railroads Archives - Page 9 of 12 - Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine

Historic Preservation in Pennsylvania: A Primer

Posted by Michael O'Malley on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off Depending on the individual, historic preservation evokes a myriad of interpretations. To the local historical society, it’s restoring the town’s oldest structure to a house-museum showcasing collections of period antiques. To community planners, it often results in a challenge of saving the best while destroying the rest. And to many, historic preservation means little more than a...
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Lawrence County

Posted by Samuel Farmerie on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off Bart Richards, the unofficial historian of Lawrence County, indicates that little of historical significance has occurred in the county. He points out that it has had no wars, Indian uprisings, or great discoveries to its credit. Very few of its citizens have qualified for the pages of Who’s Who. Therefore, this history is the story of average, ordinary people striving to make a better...
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Pike County: A Peak of Natural Perfection

Posted by George Fluhr on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off “I went through a constant succession of scenery that would have been famous had it existed anywhere in Europe.” – Washington Irving Shaped roughly like a diamond, Pike County is situated in Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier, bordering the Delaware River on the cast across from the states of New York and New Jersey. The northwestern side of the diamond lies in Lake...
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Erie County: Where Geography Has Shaped History

Posted by Carl Lechner on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off Erie County forms the northwest corner of the state, bounded by Lake Erie on the northwest, the states of Ohio and New York on the west and east respectively and parts of Warren and Crawford counties on the east and south. Historically the county was divided into two sections. The sou them region of 259 ,000 acres fell within the original land grant to William Penn. The northern portion of...
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A Challenge to Restore

Posted by Richard Michael on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off One of the most exciting challenges facing historic preservationists today is the rehabilitation and adaptive restoration of buildings significant to our cultural and historic past. Rehabilitation projects are being partially supported by federal funds in an attempt to revitalize urban areas, for example in Lancaster and Philadelphia and on Pittsburgh’s north side. But not all...
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Blair County: Center of Transportation

Posted by Robert Blackson on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off Blair County was among the last counties created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. One factor which delayed the establishment of an additional county in the southern portion of central Pennsylvania was geography. The rugged, eastern slopes of the Appalachian Mountains, in which Blair County was eventually located, diverted settlers to other areas. Only after the discovery of iron ore...
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Grif Teller Paints the Pennsy

Posted by Dan Cupper on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off Grif Teller never drew a Pennsylvania Railroad paycheck, yet today his name is more widely recognized and more closely associated with that monolithic transportation machine than the names of any of the company’s fourteen presidents. From 1928 to 1942 and from 1947 through 1958, Teller created the distinctive oil paintings for the railroad’s annual advertising calendars, which were...
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Jefferson County: Of Wilderness Tamed

Posted by Michael O'Malley on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off Jefferson County. Its hallmarks are as disparate as Thomas Jefferson and Punxsutawney Phil. Village names as dissimilar as Panic and Desire. Inhabitants as distinctive as Indian chief Cornplanter and Moravian missionary John Heckewelder. And a tranquility which masks the turbulence of the nineteenth century’s lumber boom that spawned settlement and numerous ancillary industries....
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Butler County: A Story in Diversity

Posted by Michael O'Malley on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off The story of Butler County is one of many stories. It is the story of an unusual religious commune. Of an engineer whose invention made the Brooklyn Bridge a reality. Of a European baron who constructed a German castle he named Bassenheim. Of an oil boom town which sprang up – and crashed nearly overnight. Of the birthplace of that beloved American automotive institution, the jeep. Of...
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Northumberland County: The Mother County

Posted by Michael O'Malley on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off Although named for the most northern of England’s shires, Northumberland County has been often called by many the “Mother County.” Organized on March 21, 1772, as Pennsylvania’s tenth county, at one time it encompassed eighteen thousand square miles! The county once extended from the Lehigh to the Allegheny rivers, with the New York border as its northern boundary. Its...
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