Recently we had the pleasure to visit the Ghost Town of Celestia, near Eagles Mere, PA. While there we left a small treasure for The Treasure Chest Project. This was a tiny chest with a Presidential Dollar Coin, and a few others, inside. I’m sure it will make some random finder smile!
Celestia’s history began in the mid 1800’s and ended by the early 1900’s. Religious unrest caused the formation of the town. It was built for those who believed they were waiting there for the coming of Christ. The Celestians took Isiah’s verse of the Bible; ‘In the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord’, to refer to the land they created for their sacred town. It was positioned far from any major city and was definitely considered in the wilderness. It still could be seen as such.
Celestia was known as the ‘City of Heaven’, but leftover foundations and old papers, suggest it wasn’t ever more than a small self-supporting community made up around 20 or so buildings. These buildings included a general store, sawmill, barns, family homes, and a few other outbuildings.
Although a happy and peaceful people, over time the Celestians dispersed, and the buildings of the ‘City of Heaven’ were left alone for the wilderness to overtake all that once thrived there.
Only ruins of home and barn foundations, the spring which provided fresh water, traces of the apple orchard, pastures for grazing animals, and remnants of the mill are there to keep memory of a town once built.
It was interesting to visit the Ghost Town, walk down through the wilderness, hide a tiny treasure, and think about how all things change over time.
.
.
.