Shooting Targets and Raising U.S. Sharpshooters Regiments

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Shooting Targets and Raising U.S. Sharpshooters Regiments Originally filed with records related to the 2nd United States Sharpshooters, these targets were for years presumed by Pennsylvania State archivists to have been produced by members of the famed infantry regiment while firing target practice with their Sharps rifles. Further investigation, however, has uncovered additional information that reinterprets why and by whom the targets were created....
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Fayette at the Crossroads

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Fayette at the Crossroads Fayette County has always been at the crossroads, both literally and figuratively, its destiny shaped by its location, the incredible riches of its natural resources and the vi­tality of a people descended from al­most every nation of Europe. It has a son of dual personality, geo­graphically divided between mountains and lowlands, historically divided into two almost equal eras of economic...
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Historical Sketch of Greene County

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Historical Sketch of Greene County Greene County lies in the southwestern corner of the state. Its many hills, the distinguishing feature of the countryside, grow more pronounced as one travels from the eastern to the western areas. The old Washington Waynes­burg Railroad, traveling through the hills, was famous for its 178 sharp turns, each of which jolted the passengers. There were some who took the trip just for the roller...
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Pennsylvania Places through the Bird’s-Eye Views of T.M. Fowler

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Places through the Bird’s-Eye Views of T.M. Fowler During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, America indulged in a love affair with panoramic drawings of urban areas, known – aptly but simply­ – as town views. Some were drawn at ground level, or from a modest elevation (such as a hill or tall building) and often depicted a skyline. Others, made from an aerial perspective, were known as bal­loon views, aero views and,...
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Remembering the Steam Days

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Remembering the Steam Days 1953 brought on a lot of changes for the Monongahela Railway Company, a small but busy coal-hauling railroad in southwestern Pennsylvania, which operated from South Brownsville, Fayette County, to Fairmont, West Virginia, a distance of about seventy-three miles. Twenty-seven brand new Baldwin diesel electric road­-switching locomotives arrived at the South Brownsville shops in 1953. They...
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Circles and Cycles – Working the Monongahela River Towboats: A Personal Portrait

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Circles and Cycles – Working the Monongahela River Towboats: A Personal Portrait A river is not defined by its banks. If it were, a simple line drawing would suffice to delineate it. People who work on it and live along its banks tell us what the Monongahela River is: it is about the people as much as the geography. This was a valley of steel and is still a valley of coal. The river defines the char­acter of the valley and affects people in ways they always aren’t...
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