Into the Dark World of Catching Crooks, Culprits and Convicts: An Interview with Robert K. Wittman

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Into the Dark World of Catching Crooks, Culprits and Convicts: An Interview with Robert K. Wittman by Michael J. O’Malley III Robert King “Bob” Wittman in no way resembles the highly romanticized portrayals of FBI agents made famous over the decades by movie studios and television series. He is not the heavy-hitting, gang-busting, chain-smoking G-man, replete with fedora rakishly angled atop his head. Instead, he embodies the old-school preppy style – looking as though...
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The Formidable Chews of Cliveden Preserve a National Landmark

Posted by on Jun 6, 2016 in | Comments Off on The Formidable Chews of Cliveden Preserve a National Landmark Fifty years ago on October 15, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the federal government’s first official and all-encompassing policy designed to preserve and protect the nation’s irreplaceable historic, cultural, architectural and archaeological sites. The act spurred citizens throughout the country to actively embrace historic...
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From the Editor

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on From the Editor The theme we adopted for Pennsylvania Heritage’s 40th anniversary is “Telling Stories, Sharing History,” which has been our mantra since the magazine debuted in 1974. This edition is particularly rich with stories that will broaden readers’ understanding and appreciation of the Commonwealth’s 20th-century history. In fact, all three of the feature articles, in...
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From the Editor

Posted by on Dec 2, 2013 in | Comments Off on From the Editor The beginning of a new year entices us to look back upon the previous year and contemplate our progress, taking into account both successes and failures. But 2014 is even more significant for Pennsylvania Heritage and its loyal readers. With this edition we mark the magazine’s 40th anniversary. That’s 157 editions filled with, as we like to say, “everything Pennsylvania.”...
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America’s Oldest Brewery: A Pictorial History

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on America’s Oldest Brewery: A Pictorial History Touted as “America’s Oldest Brewery” by the family which originated and still owns the Pottsville brewing company, D. G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. is an unusual collection of mid-nineteenth century buildings which seem to cling pre­cariously to the steep northern slope of the Sharp Mountain above this Schuylkill County seat. The brewery was founded by David G. Yuengling, a...
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The Last Frontier: Venango County Indians, Oil, Ghost Towns

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Last Frontier: Venango County Indians, Oil, Ghost Towns Venango County. Its name is derivation of a the Seneca Indian word earliest for explorers “French and Creek.” Its earliest explorers and settlers were the French, shortly followed by the English. At one time, the territory was claimed simultaneously by France, and the colonies of Virginia and Pennsyl­vania. But Venango County’s rich history bespeaks vigorous pioneering a spirit...
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Ben Austrian: The Chick Painter of Reading

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Ben Austrian: The Chick Painter of Reading His name isn’t exactly a household word. But chances are his century old creation – a plump little chick sporting a fancy French name – has been seen by countless homemakers in Pennsylvania, as well as throughout the world. Revered in Reading, Berks County, and throughout southeastern Pennsylvania as “the chick painter,” Ben Aus­trian depicted a chick for Bon Ami...
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Cameron County: Where Legends are Legion

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Cameron County: Where Legends are Legion Tucked high away in Pennsylvania’s once foreboding northern tier, the little county called Cameron was a segment of the vast wilderness known for many years as the Com­monwealth’s last frontier. In fact, the county was not for­mally established until 1860, the sixty-sixth of the sixty­-seven counties apportioned and organized by the state legislature. Actual settlement of Ca­meron...
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Wayne County: A History Deep and Clear

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Wayne County: A History Deep and Clear The Land of Lakes, it might best be called. Its sweeping verdant valleys and velvety golden meadows harbor dozens of picturesque settlements – and more than a hundred natural and artificial lakes. Its resorts teem with summer colonists – primarily expatriate New Yorkers escap­ing the stifling heat of Manhat­tan in August – and recall a less frenzied era when there seemed to be...
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Sullivan County: Picture Post Card Pretty

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Sullivan County: Picture Post Card Pretty Named for Gen. John Sullivan, fearless leader of the leg­endary bloodbath, Sullivan’s March, mounted in 1779 to attack the hostile Iro­quois of northern Pennsylva­nia, Sullivan County is today – as it was throughout the nineteenth century – a bucolic, pastoral landscape, best known for the recreational opportunities it has offered generations of sportsmen and sojourners. For...
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