Acme, Pennsylvania | |
---|---|
Etymology: "acme," meaning the "peak" or the "top" | |
Coordinates: 40°7′38″N79°26′5″W / 40.12722°N 79.43472°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
Townships | Donegal Township, Westmoreland County Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County Bullskin Township, Fayette County |
Time zone | UTC-4 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 15610 |
Area code | 724 |
identified by ZIP code 15610, |
Acme is an unincorporated community in Donegal, Mount Pleasant and Bullskin townships in Pennsylvania, United States. The Acme ZIP code of 15610 extends well beyond the more densely populated part of the area, into rural parts of Donegal Township in Westmoreland County and Bullskin Township in Fayette County.
Acme is located in Donegal Township and Mount Pleasant Township, in southern Westmoreland County, and in Bullskin Township in the northeastern corner of Fayette County at 40°7′38″N79°26′5″W / 40.12722°N 79.43472°W (40.12731, -79.434929).
The name "Acme" refers to the area's location atop Chestnut Ridge in the Allegheny Mountains.
Acme has always been an agricultural community; however, three attempts to develop resorts in the area have likely been inspired by its gateway position along the edge of the Laurel Highlands.
In 1962, architect Peter Berndtson developed a master plan for a 125-acre (0.51 km2) property named Treetops & Mountain Circles. [1] Berndtson, an original apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed a network of twenty-four private houses, each within a 300-foot (91 m) diameter clearing in the woods. If completed, the clearings and their connecting roads would have depicted a bunch of grapes when viewed from the sky. Only two homes—those for developers Harry Blum and James Balter—were actually built.
Forty-two years later, local homebuilder Thomas D. Papinchak deconstructed the Donald C. Duncan House in Lisle, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) and relocated it to the Acme property. [2] The Duncan House was designed by Wright as an instance of his Usonian style. In 2019, a second Wright house, R. W. Lindholm Residence, was relocated from Cloquet, Minnesota and opened to the public. [3] In honor of the two architects, the failed development has been renamed Polymath Park Resort. All four houses have been offered as overnight accommodations for visitors to Wright's Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob in nearby Stewart Township.
On November 7, 1965, Pittsburgh real-estate developer Scott Hamilton advertised Bear Rocks, a new "Mountain Ski Area", in the (now-defunct) Pittsburgh Press newspaper. [4] The development in a section of forest originally known as Southerwood, along the western descent of Chestnut Ridge, featured over 1000 house lots in a wooded setting connected by 22 miles of roads. Codes prevented the cutting of more trees than necessary for home construction, unconnected buildings, business restrictions, prohibitions on brick and metal siding and similar provisions intended to maintain the rural character of the development. Two separate lodge buildings were built; one at the upper entrance to the development and another at the base of the ski slopes. At its peak, the Bear Rocks Ski area featured eight slopes and trails with a double-chair lift and snow-making equipment. The advertisement also boasted a private fishing lake, "magnificent" swimming pool, rustic cocktail lounge, tennis, horseback riding, social activities, and "golf at a private country club nearby."
Bear Rocks reportedly ceased ski operations after the 1973 season. The ski lodge and restaurant burned to the ground a few years later and was not rebuilt, however the community lodge remains as a focal point for residents. The community continues to grow, and new homes have been constructed in the clearings of the former ski slopes and continue to be built on vacant lots. While the rustic character of the development is still very evident, it has suffered somewhat in recent years as the Bear Rocks codes have been increasingly ignored, including the clear-cutting of lots, and some logging operations. [5]
Following in the footsteps of the very successful Bear Rocks, this much smaller resort featured a recreational lake, a spring fed swimming pool, and wooded house lots. Forest Lake is situated on the majestic Chestnut Ridge, along Bear Rocks Road. As part of the original sales promotion, a red caboose, now decayed and unrecognizable, was placed on what is now one of the adjoining properties. Forest Lake never enjoyed the success of its larger neighbor and only five houses were built. On what is now a small adjacent lot, a Tudor house was built over one of the sample roadside A-framed houses. In 1990, a local real estate investor purchased the tract consisting of the entire impoundment of Forest Lake, along with the encompassing 56 choice acres of original resort property that spans the eastern edge of Bear Rocks. Today the tranquil property, now known as Forest Lake Farm, is maintained as a private resort residence for a select few. [6]
An unincorporated place, Acme is within Mount Pleasant Township.
Pennsylvania Route 31, a two-lane artery, runs east and west through the center of Acme. The Pennsylvania Turnpike parallels the state road to the north, with the closest interchange in Donegal, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the southeast. Because Turnpike traffic is occasionally diverted to the state route, additional lanes were added to accommodate truck traffic down the latter's western descent of the Allegheny Mountains, on a 2-mile (3 km) stretch of highway known as Three Mile Hill.
Chestnut Ridge Park features a 25-acre (100,000 m2) recreational pool (lake) with a boat launch and short walking trail. The county park provides opportunity for fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities in a quiet, isolated rural setting.
Acme Speedway hosts kart racing every Saturday night from mid-April through late September.
Donegal Highlands, an 18-hole public golf course, offers a unique challenge to golfers of all abilities.
Stone Villa Wine Cellars provides seasonal outdoor entertainment as well as daily wine tastings.
In addition to getaway vacation rentals, Polymath Park [7] provides tours of all four houses on a daily basis.
Bullskin Township is a township in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,741 at the 2020 census, a decline from the figure of 6,966 tabulated in 2010. It is served by the Connellsville Area School District.
Saltlick Township is a township that is located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,042 according to the 2020 census, a decline of twelve percent from the 2010 census, and eighteen percent from the 2000 census. It is served by the Connellsville Area School District.
Donegal is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a distinct municipality from the adjacent Donegal Township. The population was 103 at the 2020 census. Donegal is best known as an exit on the Pennsylvania Turnpike with restaurants, gas stations, and two hotels for travelers.
Donegal Township is a township in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,192 at the 2020 census, a decrease of 9% compared to 2010.
Cedar Lake is a 99-acre (40 ha), residential lake, private community and unincorporated community located within Denville Township, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The community's governing body, the Cedar Lake Property Owners, has been maintaining its 320 acres (1.3 km2) of land since June 2, 1925.
Voyageurs National Park is a national park of the United States in northern Minnesota established in 1975. It is located near the city of International Falls. The park's name commemorates the voyageurs—French-Canadian fur traders who were the first European settlers to frequently travel through the area. Notable for its outstanding water resources, the park is popular with canoeists, kayakers, other boaters, and fishermen. The Kabetogama Peninsula, which lies entirely within the park and makes up most of its land area, is accessible only by boat. To the east of the park lies the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
The Laurel Highlands is a region in southwestern Pennsylvania made up of Fayette County, Somerset County, and Westmoreland County. It has a population of about 600,000 people.
The Potomac Highlands of West Virginia centers on five West Virginian counties in the upper Potomac River watershed in the western portion of the state's Eastern Panhandle, bordering Maryland and Virginia. Because of geographical proximity, similar topography and landscapes, and shared culture and history, the Potomac Highlands region is also considered to include Pocahontas, Randolph, and Tucker counties, even though they are in the Monongahela River or New River watersheds and not the Potomac River watershed.
Big White Ski Resort, simply known as Big White, is a ski resort located 56 km (35 mi) southeast of Kelowna in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. It is located on Big White Mountain, the highest summit in the Okanagan Highland, an upland area between the Monashee Mountains and the Okanagan Valley. Big White is the fourth largest resort in British Columbia, after Whistler-Blackcomb, Sun Peaks, and Silver Star. In 2019, Big White was nominated as the third-best ski resort in Canada by Snowpak.
Mt. Norquay is a mountain and ski resort in Banff National Park, Canada that lies directly northwest of the Town of Banff. The regular ski season starts early December and ends mid-April. Mount Norquay is one of three major ski resorts located in the Banff National Park.
Shawnee Mountain is a family owned, operated, and oriented ski resort in eastern Pennsylvania located right outside East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, off of I-80, exit 309, next to the Delaware River in the easternmost portion of the Poconos.
Brundage Mountain Resort is an alpine ski area in the western United States, located in west central Idaho in the Payette National Forest. Brundage first opened in November 1961 and is eight miles (13 km) northwest of McCall, a twenty-minute drive in average winter conditions.
The Chestnut Mountain ski resort is located in Galena, Illinois, 20 miles southeast of Dubuque, Iowa, in Jo Daviess County. It is visible from a 10-mile radius. The ski resort opened in 1959 and features two restaurants, a lodge with 119 rooms, an indoor pool and hot tub area, as well as several other accommodations. There are 19 ski runs: 4 Beginner, 11 Intermediate, 3 Advanced, plus "The Far Side", a snowboarding terrain park. The park has two quad chairs, four triple chairs, and two surface lifts.
Polymath Park is a 130-acre (0.53 km2) resort near Acme in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The site features four historic houses, two relocated houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and two houses designed by apprentice Peter Berndtson. Polymath Park is located 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Pittsburgh in the Laurel Highlands of Western Pennsylvania.
Ski country is the hilly, snowy portions of the boundary between the Niagara Frontier and the Southern Tier of the western part of New York.
Jack Frost–Big Boulder is a resort with two separate ski areas. It is located in Kidder Township, Pennsylvania, in the Pocono Mountains region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. In 2019, the resort, which had been owned and operated by Peak Resorts, was purchased by Vail Resorts.
Potter Mountain is a prominent ridgeline located in the Taconic Mountains of western Massachusetts. It has several peaks; the most notable are the southern Jiminy Peak, 2,392 feet (729 m), which bears the name of the ski area located on its slopes, and Widow White's Peak, 2,430 feet (740 m), the ridge high point.
Shenandoah National Park is a national park of the United States that encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. The park is long and narrow, with the Shenandoah River and its broad valley to the west, and the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont to the east. Skyline Drive is the main park road, generally traversing along the ridgeline of the mountains. Almost 40% of the park's land—79,579 acres —has been designated as wilderness areas and is protected as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The highest peak is Hawksbill Mountain at 4,051 feet (1,235 m).
Three Mile Hill is a section of Pennsylvania Route 31 (PA 31) near Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, that connects Laurelville and Acme.