Bill Rhodes People Friendly Garden

Pennsylvania, it turns out, is not the greatest place to look for environment-builders and outsider artists, according to Roadside America and Atlas Obscura. There are finds in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas, sure, but in the rest of the state, not so much. 

There are two exceptions in the parts of the state I covered on this trip, though. The best one was Bill Rhodes People Friendly Garden, which I found on Atlas Obscura. It's at 248 S. 3rd Street in the nice small town of Hamburg, which is about two-thirds of the way from Harrisburg to Allentown (north of Reading). 

Rhodes is a welder, but he's also a sculptor who — unlike many reusers of found objects — paints his objects. 

The garden seen from above on one of the balconies.

Rhodes also renovated the historic duplex adjacent into several unique apartments, one of which he occupies. He's been there 25 years. The gardens are a fun accompaniment. 

My photos don't do the place and the work justice. 

This is the Seussian head of the blue-bodied creature in the next photo.

The water wheel was spinning, of course.

A warthog?

I asked Bill where he gets his found materials. He said he goes to a lot of flea markets, generally. He has two intermodal containers, one stacked atop the other, set up behind the building, that are full of pieces waiting to be used. 

Overall, it's quite an enterprise, and if you're anywhere nearby, it's worth going out of your way to visit.