Fort Pitt Block House

Posted by on Apr 17, 2026 in | Comments Off on Fort Pitt Block House The Fort Pitt Block House, a pentagonal-shaped structure of brick and stone, was built in 1764 as an outlying redoubt of Fort Pitt at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers in what is today Pittsburgh. The British constructed Fort Pitt in 1759–61, after gaining control of the Ohio River valley from the French. The fort was built using the star-shaped, bastion trace design...
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Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit 1

Posted by on Dec 1, 2025 in | Comments Off on Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit 1 In his 1953 United Nations “Atoms for Peace” speech President Dwight D. Eisenhower set the stage for commercial nuclear power generation in America. Within 10 years of the speech nearly 20 commercial nuclear reactors were under construction. The world’s first large-scale nuclear power plant began operating in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, on December 2, 1957. The following year the Philadelphia...
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Edward Holland Blacksmith Shop

Posted by on Jun 11, 2025 in | Comments Off on Edward Holland Blacksmith Shop Edward Ellis Holland (1888–1964) worked as a blacksmith in North Union Township, Fayette County, for more than 40 years. In 1910, at age 21, Holland owned his own shop (shown here), located behind his residence on Coolspring Street. His services included general blacksmithing and farrier work. By 1921, with the rising prominence of the automobile, Holland had expanded his business to include the...
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Historic County Prisons in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Oct 21, 2024 in | Comments Off on Historic County Prisons in Pennsylvania This 1906 postcard shows the castle-like Montgomery County Prison in Norristown. It has stood guard over the city since it was first built on Airy Street in 1851. The building was designed by notable Philadelphia architect Napoleon LeBrun (1821–1901), who was also responsible for the 1852 Schuylkill County Prison and numerous churches, courthouses and other important public buildings. LeBrun was...
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St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Shenandoah

Posted by on Aug 9, 2024 in | Comments Off on St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Shenandoah Since 1884 the onion domes of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church on West Oak Street in Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, as seen in this circa 1914 postcard, have marked the presence of Eastern Europeans in this anthracite coal mining community. St. Michael the Archangel in Shenandoah was the first Greek Orthodox Catholic church built in the United States. Ukrainian families raised money to...
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The Historic National Road

Posted by on Dec 1, 2023 in | Comments Off on The Historic National Road Distinctive seven-sided toll houses like the one shown on this early 20th-century postcard marked the route of the National Road in southwestern Pennsylvania. The National Road was the first highway planned and funded by the federal government and was intended to connect the East Coast with the country’s western frontier by opening a route through the Allegheny Mountains. Construction of the...
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The Early Days of Penn State

Posted by on Sep 18, 2023 in | Comments Off on The Early Days of Penn State   Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) was chartered by the commonwealth in 1855 to serve as the first agricultural college in America. Originally called the Farmers’ High School, it was endorsed by the State Agricultural Society, a group formed in 1851 to promote the economic, political and social interests of Pennsylvania farmers, led by Frederick Watts. The name Farmers’ High...
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America’s First Zoo in Philadelphia

Posted by on Mar 17, 2023 in | Comments Off on America’s First Zoo in Philadelphia Chartered in 1859, the Philadelphia Zoological Garden was the first formally planned zoo in the United States. The Pennsylvania legislature and William Camac (1829–1900), a prominent Philadelphia doctor and civic leader, secured 32 acres of land in Fairmount Park along the western bank of the Schuylkill River with the intention of creating a world-class zoological park. The Civil War and its...
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Allegheny Observatory

Posted by on Sep 12, 2022 in | Comments Off on Allegheny Observatory The mysteries of space and time itself have been explored at the Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh, ever since it was built to satisfy the celestial curiosity of the Allegheny Telescope Association, a group of amateur astronomy enthusiasts. In 1859 the group selected a site on the hills of North Side (at that time part of Allegheny City), an area free of city lights, providing a perfect spot...
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Downtown Lancaster

Posted by on Mar 17, 2022 in | Comments Off on Downtown Lancaster As this circa 1922 postcard of North Queen Street suggests, by the turn of the 20th century, downtown Lancaster had become a busy commercial hub and mecca for shoppers. While Penn Square at the intersection of King and Queen streets marks the historic heart of the city, North Queen Street was lined with amenities for shoppers and visitors alike. Hotels, theaters, department stores, banks,...
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