Adventure: Overholt Distillery

It's my own personal Whiskey Rebellion, appropriately right here in Southwestern Pa.

I know what you're thinking. If Captain Crash went to a distillery it must have been to get drunk. Wrong! Its time for a little urban ex.... well not really 'urban' since it's in the middle of nowhere... so we'll just call it abandonment exploration.... or guerrilla tourism... whatever, just read on for a sweet adventure!

If you're coming down the Bottom Yough by canoe or kayak or the Great Allegheny Passage by bike or on foot, you may have seen the large old structures rising, very much out of character, above the tree tops on the northern banks of the Youghiogheny River. And if you don't just pass on by like most do, you'd get to see the historic site of the A. Overholt & Co. Distillery.

It was here that the rather famous Old Overholt Whiskey was made. The extensive facility built in the 1850's covered several acres in the small town of Broad Ford, not far from Connellsville. Despite the age of the facility, it operated for multiple generations and even more surprisingly most of the structures still remain. Obviously the disrepair is overwhelming-- roofs fallen off, holes in floors, smashed out windows, entire stairwells collapsed-- but that just makes exploring all the more fun. You can even still see the remains of a swinging cable bridge that crossed the Yough for workers to have quick access from the village of Adelaide.

Sparky, Gunz, and myself made a wintry trip to the old Overholt Distillery, accessing the facility on snow covered trails via Sparky's Jeep. The multiple buildings left us with several hours of exploration, climbing onto the roof tops and ducking down into tunnels below.

After the jump, a crap load of sweet pictures from Team Crash's trip into the Overholt Distillery. Grab a drink and click "Read More" 

---

Glug glug glug. Not even bothering giving the dialog of this adventure. Pics aren't even in order. We explored half a dozen century-and-a-half old buildings from top to bottom, inside and out. Sometimes we had to get pretty creative to get into some of the upper floors since some stair wells were non existent. Nothing that some climbing skills and giving each other boosts couldn't solve. Finding a few busted up ladders and palettes. in the warehouses didn't hurt that cause either. It all ended up being worth it as those considerably high rooftops provided great views of the Youghiogheny River down below. Enjoy.

And just like that we romped right on out in Sparky's Jeep. Awesome old buildings and so very very much to explore. But it was cold, dark, and snowy and we were hungry. It was Bud Murphy's time for sure.

Tally-ho!
-Crash