Pennsylvania’s Architectural Heritage: Statehouses and Capitols

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania’s Architectural Heritage: Statehouses and Capitols Through the three centuries of Pennsylvania’s history, the build­ings that always have been both the functional and symbolic heart of the Commonwealth have been the seats of government. These statehouses and capitols bespeak much about the governmental structure and social ideals of the respective ages which created them. Indeed, the very change of nomenclature from statehouse to capitol...
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Preserving Pieces of Pennsylvania’s Past: An Inside Look at the Building of the Commonwealth’s Collections

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Preserving Pieces of Pennsylvania’s Past: An Inside Look at the Building of the Commonwealth’s Collections Associations between butterflies and buttons, Conestoga wagons and cannon, sculpture and arrowheads, or fossils and founder William Penn’s original Charter may seem tenuous, even obscure and, perhaps, nonsensical. But a relationship does exist: they are among the one and a half million objects and thirty thousand cubic feet of manuscripts, records, maps and photographs in the custody and...
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Dauphin County: Chocolates, Coal, and a Capital

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Dauphin County: Chocolates, Coal, and a Capital Dauphin County celebrates its two hundredth anniver­sary this year. The events and themes that are the history of the county reflect the experience of Pennsylvania and the United States. Dauphin County has never been a homogeneous commu­nity; indeed, it is difficult to consider it as a single commu­nity. From the beginning it has comprised individuals of diverse ethnic, national and religious...
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“A New County to Be Called Snyder”

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on “A New County to Be Called Snyder” Snyder is a small rural county covering 327 square miles with a population exceeding thirty thou­sand. Situated near the center of the Commonwealth, it is bounded on the northwest by Jack’s Mountain, on the southeast by the Mahantango Creek and on the en­tire eastern end by the beautiful Susquehanna River. Most of the remaining boundaries are unrelated to natural features. Geologically,...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Chester County Centennial The Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, has marked its one hundredth anniversary by mounting an exhibition entitled “Presenting Your Past: A Centennial Celebration.” The exhibit highlights the extraordinary collections acquired by the historical society during its first century. Objects on view include significant pieces selected from the...
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Shorts

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Shorts The descendants of natural­ist John Bartram and members of the John Bartram Associa­tion will celebrate the centennials of the association and the family reunion during the weekend of June 25-27 [1993]. The event will feature tours of Historic Bartram’s Garden, speakers, bus tours, and a gala picnic on the grounds to commemorate the family’s first reunion in 1893. To obtain...
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A Capital Idea! A Brief and Bumpy History of Pennsylvania’s Capitols

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Capital Idea! A Brief and Bumpy History of Pennsylvania’s Capitols A mere one hundred or so miles separate Philadelphia’s Chestnut and Harrisburg’s Third streets. But the path­ – metaphorically, at least­ – between the Keystone State’s first and final capitol build­ings seems far longer and rockier than geography suggests. From the Commonwealth’s earliest days, when the government met in Philadelphia’s elegant State...
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Early Records of The State Museum

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Early Records of The State Museum Prior to the construction of the William Penn Memorial Museum Building in the early 1960s, The State Museum of Pennsylvania was housed in the old Executive Office Building, renamed the Speaker Mathew J. Ryan Legislative Office Building in 1998. This building was frequently called the State Library and Museum Building because it also housed the State Li­brary until the present-day Education...
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Map of the Public Ground Around the State Capitol (1827)

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on Map of the Public Ground Around the State Capitol (1827) “Draught of Sundry levellings and gradings of the public ground around the State Capitol,” dated 1827, offers a firsthand look at a proposal for sculpting the land surrounding the building in Harrisburg, which had been dedicated five years earlier. The plan bears notations giving detailed instructions for the work, including the volume of earth to be removed. The document also...
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