Back in the early 1900’s before the automobile was gliding down the roads people used horses for their transportation.
During that era, most visitors to the town of Winburne, Cooper Township, arrived by train, trolley or horse.
Located in the center of the once bustling town was a large triangular watering trough that was built by Peale, Peacock and Kerr and the Pennsylvania Coal and Coke Company in about 1904 when the Winburne waterlines were installed.
There was a waterline that filled the trough for the horses, cattle and other living creatures that would need refreshed. This was built at the bottom of the “Winburne – Lanse Hill” and still is there to this day.
According to Garman Lutz in an article that appeared in The Progress in 1976, he said, “You didn’t see many places back then that didn’t have a horse and cow in the backyard.
“Salesmen would come into town by train, rent a horse and buggy, and do business with the Winburne Bottling Co., which bottled root beer and other such sodas, the ice cream plant or the meat market.”
As time marched on and the sound of horse hoofs was lost to the sound of car horns, the watering trough was no longer needed.
Around the time of the World War II, the pipe distributing water was sealed up. As many other towns removed their local watering hole, Winburne’s has remained.
In 1976, for the celebration of the Bicentennial of the United States, Mr. Emil Isaacson owned the property where the watering trough was located.
He planted it with red, white and blue petunias to mark the birth of our nation.
