Grampian Hills Cross

The Cross At Grampian Hills

In 1917, 29 year old Ella Schrader had the idea to place a cross on the hillside, to be the center of worship for Easter Services in the Grampian Hills area of Williamsport.

The Schrader family attended church at First Evangelical, on 457 Market Street in Williamsport.  The owner of the Valmont Planing and Mill, John C. Winter, also attended that same church.  [Winter was also involved from the beginning with Central Oak Heights in West Milton, The Evangelical Home In Lewisburg, and was responsible for building a number of Churches in Pottsgrove, Williamsport, and Jersey Shore]

Ella approached Winter with her idea, and immediately agreed, and set about to make it happen.  The first cross was made of wood from the mill.

With permission from the Grampian Land Company, a group of men including Winter, his sons Wilbur and Harry, John Shrader [Ella's father],  Park Schambough, J.A. Neff, S.K. Runyan, John Miller, hauled lumber up the hills and built the cross.  They painted it white, and it was ready for the 1918 Easter Services.  A note from the 1918 service states that it took police two hours to direct automobiles to the hill top.

A storm destroyed the cross in 1920, but a second was built in time for the 1921 service.  For the second cross, Harry Miller offered his services and equipment to illuminate the cross each evening of Holy Week.  

Twelve years later, in 1935, the Williamsport Water Company replaced the wooden structure with a new concrete and steel structure. 

The new structure was completed just in time for the Easter Sunrise Service in 1935. 

April  1935, Easter Sunrise Service

Standing 24 feet high, and 12 feet across, it was strung with lights each Easter week and could be seen for miles.

March, 1962

On April 14, 1963, a reporter for The Grit said, “Easter spirit pervades the city, Christians from Williamsport will join today with millions throughout the world in celebrating Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead.”  Rev. Wallace J. Cummings, pastor of the Newberry Methodist Church, was expected to lead the congregation that day.

Located on Reservoir Rd, Williamsport PA - you can walk up the steps from the Grampian Hills Arch, or you can drive right to this.  If you drive, and if you are using google maps, Reservoir Rd is the paved road off to the left, NOT the dirt road to the right that is shown on google maps.

 The Christian Endeavor Society of Williamsport ran the  Easter service for many years, recruiting assorted pastors from around the region. In March of 1940, newspapers as far away as Scranton reported that snow drifts along the road leading to the "Grampian hills and the illuminated cross that overlooks Williamsport" prompted transfer of the dawn Easter service to the Calvary Baptist Church in town.

At Christmas time, a lighted star was added to the structure.

Many families held picnics at the grounds around the cross in the 1940's and 50's.  Children had contests to see who could run the steps up to the cross the fastest.  

Grampian Hills Cross Sunrise Service 2023

Easter services are still held on the hill, but do not draw the crowds that they did in years past.  In 2019, Good Friday Services were held on the hill.

================

Mayers Stone Quarry, at the bottom of what is today the Grampian Hills Development

In the early 20th century, as the lumber industry began it's decline,  wealthy families began moving away from Millionaires Row.  Williamsport businessman Frank Plankenhorn had a vision for a first class suburb.  In the 1920s, he established Grampian Hills.  The houses there were constructed following rigorous design specifications mandated by Plankenhorn.  

Stone masons from Italy were hired to build the stone  entrance. Steps leading, from the stone structure to the cross at the top of the hill, were constructed in 1929.  The steps border private property, but the steps and path to the cross are open to the public.



==================

More Sights To See In Central PA

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/04/sights-to-see.html

===============

READ MORE

===============

1947

John Calvin Winter was born August 24, 1868, the son of John & Christine ]Shambacher] Winter.  He learned the carpenter trade as a youth, opening his own business in 1891.  

The first church that he worked on was the Presbyterian Church at Pottsgrove, and he made an annual visit there every year until his health no longer permitted it. He was an early sponsor, and trustee, at Central Oak Heights In West Milton, as well as a trustee at the Park Home, and the Evangelical Home and Orphanage at Lewisburg.

Ella Schrader married Rev. Irving Hoff.

Located in the northernmost section of Williamsport, Grampian Hills is a development envisioned by prominent Williamsport businessman Frank Plankenhorn in the 1920s. According to William Kauffman, chairman of the Grampian Hills Association, Plankenhorn owned the hill, constructed the roads, and his was the first house built on the hill at 89 Upland Road. Plankenhorn envisioned a carefully planned residential community designed around specially developed guidelines called the ‘Grampian Hills Standards’.

According to the Grampian Hills Association website, “Carl Tallman, an Ithaca, N.Y. architect and specialist in hillside homes, was chosen to prepare the site and the Standards booklet covering all aspects of construction and stone masons from Italy were hired to construct the monument at the entrance at the north end of Packer Street.”

By 1935, five homes were constructed on Upland and Roderick Streets and development continued steadily after that. In addition to the homes in Grampian Hills, a concrete cross stands on Reservoir Road that dates to the beginnings of the neighborhood.