 Sep 1894 - 27 May 1972), in the yard of her home in Byrnesville about 1965. The house across the street belonged to Paul C. Byrnes (Sept 27, 1920-June 14, 2006). Pauline came from a large family with a farm in Curwensville, PA. When I was young and allowed to stay for the summer in Pennsylvania, my grandmother would pack me the best lunches so that I could take off into the woods with my buddies and be gone all day. I would have a canteen full of Nehi grape soda.

My grandmother was always so nice to me, she would put milk and sugar on the berries I picked on the hill. In the evenings she would sit me down on the glider on the porch and give me a big bowl of chocolate ice cream. She made me sandwiches all the time and taught me how to play Canasta. When I wanted to camp out up on the hill she would outfit me with tent materials, blankets, pots, utensils, and food. She took splinters out of me and applied band aids. She was always nice. I didn't realize that as I became older and a bit more wild it was harder for her to take care of me.

If you click on the picture you can see a birdbath in the yard.One time I came home with a dozen baby catfish (I'm not sure where I got them) and put them in the birdbath. The catfish were about ¾ of an inch long and while checking on them throughout the day I noticed their numbers going down. I'd look all around for the fish, under the birdbath on the grass and it wasn't till I was down to just a few that I realized birds were coming and taking those little fish!

If you click the picture you can also see how nice Paul Byrnes kept his yard, his yard always looked good, including the last time I was there in July of 2005. When my grandfather died, my grandmother wanted to give me his car which was a 1955 Chevy which looked to me to be in mint condition. Unfortunately my dad didn't go for the idea of towing the car back to Michigan.

The houses on the hill behind him are on Philadelphia Avenue. The top of the hill is also the home to the Barnesboro Pool. A fire burned the woods on the hill the year or two before.

Looking at the foliage, this picture was probably taken in March, the open gate is across James Street and leads to my grandad's garden. As kids we used to run and hide in the corn in that garden.

He grew corn, tomatoes, green onions, rubarb, sweet pea flowers, and I can still smell the mint in the air when he would mow the grass along the paths in the garden.

The garden leads down hill to Walnut Run, a wonderful creek where I spent quite a bit of time. My buddies and I built a dam out of rocks on the creek and had what seemed like us to be a lake for awhile.

Pete and Tony Barzcak and I caught hundreds of crawfish or crawdads at the creek and nearby we flattened coins into ovals and nails into small swords by placing them on the tracks nearby. Of course we were told not to play near the creek or the railroad tracks.