The winter that then-General George Washington and his troops spent in Valley Forge Park was harrowing. 12,000 of the men of the Continental Army were quartered there in the cold months of 1777 and 1778–a full third of them shoeless–and though the winter was mild, the assiduous precipitation, freezing ice and rain in turns, and the close quarters made the park a breeding ground for disease. Typhoid, jaundice, dysentery, and pneumonia killed 2,500. Hunger ravaged the rest.
So, long story short, it would probably surprise those guys that . Nevertheless, it was.
With 37 percent of the vote, Valley Forge National Park edged out the –no slouch itself at 31 percent–to claim the title of the area’s best place to take a walk.
Find out what's happening in Phoenixvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Tune in on Sunday for the full regional results, and be sure to come by on Monday at 5 a.m., when we’ll post next week’s poll.
