Graeme Park at 300

Posted by on May 13, 2022 in | Comments Off on Graeme Park at 300   The mansion at Graeme Park (graemepark.org) in Horsham, Montgomery County, was the residence of several prominent Pennsylvanians in the 18th century and is today one of the oldest buildings on the Pennsylvania Trails of History. To mark the 300th anniversary of the house, the Friends of Graeme Park posted numerous historical photographs and vignettes on their website and Facebook pages...
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The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: 300 Years of the Highest Court in the Commonwealth

Posted by on May 13, 2022 in | Comments Off on The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: 300 Years of the Highest Court in the Commonwealth The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania was established on May 22, 1722, in Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester counties, 67 years before the United States Supreme Court came into existence. It is the oldest appellate court in the nation. Its status became official as part of the Judiciary Act of 1722, separating it from the control of the royal governor. The act made significant progress in establishing...
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Pennsylvania Governors Residences Open to the Public

Posted by on Jul 17, 2015 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Governors Residences Open to the Public Pennypacker Mills Pennypacker Mills possesses a lengthy history dating to about 1720 when Hans Jost Hite built the fieldstone house and a gristmill near the Perkiomen Creek, Schwenksville, Montgomery County. Purchased in 1747 by Peter Pennypacker (1710-1770), the house was enlarged and a saw mill and a fulling mill were constructed. The property acquired its name for the three mills. Peter...
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York County: A Most Treasured Land

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on York County: A Most Treasured Land Planted squarely above the Maryland border, the gigantic horse’s hoof, which is the out­ line of York County, covers an area of 914 square miles, supporting a popula­tion of 300,000. Its eastern contour is delineated by the “long, crooked” Sus­quehanna, its pastern cleanly cut off by Cumberland County on the north, its outer edge defined by Adams Coun­ty on the west. This...
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Preserving Pieces of Pennsylvania’s Past: An Inside Look at the Building of the Commonwealth’s Collections

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Preserving Pieces of Pennsylvania’s Past: An Inside Look at the Building of the Commonwealth’s Collections Associations between butterflies and buttons, Conestoga wagons and cannon, sculpture and arrowheads, or fossils and founder William Penn’s original Charter may seem tenuous, even obscure and, perhaps, nonsensical. But a relationship does exist: they are among the one and a half million objects and thirty thousand cubic feet of manuscripts, records, maps and photographs in the custody and...
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Graeme Park

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Graeme Park After just a few moments spent strolling the grounds of this historic Montgomery County site, visitors realize that they have stepped back – far back – in time. Upon entering the charming country house, visitors know this is a very special place. Built in 1722 by Governor William Keith, it is the Keystone State’s only surviving residence of a colonial governor. The property was...
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A Step Back In Time: Graeme Park, Colonial Country Estate

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Step Back In Time: Graeme Park, Colonial Country Estate Some call it a time capsule from the eighteenth century, others, a place hallmarked by beauty and tranquility, ambition and greed, deceit and scan­dal, joy and happiness, sadness and sorrow – all of which have left an indelible spiritual imprint. But mostly, Graeme Park, a country estate less than twenty miles north of Philadelphia in Horsham, Montgomery County, is a place of pure paradox....
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Hannah Penn, Pennsylvania’s First Woman Governor

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Hannah Penn, Pennsylvania’s First Woman Governor On October 1, 1712, William Penn (1644-1718) and his second wife Hannah Callowhill Penn (1671-1726) left their large country house at Ruscombe, near Reading, England, and made their way to Bristol, located along the south­west coast. Theirs was a bittersweet journey. Just four months earlier, Penn had convinced the Crown to purchase the proprietary rights to Pennsylvania, his beloved – and...
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An Act Against Pirates and Sea-Robbers

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on An Act Against Pirates and Sea-Robbers On July 22, 1718, Deputy Governor William Keith (1669-1749) informed Pennsylvania’s Provincial Council that several mariners delivered to the port of Philadelphia a sloop that had been seized and plundered by pirates. Less than a month later, on August 11, 1718, Keith expressed his concern over the great losses suffered by the colony at the hands of ruthless pirates operating about the...
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