Adams County: Tranquility Regained

Posted by Robert Bloom on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Adams County: Tranquility Regained One of Pennsylvania’s smaller counties, both in size and population, Adams County developed much the same as similar settlements along the Atlantic Seaboard. Its growth during the past two and a half centu­ries has been governed by its own particular circumstances, including location, terrain, soil, climate, vegetation, min­eral resources and the accom­plishments of the immigrants and...
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Crawford County: Welcoming the 21st Century

Posted by Anne Stewart on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Crawford County: Welcoming the 21st Century We passed over some good land since we eft Venango, and through several extensive and very rich meadows, one of which, I believe, was nearly four miles in length, and consid­erably wide in some places. Twenty-one year old George Washington, who would in time become a major landholder and land specula­tor, described Crawford County in 1753 as he carried a dispatch demanding the com­mander of the...
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Perry County: A Sportsman’s Paradise

Posted by Duane Good on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Perry County: A Sportsman’s Paradise Despite its proximity to Pennsylvania’s bustling and heavily urbanized capital city, Perry County remains a sportsman’s placid paradise with its thickly forested moun­tains and lushly verdant val­leys. Much like its neighboring counties – Franklin, Cumber­land, Juniata and Dauphin­ – Perry County claims a topogra­phy that is neither unique nor unusual: its mountains give...
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Mifflin County: The Crossroads of the Commonwealth

Posted by Charles Eater on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Mifflin County: The Crossroads of the Commonwealth Mifflin County will celebrate its two hundredth birth­day on September 19, during a customarily beau­tiful month when glowing foliage sweeps over four hun­dred and thirty-one square miles of farms, small towns and wooded mountains. Ex­tending from Bear Gap to Kistler Borough through rug­ged and scenic valleys to the banks of the Juniata River, it’s just fifteen miles from the Seven...
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The Boals of Boalsburg: Two Hundred Years of a Pennsylvania Heritage

Posted by Christopher Lee on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Boals of Boalsburg: Two Hundred Years of a Pennsylvania Heritage What is the story of America? The question stirs the imagina­tion, conjuring romantic im­ages of stalwart pioneers stalking the vast wilderness, of hardworking farming families toiling from sunrise long past sunset, and of village mer­chants eking out meager livelihoods in America’s heartland. Much of the story is devoted to the fledging hamlets and em­bryonic communities and their...
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Frederick J. Osterling and a Tale of Two Buildings

Posted by Martin Aurand on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Frederick J. Osterling and a Tale of Two Buildings There was much to build in a growing industrial city like turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh, and many of the important architectural com­missions went to Frederick J. Osterling, a versatile designer, a respected businessman and a prominent – if occasionally controversial – architect. But when Osterling received that commission of which all archi­tects dream, it resulted in the sudden...
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What Love Can Do: William Penn’s Holy Experiment in Education

Posted by William Kashatus on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on What Love Can Do: William Penn’s Holy Experiment in Education The founder of Pennsyl­vania stands atop Philadelphia’s City Hall, seemingly sur­veying a “Holy Experiment” he nurtured out of the ideals of his Quaker faith. William Penn, the political theorist, is still remembered for his daring experiment in establishing a colony dedicated to pacifism, civil liberty and religious free­dom in a seventeenth century world conditioned by...
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Bedlam in Penn’s Woods

Posted by Philip Clark on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bedlam in Penn’s Woods Pennsylvanians have been concerned with the welfare of the insane since the earli­est provincial days. Indeed, as befits the Commonwealth’s humanitarian Quaker heritage, Pennsylvania has made pio­neering efforts in the field. For most of the pre­Revolutionary period, care of the mad was restricted to physical support and occa­sional confinement for public safety. Victims’ families...
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Original and Genuine: Unadulterated and Guaranteed!

Posted by Linda Kowall-Woal on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Original and Genuine: Unadulterated and Guaranteed! John Wanamaker felt ill. He didn’t have time for an autumn cold. There was so much work to do, espe­cially now as his great department store readied itself for the coming Christmas season. Anticipating a busier day tomorrow, he made an heroic effort to stem the cas­cade of papers across his desk into orderly piles before taking a parting glance around his office. Banks of filing cabinets,...
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Armstrong County

Posted by Betty Seanor on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Armstrong County Editor’s Note: With this article, this magazine begins a series to highlight historical events and persons within various counties. Focus will also be directed at the counties’ historical societies.   Kittanning, the seat of Armstrong County, is the oldest identified Indian town in Western Pennsylvania. While the state is planning celebrations to commemorate the Revolutionary...
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