Larger than Life Along the Lincoln Highway

What are unsuspecting motorists’ typical reactions when they encounter a seven-foot praying mantis standing alongside a highway? Or a giant shoe, three stories tall? How about a huge steamboat, complete with paddlewheels, miles from navigable waterways? They might range from exclamation – “wow!” – to sheer dis­dain – “tourist trap!” – but the...
read more

Letters to the Editor

Coke and Coal “A Jewel in the Crown of Old King Coal: Eckley Miners’ Village,” an article by Tony Wesolowsky in the winter 1996 edition, prominently mentions John Leisenring. In 1880, Leisenring, as head of the Connellsville Coke and Iron Company, began construction of Leisenring Number 1 Works, followed by Leisenring Number 2 (Bute), and Leisenring Number 3 (Monarch) on...
read more

Letters to the Editor

Home Again Like many others who grew up in the hard coal region in the 1950s, I couldn’t wait to finish high school and leave the area. When I went away to college, I vowed never to return. Yes, I did go back for funerals and weddings and the like, but I couldn’t wait to leave again, to get as far away as possible from the giant culm banks and the coal dust. I devoted myself to my...
read more

Lost and Found

Lost For nearly seventy years, the S.S. Grand View Ship Hotel near Reels Corners, Bedford County, amazed, amused, and awed motorists traveling the Lincoln Highway. Sailing high along a ridge of the Allegheny Mountains, the landlocked ocean liner was the brainchild of Herbert Paulson, who launched the famous tourist attraction in 1932 On opening day, “Captain” Paulson welcomed aboard...
read more