Rooted in Family History: Archivist Reflects on Four Decades of Genealogical Research

Posted by on Apr 9, 2020 in | Comments Off on Rooted in Family History: Archivist Reflects on Four Decades of Genealogical Research Jonathan Stayer had been working at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society for several weeks in 1985 when he received a call from the Pennsylvania State Archives. The PHMC bureau wanted to hire an archivist with experience in genealogical research and Stayer, who had previously worked for the archives surveying county records, was already immersed in the growing field of genealogy. Stayer...
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Landis Valley Museum: The Legacy of Two Brothers Lives on!

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Landis Valley Museum: The Legacy of Two Brothers Lives on! There is an undeniable simplicity, a serenity, that pervades one of Lancaster County’s most fascinating visitor attractions, Landis Valley Museum. A visit to Landis Valley Museum, actually a complex of more than two dozen buildings and structures, offers a glimpse into the lives of those who settled in Lancaster County, beginning in the early eighteenth century. An assemblage of workplaces...
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Where History and Magic Converge: The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Where History and Magic Converge: The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Visitors traveling east of Strasburg on Route 741 in idyllic Lancaster County suddenly encounter a wondrous array of locomotives hard by the road – steam engines, diesels, even an electric. One huge locomotive rests on a massive hundred-foot long turntable. A sign announces Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, beyond which a massive building stands as a memorial, a veritable shrine, to one of...
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Pushing William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” to Its Limits: Ephrata Cloister

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pushing William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” to Its Limits: Ephrata Cloister On the banks of the Cocalico Creek in northern Lancaster County a group of remarkable individuals established Ephrata, one of colonial Pennsylvania’s most unusual communities. A place of intense spirituality, unconventional way of life, literary and artistic brilliance, and medieval-style architecture, Ephrata was the center of a religious society whose principles gave William Penn’s...
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