The York Imperial Apple

Posted by on Oct 21, 2024 in | Comments Off on The York Imperial Apple Apple picking is a popular fall activity across Pennsylvania, as many orchards offer customers the chance to pluck the fresh fruit directly from their trees. Pennsylvania ranks fourth among states in apple production, growing 400 million to 500 million pounds a year. Fruit production — especially apples — has been a strong agricultural staple in the Keystone State since the late 18th century,...
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Community Initiative Awards

Posted by on Sep 18, 2023 in | Comments Off on Community Initiative Awards Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) announced the winners of its Community Initiative Awards acknowledging accomplishments made in 2022. PA SHPO started the awards program in 2016 to recognize the hard work and dedication of outstanding organizations, municipalities, agencies and individuals that advance and expand the definition of historic...
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Pinchot Roads: Paving the Way for Progress

Posted by on Jul 24, 2023 in | Comments Off on Pinchot Roads: Paving the Way for Progress In the early years of travel, Pennsylvania’s roads were difficult and even dangerous to navigate. Margaret van Horn Dwight struggled to traverse the roads of Franklin County by carriage. She wrote in 1810, “I was so lame and so [tired] that for an hour I did not know but I must set down and die — I could not ride — the road was so bad, it was worse than walking.” A few weeks later she had a...
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“Drawing to Represent”: Lewis Miller of York, Chronicler of 19th-Century Life

Posted by on Jun 7, 2021 in | Comments Off on “Drawing to Represent”: Lewis Miller of York, Chronicler of 19th-Century Life Lewis Miller’s depictions of people and their everyday lives have been used repeatedly to illustrate 19th-century American life. Whether it is a flood of molasses flowing down the street or Simon Einstein bringing a load of cabbages to town to celebrate his election victory, Miller seemed to have seen it all, and he depicted many of these scenes during his long lifetime. Miller also recorded...
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High on a Mountain: Pennsylvania’s Legacy of Country Music

Posted by on Jun 4, 2020 in | Comments Off on High on a Mountain: Pennsylvania’s Legacy of Country Music In 1607 Great Britain commenced the establishment of two colonial plantations. One of these was Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in North America. The other was much closer to home. The Ulster plantation was formed in the nine northern counties of Ireland. The goal of the colony was, in part, to extend British and Anglican hegemony over the Catholic and...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Jun 4, 2020 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter With the recent premiere of Country Music, director Ken Burns has launched another epic PBS TV docuseries that amplifies the significance of an enduring American institution. In this issue’s cover story, “High on a Mountain,” we follow up with a look at Pennsylvania’s key role in the evolution of country music and the state’s later contributions to the genre. Author Joe Baker takes us on a...
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Remembering TMI 40 Years Later

Posted by on Feb 3, 2020 in | Comments Off on Remembering TMI 40 Years Later In late March 1979, south-central Pennsylvanians were startled to learn of an accident that had occurred at Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant in the Susquehanna River near Middletown, Dauphin County. In my own experience, the initial news came to me at Dallastown Elementary School in York County after a teacher shouted out to my fifth-grade class to come back inside the school building...
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The Hunt for Pennsylvania’s Timber Rattlesnakes

Posted by on Jan 14, 2020 in | Comments Off on The Hunt for Pennsylvania’s Timber Rattlesnakes In the early 19th century, pioneer adventurer Philip Tome recalled that it was common to see 30 or 40 timber rattlesnakes at a time near his home along the Susquehanna River. “The snakes were so numerous that we used to clear the yard and build fires to keep them away,” he recalled in his 1854 memoir, Pioneer Life; or, Thirty Years a Hunter. “On leaving the house we always put on a pair of...
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Readco and the Transition to Military Manufacturing in World War II

Posted by on Dec 1, 2019 in | Comments Off on Readco and the Transition to Military Manufacturing in World War II Once the United States entered World War II in December 1941, every facet of American life was affected. The unprecedented quantities of ammunition, weapons and vehicles required to sustain the war effort called for many Pennsylvania manufacturers to retool their production to fulfill these critical needs. Companies like Ford’s assembly plant in Chester, Delaware County, began producing military...
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Worthy of Preservation? Considering the Future of Architecture in Historic Preservation

Posted by on Aug 22, 2017 in | 0 comments The roots of historic preservation run deep in this country, especially in Pennsylvania. Taking hold in the 19th century as a response to unchecked modern development, the field has grown into a multidisciplinary profession, but what galvanizes concerned citizens to oppose the demolition of historic properties for new construction remains much the same today as two centuries ago. After the U.S....
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