Historical markers occasionally show up in motion pictures and television shows, usually as an innocent bystander. Recently I was watching a movie from 1978 that I’ve seen once or twice, and although I remembered the scene from my previous viewings, I was still surprised to see the prominence of this historical marker for a brief moment in the movie.
The Boys from Brazil was not a particularly successful movie in 1978, but it was subsequently released on home video and occasionally shows up on streaming services such as Netflix. That is how I came across the movie once again. Three-fourths of the way through the movie the camera follows a car driving on the foggy roads of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The end of this particular camera shot was a historical marker alongside the road, and the shot held steady for a few seconds and placed the marker in full-frame. With the pause button now a way of watching movies today, I paused to read the marker:
Quarryville - 3
New Providence
Formerly “Black Horse”
From a Noted Old Tavern Stand
Founded
1730
Since I knew how the movie ended, I interrupted my movie watching to check whether this marker was in the Historical Marker Database (HMdb). It was not. I next wanted to know if this marker still existed. I reviewed the scene with the historical marker once again to determine if there were any landmarks or other clues I could gather from the movie to locate the marker. There were — several distinctive buildings and an intersection with a side road entering the main road at an acute angle. With the help of Google Maps, I was able to narrow down this movie location to the intersection of Old Road and Beaver Valley Pike (US 222) in the village of New Providence in Providence Township with Quarryville just down the pike.
Google Street View gave me a snapshot of the area in November 2015. There was no sign of the marker, and I had to delve further back in history. The snapshot view of July 2009 did not show the marker, but it did show what most likely was the support post for the marker. It was in the right location to match the vistas of the marker and surrounding area as seen in the movie, and it was only a few feet from the edge of the road pavement.
So what did I surmise from these Google Street View snapshots? I found the right location of the marker; the marker no longer exists; the marker became missing some time between 1978 and July 2009; the support post stayed around a little bit longer, but it was gone too by 2015. There is now no evidence on the ground showing that there was a marker at this site.
I searched the internet for any information on the marker. Unfortunately, there is not much. I could not find any images of the marker, and the only search mention of the marker is from the Keystone Marker Trust. The Trust states no known photos of the marker exist and provides an approximate location for the marker, which is about 300 yards south of the location I calculated.
This lost marker may never be replaced. The marker still remains in the memories of those that were fortunate to see it in person or at the movies. But besides these oral affirmations, the only proof we have of the existence of this marker is the digital record gleaned from the celluloid of an almost 40-year old motion picture. And with this record, the keystone marker New Providence will never be completely lost.
 |
| The marker as seen in the 1978 movie The Boys From Brazil |
 |
| The intersection of Beaver Valley Pike and Old Road From the 1978 movie The Boys From Brazil |
 |
| Beaver Valley Pike in 2015 Marker was located at the lower right of the image Note the 2-story building on the left that is also seen in the movie Google Street View (©2016 Google Street View), November 2015 |
 |
| Beaver Valley Pike in 2009 Marker support post on right side of road Google Street View (©2016 Google Street View), July 2009 |
Marker Information
Name: New Providence
Number: Quarryville - 3
Type: Standard One-Sided Keystone
County and Township: Lancaster County, Providence Township
Location: West side of Beaver Valley Pike (US 222) approx. 350 feet north of Main Street
Location Coordinates: 39.928032, -76.198342
Web Link
Keystone Marker Trust page on the New Providence marker
No comments:
Post a Comment