The following image is from a 1939 USDA aerial photo. Most of the road that is highlighted by the dashed red line also appears on an 1872 map of Somerset County. The yellow route seems to be shown on the 1841 Walter Rogers Johnson map. Click here to see a representation of the Felty Hill road on the 1818 Melish-Whiteside map (map detail provided below). Click here to see why I believe that Isaac Hardin's home place was along the Felty Hill Road route that is marked in yellow. The 1876 Beers map of Southampton Township shows that John R. Brinham owned a building there circa 1876 ( map detail detail below). It seems likely that this would be the Isaac Hardin home that is shown on the 1818 Melish-Whiteside map of Somerset County.
Based on the 1841 Johnson map, I believe that at one time, the yellow route extended west to about where Route 160, instead of kinking southward toward the Palo Alto road. Because the route appeared more southernly angled in 1818 and on traces of the "red route" shown below, but not on the 1841 map, I suspect that the "red route" may have been used both before and after the "yellow route". A portion of the Felty Hill road is still in use today (2009) between Grand View Drive and Walnut Lane. My uncle, who was born in 1926 and has lived all his life on the Daniel Korns, Jr. farm on Walnut Lane, told me in 2009 that he does not remember the Felty Hill Road going past Grand View drive and down over to Route 160.
The map fragment below is from the 1876 Beers Atlas. It shows the way the Felty Hill appeared at that time; apparently it was partly the "red route", and partly the "yellow route" shown above. The 1876 map has been annotated to show the probable location of Isaac Hardin's home, based on where it is shown on the 1818 Melish-Whiteside map.
The map fragment below is from the 1818 Melish-Whiteside map of Somerset County. It appears to show that the route of the Felty Hill Road in 1818 must have at least roughly followed the "red route" that is marked on the 1939 aerial photo above. "Harding's" on the map would be where Isaac Harden was living in 1818.
Return to analysis of Southampton portion of the Melish Map
