Festival becomes major attraction
Washington County played a key role in the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion, the first real test of new federal government. President George Washington sent 13,000 troops to Western Pennsylvania to put down the insurrection – a bit of overkill considering the much smaller number of farmers angry over an excise tax on the whiskey they produced.
The rebels skedaddled, and David Bradford, one of their leaders, fled to what is now Louisiana. Bradford’s home, a National Historic Landmark, still stands on South Main Street in Washington. For years, the city marked this chapter in U.S. history by re-enacting Bradford’s daring escape, supposedly leaping from a rear window and fleeing on horseback as federal troops pounded on his front door. It didn’t happen that way, the truth being less dramatic, but the handful of citizens who showed up for the en-enactment were entertained.
Since 2011, the Whiskey Rebellion has been celebrated annually with a festival that’s been growing each year. Attendance at last July’s celebration was estimated at 15,000. Festival organizers are confident this year’s celebration will be even bigger.
A Washington Symphony concert on Thursday night, July 9, and “Blues, Brews and BBQ” Friday night lead up to Saturday’s all-day activities, beginning with a parade and ending with fireworks downtown. Promoters promise more street theater this year, with re-enactors dressed in late 18th-century costumes, firing cannons and flintlock weapons and tarring and feathering tax collectors. Many of the re-enactors will be camping at Washington Park, where they will man exhibits and stage a great battle at the park’s fort site.
There will be live music playing almost constantly Saturday at various locations, and all of the activities are free to the public, including shuttle buses between downtown and the park. Area historical groups pack the main tent, because the festival has come to be a celebration of our past, from frontier days through the Industrial Revolution.
All of this costs money, and most of it comes from local businesses and corporate sponsors. A good portion of proceeds from beverage sales and vendor fees has gone to the fund to construct a permanent pavilion over the city lots used by the Main Street Farmers’ Market and the festival.
Last year, festival-goers strolling from Main Street activities to those at and behind the LeMoyne House were forced to navigate around deep potholes all along Strawberry Alley, which is actually a two-way downtown street. With so many visitors in town, the street was a hazardous embarrassment.
Might a little blacktop find its way to Strawberry Alley this year?
We’re not optimistic.
The city, with many miles of streets in poor condition, budgeted only $50,000 for street repair from the 2015 general fund.
It plans to use $10,000 from its liquid fuels allocation and $100,000 from the Marcellus Shale impact fee for road repair and construction; still, that doesn’t amount to much.
Washington is the county seat. It has a huge burden of tax-exempt property, which includes the county’s buildings.
In that the Whiskey Festival has developed into a major tourist attraction, not just the city, but the county and Tourism Promotion Agency should do more to support and enhance it.