Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf The Tiadaghton Tale, A History of the Area and Its People went on sale in December [1975]. The book, a complete history of the upper West Branch Valley from 1772, contains 200 pages and over 200 illustrations and maps. The book is 6 x 9, hardbound, and sells for $6.95 or $7.00 by mail. The narration is by Helen H. Russell, historian of the area for many years. The Jersey Shore Historical Society...
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‘Stopper Hitches’ on the Allegheny Portage Railroad

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on ‘Stopper Hitches’ on the Allegheny Portage Railroad The Allegheny Portage Railroad was built in 1834 to carry freight over the mountain from the ends of the canal, located at Holidays­burg and Johnstown. It was thirty-six miles long and reached the summit of the mountain at 2700 feet above sea level. There were ten Inclined Planes, five on each side of the mountain. These were numbered #1 to #10, beginning on the west side. These planes were of...
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A Historical Sketch of Indiana County

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Historical Sketch of Indiana County Indiana County was named for the native Indians. During historic times the two principal tribes were the Delawares and Shawnees. Being reluctant to give up their lands, the Indians struggled desperately to keep out the tide of European settlers. Perhaps the first white settler to enter Indiana County was James LeTort, an Indian trader, about 1726-27. A place called “Letart’s...
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Historical Sketch of Luzerne County

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Historical Sketch of Luzerne County The Proclamation Line of 1763 was a stopgap devised to give England a chance to gather her forces and to adopt a policy for further expansion of the American colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. The Treaty at Fort Stanwix in 1768 resulted in a pre-revolutionary division of Indian land to establish a boundary between the Indian hunting grounds and the white settlements. The treaty was the last...
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Southern-Born Blacks in Harrisburg, 1920-1950

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Southern-Born Blacks in Harrisburg, 1920-1950 Beginning in 1974, John Bodnar, Chief of the Division of History of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, some six other inter­viewers, and I have been taping the rich store of memories and experience that is the possession of Pennsylvania’s ethnic, minority, and working-class groups. This material can provide answers to some important historical questions, among them the...
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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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Allentown’s Boom Decade

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Allentown’s Boom Decade Allentown underwent rapid development in the 1850’s. Population grew at the rate of 116 percent from 3,779 in 1850 to 8,025 in 1860. This expansion in population was matched by territorial growth in 1852 as a sizable section of land to the east of the original borough – the land lying between the Jordan and Lehigh rivers – was annexed. The economic basis for this development...
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William Darlington, A Man for Our Age

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on William Darlington, A Man for Our Age The first citizen of Chester County to receive the Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, William Darlington was one of the organizers of the Chester County Medical Society. Read out of Meeting by the Society of Friends for serving in the War of 1812, Darlington was elected to Congress in 1815 and was a member of the House of Representatives for six of the next eight years....
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One Should Not Overlook Union County

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on One Should Not Overlook Union County Union County on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River is one of Pennsylvania’s smaller counties, encompassing a bare 258 square miles, with a population of 30,000, including 3000 college stu­dents and 1900 inmates of two federal prisons. Few of its residents have held high political office and fewer of its names have appeared in Who’s Who in America. Yet the historical...
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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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