Sunday, May 24, 2015

The Haines Shoe House

Most of us have heard of the nursery rhyme about the "old woman who lived in a shoe", but in southern Pennsylvania a few miles east of York is the real thing.  The Haines Shoe House was built in 1948 by Mahlon Haines, who had created his own chain of shoe stores.  The house sits on its own namesake road, the south end of which intersects with PA Route 462.

I first read about the Shoe House in Weird U.S., but Off the Beaten Path! and Roadside America also recount its story.  The place has been recently purchased by a local couple, who sell ice cream and other treats on its ground floor, as noted by Penn Live.

Here's the south side of the Shoe House, including the ground-floor entrance to the snack shop.

In this shot, you can see the "heel" and part of the fire escape on the north side of the building.

This smaller "shoe", surrounded by a flower garden, is a dog house.  Its occupant is a stuffed animal.

From the Shoe House property, you can see Shoe House Road passing over U.S. Route 30.  There's no interchange here.  You have to access Shoe House Road either from PA Route 462, as mentioned above, or from back roads to the north.


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