Local legend has it that the spot on the Allegheny River where Foxburg now nestles in Clarion County was once payment for an illustrious forefather’s debt.

In lieu of cash, William Penn supposedly promised a Philadelphia doctor surnamed Fox “as much land as could be walked from sunup to sundown” out in the colony’s wild west.

So the visionary Fox hired a fleet-footed Native American guide to do the walking for him, on the longest day of summer, and thus did Fox acquire a huge swath of Penn’s Woods.

That’s the story distributed at Foxburg restaurants over the years, anyway, and while it’s a fun mash-up of fact and fiction, like many myths of origin it captures an essential truth: Foxburg is all about vision — its founders’ and boosters’ vision of what this lovely place could be and, as their vision increasingly becomes reality, the many charming vistas you find when you visit.

Like the pleasing view of the river from the Allegheny Grille, or the lovely interior of the tiny Memorial Church of Our Father — an unexpected, gorgeous Gothic Revival gem.

Next weekend will be the perfect occasion to take it all in — when the annual fall festival celebrating “food, art and wine” fills the broad single block of Main Street all day on Sunday.

Foxburg is a very small borough — fewer than 300 souls — located a 90-mile car trip northeast of Downtown Pittsburgh. My husband and I discovered it a decade ago on a trip to some friends’ nearby farm.

Over years of regular visits, the first by kayak, we’ve been intrigued to watch this hamlet blossom into a compelling destination — all due to the work of a growing band of enthusiasts.

To be sure, they’ve got incredible material to work with. The lovely natural setting lures you onto the water, into the woods or onto the links. When you throw in an excellent concert series, a charming winery and tours of the countryside via every conceivable mode of transportation, you’ve got plenty to fill a laid-back weekend.

The area’s longtime claim to fame is the Foxburg Country Club, which has been in continuous operation since 1887 — the oldest in the United States. Even to non-duffers like me, the log clubhouse’s “American Golf Hall of Fame” is a fun little curiosity. It’s not so much a hall of fame as a collection charting the variations and oddities of golf through the centuries.

Just like the beautiful Neo-Gothic church, the golf course was a gift of the fabulous Fox family — which brings us back to its founding.

William Penn did give 1,000 acres somewhere in the Commonwealth to George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement, but that was years after Fox had visited the colonies and returned to England.

A Samuel Fox obtained warrants for much of the Foxburg area’s acreage on July 12, 1796, and one of these original documents — signed by first governor of the Commonwealth Thomas Mifflin — hangs in the Fox mansion, the home of Foxburg’s latter-day visionary, Art Steffee.

PG graphic: Foxburg
(Click image for larger version)

The Fox mansion, now known as RiverStone Farm, was built in 1828, the first of many structures the Fox family erected. For generations it was the family’s summer home. Dr. Steffee, a retired orthopedic surgeon, bought the estate in 1999, painstakingly restored it and has spent years cultivating its grounds.

He’s also amassed quite a collection of horse-drawn carriages, available for two-hour rides through this amazing property. You can also go by Segway, my tour was by golf cart, and sleds replace carriages in winter — but however you move, it would be worth it to see the stately house, the 28 ponds Dr. Steffee has added, the preening peacocks, the dovecote, the alpacas and the breathtaking river view.

Joseph Mickle Fox, great-grandson of the original owner, discovered golf at St. Andrew’s in Scotland while traveling with a Philadelphia-based cricket team. He fell in love with the game, constructed a hole — then three — in a meadow, and by 1887, had donated the land for the current, public nine-hole course.

In the 1880s, the Fox family also built and donated the beautiful Neo-Gothic church and parish house; the angel painting above its altar is the likeness of Sarah Fox, who died in her youth. The church is open each Friday from 2 p.m. onward and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. for services.

Another descendant named Hannah Fox built the Foxburg Free Library in 1909, with a theater/concert hall on the second floor which, after years of varied uses (including as a medical center), has been restored to its original purpose. Pianist Gayle Henry plays Chopin, Schubert and Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” there on Oct. 19, while on Oct. 25, at a family-friendly Halloween costume party, Tom Ford will accompany silent Charlie Chaplin films with his original piano compositions.

Just like the Foxes before him, Dr. Steffee and his wife, Patricia, have endowed the town with buildings that anchor new cultural and economic enterprises: the Foxburg Inn, Foxburg Wine Cellars and Foxburg Pizza and Country Store.

Along with the vibrant concert hall, art gallery and chocolatier, these venues are managed and curated by a growing group of professionals and volunteers dedicated to nurturing a vision that’s now two centuries old.

Spend a leisurely weekend there, and perhaps you’ll see what they see.

First Published: October 5, 2014, 4:00 a.m.