Foxburg's quaint, old flavor draws visitors
FOXBURG — Though he owns a winery, art gallery and hotel there, Dr. Arthur Steffee is not the only one setting up shop on Main Street.
Though Debbie Mullins hasn't quit her day job at Foxburg Wine Cellars, her weekends are spent selling wares at her own shop, Foxburg Fineries.
Open for about three years now, the shop specializes in antiques, collectibles and memorabilia.
"We wanted to open another door to Foxburg," Mullins said. "The opportunity arose. The building was sitting empty."
That, and her admiration of antiques, was all the convincing Mullins needed go into business.
Though Mullins is the first person in recent years other than Steffee to pursue a commercial venture on Main Street, Steffee hopes other people will follow. Already he has been contacted by others who are interested, and he has encouraged them to consider Foxburg.
Businesses here stand a chance at drawing a diverse crowd. The historic golf course at the country club, which is open to the public; Foxburg Livery and Outfitters; the Foxburg Inn and other recent additions to Main Street are drawing people from all over the United States.
A scan of the guest book at the country club shows that in the past year people have come from such places as Butler, Chicora, Slippery Rock, Franklin and Oil City, but they also have come from California, Arizona, Colorado, Trinidad and Tobago, and Scotland.
Visitors listed in the guest book at the red caboose tourist information center on Main Street hail from Petrolia and Saxonburg, but also from Texas, North Carolina and Ontario.
According to Mullins, the number of visitors continues to pick up. Most people come from larger towns or cities within a two-hour drive.
"It's a simple drive, and if you take back roads, it's scenic. They want to get away,"Mullins said. "They find this atmosphere quaint, innocent. It hasn't been commercialized. It still has the old flavor."
Charlie Reash, an employee at Foxburg Wine Cellars, said the winery has become a draw to motorists on Interstate 80, which has an exit in nearby Emlenton, and to businessmen traveling along back roads.
Also, there are people who enjoy traveling to different wineries, which are becoming more common in Western Pennsylvania, he said.
Scott Kuhn, manager of the Foxburg Inn, said most of the restaurant's customers come from a 120-mile radius. Their reason for coming is no secret to Kuhn.
"There's a beauty, a magical feeling people get when looking down the river," he said.
Restaurant customers regularly come from, among other places, Cleveland, Erie and Beaver Falls, Kuhn said.
Once the Fox Inn hotel and a small retail center open later in the year, Mullins expects even more visitors.
