Frick's Lock: A PA Ghost Town

Though most of Pennsylvania's genuine ghost towns are just cellar holes and foundations, a few are still standing. One that's been getting some attention lately is Frick's Lock, in Chester County, PA.

It's not hard to see what killed Frick's Lock: even far from the town, the cooling towers of the Limerick nuclear plant loom over the horizon. The Philadelphia Energy Company, or PECO, bought out the homes in the 1970s. It's not clear whether the company believed there was an immediate danger to living in the area, or if Standing in the middle of the town, there's a considerable drone from the plant, and lots of visitors say it feels warmer in the town that further away.

What attracts many of those visitors is the history of the town. The village was founded in 1757, and a few of the homes may date back to that time. Others were probably built during the town's heyday as a port along the "Schuylkill Navigation" canal in the 1800's.

Indeed, Frick's Lock was called Frick's Village before the canal was built. But as rail overtook water as a means for transportation, the canal was drained and filled in 1947, and the town declined into a mostly residential area.

A particularly sad part of the story of Frick's Lock is how such a historic site has been allowed to crumble. PECO has done little to secure the site, and vandals have wrecked porches, stairs and other woodwork. One visitor even mentioned that he met a family of three strolling down the single narrow road, startling them as he stepped out of a building.

Of course, because the area is privately owned, visitors risk being fined for trespassing. It's unfortunate, as many interesting finds have been made by people exploring the site illegally: jars full of preserved crabs, wooden signs that read "Visitors Welcome 10am-4pm," even Indian arrowheads have been found in the ghost town.

Clearly, Frick's Lock is not protected as well as the abandoned Pennhurst school, nor is it as popular among urban explorers, but people interested in visiting the town may try asking the local police for permission; a few people have reported success that way.

It's unclear if PECO has any plans to revive Frick's Lock. In the past few months, new "No Trespassing" signs have been posted after old ones were torn down by vandals, but no other work seems to have been done. It would be a tremendous setback for Pennsylvania history to lose a place like Frick's Lock.