Six-Shooters in Somerset: The Curious Tale of a Northeastern Western

Posted by on Dec 1, 2023 in | Comments Off on Six-Shooters in Somerset: The Curious Tale of a Northeastern Western Nestled among the hills of Somerset County, the one-street village of Baker-Whiteley epitomizes the many small-scale coal company towns that proliferated throughout southwestern Pennsylvania at the turn of the 20th century. Eclipsed by the grandeur of the region’s more imposing operations, these humble communities toiled in anonymity to unearth the fuel essential to the nation’s growing...
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Disastrous Floods and the Demise of Steel in Johnstown by Pat Farabaugh

Posted by on May 13, 2022 in | Comments Off on Disastrous Floods and the Demise of Steel in Johnstown by Pat Farabaugh Disastrous Floods and the Demise of Steel in Johnstown by Pat Farabaugh The History Press, 187 pp., paperback $21.99 Those with an interest in Pennsylvania history and natural disasters will never want for more in the examination of the Johnstown Flood and its aftermath. Farabaugh’s study condenses the standard story of Johnstown’s floods while engaging a parallel narrative of the decline of its...
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The Early Days of the William Penn Highway: How Present-Day U.S. Route 22 Got its Start

Posted by on Nov 30, 2021 in | Comments Off on The Early Days of the William Penn Highway: How Present-Day U.S. Route 22 Got its Start At the dawn of the automobile age, the major roadways crossing Pennsylvania were rutted, dusty, farm-to-market thoroughfares traveled mainly by horses and wagons. Many of these were still privately owned turnpikes, some with wooden-plank road surfaces. Most towns had improved streets, but the paving, if any, usually ended at the city line. Stagecoach lines still operated here and there, but...
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Cambria City

Posted by on Nov 29, 2021 in | Comments Off on Cambria City Nestled between a bend in the Conemaugh River and a steep bluff, Cambria City is a distinctive, dense neighborhood that tells the story of hundreds of immigrants who came to work in Pennsylvania’s steel mills and coal mines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the founding of the Cambria Iron Works in 1852, investors purchased land across the river from the mill, subdivided it,...
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Ruthless Tide by Al Roker

Posted by on Jan 13, 2020 in | Comments Off on Ruthless Tide by Al Roker Ruthless Tide The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America’s Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster by Al Roker William Morrow, 303 pp, cloth $28.99 The Johnstown Flood of 1889 retains  its fascination. The flood was caused by the breaking of a dam owned by the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club, a group of Pittsburgh industrialists and financiers. In a horrifying display of the...
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Romani and Sinti in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Romani and Sinti in Pennsylvania This fascinating early 20th-century postcard of a scene from Williamsport, Lycoming County, provides a view of life in Pennsylvania that is seldom represented in formal historic records or in preservation efforts. Cultures that exist outside the mainstream and especially those not linked to specific places pose a special challenge to historians. The word “Gypsy,” which appears on...
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A Tragic Day in Echo: The Southern Cambria Railway Trolley Accident

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on A Tragic Day in Echo: The Southern Cambria Railway Trolley Accident There are few hot days during the summer in Johnstown, Cambria County, but this day, Saturday, August 12, 1916, would be one of them. It was a good time to live in this bustling mill town nestled in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains. Newspapers were reporting appalling numbers of soldiers killed and wounded in the Battle of the Somme, an ocean away, but the war was not yet a local...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter This issue of Pennsylvania Heritage marks the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into the First World War in April 1917. The focus comes as part of PHMC’s Pennsylvania at War initiative, a multiyear commemoration of the centennial of World War I and the 75th anniversary of World War II. The Keystone State contributed significantly to the Allied effort in World War I, with more than...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Summer 2016

Posted by on Jun 6, 2016 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Summer 2016 Topics in the Summer 2016 Newsletter: Giving Circle Dinner Pennsylvania Wildlife Art Exhibit Opens Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Day Naturalist Scott Weidensaul to Speak at The State Museum Lulos Joins PHF Board Join the Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation   pennsylvania-heritage-foundation-newsletter-summer-2016...
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The Dream of Security: Johnstown and Flood Control

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Dream of Security: Johnstown and Flood Control They don’t take rain for granted in Johnstown anymore. Walking down Market Street or cruising Route 56, pedestrians may pause and drivers may slow as the first drops land. Anxious glances skyward reveal the unspoken thought: will it happen again? They are re­calling the terrible night in July 1977 when the rain fell and fell and the dream of a flood-free Johnstown shattered for­ever. That...
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