Sep 30, 2005 By Jean Lohr For The 3 min read

ADDISON – Joan Whetsell of Addison in Somerset County has heard all the stories. She has learned firsthand about the National Road (Route 40) and its rich history. Her grandparents taught her that Addison, “was a very important place in that history.”

“The first road across the United States goes through downtown Addison,” she said. “The first toll house you passed through in Pennsylvania going east to west was Petersburg Toll House One.”

It was erected in 1835 after the government decided the National Road was too difficult and too expensive to maintain. Ownership was soon turned over to the states through which it ran – Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania – West Virginia was not yet formed. The states turned it into a toll road to help pay for its maintenance.

Addison was bustling then, what with all the covered wagons, stagecoaches, freight wagons and herds of animals that passed through each day.

Today the borough is a shadow of its former self – just 214 citizens reside there, up two from last year. But its history runs deep, the stories fascinating. Whetsell wants to tell it like it was.

“It must be that teaching thing,” said the former elementary school teacher with a laugh. “There are very important stories here that must be told.”

Currently, president of the Old Petersburg/Addison Historical Society and a longtime story teller, she admits to doing a lot of the research and script writing, but she credits her fellow actors at Triple A Actors, the Seldom Scene Players and other local citizens with breathing life into the project.

“They really try to take on the persona of the person they are portraying,” she said. “All of these people lived here, worked here and many are buried here, as well.”

In a town where the cabinetmaker also made furniture and coffins and served as an undertaker, stories abound.

There were legislators, state senators and more than one Revolutionary War veteran. There were famed Indian fighters, attorneys, farmers, lamplighters, milliners and surveyors.

“Each played a part in the making of the history of Addison,” Whetsell said.

Addison Apparitions will be staged from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, rain or shine, and will feature many citizens of the past.

“I call it a walking front porch tour,” she said. “We don’t actually go in anywhere, but stop at houses along the way. We get to hear and see characters step out of the past. These are real people who really existed, and these are their stories.”

This year she said the program has grown.

There will be 22 characters in all, up from 14 last year and more tales for telling.

“This year there will be gypsies,” she said.

“They were a definite part of the fabric of the National Road,” she continued, as were the “National Road travelers” who were more often called bums.

“I remember when they would stop at the house for something to eat,” said Whetsell in reference to her childhood.

“My grandmother always fed them,” she added. “Her standard fare was a scrambled egg sandwich, coffee with milk and a piece of pie.

“You know, they had a way of marking houses so other travelers would know where they could get a good meal free,” she continued.

“Everyone should come to hear their stories,” she concluded about the history of the National Road and Addison.