The Old Maid
07-12-2005, 02:59 PM
I took the holiday week to go to Shanksville, Pennsylvania to pay my respects.
As you drive up Skyline lane from the south going north, you round a bend in the road and there it is. The visitors' area overlooks the crash site. That part of the grounds is fenced for now; only the families may walk there.
If you have heard of the book Offerings at the Wall, that is how the memorial has begun. Visitors leave their names in the book, but they also leave memorabilia. I saw vanity plates, a Slinky, a Mr. Incredible action figure, hats/caps/hardhats, angel memorabilia, a toy dumptruck, a toy firetruck, and at least fifty handpainted stones. Seashells, dozens of seashells. Crosses, lots of those, a few BVMs, although there was a tiny Buddha also. Lots of arts & crafts items. The area is close to both the Kentucky arts & crafts region and Amish country and the items left at the site reflect those influences.
Already there are about 15 plaques made of bare metal, bronze, etched stone, marble. One plaque was from a log core. They came from all over. One is from Guatemala, another from an FBI team that came there from out-of-state. A plaque was dedicated by schoolchildren who offered 8,500 rosaries. A motorcycle group called "Ride America" left one of the largest. There are plaques with every name, benches with every name, arts & crafts metal angels with every name, and every arts & crafts metal angel was decorated with their own miniature offerings, mostly beads, personal notes, and small toys.
Several plaques contain the same lines :
If tears could build a stairway
and memories a lane
I'd walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again.
Every vertical surface except the benches and plaques are covered with scribblings of visitors, including the fences, the flagpoles, and the parking lot guard rails. Most horizontal surfaces had stones placed upon them in memory, though not in a way that covered any writing.
The day I came there was a constant stream of motorcyclists. The guides are professional and the presentation simple and dignified. Nothing of a commercial nature is to be found within miles of the place. (It is a field, after all.) Because of the terrain, the wind always blows there.
The park service had obtained all the land and hopes to design a permanent memorial in time. Five finalists have been selected, but the Park Service only gives directions to the showcase room (in Somerset) to visitors, not to web denizens. They only give directions to those who made the effort to pay their respects in person. A jury will make the final determination this September, and some family members will be on the jury.
Update (August 2005) : Now that the jury has been chosen for the Flight 93 memorial, it seems the memorial authority has decided to release the proposals/designs of the five finalists after all.
The official website is http://www.flight93memorialproject.org (http://www.flight93memorialproject.org/)
Directions :
The memorial is located on Skyline Drive, north of the town of Shanksville (established 1803), in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
Shanksville-the-town is at the crossroads of Stutzmantown Road and Bridge Road.
Skyline Drive is located inside a triangle of roads, with US-30 to the north, Lambertsville Road to its west, and Buckstown Road to its east. Skyline Drive's western end is at Lambertsville Road, and Skyline ends on the east at Buckstown Road.
Westbound drivers :
Travelers from the east would go west on toll road I-70/76 past Harrisburg (PA) to exit 146 (the exit for I-99/US-220/US-30). Follow road signs to US-30. Go west on US-30 and go west past Schellsburg and Reels Corner. When you get to Buckstown look for the sign pointing you to turn south on Buckstown Road. (I do not recall Buckstown Road being marked, but all roads leading to the memorial, from any direction, are flagged.) Take Buckstown Road south to Skyline Drive. Then go north on Skyline to the memorial.
Eastbound drivers :
Travelers from the west would go east on toll road I-70/76 to the Somerset (PA) exit for Route 601/Route 281/US-219. Follow directions to Route 281. Go northeast to US-30. Then go east on US-30 to Lambertsville Road. South on Lambertsville Road goes to Skyline Drive (go south).
If you run into construction on route 281, an alternate route is to take US-219 to route 31. Take route 31 east to Stutzmantown Road. Follow Stutzmantown Road east about 10-15 miles to the stop sign in downtown Shanksville. Turn north onto Bridge Street. Follow Bridge Street north until it ends at Buckstown Road.
Side note to tourists : If you're not planning to grab lunch in town, go before you get there. There are only 4 portajohns.
One consolation if you get lost is that you will end up somewhere else. Following US-219 far enough north will take you to the Johnstown Flood memorial, and following US-30 far enough east will take you to Gettysburg. So the visitor can plan a weekend around this area. It's strange, though ... there's just something beyond-words about visiting a memorial that happened in your lifetime.
Who else has been to a memorial site?
As you drive up Skyline lane from the south going north, you round a bend in the road and there it is. The visitors' area overlooks the crash site. That part of the grounds is fenced for now; only the families may walk there.
If you have heard of the book Offerings at the Wall, that is how the memorial has begun. Visitors leave their names in the book, but they also leave memorabilia. I saw vanity plates, a Slinky, a Mr. Incredible action figure, hats/caps/hardhats, angel memorabilia, a toy dumptruck, a toy firetruck, and at least fifty handpainted stones. Seashells, dozens of seashells. Crosses, lots of those, a few BVMs, although there was a tiny Buddha also. Lots of arts & crafts items. The area is close to both the Kentucky arts & crafts region and Amish country and the items left at the site reflect those influences.
Already there are about 15 plaques made of bare metal, bronze, etched stone, marble. One plaque was from a log core. They came from all over. One is from Guatemala, another from an FBI team that came there from out-of-state. A plaque was dedicated by schoolchildren who offered 8,500 rosaries. A motorcycle group called "Ride America" left one of the largest. There are plaques with every name, benches with every name, arts & crafts metal angels with every name, and every arts & crafts metal angel was decorated with their own miniature offerings, mostly beads, personal notes, and small toys.
Several plaques contain the same lines :
If tears could build a stairway
and memories a lane
I'd walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again.
Every vertical surface except the benches and plaques are covered with scribblings of visitors, including the fences, the flagpoles, and the parking lot guard rails. Most horizontal surfaces had stones placed upon them in memory, though not in a way that covered any writing.
The day I came there was a constant stream of motorcyclists. The guides are professional and the presentation simple and dignified. Nothing of a commercial nature is to be found within miles of the place. (It is a field, after all.) Because of the terrain, the wind always blows there.
The park service had obtained all the land and hopes to design a permanent memorial in time. Five finalists have been selected, but the Park Service only gives directions to the showcase room (in Somerset) to visitors, not to web denizens. They only give directions to those who made the effort to pay their respects in person. A jury will make the final determination this September, and some family members will be on the jury.
Update (August 2005) : Now that the jury has been chosen for the Flight 93 memorial, it seems the memorial authority has decided to release the proposals/designs of the five finalists after all.
The official website is http://www.flight93memorialproject.org (http://www.flight93memorialproject.org/)
Directions :
The memorial is located on Skyline Drive, north of the town of Shanksville (established 1803), in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
Shanksville-the-town is at the crossroads of Stutzmantown Road and Bridge Road.
Skyline Drive is located inside a triangle of roads, with US-30 to the north, Lambertsville Road to its west, and Buckstown Road to its east. Skyline Drive's western end is at Lambertsville Road, and Skyline ends on the east at Buckstown Road.
Westbound drivers :
Travelers from the east would go west on toll road I-70/76 past Harrisburg (PA) to exit 146 (the exit for I-99/US-220/US-30). Follow road signs to US-30. Go west on US-30 and go west past Schellsburg and Reels Corner. When you get to Buckstown look for the sign pointing you to turn south on Buckstown Road. (I do not recall Buckstown Road being marked, but all roads leading to the memorial, from any direction, are flagged.) Take Buckstown Road south to Skyline Drive. Then go north on Skyline to the memorial.
Eastbound drivers :
Travelers from the west would go east on toll road I-70/76 to the Somerset (PA) exit for Route 601/Route 281/US-219. Follow directions to Route 281. Go northeast to US-30. Then go east on US-30 to Lambertsville Road. South on Lambertsville Road goes to Skyline Drive (go south).
If you run into construction on route 281, an alternate route is to take US-219 to route 31. Take route 31 east to Stutzmantown Road. Follow Stutzmantown Road east about 10-15 miles to the stop sign in downtown Shanksville. Turn north onto Bridge Street. Follow Bridge Street north until it ends at Buckstown Road.
Side note to tourists : If you're not planning to grab lunch in town, go before you get there. There are only 4 portajohns.
One consolation if you get lost is that you will end up somewhere else. Following US-219 far enough north will take you to the Johnstown Flood memorial, and following US-30 far enough east will take you to Gettysburg. So the visitor can plan a weekend around this area. It's strange, though ... there's just something beyond-words about visiting a memorial that happened in your lifetime.
Who else has been to a memorial site?