Cameron County Courthouse

Posted by on Sep 18, 2023 in | Comments Off on Cameron County Courthouse Situated on a large rectangular site on high ground in the Borough of Emporium, the Cameron County Courthouse is significant as an architecturally sophisticated Romanesque Revival–style brick building designed to function as the governmental seat of justice in Pennsylvania’s Cameron County. The courthouse was designed by Amos S. Wagner (1840–1899) and built by John W. Kriner in 1890. Wagner was...
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Sylvania Electric Products

Posted by on May 13, 2022 in | Comments Off on Sylvania Electric Products Nestled in the valley of the Driftwood Branch of the Sinnemahoning Creek sits Emporium, the seat of Cameron County. Emporium was known for industries that were prominent in other central Pennsylvania towns: lumber, coal, dynamite, iron smelting and tanning. By the early 20th century, however, the borough made a name for itself as the home of Sylvania Electric Products, which produced...
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The Hunt for Pennsylvania’s Timber Rattlesnakes

Posted by on Jan 14, 2020 in | Comments Off on The Hunt for Pennsylvania’s Timber Rattlesnakes In the early 19th century, pioneer adventurer Philip Tome recalled that it was common to see 30 or 40 timber rattlesnakes at a time near his home along the Susquehanna River. “The snakes were so numerous that we used to clear the yard and build fires to keep them away,” he recalled in his 1854 memoir, Pioneer Life; or, Thirty Years a Hunter. “On leaving the house we always put on a pair of...
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Pepper Hill Fire of 1938

Posted by on Aug 22, 2017 in | 0 comments In 1933 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a New Deal program, and several camps were located in Pennsylvania. The CCC was charged with various types of projects including structural improvements, transportation enhancement, wildlife preservation, flood control and fire protection. When several forest fires broke out in the vicinity of...
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Hurricane Sandy Recovery and Disaster Planning for Historic Properties

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on Hurricane Sandy Recovery and Disaster Planning for Historic Properties In October 2012 Hurricane Sandy made landfall along the northeastern coast of the United States, leaving in its wake a path of destruction. To streamline aid to historic properties in areas hardest hit by the superstorm, the National Park Service (NPS) awarded more than $7.6 million to eight states to help repair and stabilize the damage. Of those states, Pennsylvania received the most funds in...
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McKean County: Where the Gold is Green

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on McKean County: Where the Gold is Green The great gold and silver rushes of the late nineteenth century to places such as the Black Hills, Colorado, Arizona, California and Alaska have long been hailed in story and song for their excite­ment, riches and heartbreak. But, the rush for “green gold” to McKean County during the same century was equally or more exciting. First, there were the forests – immense forests of...
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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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Historical Sketch of Elk County

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Historical Sketch of Elk County Elk County is named for that noble animal that once abounded in the region in great numbers. The last native elk, however, was shot in 1867 in Elk County by an Indian, Jim Jacobs. Today, Pennsylvania’s only Elk herd roams freely over the area bounded by Elk and Cam­eron Counties. It is descended from the Elk herd imported into Pennsylvania in 1913 from Montana and Wyoming. The history of...
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That Was the Week That Was: The First Battle of Harrisburg

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on That Was the Week That Was: The First Battle of Harrisburg It is widely conceded that the major military event of summer 1861 was the First Battle of Bull Run on Sun­day, July 21. The battle lasted only one day, but it caused great humiliation and forced important changes in the North’s subsequent approach to conducting the war. The creation of the Military District of the Potomac under Gen. George B. McClellan several days later signaled a reform...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Amish Houses and Barns by Stephen Scott Good Books, 1992 (158 pages, paper, $5.95) Home is the center of Amish life, and most – if not all – major life events occur within its walls: birth, mar­riage, visiting, worship, recreation, and death. Amish Houses and Barns is a carefully researched “behind-the­-scenes” look at these events on three farms in particular, as well as...
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