By Kent Wilcox
Initially printed in June 2014
Among the many mysteries in DuPont Forest is the saga of an deserted station wagon that’s slowly rusting away on Poplar Hill Loop, a 1.4 mile path that encircles Poplar Hill within the southeastern portion of DuPont State Leisure Forest. Close to the gently sloping high of Poplar Hill is an open meadow populated with tall grasses, shrubs, and younger yellow poplar bushes. The oblong form of the meadow, its location lower than 400 ft from Turkey Knob Street, and the whole absence of fallen bushes or stumps recommend that this one acre area was deliberately cleared by people. There are not any seen indicators of any constructions, however maybe an intensive search within the winter would reveal remnants of a stone chimney or basis for a cabin.
Early mountain settlers most popular residence websites subsequent to a spring or stream. Not far downhill from the Poplar Hill meadow is a spring for an unnamed tributary of Briery Fork Creek. The movement from this spring is minimal and could also be depending on seasonal precipitation. Maybe a small dam was constructed to include the water throughout drier intervals. Extra reliable water would have been obtainable from Little Briery Creek, however fetching water from this website required a 0.3 mile hike to the stream and a robust effort to hold gallons of water uphill (an elevation change of 200 ft) on a regular basis. If the trickle from the close by spring was inadequate, the household might have taken a wagon (or maybe a station wagon) roughly 1.2 miles down Turkey Knob Street to a 0.5 stub street that ended at Briery Creek (this stub was Little Briery Path however is not maintained as a path).
The truth that solely shrubs and younger bushes are rising within the meadow recommend that the sphere was occupied or utilized by people throughout the final 40 years. This hypothesis is supported by the presence of the rusty stays of a 1957 Rambler Customized Cross County Station Wagon that got here to relaxation on the japanese aspect of Poplar Loop Path roughly 400 ft from the meadow. It’s affordable to imagine that the 3000 pound car bought near its remaining resting website beneath its personal energy, however it’s utterly motionless now. The hulk lies at an angle and is buried in filth as much as its bumpers. Scavengers have eliminated hubcaps, three tires, the battery, radiator, and different engine components. Vandals have smashed home windows, lights and mirrors, eliminated chrome trim, destroyed the upholstery, and dented the physique. The inside is crammed with particles that gives habitats for quite a few nest-building creatures. With no license plate or serial quantity, it’s unimaginable to hint the possession of this car, however the basic historical past of the 1957 Rambler Cross County Station Wagon is informative.
The 1957 Rambler was constructed by AMC (American Motors Company). AMC was created in 1954 by the merger of the Nash Motors Company (based mostly in Kenosha, WI) and the Hudson Motor Automotive Firm (based mostly in Detroit, MI). When George Mason, president of Nash Motors, handed away in 1954, his assistant George Romney (father of Mitt Romney) grew to become president of the newly-formed AMC. Mr. Romney dedicated the corporate=s sources to the design and advertising of a smaller automotive referred to as the Rambler that will be a beautiful various to the bigger automobiles produced by Common Motors, Ford and Chrysler. The 1956 Rambler debuted on Dec. 15, 1955. It was marketed as a compact, secure, economical, roomy automotive that might common 24 mpg (13 mpg on the town, 20 mpg on the freeway at 50 mph based mostly on take a look at outcomes printed in In style Mechanics).
The 1957 Rambler Cross Nation Station Wagon was provided in stable colours or a dozen completely different two- or three-tone paint schemes. It got here customary with 4 doorways, computerized transmission, a roll-down tailgate window, a roof rack and a straight 6 cylinder engine with 125 hp for $2,500 or an non-compulsory V-8 engine with 190 hp for $2,630. For comparability, the listing worth for the 1957 Ford Thunderbird was $3,408 and the 1957 Corvette bought for $3,200. The federal minimal wage in 1957 was $1 per hour, equal to an annual wage of $2,000. A AWeather Eye@ air-con unit, energy steering, and seat belts had been obtainable as choices. Roughly 32,000 items had been produced with the 6 cylinder engine and seven,000 items had been produced with the V8 engine.
The 2-tone Rambler Station Wagon on In style Hill Loop has a straight 6 cylinder engine and the non-compulsory Climate Eye air-con unit, presumably as a result of it was initially bought by somebody dwelling within the sizzling south. The 74,445 miles on the odometer recommend that the car was pushed for 7 to 10 years, assuming the proprietor was not a protracted distance touring salesman or a runner hauling moonshine each week to Charleston or Atlanta (not too possible in an air-conditioned 3000 lb station wagon with 125 hp). How and why this car got here to its remaining resting place on Poplar Hill Loop maybe greater than 40 years in the past might ceaselessly stay a thriller however it should little question function a dialog piece for not less than one other 40 years.
Info for this text was obtained from am article in regards to the Ramble Six and V8 engines on Wikipedia.com and hyperlinks therein to data on howstuffworks.com and articles printed in 1956 in In style Mechanics and Life Journal. Photographs of the restored 1957 Rambler had been taken by Christopher Ziemnowicz on the 2011 Potomac Ramblers Membership assembly in Maryland and positioned within the public area on Wikipedia Commons. All different pictures had been taken by the creator in 2014.
Initially printed in June 2014
Among the many mysteries in DuPont Forest is the saga of an deserted station wagon that’s slowly rusting away on Poplar Hill Loop, a 1.4 mile path that encircles Poplar Hill within the southeastern portion of DuPont State Leisure Forest. Close to the gently sloping high of Poplar Hill is an open meadow populated with tall grasses, shrubs, and younger yellow poplar bushes. The oblong form of the meadow, its location lower than 400 ft from Turkey Knob Street, and the whole absence of fallen bushes or stumps recommend that this one acre area was deliberately cleared by people. There are not any seen indicators of any constructions, however maybe an intensive search within the winter would reveal remnants of a stone chimney or basis for a cabin.
Early mountain settlers most popular residence websites subsequent to a spring or stream. Not far downhill from the Poplar Hill meadow is a spring for an unnamed tributary of Briery Fork Creek. The movement from this spring is minimal and could also be depending on seasonal precipitation. Maybe a small dam was constructed to include the water throughout drier intervals. Extra reliable water would have been obtainable from Little Briery Creek, however fetching water from this website required a 0.3 mile hike to the stream and a robust effort to hold gallons of water uphill (an elevation change of 200 ft) on a regular basis. If the trickle from the close by spring was inadequate, the household might have taken a wagon (or maybe a station wagon) roughly 1.2 miles down Turkey Knob Street to a 0.5 stub street that ended at Briery Creek (this stub was Little Briery Path however is not maintained as a path).
The truth that solely shrubs and younger bushes are rising within the meadow recommend that the sphere was occupied or utilized by people throughout the final 40 years. This hypothesis is supported by the presence of the rusty stays of a 1957 Rambler Customized Cross County Station Wagon that got here to relaxation on the japanese aspect of Poplar Loop Path roughly 400 ft from the meadow. It’s affordable to imagine that the 3000 pound car bought near its remaining resting website beneath its personal energy, however it’s utterly motionless now. The hulk lies at an angle and is buried in filth as much as its bumpers. Scavengers have eliminated hubcaps, three tires, the battery, radiator, and different engine components. Vandals have smashed home windows, lights and mirrors, eliminated chrome trim, destroyed the upholstery, and dented the physique. The inside is crammed with particles that gives habitats for quite a few nest-building creatures. With no license plate or serial quantity, it’s unimaginable to hint the possession of this car, however the basic historical past of the 1957 Rambler Cross County Station Wagon is informative.
The 1957 Rambler was constructed by AMC (American Motors Company). AMC was created in 1954 by the merger of the Nash Motors Company (based mostly in Kenosha, WI) and the Hudson Motor Automotive Firm (based mostly in Detroit, MI). When George Mason, president of Nash Motors, handed away in 1954, his assistant George Romney (father of Mitt Romney) grew to become president of the newly-formed AMC. Mr. Romney dedicated the corporate=s sources to the design and advertising of a smaller automotive referred to as the Rambler that will be a beautiful various to the bigger automobiles produced by Common Motors, Ford and Chrysler. The 1956 Rambler debuted on Dec. 15, 1955. It was marketed as a compact, secure, economical, roomy automotive that might common 24 mpg (13 mpg on the town, 20 mpg on the freeway at 50 mph based mostly on take a look at outcomes printed in In style Mechanics).
The 1957 Rambler Cross Nation Station Wagon was provided in stable colours or a dozen completely different two- or three-tone paint schemes. It got here customary with 4 doorways, computerized transmission, a roll-down tailgate window, a roof rack and a straight 6 cylinder engine with 125 hp for $2,500 or an non-compulsory V-8 engine with 190 hp for $2,630. For comparability, the listing worth for the 1957 Ford Thunderbird was $3,408 and the 1957 Corvette bought for $3,200. The federal minimal wage in 1957 was $1 per hour, equal to an annual wage of $2,000. A AWeather Eye@ air-con unit, energy steering, and seat belts had been obtainable as choices. Roughly 32,000 items had been produced with the 6 cylinder engine and seven,000 items had been produced with the V8 engine.
The 2-tone Rambler Station Wagon on In style Hill Loop has a straight 6 cylinder engine and the non-compulsory Climate Eye air-con unit, presumably as a result of it was initially bought by somebody dwelling within the sizzling south. The 74,445 miles on the odometer recommend that the car was pushed for 7 to 10 years, assuming the proprietor was not a protracted distance touring salesman or a runner hauling moonshine each week to Charleston or Atlanta (not too possible in an air-conditioned 3000 lb station wagon with 125 hp). How and why this car got here to its remaining resting place on Poplar Hill Loop maybe greater than 40 years in the past might ceaselessly stay a thriller however it should little question function a dialog piece for not less than one other 40 years.
Info for this text was obtained from am article in regards to the Ramble Six and V8 engines on Wikipedia.com and hyperlinks therein to data on howstuffworks.com and articles printed in 1956 in In style Mechanics and Life Journal. Photographs of the restored 1957 Rambler had been taken by Christopher Ziemnowicz on the 2011 Potomac Ramblers Membership assembly in Maryland and positioned within the public area on Wikipedia Commons. All different pictures had been taken by the creator in 2014.