The Sesquicentennial International Exposition

Posted by on Aug 13, 2026 in | Comments Off on The Sesquicentennial International Exposition The seeds for the 1926 Sesquicentennial International Exposition were sown by the success of Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exhibition. Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker, the lone survivor of the 1876 Centennial’s Finance Committee, provided the initial push for another exposition to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, he passed away in...
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“The Power of Many Giants” at the 1876 Centennial Exposition

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on “The Power of Many Giants” at the 1876 Centennial Exposition Amid the pageantry and grandeur of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition’s opening ceremony, one event towered above all others. On May 10, 1876, thousands of visitors crowded into Machinery Hall to watch President Ulysses S. Grant and Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil climb atop a gigantic Corliss steam engine. On a platform on top of the 45-foot-tall machine, the two heads of state pulled two...
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Getting Pennsylvania on Speaking Terms

Posted by on Sep 8, 2025 in | Comments Off on Getting Pennsylvania on Speaking Terms Following Alexander Graham Bell’s famous exhibition of the telephone at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia, a sprawling telephone network would soon connect people in every corner of the United States. The telephone quickly became a popular communication tool among merchants and business owners who valued its instantaneous nature, such as John Wanamaker, who first installed...
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Autocar: Master of Load and Road

Posted by on Feb 24, 2025 in | Comments Off on Autocar: Master of Load and Road THE PENNZOIL AUTOCAR LORRY MADE HISTORY ON ITS FIRST TRIP <STOP> CARRIED 5964 GALLONS GROSS LOAD 65000 LBS OVER SIXTY MILES OF HILLS AND MOUNTAINS FROM ROUSEVILLE TO ERIE IN TWO HOURS FIFTY NINE MINUTES <STOP> ONE HOUR AND SIX MINUTES BETTER THAN PREVIOUS BEST RECORD TIME BY ANY BULK HAUL UNIT <STOP> RETURN TRIP IN ONE HOUR AND FIFTY THREE MINUTES In 1932 the Autocar Company of...
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Pennsylvania’s Fossil Record

Posted by on Mar 29, 2024 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania’s Fossil Record   One of Pennsylvania’s most incredible dinosaur discoveries happened by accident — and almost became building material for a bridge in Adams County. In 1937 a team of men were digging in a quarry near York Springs. The sandstone blocks they were excavating were needed for a series of new bridges at the nearby Gettysburg National Military Park. As they chiseled away at a steep cliff wall,...
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Pinchot Roads: Paving the Way for Progress

Posted by on Jul 24, 2023 in | Comments Off on Pinchot Roads: Paving the Way for Progress In the early years of travel, Pennsylvania’s roads were difficult and even dangerous to navigate. Margaret van Horn Dwight struggled to traverse the roads of Franklin County by carriage. She wrote in 1810, “I was so lame and so [tired] that for an hour I did not know but I must set down and die — I could not ride — the road was so bad, it was worse than walking.” A few weeks later she had a...
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Living in the Cornplanter Grant

Posted by on Dec 15, 2022 in | Comments Off on Living in the Cornplanter Grant The Cornplanter Grant is well known as the Warren County home of Cornplanter (Gy-ant-wa-chia, 1740?–1836), chief warrior and leader from the Seneca Nation in northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York. For nearly 200 years, this 700-acre tract of land along the Allegheny River was home to a thriving community of Cornplanter’s heirs and several hundred Seneca, Cayuga and Onondaga families....
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A Portrait of Black Philadelphia in the 1930s

Posted by on Nov 29, 2021 in | Comments Off on A Portrait of Black Philadelphia in the 1930s In 1938 William Strong and a companion named Egan spent months crisscrossing Philadelphia. Their mission was to photograph the city’s Black community, its culture, and its history. In February, they snapped students socializing in the Berean Manual Training and Industrial School’s cafeteria and energetic children playing instruments at the Wharton Centre settlement house. That April, they...
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The Longest Walk in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Jun 3, 2021 in | Comments Off on The Longest Walk in Pennsylvania   In the summer of 1978, cars on the Pennsylvania Turnpike slowed as they carefully drove past a procession of American Indians walking along the superhighway. The group, closely packed into the road’s shoulder, carried colorful banners and a sacred pipe. Some beat drums and chanted prayers for peace as they marched ahead. As these marchers continued across Pennsylvania, they were joined by...
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The Spirited History of Pennsylvania Saloons

Posted by on Feb 17, 2021 in | Comments Off on The Spirited History of Pennsylvania Saloons In 1905 and 1906 Charles and Linnie Ross of Stroudsburg traveled throughout Pennsylvania, photographing residents and buildings in communities they passed. Hoping to sell their prints for a handsome profit, they made sure to shoot the most popular spots in each town. Unsurprisingly, the Rosses photographed dozens of saloons in their travels, including this one in Williamsport. By 1851 saloons...
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