Hopwood has fascinating history
As the annual National Road Festival approaches, towns along the “Pike” bustle to prepare their celebrations.
The village of Hopwood sits at the bottom of Chestnut Ridge’s Summit Mountain and boasts more colonial stone buildings than any town along the 90-mile stretch.
Lick Run provided the stone, and Lick Hollow, the walnut beams, to build the town’s picturesque businesses and homes over 200 years ago.
On Saturday, May 19, they will celebrate with the wagon train, offering expanded festival activities.
John Hopwood and George Washington were neighbors in Virginia. Hopwood served as Washington’s aid de camp during the Revolutionary War, and they both bought 450 acres along Redstone Creek. At its founding in 1791, Hopwood’s village was named Woodstock like his Virginia Estate.
After President James Monroe visited in 1816, Moses Hopwood named it Monroe. The families had been friends in Virginia where John Hopwood’s wife, Hannah, was the daughter of a past governor. In 1881, the “Pearl of the Pike” was crowned Hopwood because there was another Monroe, Pennsylvania.
Woodstock originally consisted of 400 lots which were sold on credit. Author/historian, Buzz Storey, former editor of the Herald-Standard, referred to it as “The Town with Three Names.”
Lick Run comes off of the mountain and runs through it. This water power, coupled with rich farm and timberland, prompted Hopwood to acquire another 550 acres. He was a wise and progressive man, allowing those who purchased lots to cut timber and quarry the stone for their buildings.
I have mentioned Madison College in Uniontown in previous columns. It had been owned by Congressman Stewart before he moved it to Jumonville and turned it into a Civil War Orphans Home.
John Hopwood donated land and money to build the Union Academy in Hopwood. It was then moved to Uniontown and became Madison College. Historians differ on this, but it may be that the Union Academy was the first “college” type educational institution built this side of the Alleghenies.
John Hopwood was 57 years old when he fell off his horse and died in 1802. His son, Moses, took over his business dealings and landholdings, and the village continued to prosper. As the National Road was built, Hopwood (Monroe at this time!) boomed. There were acres of flatland for herds of animals by the thousands to rest before taking on Summit Mountain … or after a long journey over the rough mountains. Drovers and teamsters found more than ample supplies, taverns, inns, and services in Hopwood so they could rest and prepare for the next leg of their travels.
Due to the location of Hopwood, it is divided by the National Road into North and South Union townships.
Also, due to its location, the Summit Mountain Hillclimbs began there, in front of the James Barnes Estate. Barnes went bankrupt the last year of the hillclimbs (1915), along with his boss, the locally beloved banker and coal land baron, J.V. Thompson.
The Uniontown Speedway board track was built in Hopwood by America’s film and automobile moguls and Fayette County’s coal and coke barons. It took up a large portion of the town from the National Road to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tracks. The internationally famous race track kept Hopwood and Uniontown from economic disaster as Thompson’s bankruptcy took its toll on local business owners and those who banked with him.
Up to 50,000 fans filled the Pearl of the Pike and area cash registers during the big races from 1916 through 1922.
Luckily, Hopwood’s business district has not seen decay. It is a throughway to our county seat, but the truck traffic through the village lined with historic stone buildings became dangerous.
Today, trucks may use the Route 40 bypass, allowing Hopwood to retain it’s unique standing as “Pearl of the Pike.”
Marci Lynn McGuinness is the author and publisher of 26 books including her new book, “Speedway Kings of Southwestern Pennsylvania, 100 Years of Racing History.” She will launch the book at the Hopwood National Road Festival May 19 and serve as grand marshal in the village parade at noon. She can be reached at 724-710-2919, shorepublications@yahoo.com, Shore Publications, P. O. Box 111, Chalk Hill, Pa., 15421 or online: www.ohiopyle.info and www.uniontownspeedway.com. All backorders will be filled throughout May and June. Watch the new Speedway Kings video on You Tube!