Freedom Run Across America - Daily Journal Blog

Day 126 - It Is Over! Freedom Run Ends Today

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:23:33 GMT

It Is Over! Freedom Run Ends Today
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: Yes (View Details)
War: It was a long day, fill you in later.
Hubie:It was actually hard to believe that this day would come. It has been 4 months of very intense challenge. This event was the biggest and toughest to bring together and put on and actually execute. Not only physically tough for the runners but for trying to keep everything together each and everyday hammered you mentally and emotionally to the max. The run had finally made it to DC and definetly very happy to be at this point, but then again not so happy due to the amount of money we did not raise. When you put everything on the line you do your best to succeed.

DC is never easy to get around and find a place to park let alone figure out where the heck you are going. We stayed at a Hotel outside of town in Herndon Virginia which was about 40 minutes outside of DC. Why there? Hotel rooms in DC on the 4th are at a premium, plus we had the opportunity to use the Metro line to get us around town. I enjoy the subway, it is great to people watch in DC because their are so many different cultures in the Capitol. People come from all over the world to experience DC. We found our parking spot early so that went well. The tough part was coordinating the Challenged athletes to connect because of the goofy parking and logistics, we made it happen. The run started at the end of the Arlington Memorial bridge and then the group worked their way to the Iwa Jima Statue. Henry Forest, one of Tom's friends who he did the ironman with him back in 78 was released from the hospital in Atlanta to come down and participate in the last few hundred yards of the run. (Henry is battling Leukemia) We all ran it in and the TV crew was all over it. Tom and Warren touched the statue for the final end of the run. It is really hard to explain the feeling of the finish due to my earlier comments but all I knew is that it was completed and that we accomplished an incredible mission of faith for charities that we believe in. It was very, very difficult at times but we persevered and got the job done. We still have a lot of work to do for our charities though, but like anything in life nothing comes easy and the challenge continues. So now that the run ended the 4th iof July just began! We had a picnic at Post 139 in Arlington and we had a great game of horseshoes and some great eats. Their were a number of veterens from ages up to 90 years old, it was an honor to talk and joke with these guys. The Post had a flag burning ceremony. The Post collects old flags that have seen their time and you get the opportunity to burn a flag for a loved one. So I burned one for my Dad, (Who was in the 14th AirForce WWII) and both of his brothers who were also in WWII. The party continued and we headed down to the Fireworks which are launced by the Reflecting Pond in front of the Lincoln Memorial. It rained heavily for a while but they still got them off. There were millions of people everywhere. It was quite an experience, one I will never forget, but don't ask me how I felt the next morning, it had to be done.... I would like to thank my wife Sue, son Cal and daughter Maddie for supporting me through this difficult and monumentemal task being on and off the road for weeks at a time. My Mom who has always been their for me. My brothers and sisters and all of my great friends that I have known my whole life who always expressed interest and support for our Challenge. The list goes on, Tony, Allison and Rebecca Weis (Warrens Sister) for taking care of us in Phoenix, and lastly all of the fantastic folks that we have met along our route including all of the Legion Posts, VFW's, the Marine Corp. league, the Hotels, Motels, campgrounds, and Bed & Breakfast's, just to namne a few. All of your support and assistance was a very vital part of our success. We would not have been able to accomplish our Feat without you.
Thank You and may God Bless all of you,
Hubie

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Day 124 - Running to the Mall

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:51:49 GMT

Running to the Mall
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: Yes (View Details)

Hubie:Into DC for the final leg! Hard to believe. I set us up with a Motel6, (hoping for the best, rate that is), in the city itself. Dave Orlowski was also going to join us for a couple of days and the finish. The room worked and were going to head down to the mall and check out the logistics of the final leg. We decided to run down and meet Tom at the Lincoln Memorial. We ran down Georgia Avenue right into the heart of DC. Very interesting neighborhood run. We figured it had to be about 6 miles and it ended up being at least 9 miles so we got in a good run workout. After meeting with Tom we discussed the route then walked it to the Iwa jima Statue. Then off into Georgetown by foot. What a cool place, we ended up going to Hooters for a beer and the crew walked about 10 more miles through town. My legs were toast from all of that, but what a great day!
Almost there....
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History and facts of the Washington monument:

Of all the American Presidents, none has been as celebrated and revered than the very first, the father of our country, George Washington. Early in the 19th century, the country saw fit to honor the General who led the fight for American independence from Britain with a monument in the new capital, Washington, D.C. While Americans have honored the founding father through the naming of the capital, universities, colleges, states, and schools, none compares to the awe-inspiring Washington Monument. To Americans Washington has always had an grand appearance, commanding influence and simple elegance. So too would the monument.

From a distance, the monument appears larger than life, asserting a dominance over the other monuments located in the National Mall. Just as its gigantic frame stands out among the rest of the monuments, its simple architectural style reflect Washington's unadorned grace.

George Washington earned the distinction the "Father of his Country" by leading the Continental Army to victory in the War for Independence with Great Britain. In 1789, he was unanimously elected as the first President of the United States. Washington helped define the role of the presidency and the course of the fledgling democracy, the first of its kind. Through the monument, the American public says thank you to the General for helping carve a new kind of republic in which all men are created equal.

While movements to commemorate Washington in a heroic fashion had been underway even while he was president, it was only in 1833 that the Washington National Monument Society was formed by Congress. Part of the reason for this was Washington's modesty. While President, he convinced Congress to use the nation's precarious resources on more important things than paying tribute to him. Originally, Congress planned to honor Washington with an equestrian statue. In 1833, however, the focus The job of the Society was simple, to construct the largest monument in the world to the most prominent figure in American History. The Society resolved to erect a monument "Whose dimensions and magnificence shall be commensurate with the greatness and gratitude of the nation which gave [George Washington] birth [and] whose splendor will be without parallel in the world." The Society soon began a fund-raising campaign to construct the monument. Initially, it limited the amount each person could contribute to $1. By 1836, however, only $28,000 had been raised. But, it was enough to hold a competition for design.

In 1836, architect Robert Mills won the Society's competition to design the monument. His monument was to exude simplicity and grandeur at once, just as the General had. It was to be the centerpiece of the National Mall. The design was to be a simple obelisk, a much simpler version of Mill's original, ornate design. The estimated cost to build the towering structure was $1 million. The total height of the monument would be 555 feet and 5 ½ inches. The width of the monument would be 55 feet and 1 ½ inches.

Following the announcment of the estimated cost for the project, the Society removed the $1 limit contribution per person to raise additional funds. Soon enough, the Society had $88,000 in its coffers, enough to begin construction.

The actual construction of the monument began in patriotic fashion on July 4, 1848. Thousands gathered to celebrate the moment when the work would begin at the National Mall.

As the work began, the obelisk gradually began to ascend towards the sky. To aid in the process of building the monument, the Society invited civic groups, nationalities, states, and private organizations to donate commemorative stones to be placed in the interior walls surrounding the stairwell. However, due to increasing instances of vandalism and theft, the contributions eventually ceased in 1854, when the monument was only 152 feet tall.

Construction would be halted for 20 years. The onset of the Civil War also contributed to the delay. The abandoned memorial was a fitting tribute to a nation divided. The unfinished monument was even seen as an embarrassment during this time.

However, the nation's first centennial in 1876 renewed interest in the national pride, and thus, completing the monument. That year, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill for the government to fund the completion of the structure. It was the Army Corps of Engineers who took over the project, seeing it through to completion in December of 1884.

The official dedication ceremony for the memorial occurred the day before Washington's birthday in 1885 with a grand celebration. However, it was not until 1888 that the public was first allowed to step foot inside the monument because work was still being done on the interior. During this time, the stairwell, consisting of 897 steps, was completed. The final cost of the project was $1,817,710.
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Day 121 - It Is all About the Crack (Or is it?)

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:27:06 GMT

It Is all About the Crack (Or is it?)
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: Yes (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $49.25

In 1981, the Sunshine Foundation had been in existence for five years and had handled approximately 500 special dreams of seriously ill, chronically ill, and physically challenged children. It was brought to Sunshine's attention via a newspaper article that a young boy in South Africa, named Fransie, had a dream to visit Pinocchio. The inspiration for this dream came from this boy seeing himself in a mirror. Because of his wooden appearance, he felt in some way related to Pinocchio.

Having read the article, Sunshine embarked on making yet another dream come true, unaware that this particular endeavor would bring about the knowledge of a very rare illness to the world. Fransie had his dream come true in December 1981. The Sunshine Foundation flew Fransie and his family to Disneyland where he saw Pinocchio. During his visit to the United States, three other children, also suffering from Progeria, met with him.

Sunshine began receiving correspondence from other families whose children had similar characteristics. That following June, 1982, Sunshine sponsored the first gathering of all known children suffering from Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria, a rare aging disease.

“…I call it a one-week utopia. They are the normal kids for this entire week.”
-Courtney’s mother, Sue

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Did you know that in 1800, not L.A., not New York, but Philadelphia was our largest city, a distinction it held until 1830.

The top five were Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Boston, and Charleston, S.C.

But we defy anyone to name the sixth largest American town in 1800. It was Northern Liberties, now part of Philadelphia.

And seventh was Southwark, now also part of the present Philadelphia. Read here about the early days of the City of Brotherly Love.

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The city of Philadelphia, as laid out by William Penn, comprised only that portion of the present city situated between South and Vine Streets and Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. In fact, the city proper was that portion between High (Market) Street and Dock Creek. Here is where the pioneers dug caves in the banks of the Delaware or built huts on the land higher up. Meanwhile, the women equally busy in their sphere, had lighted their fire on the bare earth, and having "their kettle slung between two poles upon a stick transverse," thus prepared the meal of homely and frugal fare for the repast of diligent builders.

Native Americans were more or less present, either as spectators of the improvements then progressing, or, venders of their game and venison from the neighboring wilds. The Swedes and Dutch, who were the earliest settlers, as neighbors, brought their productions to market as a matter of course.

Settlements were made, however, outside of these boundaries, and in the course of time they became separately incorporated and had separate governments, making congeries of towns and districts, the whole group being known abroad simply as Philadelphia. Several of these were situated immediately contiguous to the "city proper": Southwark and Moyamensing in the south, and Northern Liberties, Kensigton, Spring Garden and Penn District to the north, and West Philadelphia to the west — all of which were practically one town continuously built up.

Besides these, there were a number of other outlying townships, villages and settlements near the built-up town, though detached from it. Among these were Bridesburg, Frankford, Harrowgate, Holmesburg, the unincorporated Northern Liberties, Port Richmond, Nicetown, Rising Sun, Fox Chase, Germantown, Roxborough, Falls of Schuylkill, unincorporated Penn township, Francisville, Hamilton Village, Mantua, Blockley, Kingsessing and Passyunk.

Some of these also became absorbed in the extending streets of the congeries of towns of which Philadelphia was composed, and in 1854 they were all consolidated under one municipal government, the boundaries of which are coincident with those of the old county of Philadelphia. In the earlier times some of the districts mentioned had marked characteristics, but these have mostly passed away.

Southwark, immediately on the river front, was marked by great wood-yards for supplying fuel before the days of anthracite coal, also by the sheds and yards of boat-builders and mast-makers, and by ship-builders' yards down to the site of the United States Navy Yard.

A great many of the Southwark dwellings were inhabited by sea captains and seafaring men, and down to quite a recent period a considerable portion of its inhabitants were the families of seagoing people and "watermen." The wood-yards, mast and shipyards have gone to other localities, and their old sites are now occupied by commercial warehouses, extensive sugar refineries, the wharves and depots of the sugar, molasses and West Indies trade, the great grain warehouses, elevators and shipping-piers of the Pennsylvania R.R. Co., the wharves and depots of the American and Red Star lines of ocean steamships. The district was also characterized by the extensive machine-shops and iron-works of Merricks, Morris & Tasker, Savery and others, as well as by the mechanical work promoted by the navy yard, which was situated at the foot of Federal Street, previous to removing to League Island.

The Northern Liberties also had its great cord-wood wharves and yards along the river front, and extensive lumber-yards. The wood-yards have mostly disappeared, and have given place to large markets for farm-produce, commercial warehouses, railroad landings, depots and shipping wharves. Some of the lumber-yards remain, however. This district was also characterized, particularly along Second Street, by its farmers' market-yards for the wholesale trade in butter, eggs, poultry, meats, vegetables and other products of the farms of the adjacent country. Some of the fine old market-taverns and produce-yards still remain, but their marked characteristics have become obscured by the spread of the great city. Long before the consolidation of the Northern Liberties into the city Second Street was famous for its fine retail shops, and Third Street was the site of a large wholesale trade in groceries, provisions and leather. Second Street is now lined by a double row of retail stores along nearly its entire length, not only in the old Northern Liberties, but for miles below and above. Pegg's Run and Cohocksink Creek, which flowed through the Northern Liberties, were the sites of numerous extensive tan-yards. One of the pioneer mills in Philadelphia's great industries, the Old Globe Mill, was near the line of the Northern Liberties, Germantown Avenue below Girard Avenue. The Northern Liberties embraced what are now the Eleventh, Twelfth and part of the Sixteenth Wards of the city.

Kensington was a ship- and boat-building district, and another considerable portion of its old time inhabitants were fishermen engaged in supplying the Philadelphia markets. Kensington, however, soon got into the iron and steel manufacture, and the building of steam-machinery, the outcropping of which may be seen in the large works now in operation there and on the river front above. Kensington embraced part of the present Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Wards.

Spring Garden District, which is now characterized by extensive manufacturing establishments of nearly all descriptions — among them the great Baldwin Locomotive Works and Powers & Weightman's chemical laboratory — and for its masses of handsome dwellings, was, in the old time, one of the most pleasant suburbs of Philadelphia and the principal dwelling-place of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Butchers or Victuallers.

Port Richmond, occupying the Delaware River front to the north and northeast of Old Kensington, was brought into prominence by the establishment at that point of the tidewater terminus of the Reading R.R. Co. For its immense coal traffic by sea. This at once began to improve the unproductive land in the vicinity; for the shipping-piers, the coal-depots, the engine-houses, workshops, offices, etc., were accompanied followed by a large increase of population the erection of dwellings, great activity and rapid progress in all respects. The coal trade built it up in the first place, but the district is now the centre of a manufacturing trade that has but few superiors in the United States.

The other districts and villages now incorporated in the city have been built up so that they now in fact, as in name, the city itself.

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Consolidation of the City, 1854
The movement in favor of the consolidation of the city and districts had been agitated. A committee appointed by town meeting drafted a bill to be laid before the Legislature, fixing the details of the measure, was adopted by the General Assembly on February 2,1854.

The bill provided that the city of Philadelphia, as limited by the charter of 1789, should be enlarged by taking in all the territory comprised within the county of Philadelphia. The incorporated districts were abolished. Southwark, Northern, Liberties, Kensington, Spring Garden, Moyamensing, Penn, Richmond, West Philadelphia, and Belmont ceased to have corporate existence. The borough of Frankford, Germantown, Manayunk, Whitehall, Bridesburg and Aramingo were deprived of their franchises. The townships of Passyunk, Blockley, Kingsessing, Roxborough, Germantown, Bristol, Oxford, Lower Dublin, Moreland, Northern Liberties (unincorporated), Byberry, Delaware, and Penn were abolished, and all the franchises and property of these governments transferred to the city of Philadelphia.

The enlarged territory thrown into the city was divided into 24 wards, 23 of which lay east of the Schuylkill.

Beginning at League Island, the enumeration of the wards ran northward in tiers.

The First Ward extended from the Delaware to the Schuylkill south of Warthon Street, Passyunk Road, Little Washington Street, and below South Street, West of Broad.
The Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Wards lay adjoining the First Ward on the front as far north as Vine Street.
The Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Wards, were on the east side of the Schuylkill.
The Eleventh and Twelfth Wards (old Northern Liberties) extended as far north as Poplar Street.
The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth, took in nearly the whole of Spring Garden.
The Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Wards were originally portions of Kensington and Richmond.
The Twentieth Ward took up the district of North Penn and ground belonging to the unincorporated Northern Liberties.
The Twenty-first Ward was above the Twentieth, on the east side of the Schuylkill, and included the township of Roxborough and the borough of Manayunk.
The Twenty-second Ward included the borough and township of Germantown and the township of Bristol.
All the rest of the country east of the Schuylkill was the Twenty-third Ward, including Frankford, Holmesburg, Bridesburg, Aramingo, Byberry, Moreland, and Lower Dublin townships.
The Twenty-fourth Ward was composed of Blockly and Kingsessing.
The passage of the bill was the cause of great rejoicing. The Governor and Legislature and the chief officers of the State were invited to participate in ceremonies arranged by a committee. The Board of Trade engaged the Robert F. Stockton for a ride on the river on March 11, 1854, with a banquet on board. In the evening the Consolidation Ball was held in the Museum building. The next day, March 12, 1854, a banquet was given the city's guests at Sansom Hall.

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HISTORY OF THE LIBERTY BELL:

Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X

By Order of the ASSEMBLY of the Province of PENSYLVANIA for the State House in Philada.

Pass and Stow
Philada
MDCCLIII
Why is Pennsylvania misspelled on the bell?
What's the story of the crack? Read on!

Tradition tells of a chime that changed the world on July 8, 1776, with the Liberty Bell ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.

The Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the Bell in 1751 to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, Pennsylvania's original Constitution. It speaks of the rights and freedoms valued by people the world over. Particularly forward thinking were Penn's ideas on religious freedom, his liberal stance on Native American rights, and his inclusion of citizens in enacting laws.

The Liberty Bell gained iconic importance when abolitionists in their efforts to put an end to slavery throughout America adopted it as a symbol.

As the Bell was created to commemorate the golden anniversary of Penn's Charter, the quotation "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," from Leviticus 25:10, was particularly apt. For the line in the Bible immediately preceding "proclaim liberty" is, "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year." What better way to pay homage to Penn and hallow the 50th year than with a bell proclaiming liberty?

Also inscribed on the Bell is the quotation, "By Order of the Assembly of the Province of Pensylvania for the State House in Philada." Note that the spelling of "Pennsylvania" was not at that time universally adopted. In fact, in the original Constitution, the name of the state is also spelled "Pensylvania." If you get a chance to visit the second floor of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, take a moment to look at the original maps on the wall. They, too, have the state name spelled "Pensylvania" (and the Atlantic Ocean called by the name of that day, "The Western Ocean"). The choice of the quotation was made by Quaker Isaac Norris, speaker of the Assembly.

Centered on the front of the Bell are the words, "Pass and Stow / Philada / MDCCLIII." We'll get to Pass and Stow in a bit.

The Crack
There is widespread disagreement about when the first crack appeared on the Bell. Hair-line cracks on bells were bored out to prevent expansion. However, it is agreed that the final expansion of the crack which rendered the Bell unringable was on Washington's Birthday in 1846.

The Philadelphia Public Ledger takes up the story in its February 26, 1846 publication:

"The old Independence Bell rang its last clear note on Monday last in honor of the birthday of Washington and now hangs in the great city steeple irreparably cracked and dumb. It had been cracked before but was set in order of that day by having the edges of the fracture filed so as not to vibrate against each other ... It gave out clear notes and loud, and appeared to be in excellent condition until noon, when it received a sort of compound fracture in a zig-zag direction through one of its sides which put it completely out of tune and left it a mere wreck of what it was."
The Bell as Icon

The Liberty Bell. Boston: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1856. Click to enlargeThe Bell achieved its iconic status when abolitionists adopted the Bell as a symbol for the movement. It was first used in this association as a frontispiece to an 1837 edition of Liberty, published by the New York Anti-Slavery Society.

It was, in fact, the abolitionists who gave it the name "Liberty Bell," in reference to its inscription. It was previously called simply the "State House bell."

In retrospect, it is a remarkably apt metaphor for a country literally cracked and freedom fissured for its black inhabitants. The line following "proclaim liberty" is, "It shall shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family." The Abolitionists understood this passage to mean that the Bible demanded all slaves and prisoners be freed every 50 years.

William Lloyd Garrison's anti-slavery publication The Liberator reprinted a Boston abolitionist pamphlet containing a poem about the Bell, entitled, The Liberty Bell, which represents the first documented use of the name, "Liberty Bell."

The Bell and the Declaration of Independence

In 1847, George Lippard wrote a fictional story for The Saturday Currier which told of an elderly bellman waiting in the State House steeple for the word that Congress had declared Independence. The story continues that privately he began to doubt Congress's resolve. Suddenly the bellman's grandson, who was eavesdropping on the doors of Congress, yelled to him, "Ring, Grandfather! Ring!"

This story so captured the imagination of people throughout the land that the Liberty Bell was forever associated with the Declaration of Independence.

The truth is that the steeple was in bad condition and historians today highly doubt that the Bell actually rang in 1776. However, its association with the Declaration of Independence was fixed in the collective mythology.

Bell as Symbol
After the divisive Civil War, Americans sought a symbol of unity. The flag became one such symbol, and the Liberty Bell another. To help heal the wounds of the war, the Liberty Bell would travel across the country.

Starting in the 1880s, the Bell traveled to cities throughout the land "proclaiming liberty" and inspiring the cause of freedom. We have prepared a photo essay of its 1915 journey to the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.

A replica of the Liberty Bell, forged in 1915, was used to promote women's suffrage. It traveled the country with its clapper chained to its side, silent until women won the right to vote. On September 25, 1920, it was brought to Independence Hall and rung in ceremonies celebrating the ratification of the 19th amendment.

To this day, oppressed groups come to Philadelphia to give voice to their plight, at the Liberty Bell, proclaiming their call for liberty.

History of the Bell

On November 1, 1751, a letter was sent to Robert Charles, the Colonial Agent of the Province of Pennsylvania who was working in London. Signed by Isaac Norris, Thomas Leech, and Edward Warner, it represented the desires of the Assembly to purchase a bell for the State House (now Independence Hall) steeple. The bell was ordered from Whitechapel Foundry, with instructions to inscribe on it the passage from Leviticus.

The bell arrived in Philadelphia on September 1, 1752, but was not hung until March 10, 1753, on which day Isaac Norris wrote, "I had the mortification to hear that it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper without any other viollence [sic] as it was hung up to try the sound."

The cause of the break is thought to have been attributable either to flaws in its casting or, as they thought at the time, to its being too brittle.

Two Philadelphia foundry workers named John Pass and John Stow were given the cracked bell to be melted down and recast. They added an ounce and a half of copper to a pound of the old bell in an attempt to make the new bell less brittle. For their labors they charged slightly over 36 Pounds.

The new bell was raised in the belfry on March 29, 1753. "Upon trial, it seems that they have added too much copper. They were so teased with the witticisms of the town that they will very soon make a second essay," wrote Isaac Norris to London agent Robert Charles. Apparently nobody was now pleased with the tone of the bell.

Pass and Stow indeed tried again. They broke up the bell and recast it. On June 11, 1753, the New York Mercury reported, "Last Week was raised and fix'd in the Statehouse Steeple, the new great Bell, cast here by Pass and Stow, weighing 2080 lbs."

In November, Norris wrote to Robert Charles that he was still displeased with the bell and requested that Whitechapel cast a new one.

Upon the arrival of the new bell from England, it was agreed that it sounded no better than the Pass and Stow bell. So the "Liberty Bell" remained where it was in the steeple, and the new Whitechapel bell was placed in the cupola on the State House roof and attached to the clock to sound the hours.

The Liberty Bell was rung to call the Assembly together and to summon people together for special announcements and events. The Liberty Bell tolled frequently. Among the more historically important occasions, it tolled when Benjamin Franklin was sent to England to address Colonial grievances, it tolled when King George III ascended to the throne in 1761, and it tolled to call together the people of Philadelphia to discuss the Sugar Act in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765.

In 1772 a petition was sent to the Assembly stating that the people in the vicinity of the State House were "incommoded and distressed" by the constant "ringing of the great Bell in the steeple."

But, tradition holds, it continued tolling for the First Continental Congress in 1774, the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775 and its most resonant tolling was on July 8, 1776, when it summoned the citizenry for the reading of the Declaration of Independence produced by the Second Continental Congress. However, the steeple was in bad condition and historians today doubt the likelihood of the story.

In October 1777, the British occupied Philadelphia. Weeks earlier all bells, including the Liberty Bell, were removed from the city. It was well understood that, if left, they would likely be melted down and used for cannon. The Liberty Bell was removed from the city and hidden in the floorboards of the Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which you can still visit today.

Throughout the period from 1790 to 1800, when Philadelphia was the nation's capital, uses of the Bell included calling the state legislature into session, summoning voters to hand in their ballots at the State House window, and tolling to commemorate Washington's birthday and celebrate the Fourth of July.
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Day 120 - Strasburg

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:14:59 GMT

Strasburg
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: No (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $48.97

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Strasburg:
A Town of Trains & Heritage
Though not incorporated as a borough until 1816, the name Strasburg first appears on land titles in 1711, and the first dwellings can be dated to the 1730's. (Visitors should note the pronunciation is "Strazz-berg," with the "strazz" rhyming with "jazz..") While many visitors associate railroad attractions with Strasburg, there are many other fascinating people, places, and stories related to this remarkably intact village.

New Arrivals

French Huguenots, Protestants from the Alsace region of France, were the first European settlers in the area. The settlers eventually named the town Strasburg after the cathedral city of Strasbourg in Alsace, from which many had departed. (Alsace had shifted between French and German control for hundreds of years. Fleeing persecution, many refugees went to the region, and in time many sought freedom in the New World.) As early as 1693, the first to hunt in the area and trade with the Delaware Indians was French fur trader Peter (Pierre) Bezaillion. (Locally, Peters Road is named for him.)

The Swiss Mennonites, called “Swissers," followed shortly thereafter. For at least a generation before arriving here, they had lived in Germany because they spoke the German language, as did many others from the Alsace region. After making bargains with William Penn in London, they came directly to Philadelphia, from the Rhineland. Arriving September 10, 1710, on board the ship Maria Hope, the combined passenger and crew list consisted of 94 persons.

Anchor was dropped off New Castle, Delaware, and one week later they sailed into Philadelphia. Thirty-six of the leaders were granted patent deeds from Penn’s property commissioners for 14,000 acres of land surrounding Strasburg. Among the names were Martin Kendig, Hacob Miller, John (Hans) Herr, Christian Herr, Hans Graeff, Hans Funk, Martin Oberholtzer, Michael Oberholtzer, Wendel Rauman and Martin Meylin. The Kendig family built the first log cabin in 1717.

Early Roads

Fur traders opened up the first path, known as “Minqua’s Path,” through this area from Philadelphia to the Susquehanna River. At least by 1716, when the first wagon was used for hauling goods between Philadelphia and Lancaster County, it became known as the Conestoga Road, today's Route 741. The first wagoner was John Miller. By 1717 there were two more wagons, and the first to be described as a Conestoga Wagon.

During the next half century, traffic on this road increased considerably, and Main Street Strasburg was developed. The first buildings appeared in the village about 1733. A traveler, who drove through during the second half of the 18th century, described it as a village of log houses.

The Town Grows

Strasburg flourished in the 18th century primarily because of its location along the major wagon routes between Philadelphia, Lancaster, and the Susquehanna River. For this reason, the town and Main Street stretch from east to west, so businesses could maximize the "traffic" along the wagon routes, including the "Strasburg Road" between West Chester and York. At one time there were as many as eight or ten taverns or “ordinaries” here. As one of the principal stopping stations and with the heavy wagon traffic, it had its share of rough travelers. For a time it was known as "Hell's Hole." The owner of the Tipling House Tavern (27 E. Main) was indicted and later acquitted for selling rum to the Indians.

The 1769 tax returns list 19 houses --- 53 log, 29 brick and four stone. About half were 2-story, indicative of the affluence of Strasburg, which in the late 18th century, was second only to Lancaster Borough in terms of relative wealth. Generally the oldest houses were built “on the street,” with almost no setback, but deep backyards and spacious and productive flower and vegetable gardens.

Getting Religion

No doubt the religious nature of the first settlers was responsible for the village becoming a center for worship. In 1791, Bishop Francis Asbury preached in a tavern and reportedly said, “I believe we should have a house of worship and the Lord will have a people in this place.” Later that year, Bishop Asbury organized the first Methodist congregation in Strasburg, and St. Michael's Lutheran Church, still on Main Street, was built in 1806, just two years following the creation of a post office for the town.

In the early years of its development, the village was blessed with over a half dozen wealthy clergy and physicians, such as Bishop Asbury. This brought more order to the town, reflected in an 1816 odinance imposing a $3 fine on "who shall run any horse or horses through the streets, lanes, or alleys of the borough."

School Days

Because of the education and religious background of many of its citizens, Strasburg also became a cultural and educational center. Rev. Nathaniel Sample, a Presbyterian minister, was one such individual. In 1790 he founded the Strasburg Philosophical Society, and in 1791 was also active in the creation of the Strasburg Scientific Society, "said to have aroused the interest of Ben Franklin." As far as is known, Rev. Sample founded Strasburg’s first formal school in 1790, a classical academy in which he taught Greek and Latin. Sample also conducted a theological school in the east parlor of his home.

These academic enterprises near the close of the 18th century were followed during the 19th century by a flood of schools. On February 13, 1823, by an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, an Academy was established in which “the languages, arts, and sciences will be taught.” Nathaniel Sample was listed as the first superintendent.

Rev. David McCarter, minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Strasburg, also contributed significantly to establishing Strasburg as a cultural and educational center. In 1839 he founded the Strasburg Academy on 37 East Main. (The present day Limestone Inn Bed & Breakfast was the headmaster’s home and housed boarding students.) The Academy gained the reputation of being one of the best academies in the country for both boarding and day students, and between 1836 and 1856 young men came from all over the East Coast and as far away as Cuba and Puerto Rico.

In 1841, Rev. McCarter opened a classical school for girls, the “Strasburg Female Seminary” at 17 East Main. Establishing a school for girls was quite an unusual act for the time.

The Railroad

But as Strasburg flourished, so did its neighbor to the east, Philadelphia. The 1795 Lancaster Turnpike, today's Route 30, was built just to the north and cut down the traffic through town. The commercial interests of Philadelphia pressured the State Legislature to improve the transportation network into their city. As a result, an internal improvements bill passed in 1826 to construct a series of canals. The Philadelphia and Columbia Rail Road was also incorporated with financing provided by the state. Built in the 1830's, it was a further blow when the railroad, too, bypassed the town.

Strasburg residents became alarmed at the possibility of losing their commercial position and saw the need to connect to the rail system. From this concern emerged the Strasburg Rail Road. In 1832 a charter was secured from the Pennsylvania Legislature to construct a line connecting Strasburg with the Philadelphia and Columbia Rail Road main line near Paradise. Due to economical difficulties, the project was delayed, but finally put in running order in 1852. But this shortline between Strasburg and Paradise was not financially successful for many reasons.

The year 1901 marked the opening of the trolley line between Lancaster and Strasburg, but it only lasted until 1932. Hagans Coach Works on East Main, which had opened in 1891, converted its livery stable into a showroom for Ford automobiles in 1916, reflecting the changing times.

With these and other changes over the years, the Strasburg Rail Road was not doing well commercially. All that began to change when a company was formed in 1957 to preserve and operate it for passenger rides as a visitor attraction. Now one of the area's top visitor attractions, it is also America’s oldest shortline railroad and the "oldest continually chartered public utility in Pennsylvania." It also resulted in many train related attractions locating nearby, including the building by the state of the spectacular Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

Preservation

Along with preserving the railroad and its history, resident saw the importance of preserving their buildings as well. Most of the older houses along Main Street were at one time private schools and academies. In the square, where Routes 896 and 741 intersect, visitors will also note the Massasoit Hall, an imposing brick building with belfry constructed in 1856, and named for "an Indian chief who aided the early pilgrims." Reflecting both the community's power and character, it was also a place to meet and discuss current news, or to attend an event in the auditorium on the second floor.

With so many of the structures still intact, the Strasburg Borough Council enacted an ordinance in 1970 that created a Historic District, in order to maintain the charm and historical significance of the village. The ordinance prohibits the altering of the façades of structures without approval by a “Board of Architectural Review.” East Main, West Main and Miller (a continuation of West Main), plus Decatur Street constitute the Historic District, which is approximately 2 miles long, comprises 82.5 acres, and contains 193 buildings.

A significant aspect of the Historic District is the survival rate of the oldest buildings. At least 12 of the 29 oldest brick structures survive, all four of the oldest stone houses are still intact, and there are at least two dozen log houses still standing in the district, putting the survival rate of pre-1815 houses at approximately 50%. The various buildings of Swiss, German, Georgian, and Federal architecture make Strasburg a delightful locale for visitors interested in the region's rich heritage and cultural diversity.
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Day 119 - Amish Country

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:16:16 GMT

Amish Country
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: Yes (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $48.91

History of the Amish:

The Amish broke away from the Mennonites nearly 300 years ago when differences arose among Anabaptist leaders in Switzerland and Alsace. Seeking a stricter lifestyle including the Streng Meidung, or shunning, which includes the social avoidance of erring church members. Tensions ran high and eventually in 1693, a complete split occurred. Amish Buggy in the Field.

Forty years later, many Amish responded to William Penn's invitation to come to America and settle the land. No Amish now remain in Europe. Currently there are approximately 145,000 Amish men, women and children living in 22 states in the United States and in Ontario, Canada. There are 220 Amish settlements accommodating over 900 geographically determined church districts.

Persistence of tradition and slowness to modernize have characterized the Amish as they have steadily sought to carve out their lifestyle which is a culture apart from the world. Even at the dawn of the 21st century, Amish are characterized as humble folk--hard working, neighborly, otherworldly, agrarian, God-fearing, and ethnically homogenous--who live the simple life and live it well.

The Amish have maintained their simple lifestyle amidst existing within a technologically advancing culture. They have maintained a peaceful presence independent of the every changing outside world.

Characteristics of Amish Life
Simple Life
Otherworldliness, non-conformity based on Biblical teachings in Romans 12:1-2 and II Cor. 6:14. This pervades the entire lifestyle of the Amish (dress, language, work, travel and education).

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Family Life
Amish marry Amish. No intermarriage is allowed. Divorce is not permitted and separation is very rare. They are strictly monogamous and generally patriarchal. Sex roles are clearly defined. The average family size is 7-8 children. Homosexuality is not recognized as an acceptable lifestyle.

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Harmony with Soil and Nature
Manual labor is good (Amish have little regard for labor-saving devices). Hard work and thriftiness are virtues. Amish believe that God is pleased when people work in harmony with nature, the soil, the weather and care of animals and plants. Amish always live in rural community. By contrast, the city is viewed as a center of leisure, non-productive spending, and often as the stage for evil and wickedness.

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Mutual Assistance
Amish do not survive outside of community. There is much neighboring in the community, and helping each other is the most common way of socializing. They carry no life or property insurance; the church assists in cases of major loss. Large families generally give assurance of care for the elderly. Only rarely do Amish retire to places other than the dawdyhaus, a small house built next to the main farm house. Retired Amish farmers do not receive Social Security.

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Disciplined Church Community
Discipline in the Amish community can be sometimes harsh and uncompromising. Baptized members are morally committed to church rules. Erring members are generally excommunicated and shunned until there is forgiveness and restoration to full fellowship.
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A History of Lancaster, PA
Return to Index
The area now known as Lancaster was settled in the early 1700s by the Europeans, and declared a "townstead" by the governor of Pennsylvania in 1730. Most of the land at this time was owned by Andrew Hamilton. His son James was deeded 500 acres of this land in 1733, and designed the layout of the city in a plan of straight streets and rectangular property lots, that included what we all know as a "town square," known in those days as a "centre square."
Lancaster is the oldest inland city in the United States, and served as the capital city of Pennsylvania from 1799 until 1813, until it was replaced by Harrisburg. In 1709, the town was known as "Hickory Town;" Then after it was re-designed by James Hamilton, a prominent citizen named John Wright gave "Hickory Town" the name "Lancaster" after Lancaster, England where he used to live.

Lancaster is known as the "Red Rose City" because of its link to Lancaster, England. The city became a borough in 1742, a chartered city in 1818, and surrendered its ancient city charter and became a Third Class City under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvanian May 27, in 1924.

During the Revolutionary War, Lancaster was an important munitions center, the National Capital of the American Colonies on September 27, 1777 when the Continental Congress was fleeing British forces after their capture of Philadelphia.

Some famous Lancaster Residents and Natives and Firsts

James Buchanan- 15th President of the United States, lived in Lancaster, and was the only president from Pennsylvania.
Thaddeus Stevens- An abolishonist congressman, Lancaster resident, and member of the Pennsylvania Legislature.
Edward Hand- Physician, Colonial Army Officer, and Congressman.
Robert Fulton- Painter, engineer, statesman, inventor, and best known for his construction of the first proficient steamboat the "Clermont."
Pennsylvania Rifle-Developed in Lancaster by Martin Meylin, a swiss gunsmith. The rifle was misnamed "the Kentucky Rifle."
Conestoga Wagon-Lancaster produced this wagon, and it was the principal inland freight transport in American trade before railroads.
Lancaster is famous for its architectural heritage, and its strong commitment to its community. It is a city nationally recognized by being awarded the All-American City Award.
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Day 118 - Harley Davidson

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:48:46 GMT

Harley Davidson
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: No (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $48.76

The history of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle began in Milwaukee in 1903. In Milwaukee, Bill Harley and Arthur Walter Davidson developed a one-cylinder motorcycle. Around the turn of the century the gasoline engine was developed and the one-cylinder motor was introduced. In 1901 the Indians were the first motorcycles and in 1903 Mitschell, Merkel and Yale.
This motorcycle was initially built for racing and was powered by a one-cylinder gasoline combustion engine.

In 1903 in Milwaukee, Bill Harley and Arthur Walter Davidson developed a one-cylinder motorcycle. It was a reliable and even a beautiful cycle. And ... someone bought it !! In 1905 they had made 11 motorcycles, in 1908 it were 154 and ... they had a company, in a little wooden barn, that was build by Davidson's father.
The small company extended quickly and another member of the Davidson family, William, joined them. In no time they hired about 20 employees in an especcially build stone-factory.

In 1909 Bill Harley made a project of the first 1000 CC V-Twin. It produced a modest seven horsepower. The 45-degree V-twin would become one of the more recognizable images of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle. This V-Twin stayed with HD for a long, long time. Maybe it's hard to believe, but Harley-Davidson didn't invent the V-twin !! When Bill Harley developed one, he just followed the tendency of the 1910 brought the legendary "Bar and Shield" logo that was placed on their motorcycle. This would become the defining symbol of Harley-Davidson to this day. Numerous first place winnings in races, endurance contests and hill climbs give Harley-Davidson more recognition.
The "F-head" engine is introduced in 1911. It will be the power workhorse until 1929, when the "Flathead" engine is introduced.

The year 1912 saw further growth of the Harley-Davidson Company. Construction began on a new 6-story factory. Harley-Davidson also became an exporter this year and their first overseas sale was made in Japan. In the states there were now over 200 dealerships.

1914 saw the addition on the sidecar to the Harley-Davidson. The Company also formally put their hand in the ring of motorcycle racing this year and would soon dominate the sport and become known as the "Wrecking Crew".

1915 saw the emergence of the three-speed sliding-gear transmission. In 1917, one-third of all Harley-Davidsons were sent overseas to the U.S. Military to fulfill their patriotic call and to aid in the war effort. The following year, roughly half of the motorcycles produced were sold to the U.S. military. In the end, about 20,000 motorcycles were used in the war, most of them Harley-Davidsons. By this time Harley-Davidson was the biggest motorcycle factory in the world with nearly 2,000 dealerships worldwide. In 1918 Harley-Davidson was the biggest motorcycle factory in the world. They even survived the depression. The V-twin was Harley's specialty, so the company tried to defeat its only remaining rival ... Indian.
But these days were the thoughest, because the motorcycles got out of date and the prices of automobiles decreased (the T-Ford was born).

Therefore, Harley Davidson tried other technical enterprises, like manufacturing parts, side cars and even airplane motor-engines, but they also improved their own products.

The 1920's saw some changes to the appearance of the motorcycle, which are more recognizable today. One such change was the identifiable teardrop shape gas tank. In 1926, single-cylinder engines were once again available, having been discontinued in 1918. In 1928, the first twin-cam engine and front wheel brakes were available on the Harley-Davidson. With this modification, the motorcycle could reach speeds in excess of 85 mph.

V-Twin from 1923

The 1930's and subsequent years saw more record breaking and award winning Harley-Davidson's. In 1932, the three-wheel Servi-Car was introduced and would become a familiar commercial and police vehicle. Along with appearance changes such as the "eagle" design, which was painted on all Harley-Davidson gas tanks, changes were also made to the engine.

These days the biggest Harley ever appeared , the 1340 CC. This motorcycle became Harley Davidson's trademark. 1936 also became a milestone. That year the Knucklehead was launched and this motorcycle also became the victory over the Indian. And when in 1947 the Panhead was driven out of the factory, Harley Davidson was THE American Motorcycle.

In the 1940's, the Harley-Davidson once again answered the patriotic call and sent its motorcycles overseas to aid in the war effort. In 1941, civilian production on the motorcycle was mostly suspended as the company turned out motorcycles for the war. Because of their commitment and excellence, Harley-Davidson received the Army-Navy "E" award; this wouldn't be the last time. In November of 1945, civilian production once again started. In 1947, Harley-Davidson purchased the old A.O. Smith Propeller Plant and used it as a machine shop. The parts made here were shipped back to the old factory on Juneau Avenue for final assembly. In 1949, hydraulic front brakes were introduced on the Hydra-Glide models.

In the fifty's Harley survived another bad period. The Brittish owned 40 % of the motorcycle market with their Triumph ! In 1957 fortunately the Sportster was born, the fastest Harley ever. A great success !! Just like the English motorcycle industry, Harley stuck to its technic, style and caracter. That's why this motorcycle was so populair for many, many years.
In opposite to the English manufacturors, Harley Davidson survived this decision. Due to the enormous attack from the Japanees from the Far East, the English dissapeared without a trace and the American were almost dead. Even the Shovelhead couldn't save its ass. 1969, Time for a merger with the American Machine and Foudry Company (AMF).
However, the quality decreased ernormously and the Super Glide and the SLCR Caféracer of 1970 got a bad name. But Harley Davidson bought itself out and survived and with launching the new Evolution-motor in 1984, the company managed to create a modern motorcycle, which was still a Harley Davidson.

The beginning of the 1970's saw a revolution of the Harley-Davidson. In 1971, the cruiser was born. This machine united a sporty front end with the frame and power train of the FL series. 1973 saw the move of assembly operations to a new 400,000 square foot plant in York, Pennsylvania. The year 1975 was the first of four consecutive years that the Harley-Davidson won the AMA Grand National Championships in dirt track racing. In 1977, the FXS Low Rider and the FLHS Electra Glide Sport were introduced to the public. The FXS featured a special lower seat position (hence the distinguishing term Low Rider...). The FLHS was a low cost base line FLH Electra Glide with modifications intended to make the model sportier.

The beginning of the 1980's saw another change in the partnership of the engine and transmission. In 1980, the FLT model was born with a 5-speed transmission hard bolted to the engine. Also this year, the drive train was replaced with a Kevlar belt. In 1981 senior members of Harley-Davidson bought back Harley-Davidson Motor Company from AMF.

In 1982 Harley-Davidson enacted the Materials as Needed (MAN) application in their production. This would cut production costs and improve the quality of the parts. In 1983 the group H.O.G was founded and became the largest factory-sponsored motorcycle club in the world. By the year 2000, the club had over 500,000 members. In 1984 the 1340 cc V-twin engine was introduced, seven years in the making. Also this year, the Softail model became available. The Softail was most primarily distinguishable by hidden rear shock absorbers.

In 1987 Harley-Davidson began its "Buy Back Program" which offered full trade in value within two years on certain models. Also at this time, the Harley-Davidson Company obtained a place on the New York Stock Exchange for those interested in taking a financial stake in the company. In 1988 Harley-Davidson celebrated their 85th Anniversary in Milwaukee, an event that brought forth 60,000 aficionados of the Harley-Davidson. At the end of this revolutionary decade for Harley-Davidson, the FXSTS Springer Softail model was introduced into the lineup. The FXSTS Springer Softail was a modern day recreation of the 1940's Harley-Davidson. It had the classic biker look with the 1340 cc engine symbolizing the new era of Harley-Davidson.

In the early 1990's the Fat Boy design was introduced and quickly caught on. The name Fatboy was derived by combining the names of the two atomic bombs "Fat man" and "Little Boy" which were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It was destined from the start to become a Collector's item among biking enthusiasts and definitely achieved that status throughout its existence. Also in 1990, Construction on a 31 million dollar state of the art paint facility began in York, Pennsylvania. It was finished the following year.

In 1991, The Dyna line of Harley-Davidson's was introduced with the FXDB Dyna Glide Sturgis. 1994 saw the jump of Harley-Davidson into the Superbike racing with the VR1000. The VR1000 featured a dual overhead cam and a liquid cooled engine and showed that Harley-Davidson was not fully averse to manufacturing a race inspired sport bike.

In 1996 a state of the art Parts and Accessories distribution plant was opened in Franklin, Wisconsin. The following year a new Product Development Center opened in Milwaukee. Also in 1997, a 330,000 square foot plant in Kansas City made its first Sportster. In 1998, assembly operations were taking place in another part of the world, Brazil. In the year 2001 Fuel injection was available on the Softail models.

These days, in America, Harley Davidson owns 62 % of the market of motorcycles with 850 CC or more !!

Harleys are, just like porches, funn stuff for people with money and appearance. So, "rich" customers rule the market. It could have been tempting for Harley Davidson to participate in this commercial hype, but when the hype is over, they know the company will still be there and will still sell motorcycles ... because of the loyal followers.
For these people, despite of age and appearance, a Harley is the one and only. It is an obviously arrogant, massive and cool cycle, without doing its best for it. However, Harleys aren't the fastest and manageable cycles, riding a Harley is uncomparable with riding any other bike ...

In the mean time, the die hards have to share this experience with the yuppies !!!
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YORK COUNTY HERITAGE
250 Years of History

York County has played a proud role in the long exciting drama that is the history of the United States of America. York County can justifiably be called the first proving ground for a westward flow of settlers that did not stop until checked by the waters of the Pacific. It was in the forefront of organized resistance during the American Revolution and a source of strength to the Union armies during the most critical period of the Civil War. In more modern times, its citizenry has made notable contributions to the victory effort in two world wars and numerous armed conflicts. Over the past 250 years it has utilized its resources to create a community nationally admired for its agricultural richness, industrial vigor and cultural enterprise.

The history of the County begins with the benign agreements established by William Penn with the Indians who made their homes along its streams and rivers. In 1681, Penn had accepted a grant of land in the new frontier of 16,000 pounds, a debt owed to his father; for Penn, it was primarily an opportunity to establish new homes for his persecuted fellow Quaker Brethren.

As early as 1682, Penn and his heirs negotiated with the Indians to formally purchase the lands. As settlements along the coast grew in size and number, the need for westward expansion became apparent, and in 1722 the Indians were requested and gave permission for the survey of land beyond the Susquehanna River. A tract measuring 6 miles wide and 15 miles long and including the site now occupied by the City of York was surveyed and named Springettsbury Manor, for Springett Penn, the grandson of the Founder. The Onandagoe, Seneca, Oneida and Tuscarora nations signed a treaty of peace and deeded to the Penns, "all the river Susquehanna and all land lying on the west side of said river to the setting of the sun..."

FIRST SETTLEMENTS
Meanwhile, in 1729, John and James Hendricks had made the first authorized settlement in what is now York County, on Kruetz Creek. Germans, originally lured from the Rhenish Palatinate by William Penn's agents,soon followed Englishmen into the new frontier. Pamphlets and even playing cards extolled the opportunities to be found in Pennsylvania. The first Irish and Scotch took over the land in the southeast, then known as "York Barrens." To the north, families, mostly Quakers moving on from Chester County settled Newberry Township and its surroundings called the "Redlands".
The town of York was laid in 1741, when Thomas Cookson surveyed 437 1/2 acres on the banks of the Codorus Creek. On November 23, 1741, applicants agreed to pay seven shillings a year for the use of lots measuring 230 feet long and 65 feet wide, and to erect on it,"a substantial dwelling of 16 feet square at least...within the space of one year."

On August 17, 1749 the provincial Assembly separated York County from Lancaster County and officially partitioned the new county.

The French and Indian Wars which were fought so bitterly in western Pennsylvania in the 1750's spread within a day's march of York County, and refugees from Cumberland County fled to its settlements. In 1755, Benjamin Franklin spent time in York hiring 150 wagons, 259 pack horses and buying flour for General Braddock's army. In 1758 four companies of militia from the County took part in the capture of Fort Duquesne (later renamed Pittsburgh).

Hanover, second largest town in the County, was a thickly grown grove of hickory trees until 1763, when Richard M'Alister laid out a town in a "no-man's land", claimed by Maryland as well as Pennsylvania, and accepting the jurisdiction of neither. The border between the two provinces had been hotly contested and "Maryland Intruders" roamed as far as the Susquehanna. The rivalry became so bitter that the British government arranged a survey to settle it. The line laid down by engineers Mason and Dixon on 1763-67,eventually marked the Civil War division between the Union and the Confederacy.

As early as July 4, 1774, York Countians selected a committee to protest against British taxation and other oppressive measures. When Boston was blockaded as a result of its famous tea party, York County provided financial help and military support. A local company of militia riflemen were among the first from west of the Hudson River to march to Massachusetts. In 1775 there were 3,349 "associaters" or volunteer militiamen within the County, and by 1778, a total of 4,621York Countians answered the call to arms. By contrast the total population at the time was just shy of 25,000. In 1779 Colonel Thomas Hartley observed that," the York districts has armed first in Pennsylvania and has furnished more men for the war and lost a greater number of men in it than any other district on the continent of the same number individuals."

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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Innumerable organized protests against parliamentary restrictions and sporadic fighting throughout the colonies swelled into organized revolution. In July , 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read to cheering Yorkers who gathered before the two-story red brick courthouse on Centre Square. Fourteen months later the Continental Congress, having put the Susquehanna between themselves and the British who occupied Philadelphia, assembled in the same courthouse in order to administer a nation not quite fully born.
The presence of the Congress in York, from September 30,1777 to June 27, 1778, brought the first printing press to the County. The press was necessary in order that military and legislative news could be sent throughout the colonies. It was also used to print about $10,000,000 worth of currency while in York; money that was so inflated as to be almost worthless. Undoubtedly the most important business conducted here was the drafting of the Articles of Confederation, which in 1781 would be ratified by the required two-thirds of the colonies , establishing the "United States of America". Victory and independence would finally come for the new nation in 1783.

Many unforgettable figures in our national history hurried resolutely through York County in those days. Thomas Paine worked as secretary to the committee of foreign affairs, and in his spare time wrote some of the tracts which made up his literary work "The Crisis." The Marquis de Lafayette, with a toast to General Washington, disrupted the Conway Cabal, a plot to elevate General Horatio Gates to supreme commander of the Colonial army. General Anthony Wayne, Baron von Steuben, Count Pulaski were here on military errands. Less distinguished visitors were the English prisoners-of-war quartered at Camp Security. Many later remained upon release and settled in York County.

In 1800, immediately after the separation of Adams County from York County, the County boasted a population of 25,643. During the first half of the nineteenth century York remained primarily an agricultural community, but residents continued to contribute to the growing industrialization of the County. Conestoga wagons in York and Lancaster gradually disappeared as railroads, canals and waterways increased the mobility of men and goods. The Codorus was navigable from York to its mouth on the Susquehanna River. In 1825, on the Susquehanna, John Edgar tested the first iron steamboat. Phineas Davis, a well-known clock maker, perfected his revolutionary coal-burning locomotive in York County.

As the questions of slavery became a moral and political issue in this young nation, York County helped maintain a more unusual form of transportation. The phrase "underground railway" supposedly originated in the southern Pennsylvania area as runaway slaves were assisted in their flight to more tolerant states.

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THE CIVIL WAR
After the guns off Fort Sumter thundered the call to war in 1861, York County sent the first fully-equipped volunteers to march from Pennsylvania. Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorville, Richmond and Appamatox were some of the battlegrounds on which York Countians died and distinguished themselves. Within the County, Camp Scott was established as a training post for as many as 5,500 men. In July 1862, a hospital able to care for wounded was established and operated until the end of the war, reportedly treating 14,000 soldiers..
Late in June 1863, Confederate troops made their most extensive thrust into northern territory when they spread across York County as far as the Susquehanna River. Union forces fled into Lancaster County but further Confederate advances were checked when the bridge at Wrightsville was burned. Within the City of York, a committee raised more than $28,000 and gathered supplies of food and clothing to appease Confederate commander, General Jubal A. Early. His theat to burn the railroad car shops was forestalled when he received urgent orders to withdraw to join other Confederate armies massing at Gettysburg in Adams County to the west.

The first Civil War battle on Pennsylvania soil was fought at Hanover on June 30th, 1863. Because of this engagement, General J.E.B Stuart and his much-heralded cavalry forces were unable to join General Robert E. Lee's armies at Gettysburg until after the decisive battles had been fought. This delay in Hanover played an important part in the Union victory at Gettysburg, which is considered to be the turning point in the War Between the States.

A somber close to this period was the passing of Abraham Lincoln's funeral train through York County. A large part of the local population was at the railroad station to pay tribute to the martyred president on April 21, 1865, as his funeral train passed through York..

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TWENTIETH CENTURY SERVICE RECORD
Until World War I the County concentrated on an increasing industrialization and productive agriculture. During the "Great War of 1914-1918", more than 6,000 York Countians were members of the nation's armed services. A total of 197 York Countians lost their lives as battle casualties or as victims of influenza and other diseases that swept across the land, both here and abroad.
With the advent of World War II, local industries were instrumental in formulating a program for combining community resources to increase productivity. The 14-point York plan soon proved its efficacy and was widely copied throughout the nation. The objectives of the York Plan were to: educate workers and assure them of the best available housing and health facilities; integrate work that could be done by subcontractors and primary contractors within the local area; and utilize all available machines and workers to meet the demand for war material. Before the war ended with the Japanese surrender on August 4, 1945, ten percent of York County's population of more than 178,000 served in the armed forces. Of these 371 were killed, 822 were wounded, 152 were reported missing and 192 were taken prisoner. Two outstanding heroes of World War II were York Countians. General Jacob Loucks Devers, commander of Army Ground Forces in the European Theater, and Lieutenant Alexander B. Goode, one of four chaplains who bravely went to their deaths aboard the troop transport S.S. Dorchester. Lieutenant Goode and his colleagues were recognized for giving up their life belts so others might live.

The 1950's brought another crisis to York County as once again county troops served bravely during the Korean conflict. Of the 263,721 Pennsylvanian Korean Veterans, 6,910 are from York County and of that number 63 were killed, either from wounds or from disease.

Since World War II, the nation and York County has experienced periods of prosperity and times of turmiol. York Countians have answered the call for several armed conflicts including the Korean War, Vietnam and most recently the "100 hour war" in the Persian Gulf. During these hostilities , 164 men and women gave their lives to preserve the freedoms our forefathers envisioned that winter in York so long ago in 1777 and 1778..
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Day 117 - New Truck (Mule 2) Then Time To Roll

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:48:19 GMT

New Truck (Mule 2) Then Time To Roll
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: No (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $48.51

Battle of Gettysburg

This most famous and most important Civil War Battle occurred over three hot summer days, July 1 to July 3, 1863, around the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It began as a skirmish but by its end involved 160,000 Americans.
Before the battle, major cities in the North such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and even Washington were under threat of attack from General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia which had crossed the Potomac River and marched into Pennsylvania.

The Union Army of the Potomac under its very new and untried commander, General George G. Meade, marched to intercept Lee.

On Tuesday morning, June 30, an infantry brigade of Confederate soldiers searching for shoes headed toward Gettysburg (population 2,400). The Confederate commander looked through his field glasses and spotted a long column of Federal cavalry heading toward the town. He withdrew his brigade and informed his superior, Gen. Henry Heth, who in turn told his superior, A.P. Hill, he would go back the following morning and "get those shoes."

Wednesday morning, July 1, two divisions of Confederates headed back to Gettysburg. They ran into Federal cavalry west of the town at Willoughby Run and the skirmish began. Events would quickly escalate. Lee rushed 25,000 men to the scene. The Union had less than 20,000.

After much fierce fighting and heavy casualties on both sides, the Federals were pushed back through the town of Gettysburg and regrouped south of the town along the high ground near the cemetery. Lee ordered Confederate General R.S. Ewell to seize the high ground from the battle weary Federals "if practicable." Gen. Ewell hesitated to attack thereby giving the Union troops a chance to dig in along Cemetery Ridge and bring in reinforcements with artillery. By the time Lee realized Ewell had not attacked, the opportunity had vanished.

Meade arrived at the scene and thought it was an ideal place to do battle with Lee's Army. Meade anticipated reinforcements totaling up to 100,000 men to arrive and strengthen his defensive position.

Confederate General James Longstreet saw the Union position as nearly impregnable and told Lee it should be left alone. He argued that Lee's Army should instead move east between the Union Army and Washington and build a defensive position thus forcing the Federals to attack them instead.

But Lee believed his own army was invincible and he was also without his much needed cavalry which served as his eyes and ears during troop movements. Cavalry leader Jeb Stuart had gone off with his troops to harass the Federals. Stuart's expedition would turn out to be for the most part a wild goose chase which left Lee at a disadvantage until he returned.

Lee decided to attack the Union Army's defensive position at the southern end of Cemetery Ridge which he thought was less well defended.

About 10 a.m. the next morning, Thursday, July 2, Gen. Longstreet was ordered by Lee to attack. But Longstreet was quite slow in getting his troops into position and didn't attack until 4 p.m. that afternoon thus giving the Union Army even more time to strengthen its position.

When Longstreet attacked, some of the most bitter fighting of the Civil War erupted at places now part of American military folklore such as Little Round Top, Devil's Den, the Wheat Field and the Peach Orchard. Longstreet took the Peach Orchard but was driven back at Little Round Top.

About 6:30 p.m. Gen. Ewell attacked the Union line from the north and east at Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill. The attack lasted into darkness but was finally unsuccessful at Cemetery Hill, although the Rebels seized some trenches on Culp's Hill.

By about 10:30 p.m., the day's fighting came to an end. The Federals had lost some ground during the Rebel onslaught but still held the strong defensive position along Cemetery Ridge.

Both sides regrouped and counted their causalities while the moaning and sobbing of thousands of wounded men on the slopes and meadows south of Gettysburg could be heard throughout the night under the blue light of a full moon.

Generals from each side gathered in war councils to plan for the coming day. Union commander Meade decided his army would remain in place and wait for Lee to attack. On the Confederate side, Longstreet once again tried to talk Lee out of attacking such a strong position. But Lee thought the battered Union soldiers were nearly beaten and would collapse under one final push.

Lee decided to gamble to win the Battle of Gettysburg and in effect win the Civil War by attacking the next day at the center of the Union line along Cemetery Ridge where it would be least expected. To do this he would send in the fresh troops of Gen. George Pickett. Along with this, Gen. Ewell would renew the assault on Culp's hill.

But as dawn broke on Friday, July 3, about 4:30 a.m., Lee's timetable was undermined as Union cannons pounded the Rebels on Culp's Hill to drive them from the trenches. The Rebels did not withdraw, but instead attacked the Federals around 8 a.m. Thus began a vicious three hour struggle with the Rebels charging time after time up the hill only to be beaten back. The Federals finally counter attacked and drove the Rebels off the hill and east across Rock Creek. Around 11 a.m. the fighting on Culp's Hill stopped. An eerie quiet settled over the whole battlefield.

Once again Lee encountered opposition to his battle plan from Longstreet. Lee estimated about 15,000 men would participate in the Rebel charge on Cemetery Ridge. Longstreet responded, "It is my opinion that no 15,000 men ever arrayed for battle can take that position." But Lee was unmoved. The plan would go on as ordered.

Throughout the morning and into the afternoon amid 90° heat and stifling humidity the Rebels moved into position in the woods opposite Cemetery Ridge for the coming charge. Interestingly, some Union troops were moved away from Cemetery Ridge on Meade's orders because he thought Lee would attack again in the south. Several hours before, Meade had correctly predicted Lee would attack the center, but now thought otherwise. He left only 5,750 infantrymen stretched out along the half-mile front to initially face the 15,000 man Rebel charge.

Lee sent Jeb Stuart's recently returned cavalry to go behind the Union position in order to divert Federal forces from the main battle area. Around noon, Union and Confederate cavalry troops clashed three miles east of Gettysburg but Stuart was eventually repulsed by punishing cannon fire and the Union cavalry led in part by 23 year old Gen. George Custer. The diversion attempt failed.

Back at the main battle site, just after 1 p.m. about 170 Confederate cannons opened fire on the Union position on Cemetery Ridge to pave the way for the Rebel charge. This was the heaviest artillery barrage of the war but many of the Rebel shells missed their targets and flew harmlessly overhead.

The Federals returned heavy cannon fire and soon big clouds of blinding smoke and dust hung over the battlefield. Around 2:30 p.m. the Federals slowed their rate of fire, then ceased, to conserve ammunition and to fool the Rebels into thinking the cannons were knocked out - exactly what the Rebels did think.

Pickett went to see Longstreet and asked, "General, shall I advance?" Longstreet, now overwhelmed with emotion, did not respond, but simply bowed his head and raised his hand. Thus the order was given.

"Charge the enemy and remember old Virginia!" yelled Pickett as 12,000 Rebels formed an orderly line that stretched a mile from flank to flank. In deliberate silence and with military pageantry from days gone by, they slowly headed toward the Union Army a mile away on Cemetery Ridge as the Federals gazed in silent wonder at this spectacular sight.

But as the Rebels got within range, Federal cannons using grapeshot (a shell containing iron balls that flew apart when fired) and deadly accurate rifle volleys ripped into the Rebels killing many and tearing holes in the advancing line. What had been, just moments before, a majestic line of Rebel infantry, quickly became a horrible mess of dismembered bodies and dying wounded accompanied by a mournful roar. But the Rebels continued on.

As they got very close, the Rebels stopped and fired their rifles once at the Federals then lowered their bayonets and commenced a running charge while screaming the Rebel yell.

A fierce battle raged for an hour with much brutal hand to hand fighting, shooting at close range and stabbing with bayonets. For a brief moment, the Rebels nearly had their chosen objective, a small clump of oak trees atop Cemetery Ridge. But Union reinforcements and regrouped infantry units swarmed in and opened fire on the Rebel ranks. The battered, outnumbered Rebels finally began to give way and this great human wave that had been Pickett's Charge began to recede as the men drifted back down the slope. The supreme effort of Lee's army had been beaten back, leaving 7,500 of his men lying on the field of battle.

Lee rode out and met the survivors, telling them, "It is all my fault." And to Pickett he said, "Upon my shoulders rests the blame." Later when he got back to headquarters Lee exclaimed, "Too bad. Too bad! Oh, too bad!" The gamble had failed. The tide of the war was now permanently turned against the South.

Confederate causalities in dead, wounded and missing were 28,000 out of 75,000. Union casualties were 23,000 out of 88,000.

That night and into the next day, Saturday, July 4, Confederate wounded were loaded aboard wagons that began the journey back toward the South. Lee was forced to abandon his dead and begin a long slow withdrawal of his army back to Virginia. Union commander Meade, out of fatigue and caution, did not immediately pursue Lee, infuriating President Lincoln who wrote a bitter letter to Meade (never delivered) saying he missed a "golden opportunity" to end the war right there.

On November 19, President Lincoln went to the battlefield to dedicate it as a military cemetery. The main orator, Edward Everett of Massachusetts, delivered a two hour formal address. The president then had his turn. He spoke in his high, penetrating voice and in a little over two minutes delivered the Gettysburg Address, surprising many in the audience by its shortness and leaving others quite unimpressed.

Over time, however, the speech and its words - government of the People, by the People, for the People - have come to symbolize the definition of democracy itself.

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Day 116 - The Mule Gets Taken Out

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:47:49 GMT

The Mule Gets Taken Out
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: No (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $48.22

War: Went for a climb this Morning, came back to the Penske and change and then go run. As I started the rig, a noise came out like a bomb, did the muffler blow up?. I turned off the engine and checked the under carriage of the truck and discovered, that some low life cut off the catalytic converter. This is where it got interesting, the lot was right off some busy roads, but the parking lot is in a state park "Great" so the office is right down the road, so I walk down to the office and tell the lady at the front desk about the incident. She tells no one will be on for another 15 minutes, then I say is the area lawless till this guy comes in. Frustrated I said send him over after he gets settled in, get that 1 bullet ready for the nights work.

After about an 1/2 hour Barney Fife showed up and looked under the truck and says it looks like someone stole your catalytic Converter (no *$#@) I said that already, then his side kick shows up with the camera. Well, there was no way I could drive it, so penske sent (Mule 2) over via tow truck. One bad thing it will take him 4 hours and I have to clean out (mule 1), can you say mega nightmare, there was 4 months of crap and most melmed with other items, I felt like an Archeologist going through levels in time. Finally the next truck shows up, time to reload and go get a steak, well the steak placed closed right when I got there "Day over."

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Day 115 - Gettysburg Day #2

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:47:15 GMT

Gettysburg Day #2
Road Finds: No (View Details)
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Money Found So Far: $47.99

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Battle of Gettysburg

July 1, 1863 - Day 1

The Battle of Gettysburg was the costliest battle of the American Civil War based on number of casualties. Spanning over three days, from July 1-3, 1863, the Battle resulted in approximately 51,112 individuals being killed, wounded, missing or captured. Despite the fact that the South continued to fight for two more years, it was a decisive victory for the Union. The South's retreat and terrible losses were a turning point in the war. From that point on, the South had to abandon its attempt to take the war North.

Day One
The Battle of Gettysburg began quite accidentally. Two Confederate Brigades under the overall command of General Heth moved in to occupy the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Unbeknownst to them, the town was already occuppied by two Union Calvary Brigades commanded by General John Buford. The fighting broke out around 8 a.m. as the Confederate Brigades moved in from the Northwest. They expected little resistance but were quite surprised to find the Union Brigades. Buford's men were able to hold the advancing confederates for over an hour while waiting for reinforcements. They were eventually forced to retreat but not before General Reynolds arrived to assist in the defense of McPherson's Ridge. Unfortunately, while deploying the fresh troops General Reynolds was shot and killed, leaving General Doubleday the ranking commander on the field. The battle raged over the next couple of hours with the Confederate troops attempting to flank their Union counterparts and drive them from the high ground.

General Lee arrived on the scene around 2:30 p.m. and gave A.P. Hill permission to join the attack on General Meridith and his Iron Brigade. The Union troops were unable to hold their ground under this onslaught and began to retreat towards the Seminary. However, their stay at the Seminary was short-lived. The Confederates pressed the advantage and forced the Union soldiers to flee through the town of Gettysburg and to the area known as Cemetary Hill. Fortunately for the Union, the Confederacy had sustained numerous casualties in their first day victory. They had been weakened and were unable to press their advantage effectively.

Around 4:30 p.m. Major General Winfield Hancock arrived at Cemetary Hill and took overall command of the Union Army from Doubleday on the orders of General Meade. He realized he was in an excellent defensive position and continued to deploy the retreating troops of Doubleday. The remains of Meredith's Iron Brigade were sent to occupy the defensible position of Culp's Hill.

As these events were taking place, General Lee was conferring with Lieutenant James Longstreet. The two disagreed on the course the battle should take from here on out. General Longstreet urged Lee to swing around behind the Union army and cut them off from Washington. This would allow the Confederacy to choose the most advantageous location for battle. However, General Lee disagreed and believed they should press their advantage. He ordered General Ewell to "secure possession of the heights...if practicable." However, the orders were confusing to Ewell and he failed to attack the new Union stronghold before they were sufficiently prepared. Thus, day one ended with a win for the Confederacy, but a squandered opportunity.

General Meade arrived at Cemetary Hill at 11:30 p.m. and finished deploying the men in a defensive position along Cemetary Ridge. The prominent features of the region were Cemetary Hill, Culps Hill, Little Round Top and Big Round Top. These places would soon enter into the annals of American history with the rest of the Battle of Gettysburg.
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The Ten Costliest Battles of the Civil War
Based on total casualties (killed, wounded, missing, and captured)

#1
Battle of Gettysburg
Date: July 1-3, 1863

Location: Pennsylvania
Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee
Union Commander: George G. Meade
Confederate Forces Engaged: 75,000
Union Forces Engaged: 82,289
Winner: Union
Casualties: 51,112 (23,049 Union and 28,063 Confederate)

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#2
Battle of Chickamauga
Date: September 19-20, 1863

Location: Georgia
Confederate Commander: Braxton Bragg
Union Commander: William Rosecrans
Confederate Forces Engaged: 66,326
Union Forces Engaged: 58,222
Winner: Confederacy
Casualties: 34,624 (16,170 Union and 18,454 Confederate)

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#3
Battle of Chancellorsville
Date: May 1-4, 1863

Location: Virginia
Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee
Union Commander: Joseph Hooker
Confederate Forces Engaged: 60,892
Union Forces Engaged: 133,868
Winner: Confederacy
Casualties: 30,099 (17,278 Union and 12,821 Confederate)

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#4
Battle of Spotsylvania
Date: May 8-19, 1864

Location: Virginia
Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee
Union Commander: Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Forces Engaged: 50,000
Union Forces Engaged: 83,000
Winner: Confederacy
Casualties: 27,399 (18,399 Union and 9)000 Confederate)

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#5
Battle of Antietam
Date: September 17, 1862

Location: Maryland
Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee
Union Commander: George B. McClellan
Confederate Forces Engaged: 51,844
Union Forces Engaged: 75,316
Winner: Inconclusive (Strategic Union Victory)
Casualties: 26,134 (12,410 Union and 13,724 Confederate)

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#6
Battle of The Wilderness
Date: May 5-7, 1864

Location: Virginia
Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee
Union Commander: Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Forces Engaged: 61,025
Union Forces Engaged: 101,895
Winner: Inconclusive
Casualties: 25,416 (17,666 Union and 7,750 Confederate)

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#7
Battle of Second Manassas
Date: August 29-30, 1862

Location: Virginia
Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee
Union Commander: John Pope
Confederate Forces Engaged: 48,527
Union Forces Engaged: 75,696
Winner: Confederacy
Casualties: 25,251 (16,054 Union and 9,197 Confederate)

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#8
Battle of Stone's River
Date: December 31, 1862

Location: Tennessee
Confederate Commander: Braxton Bragg
Union Commander: William S. Rosecrans
Confederate Forces Engaged: 37,739
Union Forces Engaged: 41,400
Winner: Union
Casualties: 24,645 (12,906 Union and 11,739 Confederate)

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#9
Battle of Shiloh
Date: April 6-7, 1862

Location: Tennessee
Confederate Commander: Albert Sidney Johnston/ P. G. T. Beauregard
Union Commander: Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Forces Engaged: 40,335
Union Forces Engaged: 62,682
Winner: Union
Casualties: 23,741 (13,047 Union and 10,694 Confederate)

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#10
Battle of Fort Donelson
Date: February 13-16, 1862

Location: Tennessee
Confederate Commander: John B. Floyd/Simon B. Buckner
Union Commander: Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Forces Engaged: 21,000
Union Forces Engaged: 27,000
Winner: Union
Casualties: 19,455 (2,832 Union and 16,623 Confederate)

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Day 114 - Gettysburg Day #1

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:46:26 GMT

Gettysburg Day #1
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: No (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $47.69

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Gettysburg before the 1863 battle:

Throughout the world, Gettysburg is known for its role in the American Civil War and President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Far fewer know what our area was like before the battle or even further back, when the first European settlers arrived.

The land that now comprises the center of Adams County was purchased from the Iroquois Indians by the family of William Penn in 1736. At the time there was no official Gettysburg, Adams County, state of Pennsylvania or United States. Within a few years 150 families had "leap-frogged" over the English Quakers and Germans, who had settled to the east of here, to this area, then known by the name of its main tributary, Marsh Creek. Many of these settlers were Scots-Irish who had left Northern Ireland to escape English persecution.

One early settler, Samuel Gettys, established a tavern in 1761. By 1786 his son James had laid out a town of 210 lots with a central town square on the land surrounding the tavern. This town would become known as Gettysburg.

At that time, a trip to the county seat of York took an entire day and the differences in nationalities and religions of the eastern settlers were producing difficulties.

With the first Pennsylvania Frame of Government in 1776 and the Constitution of the United States in 1787, the growing population of the area decided they wanted to separate from York County. A new county was approved by the state legislature in 1800 (the year 2000 will be our bicentennial) and was named after the President at that time, John Adams. Gettysburg was chosen as the county seat.

By 1860 the town of Gettysburg had grown to 2,400 inhabitants with ten roads leading into the town, helping to create a few small but thriving industries. These roads and businesses would lead two armies into the county in 1863. At the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, there were about 450 buildings housing carriage manufacturing, shoemakers and tanneries as well as the usual merchants, banks and taverns of a county seat.
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Gettysburg's Unknown Battlefield

More and more visitors to our area are venturing from the fields of the Gettysburg battle to the streets where the battle also took place - in downtown Gettysburg. Here they find a most pleasant surprise - Gettysburg has had some ambitious historic preservation ongoing for ten years now and the results are beautiful. The ongoing projects have transformed the center of town into a well-preserved historic district worthy of its designation on the National Register of Historic Places.
Many visitors don't realize the integral part the town played in the 1863 Battle. The small village of 2,400 was overtaken by the Confederates on July 1st and was held for the next two days. Frightened citizens hid in their basements listening to the sounds of marching and gunfire in the streets. And when the fighting stopped in the evening, townspeople were still afraid to venture out with so many of the enemy all around, not to mention that it was difficult to get anywhere with the barricades that were set up in the streets. Still, there are numerous stories of bravery and honor as citizens risk their lives to help the Union Army. Several citizens were wounded and one young girl was killed.

If you talked to a Gettysburg citizen about their recollections of the battle, they would tell you that the three days of fighting were horrifying but that that was not the worst part of the ordeal. After the battle was over, the destruction to the buildings, loss of food and crops and thousands of bloody injured crying for help busied the townspeople for months. The experience was something they never forgot.
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Day 113 - Mountains Down

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:41:15 GMT

Mountains Down
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: No (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $47.50

War: Just as soon as we reached the mountains, it was time to decend and back to the flat lands. This is an area where 3 of the biggest days of the civil war happened, there are so many monuments (so little time) could spend a couple of weeks here.

I camped out at a local campground (Battlefield), when I pulled up I realized I was smack dab in the middle of 20 boy scout groups, this could pose a problem, since I was going to have a couple of beers, I was the focal point of the area and the penske was the target, made it work and had a bunch of laughs, goodnight I think, so big condor was making some noise in the distance, real or not, it shut up the kids.

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History
Who was Benton MacKaye, and what was his connection to the Appalachian Trail?
He first published the idea. MacKaye (1879-1975) grew up in Shirley Center, Massachusetts, reading the work of American naturalists and poets and taking long walks in the mountains of Massachusetts and Vermont. MacKaye (which is rhymes with "sky") sometimes claimed that the idea for the A.T. was born one day when he was sitting in a tree atop Stratton Mountain in Vermont. But, after graduating from Harvard, he eventually went to work in the new U.S. Forest Service and began carving out a niche as a profound thinker and an advocate for wilderness. By 1919, his radical ideas had led to him being edged out of the USFS, and he turned his attention to creating a new discipline that later came to be called "regional planning." His initial 1921 "project in regional planning" was a proposal for a network of work camps and communities in the mountains, all linked by a trail that ran from the highest point in New England to the highest point in the South. He called it the Appalachian Trail.

Why did he propose it?
MacKaye was convinced that the pace of urban and industrial life along the East Coast was harmful to people. He envisioned the A.T. as a path interspersed with planned wilderness communities where people could go to renew themselves. That idea never gained much traction, but the notion of a thousand-mile footpath in the mountains fired the imaginations of hikers and outdoorsmen from Maine to Georgia. Inspired by him, they began building trails and trying to connect them.

What was his connection to ATC?
MacKaye was responsible for convening and organizing the first Appalachian Trail "conference" in Washington, D.C., in 1925. That gathering of hikers, foresters, and public officials embraced the goal of building the Trail. They established an organization, called the Appalachian Trail Conference, appointed MacKaye as its "field organizer," and named Major William Welch, manager of New York's Harriman Park, as its first chairman. The Appalachian Trail Conference became the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in 2005.

What happened next?
Some perfunctory scouting of routes took place. A few short sections were marked and connected. New trails were built in New York. Welch designed a logo and Trail markers. Committees met in a few northeastern states and talked about the idea. But, for several years, the idea didn't really go anywhere. MacKaye was much better at inspirational abstract thinking than practical organizing, and it soon became apparent that someone else was going to have to take the lead for the Trail to actually get built.

Who pushed the project forward?

Two men, retired Judge Arthur Perkins of Connecticut and admiralty lawyer Myron Avery of Washington, D.C. Perkins took the idea and ran with it, essentially appointing himself as the acting chairman of ATC in the late 1920s and recruiting Avery to lead the effort in the area around Washington. Both began vigorously proselytizing the idea of the Trail in 1928 and 1929, championing MacKaye's ideas to recruit volunteers, establishing hiking clubs up and down the coast, and actually going out to hike, clear brush, and mark paths themselves. As Perkins' health failed in the early 1930s, Avery took over, devoting incredible time, energy, and willpower to establishing a network of volunteers, developing clubs, working with the government, building the organization of the ATC, and setting the Trail's northern terminus at Katahdin in his native Maine. Avery remained chairman of ATC until 1952.

What was the relationship between MacKaye and Myron Avery?
They were cordial at first, but, by the mid-1930s, as Avery took charge of the Trail project, they quarreled over fundamental issues and visions of what the Trail should be. Avery was more interested in hiking and in connecting the sections of the Trail, while MacKaye was more interested in the Trail's role in promoting wilderness. MacKaye disassociated himself from ATC in 1935 to found the Wilderness Society and was not closely involved with the Trail again until after Avery's death in 1952.

When was the Trail completed?

In 1937. It fell into disrepair during World War II, when Trail maintainers were unable to work on it, and parts of the route were lost. After the war, a concerted effort was made to restore it, and it was once again declared complete in 1951.

What happened after it was completed?

It's useful to look at the Trail's history in three eras: the era of Trail-building, which lasted until the Trail was completed in 1937; the era of Trail protection, which lasted until 1968, when Congress made the A.T. a national scenic trail; and the era of management and promotion, which has lasted until the present day. The first era was dominated by personalities and focused on getting the thing built and blazed from one end to the other. The second era saw the growth of the clubs taking care of it, the growth of ATC, the construction of shelters, and a continuing battle to keep the route open over the many hundreds of miles of private property that it crossed. The third era saw an explosion of the number of people hiking the A.T. as the government began buying land along the route to guarantee the permanence of the footpath and volunteers shifted their emphasis to the hard work of managing a part of the national park system.

How was the original Trail different from today's A.T.?
At first, the goal was simply to blaze a connected route. Often, this meant that the Trail led along old forest roads and other trails. Trail maintainers mostly just cleared brush and painted blazes. Today's Trail has mostly been moved off the old roads and onto new paths dug and reinforced especially for hikers. Today's route, though engineered much more elaborately, often requires more climbing, because it leads up the sides of many mountains that the old woods roads bypassed.

How do terms like "Trailway," "greenway," "buffer," and "view-shed" fit into this history?
The idea of a "Trailway" was first embraced by ATC in 1937. It meant that there was more to the Appalachian Trail than just the footpath. The "Trailway" referred to an area dedicated to the interests of those on foot, originally a mile on either side. In some cases, that came to mean a "buffer"—a legally protected area around the path that kept the sights and sounds of civilization, logging, and development away from the solitary hiker. In other cases, it meant a great deal more. It evolved into a notion of a "greenway," a broad swath of protected land through which the Trail ran. Crucial to the idea of a greenway was that of the "viewshed," the countryside visible from the Trail's high points. In the years since the A.T. became a national scenic trail, the Conference has worked to influence the development of surrounding areas so that the views from the Trail remain scenic, even when those views are of areas well outside the boundaries of the public Trail lands themselves.

When did Trail protection begin?

The notion of a protected zone was first formalized in an October 15, 1938, agreement between the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service for the promotion of an Appalachian Trailway through the relevant national parks and forests, extending one mile on each side of the Trail. Within this zone, no new parallel roads would be built or any other incompatible development allowed. Timber cutting would not be permitted within 200 feet of the Trail. Similar agreements, creating a zone one-quarter-mile in width, were signed with most states through which the Trail passes.

How were Trail lands identified?

Much of the Trail was already in national forests or national parks and state and local parks, but large portions were on private property, with the agreement of the property owners. In 1970, supplemental agreements under the 1968 National Trails Systems Act—among the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and ATC—established the specific responsibilities of those organizations for initial mapping, selection of rights-of-way, relocations, maintenance, development, acquisition of land, and protection of a permanent Trail. Agreements also were signed between the Park Service and the various states, encouraging them to acquire and protect a right-of-way for the Trail outside federal land.

Why has complete protection taken so long?

Getting federal money appropriated was difficult, and not all property owners were willing to sell, which occasionally raised the specter of the government's threatening to condemn land for the Trail—always a politically unpopular action. Slow progress of federal efforts and lack of initiative by some states led Congress to strengthen the National Trails System Act in an amendment known as the Appalachian Trail Bill, which was signed by President Jimmy Carter on March 21, 1978. The new legislation emphasized the need for protecting the Trail, including acquiring a corridor, and authorized $90 million for that purpose. More money was appropriated during the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. Today, 99 percent of the Trail runs across public lands.

What is the relationship between the A.T. and the government, the Conservancy, and the clubs?
In 1984, the Interior Department delegated the responsibility for managing the A.T. corridor lands outside established parks and forests to ATC. ATC and its clubs retain primary responsibility for maintaining the footpath, too. A new, more comprehensive 10-year agreement was signed in 1994.
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Day 112 - Up & Down, Back to the Mountains (Got to love them)

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:57:23 GMT

Up & Down, Back to the Mountains (Got to love them)
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: No (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $47.35

War: After a long time, (Since New Mexico) we are back into the mountains, getting some good climbs and in turn some good down hills, nothing like the West, but very cool. We had some wild storms come in, with straight line winds, hail, rain and lightning, it was a challenge to avoid the falling branches. Prepare for some good Civil War history.

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With over 1.3 million gallons of water and a 400 by 125 foot long beach, Ligonier Beach claims fame to being the largest swimming pool in Pennsylvania. The beach has been serving-up fun for over 79 years. This historic landmark has entertained generations of residents and visitors from all over the nation.

Ligonier Beach, Opened on July 4th, 1925 was a famous summer hang-out for fans of big-band music. Dean Martin was at one time a towel boy at the beach where he began to sing along with the big bands. Perry Como also sang at the beach. Today you can experience the new sounds of the beach with many local bands playing for your enjoyment.
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Lincoln Highway History:

In 1912, there were almost no good roads to speak of in the United States. The relatively few miles of improved road were only around towns and cities. A road was "improved" if it was graded; one was lucky to have gravel or brick. Asphalt and concrete were yet to come. Most of the 2.5 million miles of roads were just dirt: bumpy and dusty in dry weather, impassable in wet weather. Worse yet, the roads didn't really lead anywhere. They spread out aimlessly from the center of the settlement. To get from one settlement to another, it was much easier to take the train.

Carl Fisher recognized this situation, and an idea started to take hold. Fisher was a man of ideas. As soon as he thought of a project and got it started, he would grow restless and start on another one. His Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a success, espcially after he paved it with brick and started the Indianapolis 500, and he would later turn a swamp into one of the greatest beach resorts: Miami Beach, Florida. However, in 1912, he dreamed of another grand idea: a highway spanning the continent, from coast to coast.

He called his idea the Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway. The gravelled road would cost about ten million dollars, low even for 1912. Communities along the route would provide the equipment and in return would receive free materials and a place along America's first transcontinental highway. The highway would be finished in time for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition and would run from the exposition's host, San Francisco, to New York City.

To fund this scheme, he asked for cash donations from auto manufacturers and accessory companies of 1 percent of their revenues. The public could become members of the highway organization for five dollars.

Fisher knew that success of the ten-million dollar fund would depend on the support of Henry Ford. Unfortunately, even after many persuasive attempts by friends and close associates, Ford would not support the project. The public would never learn to fund good roads if private industry did it for them, he reasoned. This put the fund in jeopardy; there would not be enough time or money to finish the highway by the exposition in 1915. However, now that the country had become so enthusiastic about the highway, Fisher would not give up. Two men from the automobile industry who pledged money to Fisher's idea would later play major roles in the highway's development: Frank Seiberling, president of Goodyear, and Henry Joy, president of the Packard Motor Car Company.

Henry Joy came up with the idea of naming the highway after Abraham Lincoln. He wrote Fisher urging him to write a letter of protest to Congress, which was considering spending $1.7 million on a marble memorial to Lincoln. Joy thought a good road across the country would be a better tribute to the president. The name "Lincoln" captured Fisher's fancy; he realized it would give great patriotic appeal to the highway. Fisher asked Joy if he wanted to be involved directly with the highway project. At first, Joy was hesitant, but soon he wholeheartedly supported the project and became the primary spokesman for the highway.

Picking the Licoln Highway:

On July 1, 1913, the association decided to call the coast-to-coast highway the Lincoln Highway, and it was officially incorporated as the Lincoln Highway Association. Henry Joy was elected as president. Carl Fisher, who was elected vice-president, was not present. He had departed with the Indiana Automobile Manufacturers association on a trip to the West Coast. The "Hoosier Tour" was intended, in part, to explore possible routes for the Lincoln Highway. The tour route included Colorado and Kansas. While Fisher tried to distinguish the Hoosier Tour route from the eventual route of the Lincoln Highway, he all but promised the governors of Colorado and Kansas that the highway would pass through their states. They were set up for a big disappointment.

Fisher kept the route of the Lincoln Highway a secret as long as he could because 1) he wanted the nation as a whole to support the highway, not just the states through which it would pass, and 2) he didn't know what the route was. No decision had been made. After Hoosier Tour, the association decided they needed to pick a route.

As far as Joy was concerned, directness was the most important factor. By bypassing many scenic attractions and larger cities along the way, narrow winding roadways and congestion could be avoided.

After weeks of deliberation, Henry Joy presented the route before the annual Conference of Governors in Colorado Springs. The highway started in Times Square in New York City. It passed through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California, ending in Lincoln Park in San Francisco. The route did not deviate from a straight path in order to go through larger cities or national parks. It did not touch Kansas or Colorado. Joy's influence was clear.

The governors of Colorado and Kansas were embarassed for having heartily supported the Hoosier Tour, only to find themselves bypassed. After forceful appeals from Colorado's governor, the association agreed to a dogleg from Big Springs, Nebraska southwest to Denver, and then back to the main highway at Cheyenne. After the route was announced to the public one month later, the decision to include the dogleg would come back to haunt them.

Almost immediately, the Lincoln Highway Association received letters trying to change the route; it politely declined every request. The association learned its lesson. Two years later, it dropped the Denver dogleg from its maps and guides and warned drivers not to be mislead by signs in Big Springs pointing them to Denver.

From Dirt to Concrete:

The Lincoln Highway Association set up a system of "consuls" along the highway who would act as local ambassadors. They would represent the highway in local affairs, assist visitors, and let the headquarters know of matters concerning the highway.

However, in 1914, there wasn't much of a highway to be concerned about. No improvements had been made to the Lincoln Highway, and with Ford's refusal to chip in and growing disinterest of people left off the route, the ten-million-dollar fund that Fisher had set up had stalled at the halfway point. Joy decided to abandon the fund and instead redirect the association to a new goal: educating the country for the need for good roads made of concrete, with an improved Lincoln Highway as an example. It would oversee the construction of concrete "seedling miles" way out in the countryside to emphasize the superiority of concrete over unimproved dirt. As people would learn about concrete, they would press the government to construct good roads throughout their state.

Over the next several years, some kinks in the highway were straightened out. A section in Ohio that ran through Marion, Kenton, and Lima was soon bypassed by a straighter route to the north. Somewhat insulted at being left off the Lincoln Highway, the citizens of those towns claimed the southern route as the Harding Highway, after hometown hero President Warren Harding. A route through Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Valparaiso in Indiana was bypassed by a straighter route to the south.

In the deserts of Utah, west of Salt Lake City, a new route called the Goodyear Cutoff was surveyed and prepared for construction. However, Utah did not want this part of the Lincoln Highway finished. By improving the Arrowhead Route to Los Angeles, travelers, and their money, were kept in the state for hundreds of more miles. The Utah state government promoted a route directly west of Salt Lake City to Wendover, Nevada as the route to San Francisco. This route crossed miles of salt desert, which was often submerged under water. To improve the Wendover road would take much more money than improving the Lincoln Highway.

In 1921, the federal government passed the Federal Highway Act of 1921. Like a similar act passed in 1916, it provided $75 million of matching funds to the states for highway construction. However, unlike the 1916 act, the 1921 act required the states to identify 7 percent of its total mileage was "primary"; only these roads would be eligible for federal funds.

In most states in which it ran, the Lincoln Highway was the obvious choice as a federal road, but there were a few exceptions. The Harding Highway in Ohio lobbied heavily and was improved at the expense of the Lincoln. However, the biggest challenge was in Utah.

The Wendover route was still favored by Utah, and now it was part of another named highway: the Victory Highway. Like the Lincoln, it claimed New York and San Francisco as its endpoints, but it claimed the Wendover road and the route along the Humboldt River in Nevada, which pitted it directly against the Lincoln. It was virtually unknown in the east but was favored in Utah, Nevada, and northern California. Like their fellow Utah citizens, northern Californians favored the Victory for economic reasons: travelers along the Victory would almost certainly go to San Francisco. If travelers took the Lincoln through western Utah, they could easily go drive southwest towards Los Angeles, as it was about as far away as San Francisco.

Despite numerous reports and heavy lobbying by the Lincoln Highway Association, the federal government selected the Wendover route as the federal road. Consequently, the Victory was also declared the federal road in Nevada. The Goodyear Cutoff, which was never finished by Utah's government, would remain unimproved.

The End of Named Highways:

In ten years, between 1915 and 1925, the United States went from having one named highway to having an unorganized and confusing system of named highways. They were primarily marked by painted colored bands on telephone poles. Sometimes, where several named highways shared a route, almost an entire pole would be striped in various colors. It was time for an organized national system of highways to be formed. A system of numbered highways.

The Lincoln Highway Association was all for a numbered highway system, as long as one number corresponded to the Lincoln Highway and the names stayed with the roads. It didn't want to see its highway chopped up into little numbered bits. In March 1925, the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) started planning a federal highway system. All named roads were ignored in their planning. That November, the secretary of agriculture approved AASHO's plan, which set up the now-familiar U.S. highway system.

Major east-west routes would be numbered in multiples of ten, from U.S. 10 across the north to U.S. 90 across the south. Major north-south routes would end in 1 or 5, from U.S. 1 between Maine and Florida to U.S. 101 between Washington and California. The Lincoln Highway was broken up into U.S. 1, U.S. 30 (including U.S. 30N and U.S. 30S), U.S. 530, U.S. 40, and U.S. 50. Nearly two-thirds of the Lincoln's length was designated U.S. 30, which began in Atlantic City, New Jersey and ended in Astoria, Oregon. The AASHO also adopted a standard set of road signs and markers, and to avoid confusion, all markers of all named roads would have to be taken down.

Interest in the Lincoln Highway dropped considerably. The association ceased activity at the end of 1927. Its last major activity was to mark the highway not as a route from one destination to another, but as a memorial to Abraham Lincoln. On September 1, 1928, thousands of Boy Scouts fanned out along the highway. At an average of about one per mile, they installed small concrete markers with a small bust of Lincoln and the inscription, "This highway dedicated to Abraham Lincoln."

While the other named highways were quickly forgotten, the Lincoln Highway was not. A whole generation of Americans, exposed to the well-organized publicity of the Lincoln Highway Association, kept the Lincoln Highway alive long after its official significance was gone. It was the backdrop for an NBC radio show on Saturday mornings. Airing for two seasons in the 1940s, it had an audience of 8 million listeners.

By the late 1940s, the Lincoln Highway started to fade away. A new generation of Americans were born, one which had grown up with paved roads and a numbered highway system. Most Baby Boomers, and even more of their children, have never heard of the Lincoln Highway.

However, not everyone has forgotten. The Lincoln Highway Association was reactivated in 1992, dedicated to preserving the highway. With the help of the association, the Lincoln Highway will always stay alive.
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History of the Jean Bonnet Tavern:

Welcome to a yesteryear experience of old tavern charm. The Jacobs family invites you to share in the long tradition of hospitality, good food, and drink, at this 1760s historic landmark. The flavor of the Jean Bonnet Tavern is traditionally inspired, yet eclectic. Delicious foods are carefully selected, and expertly prepared for a pleasant dining experience.

The Jean Bonnet was destined to play in several historical roles. Due to its location, it became an
important haven for early settlers and travelers. It was built on the only road connecting eastern Pennsylvania with the Ohio River and territories beyond, at the junction of the OldForbes and Burd Roads (Routes 30 and 31). Colorful moments were shared when the tavern became a meeting place for the farmers involved in the Whiskey Rebellion. In mid-1794, Pennsylvania farmers, angered by the federal excise tax on whiskey, met here and raised a liberty pole in protest. Then in October 1794, troops summoned by President George Washington camped here on their westward journey to quell the insurrection.

There is little to prove the actual date of the building, but it had served as a French fort and trading post. The building was referred to as being on the way to the Old Shawnese Cabins - present day Shawnee State Park - in trapper and trader accounts for many years before General Forbes stopped there to await reinforcements before beginning a westward campaign in hopes of taking Ft. Duquesne from the French.

Earliest record of this property is noted in a transfer of title of 690 acres from an agent of the William Penn family to Hans Ireland, a land speculator. It was then transferred in 1762 to Robert Callender, an Indian trader. Callender was also a commissary for troop supplies, and later, a scout for General George Washington. This building, with its native stone walls, massive fireplaces, and chestnut beams, was built during Callender's ownership. The namesake, Jean (John) Bonnet, and his wife purchased the property in 1779. In October 1780, Bonnet was issued a license, allowing that "Petitioner lives at the Fork of roads leading to Fort Pitt and the Glades with everything necessary for keeping Public House..."

Since 1780, ownership of the Jean Bonnet has changed hands many times. Most of those recorded as deedholders to the Jean Bonnet maintained the building as a public tavern and inn. Several utilized the property as a private residence. In 1957 the Jean Bonnet was purchased by the Enyeart family. It was during their ownership that stories of hauntings at the Jean Bonnet began to reach the public.

This significant Bedford County building was placed on the prestigious National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Please come and visit us at the Jean Bonnet, then you too will become a part of the historic list of friends and visitors, from far and near. Enjoy the rich heritage, fine dining, and overnight accommodations.
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Crossing the Alleghenies

In the early 1840s, British novelist Charles Dickens visited the United States and offered a sarcastic, but often illuminating, travelogue detailing his journeys in the young nation. He crossed the state of Pennsylvania by what was then the standard combination of canal, railroad, and stagecoach. Starting in Philadelphia and moving westward toward Pittsburgh, the hard-to-please writer found his adventures increasingly irregular, distracting, and unpleasant. When he reached the great Allegheny Mountains, Dickens traveled on the Portage Railroad, a series of steep inclines that carried canal boats across the divide. "Occasionally the rails are laid upon the extreme verge of the giddy precipice and looking down from the carriage window, the traveler gazes sheer down without a stone or scrap of fence between into the mountain depths below," he informed his reader. The world-famous author ultimately summed up his trip across the Commonwealth as "sufficiently disconcerting."

What failed to impress Charles Dickens, however, was actually an extraordinary engineering accomplishment that reshaped the economic destiny of Pennsylvania. Prior to the construction of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, which linked the eastern and western sections of the canal system, crossing the state was a difficult task most often accomplished by foot. Walking was more than just an inconvenience; it proved to be a devastating obstacle for inland trade and statewide unity. State leaders grew seriously concerned that they could not hold together a commonwealth whose main cities had such disconnected trade networks. For Pennsylvanians, crossing the Alleghenies – the mountains that divide the state – became a matter of economic and political survival.

The landscape of the Allegheny Mountains is the most rugged in all of Pennsylvania. Formed nearly 300 million years ago, this great divide was the result of a period of mountain building that occurred as the continents collided. Its eastern edge is dominated by the Allegheny Front, a place where hard rock resisted the forces of erosion. Beyond the front, steep gorges and inclines formed as water cut into areas where the rocks were softer, forming a divide. This rugged landscape led to monumental human efforts, spanning centuries, to overcome the natural barrier and link regions and economies isolated by geography into rapidly emerging national and international economic systems.
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Day 111 - Trizilla

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:56:51 GMT

Trizilla
Road Finds: No (View Details)
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Money Found So Far: $47.14

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Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County was formed by an Act of Assembly, approved by Governor Richard Penn, on February 26, 1773. The Act also designated that the Courts should be held at the house of Robert Hanna until a Court House should be built. This house was at Hannastown, and continued to be used as a Court House until the County Seat was moved to Greensburg. The first Courts of the County were held at Hannastown on April 6, 1773. The town was burned by Indians on July 13, 1782, but the temporary Court House was not destroyed. The last session of Court in Hannastown began in October, 1786. The house used as a Court House was a two story log dwelling house, with but two rooms below, and was neither built nor owned by the County.

The movement to select a permanent county seat finally, on December 10, 1785, resulted in the selection of Newtown, now Greensburg. A log Court House was built on the ground which has since been used for the same purpose, and upon which stands the present structure. The first court held in Greensburg was on January 7, 1787. The Court House was but a temporary structure and in 1796 the erection of a new and more permanent brick building was begun. It was not completed until 1801, though it had been in use in part a short time before that. It was a plain two storied building.

The lower story was used entirely as a Court room, and the upper as a Grand Jury room, and as a hall in which to hold public meetings in general.

On the North side of the building was a small two-story brick structure, in which were all the County offices, save that of the Commissioners', which was in a small one-story brick structure on the South side. This building cost about $5,000.00 and served its purpose until May 6, 1854, when its removal was begun preparatory to the erection of a new Court House. The corner stone of the third Court House was laid on October 24, 1854. It was a two-story sand-stone and brick structure, 62 x 130 feet. The first story was used for county offices, and the second for a court room, jury room, etc. Its entire cost was about $90,000.00. This structure stood until the summer of 1901, when it was razed to the ground to make room for the erection of the present building.

Westmoreland County Courthouse

The Westmoreland County Judges, the Board of County Commissioners, and Westmoreland County Elected Officials welcome you to this historic landmark... the Westmoreland County Courthouse.

This magnificent structure, described as one of the region's most beautiful Beaux Arts buildings, is located on Main Street in downtown Greensburg, PA.

Erected in 1906, this four story imposing architecture can be seen from several approaches into the county seat. It's central dome, 175 feet above the ground, is of Italian Renaissance style, one of only two in the world designed by the courthouse's original architect, William Kauffman.
Exterior

The exterior walls are faced with light gray granite from Maine. The massive central dome is flanked on either side by two smaller ones above the main entrance, originally covered with ornamental gold and ivory terra cotta. Roof edges and pediments are decorated with stone banisters and ornamental carving and figures.

The tympanum of the front pediment is marked by sculpture in granite representing Art and Industry under the protection of the Shield of the Nation. As a crown are three female figures which can be seen from the main thoroughfare facing east, they are symbolic of justice, the law, and the people. On the face of the two large cartouches, between the main entrance arches, are carved the Seals of the County and Commonwealth.

Interior

The inside focal point of interest, is the 85 foot cupola, or dome ceiling. Of Romanesque design, the rotunda in the center extends up through four floors, reflecting light from four large semi-circular windows at the base of the dome. The dome ceiling is painted with delicate floral arabesques and gold leaf technique. Circular mezzanines on each floor of the rotunda are balustraded in white marble.

English-veined Italian marble decorates the public hall walls as well as the rotunda. Corridor floors and ceilings are laid with varicolored mosaics. Panels are set with marble mosaics in Renaissance patterns.

A grand staircase of marble from the first floor opens upward to twin spirals to the second floor. Two original courtrooms on the second and fourth floors are enhanced by deep coved ceilings, colorful murals, and Edwardian globular chandeliers.

Saint Jago and San Domingo mahogany complete the first and second stories while quartered oak enhances the remainder of the building.

French artist Maurice Ingres was commissioned in the early 1900's to paint 15 wall and ceiling murals. Oil paintings by the artist also include eight presiding judges who were on the bench from incorporation to the time of the 1908 building dedication and other founding fathers of the County. These portraits appear on courtroom friezes within decorative plaster laurel wreaths that favor classical French style, touches with gold leaf technique.
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Pittsburgh & Western PA - Historical Timeline

History at a Glance
1754 - George Washington secures a British outpost at the Point.

1758 - British capture Fort Duquesne and General Forbes names Pittsburgh after William Pitt

1761 - First record of coal mining in Pennsylvania on Coal Hill (now Mount Washington), across the Monongahela River from Fort Pitt.

1787 - University of Pittsburgh is founded.

1794 - Johnny Appleseed makes his home in Pittsburgh, where he lives for 12 years.

Johnny Appleseed,
real name, John Chapman
BORN: 26 September 1774.(16)
DIED: 18 March 1845.(17)
BURIED: Archer Graveyard, Fort Wayne, Indiana. (18)

We of Western Pennsylvania have all our lives heard of Johnny Appleseed. Here and there we have bumped into bits of folklore and rare anecdotes of his crude but homely hospitality; of his gifts of apple seeds to westward trekking pioneers; of the orchards he cleared and planted; and of his voluntary missions of good will to the Indians. (19)

Johnny Appleseed won renown by a few simple and helpful acts:
1. He was a peacemaker between the Indians and white settlers.
2. He was a missionary for the Church of the New Jerusalem, founded by Emanuel Swedenborg.
3. Perhaps the most important of all, was his distribution of apple trees to the early settlers.
He would secure permission to use a small patch of ground where he would plant appleseeds. Later, he would return, give some of the trees to the owner of the ground and then distribute the rest to other settlers. (20)

From the Potomac, he could have worked his way westward to Fort Cumberland. From Fort Cumberland, he could have followed Nemacolin's Path, better known as Braddock's Road, to the Monongahela, and followed the Monongahela to Pittsburgh, a route that many New Englanders took because there were fewer Indians to be encountered along the southern route. (21)

No evidence that John Chapman actually lived in Pittsburgh, however, has ever come to light. In fact, much fact points definitely to the contrary, although he could have visited the town, inasmuch as he was working in the Allegheny valley in the period from 1797 to 1804 and possibly later. (22)

He must often have passed through Pittsburgh, but it wasn't like Johnny Appleseed to stay long in any town. (23)

From diaries and letters of Johnny's contemporaries, which told of his safe arrival after arduous journeys, we are able to gain some idea of his personal appearance. He is described as small and wiry, quick in conversation and restless in motion. His cheeks were hollow and his body spare because he walked so much and ate so little.

His face and neck were bronzed and lined by wind and sun. But it appears his eyes were the most memorable feature, for so many people remarked of his piercingly brilliant, dark eyes that could "read the thoughts in a man's soul; and if those thoughts were bad, could ferret them out with a word of faith and hope."

1803 - Large keelboat, used for the Lewis & Clark expedition, was constructed in Pittsburgh.

1816 - Pittsburgh incorporates as a city.

1820 - The Pennsylvania turnpike opens.

Turnpike History

President George Washington publicly favored the establishment of roads to promote the westward expansion of our nation. In 1791, the legislature of the Pennsylvanian Commonwealth approved a state-wide transportation plan and a year later created the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Company. The turnpike charter called for the construction of a 62-mile log-surfaced road, which provided successful transport for settlers and their goods over the muddy territories.
The Lancaster Turnpike route was later replaced by a canal after 1800 and then the beginnings of a railroad in the 1880s. The Allegheny Mountains posed a barrier to William Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie, who at the time were building a railroad from Harrisburg west to Pittsburgh to compete with a more northerly route provided by the booming Pennsylvania Railroad. Over one-half of the roadbed was constructed and seven tunnels partially excavated before Vanderbilt went broke in 1885.

As early as 1910, ideas arose to convert the abandoned railway route into a motorway. The idea of a turnpike to cross the Alleghenies was supported by the trucking industry as well as the motoring public. A feasibility study began in 1934 with surveyors collecting information and engineers selecting routes and preparing plans. Although the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads favored improving urban highways instead of building intercity expressways, the concept of limited-access highways was further inspired by the construction of the Henry Hudson Parkway on the west side of Manhattan in 1934, the Bronx River Parkway, the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut, and the Arroyo Seco Parkway in Los Angeles.

In 1937, the governor signed a bill to create the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission during a period when the nation was still recovering from that era's depression. President Roosevelt supported the construction on the turnpike to lower unemployment through his WPA. Since bankers were skeptical of supporting the unproven nature of a toll superhighway, the project wound up being financed by a loan from the New Deal's Reconstruction Finance Corporation for almost $41 million at 3.75 percent. The WPA would also provide another $29 million in grants.

A model of this new form of superhighway was displayed at the General Motors Highways and Horizons Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York City World's Fair. The new turnpike was visualized to be a different form of highway in America, but similar to Germany's 100-mph autobahns, built to serve the needs of the users rather than controlled by the terrain.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike project limits were from Middlesex, located west of Harrisburg, to Irwin, east of Pittsburgh, a distance of 160 miles. For the project to be constructed on schedule in a mere 20 months, 1,100 engineers were employed. Noteworthy was the consistency of the design standards of the turnpike, much different than previous piecemeal attempts to build roads through different areas. Plans called for a 200-foot right-of-way with two 12-foot lanes of travel provided in each direction with medians, berms, long entrance and exit ramps, banked curves, and separated grade crossings.

Revisions made during the course of design included changing from two asphalt and two concrete lanes to all concrete lanes. A four-foot median was replaced with a ten-foot one. Although Vanderbilt's railroad bed was originally planned for a maximum two percent grade, the maximum grade selected for the turnpike was three percent, which an automobile could easily tolerate but was still much less than the nine to twelve percent grades on local highways. At first a tunnel was considered near Everett, but later it was decided to remove 1.1 million cubic yards of rock and earth to create the largest open cut of its time.

A standard sight distance of 600 feet was chosen. Straight-aways were designed for 100 mph and the spiral curves were superelevated to accommodate 70 mph. Easy grades were carved through valleys, ravines, and mountains. Almost 70 percent of the original turnpike was straight, with the longest a 40-mile stretch west of Carlisle relieved by one curve to break the monotony.

Many innovations were introduced during the layout of the highway. When possible, the turnpike route was laid out on southern exposures to let the sun heat the ice and snow on the roads. Toll booths off of the turnpike were located on downhill grades to allow drivers time to react instead of being surprised. In addition to the roadway, there were over 300 bridges and culverts, nine interchanges, ten service plazas, and eleven toll booths to design.

After plans were completed in October, 1938, 155 construction companies and 15,000 workers from 18 states were under contract with the Turnpike Commission. Six of the seven original railway tunnels ranging from 3,500 to 6,800 feet had to be completed or widened to allow two lanes of vehicles. Work began at a slow pace due to difficulties acquiring right-of-way, but a year later fifty crews were building a ribbon of pavement at a rate of three-and-a-half miles a day.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike officially entered service October 1, 1940, exhibiting new concepts of superhighway design and demonstrating that revenue bonds could finance toll roads. Planners predicted that 1.3 million vehicles would use the turnpike each year, but early actual usage was 2.4 million vehicles, sometimes as many as 10,000 vehicles per day were recorded. In addition to reducing travel time between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg by three hours, the turnpike created an economic boom to areas along its path. This magnificent road was a monument to national pride and the spirit of motoring during the late years of the depression.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike was an excellent example of public-private partnerships. Fares collected from the turnpike tolls allowed the construction bonds to be retired early and reissued for capital improvements to the road. Following the success of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, other states began plans to build their own toll roads after the war including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey.

The United States entered a new era of transportation in 1941 with President Roosevelt appointing the National Interregional Highway Committee, which proposed a 34,000-mile highway system for defense and post-war modernization. The Federal Aid Highway Act was approved in 1944 and adopted two years later, authorizing $1.5 billion for three post-war years of interstate highway construction. The interstate highway system was built on the "forgiving road" concepts learned and tested on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Although the Pennsylvania Turnpike has one of the lowest fatality rates in the country, the need for more safety improvements became apparent in response to the rising number of accidents. Improvements over the years have included better pavement drainage and stabilization, a 300-foot right-of-way, a 60-foot median, computerized toll booths, plazas moved back away from the road, and curves added to the boring, straight stretches.

Improvements to the turnpike's tunnels have also been given much attention by their widening and lighting. In the 1960s, $100 million was spent building bypasses to eliminate three tunnels. A new 4,400-foot, two-lane tube was completed in 1991 next to the existing Lehigh Mountain Tunnel using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM). The NATM involves shooting the walls and ceiling with a fast-setting shotcrete to stabilize the rock, preventing rock falls and eliminating the need for heavy ceiling support.

As the Pennsylvania Turnpike operates in its sixth decade of service, the original 160-mile route has been expanded to 514 miles, carrying 156.2 million vehicles a year at a toll of just over 4.1 cents a mile. In the engineering design of this highway, utmost attention has been given to the drivers' safety and comfort. Today the Pennsylvania Turnpike, part of Interstate 76, can be recognized as the first of a new breed of American tollways in the interstate highway system.

1845 - The fire of 1845 destroys most of the buildings in Pittsburgh.

As Reported in "The Mystery" for Wednesday, 16 April 1845:
We omit much matter this week, to give our distant readers the account of the great and destructive fire which has laid the most valuable part of our city in ruins.
Several communications have come to hand, and some remittance, all of which will be duly acknowledged in our next.

Pittsburg in Ruins!!!
We are called upon as one of the recorders of events to present to our readers abroad the lamentable and distressing account of the destruction of one-third or at least a fourth of the enterprising and populous city of Pittsburg by fire! Yes, one fourth of the city of Pittsburgh, now lay in a distructive mass of ruins, and no one [would believe...had ever seen or] been acquainted in Pittsburg, unless they could witness the destructive scene as it now presents itself!
We just escaped the calamity by removing on Saturday before the fire, from our former residence in 3d St., to where we now reside in Hand street.
The fire broke out in a frame building corner of Second and Ferry sts., about half past 12 o'clock P. M. on Thursday last the 10th inst., and we venture to say that in the history of fires, there never was the same extent of space of buildings burnt in the same length of time. The great New York fire of '35 was four days burning a space of fifty acres, and six hundred and eighty houses, and although the buildings destroyed in that memorable event, were generally larger than these of ours, yet, it was but the short space of five hours, until FIFTY-SIX OR SIXTY ACRES of the city were vacated, and we may venture to say fifteen hundred houses tumbled to the ground!
The fire, as though impelled by the hand of the Destroying Angel rolled on from building to building, with the flight of a fiery flying serpent, consuming every house with the angry fury of a Vulcan, speeding its way with awful and terific progress, threatening the whole city, inhabitants and all, and only ceased its mad career in the line of the river, because there was nothing more for it to destroy, having swept every thing in its way for one mile and a quarter!
Never did any event appear more like Judgment Day. People running, some screaming, others hallowing, warning the people to fly for their lives, carts, drays, furniture wagons, omnibuses, horses, and all and every kind of vehicle, crowded the streets to an excess which made it difficult for each to escape, and threatened destruction to all! May we never again witness such a scene, until the last conflagration of this terrestrial globe!
Below, we subjoin the more particular description from the Gazette of Saturday, and a partial list of the sufferers from the Chronicle of Monday last, with some additions of our own.

The Great Fire
The effect of this Disaster on the Business and Prosperity of Pittsburgh.
We have carefully inquired of many of our clearest headed business men, those most thoroughly conversant with the resources of the city, as to the probable effect of this disaster upon its prosperity, and coupled with our own knowledge of the strength of the merchants who were burnt out, the position of their circumstances, &c., we are fully convinced that though the commercial prospects of the city are terribly shaken, yet it is not totally prostrated, and in due time will rise above it all. Our large Manufactories are untouched--the only mills of any importance which are burnt being the Globe Factory, which is the [smallest...and] Bakewell & Pears' Glass works. Various other small establishments were destroyed, but it is with great satisfaction we announce that the great leading branches are comparatively untouched, and that business, so far as they are concerned, will go on as usual.
As for our wholesale merchants in the Grocery, Queensware, and Dry Goods branches who were burnt, some number of them will commence forthwith.-- Some are wholly ruined, many much crippled, but we believe the majority can go on as usual, and yesterday they were busy getting places of business and offices.
It is with heartfelt pleasure we observe the fortitude with which they bear their losses. There is no repining--no despair--no sullenness; but a calm, determined spirit which must carry them up again. The effect will be to set us back for a moment but we never had more confidence in the strength and spirit of our merchants to overcome it all in time. It must not be supposed that all the business portions of the city are consumed. Most of the Dry Goods Jobbers are untouched; so of the Hardware merchants, and a number of the heavy houses are out of the limits of the burnt district. And it fortunately happens, too, that a large amount of groceries from the East, for the city, had not arrived. We repeat therefore that thought the city is terribly shaken it is neither ruined nor totally prostrated.

The appearances of things.
Yesterday morning we walked around the burnt District. The appearances of things is awful--nothing but an immense forest of walls, and chimneys is visible, and desolate heaps of brick and mortar. The fierce fire licked every combustible clear up. Nothing that would burn escaped. The Wharf was covered with Merchandise of every description, furniture, &c., and many piles which were rolled out as it was thought beyond the reach of the flames, were consumed-- Piles of burnt and partially consumed Coffee, Sugar, Nails, Iron, Cotton, Paper, Tea, &c., &c., were scattered along it. Of the Monongahela Bridge, nothing remains [but] a long line of burnt timber across the river, between the naked piers, all over the hills, piles of furniture, bedding, &c., are scattered. Along the streets the only valuable things visible were safes which the Merchants took the precaution to haul out of their stores, and it was a prudent foresight, inasmuch as many of them proved of very little use.-- Among the ruins, crowds of people from other parts of the city and the country were wandering and gazing upon the scene. For ourselves, we, more than once were lost, and had to look around for some wellknown land-mark to fix the locality.

Incidents of the Fire.
Soon after the fire got under headway, and the Globe Factory began to burn, the Third Presbyterian Church was in most imminent danger. The members of that denomination rallied around it, and by cutting away the end of the roof, which projected over the wall next the fire, and covering the roof with wet cloths, succeeded in saving it. We saw clearly that the salvation of a dozen squares depended upon it, for had it caught, its immense steeple would have scattered clouds of fire over a considerable portion of the city which wholly escaped. The American Office was saved by throwing water upon the roof with buckets.
The block of buildings in which our office is located was saved by the efforts of the firemen in keeping the roofs wet, and particularly by a single hose from an Engine in Fourth street, which saved the Post Office, and so saved the block.
The rapidity with which the fire spread was most remarkable. The whole of South Ward, containing from seven to [...] space of two hours. From the time the fire reached this Ward, across Wood street, until it spread to every part of it, covering about sixteen squares, [there] was scarce an interval of half an hour!
The Monongahela Bridge took fire at the North [...] next to Pittsburgh, and the flames [...ran] roaring and crackling through [with] railroad speed, and from the time the fire commenced, until it was prostrate [in the] river, only TEN MINUTES ELAPSED!
The wind shifted at various times and created [excessive] dread in other parts of the city. All the stores along Market street, in the Diamond, Diamond alley and Fifth street, as well as along Wood were [stripped] and packed up, and so many of the goods moved as was possible. A gentleman doing business near the head of Liberty street, this side the Canal, tells as he [would] cheerfully have given $1,000, [at the] time, to have had an insurance from [...] office out of the city, on his stock of [...] $25,000, although the fire had not [then] got to Diamond alley. This is only a [sample] of the universal horror and dread which filled the city. At one time the wind blew due east, then south, then veered [...] toward the North.-- Such was the critical position of our office and the block in which it is, that, had the wind at one time veered to the North east for one minute, it would have gone.
Messrs. [Sibbett] & Jones opened their safe in the morning, but every book and paper in it were burnt up, and the gold and silver melted together.
Hardly [one] safe out of ten, exposed to the fire in [the] buildings, saved anything in them. [...] noticed a large number completely destroyed with all their contents.
A number [of] sick persons were removed, and not [a few] of them ladies, in very delicate [situations].
Wm. J. Mitchell, living in Front street, next door to Fenlon's Livery Stable, was coming out of his house past the stable, when a gust of wind blew an enormous flame of fire with such force as to knock him down, burning his face, hands and back very severely.
A fireman had his face burned so raw, the blood run from it.
Mr. Malcolm Leech was on the top of his Warehouse looking at the fire, and when coming down, was injured pretty severely by a fall.
The only life lost, that we heard of, was a poor woman in Third street.
Amidst all the distress, there were those around who added to the calamity by stealing. Among others, the Rev. Geo. S. Holmes had about $300 stolen, which he had gathered up, by great economy, on a Methodist preacher's salary. He also lost a large number of valuable manuscripts, the labor of twenty years.
To show the rapidity of the fire we may mention that a gentleman of our acquaintance arrived at the American Hotel, about one o'clock, and leaving his trunk, walked out to see the fire, which was then nearly a quarter of a mile off. In a short time he returned and found the hotel in flames. He lost his trunk, with nearly all his clothing and papers, and a considerable sum of money.
One reason of the rapidity with which the fire spread is to be found in extraordinary dryness of the weather for two weeks past. We have not had a shower of rain in that time with one trifling exception. Every particle of wood in the houses of the city, was as dry as tinder.
Amidst all the horror, distraction and confusion prevailing throughout the city, there was no unmanly fear or vain repinings manifested. The sufferers bore their calamities with manly firmness, and as soon as they had unavailingly tried to save their own property, they put forth their exertions to save their neighbor's. At one time, when it was thought the whole city must go, there was no wildness apparent, no want of a dignified and [...] bearing [...] our citizens, and gives indications that their indomitable energies are not to be crushed.

The First, or West Ward.
The business part of the Ward, is almost entirely destroyed. The destruction in this Ward extends from the corner of Wood and Water streets, up Wood street to Diamond Alley, from thence across to Fourth street, at the United States Bank, across Fourth street up to the Mayor's Office, across to Third street, and down the South side of Third street to Ferry, down Ferry to Front street, up north side of Front to Market, down east side of Market to Water, and up Water to Wood, the place of beginning. In all this vast space, the only buildings left standing, are the Third Presbyterian Church, Johnson & Stockton's and the American printing offices, and the warehouse of the Globe Cotton Factory.

Kensington.
This flourishing adjunct of the city is well nigh annihilated. The course of the fire was extraordinary. The last large building in the city this side of it, was the large new Steel Works of Messrs. Jones & Quigg, noticed in another place. When the fire reached [...] it dipped down a steep bank into the Canal and consumed the Lock tender's house and then rising it went completely over a number of frame buildings on the opposite band, including the workshops of Mr. Tomlinson the contractor of the Iron Steam Ship on the stocks, Parry & Scott's Foundry, the Gas Works, Messrs Philip's Glass House and lighting on the Glass Works of Messrs. Miller & Co. commenced anew with the utmost fury. It took every thing from thence up on that side of the road. About half-way up, it crossed the road and made a clean sweep of all between the hill and the river to the utmost end of the town. The greatest loss was in the Doulas Iron Works. With very few exceptions, all the inhabitants were operatives in, or dependent on, the Mills and Founderies; and by this calamity, hundreds of them are houseless and homeless.

The Second, or South Ward.
The destruction in this ward, nearly the oldest part of the city, and one of the most populous of the five wards, is complete and overwhelming. It is left almost without inhabitant, only two or three dwellings remaining. In the morning, and at noon, the streets of this ward were thronged with a crowded and busy population, numbering some six thousand souls!--in the evening not a single inhabitant was left on its deserted streets and squares, and ruin stalked supreme.-- Nearly all the goods and household property in this ward were lost. The fire raged with such uncontrollable fury and the distance necessary to move was so great, that the frightened and flying inhabitants had only time to depart with one load upon their backs, or in such conveyance as they could procure at a moment's warning, and to return and find their houses in flames and inaccessible! The more complete destruction of any ward we think was never known.

1847 - Stephen Foster's song "Oh, Susanna" premiers at the Eagle Saloon.

1852 - Pennsylvania Railroad is completed between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

1883 - The present-day Smithfield Street Bridge opens to the public. It's the third bridge built on that location.

1887 - The Pittsburgh Pirates began their career in major league baseball as the Pittsburgh Alleghenies, winning their first game against Chicago at Recreation Park, on Pittsburgh's North Shore.

1889 - Schenley Park, located in Oakland, opens to the public.

1891 - U.S. Bureau of Geographic Names removes the "h" from Pittsburg(h). It is returned to its rightful place in 1911.

1900 - Carnegie Technical School, now known as Carnegie Mellon University is founded.

1903 - First world series was played at Exposition Park on the North side.

1905 - The first motion picture house to open in the U.S. opens in Pittsburgh - the Nickelodeon.

1920 - The first commercial radio station in the country - KDKA - broadcasts from Pittsburgh.

1927 - The Pittsburgh Symphony was founded.

1936 - The Great Flood causes great damage, especially to downtown Pittsburgh.

1938 - Famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright designs Fallingwater.

1940 - The Pirates played their first night game in Forbes Field.

1946 - The Civic Light Opera opened its first summer season.

1953 - Dr. Jonas Salk tested his polio vaccine on 90 volunteers.

1955 - Pennsylvania College for Women was renamed Chatham College.

1960 - Bill Mazeroski's ninth inning homerun wins the 1960 World Series.

1967 - Mister Roger's Neighborhood airs on national television.

Why is Mister Rogers' Neighborhood so slow?
Research clearly shows that's how young children learn best. Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is carefully designed to speak effectively to preschool-aged children. Mister Rogers talks in ways children understand, at a pace they can absorb, and with a consistency that creates a calm, safe place for preschoolers to visit. He leaves time for children to reflect and respond, and he takes time to prepare them for what will come next and to explain what has happened before.

Fred Rogers worked directly with young children as part of his advanced training in the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development. As he learned about communicating effectively with young children, he understood the pace at which they take in information. Because he had years of first-hand experiences listening to children and talking with them, he was able to translate that authentically to his television communication. He deliberately paced his speech and kept the content clear so children can comprehend, and he gives them time to reflect and digest. That way, his messages aren't just surface, they go deep and make a strong impact.

Why does Mister Rogers change to a sweater and sneakers?
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood takes place in a "television house." Mister Rogers stops by there during his workday to "visit" with his viewers. Since he's coming from his office, he's dressed in more formal business clothes. Changing to more comfortable clothes, like a sweater and sneakers, helps to create a more relaxing atmosphere.

That beginning ritual also gives children a predictable opening with some time to settle in. It provides them with a transition, so they're ready to look and listen when he starts to show something or talk. Also, because zipping a sweater and tying shoes are skills that young children are just learning to do, Mister Rogers sometimes uses that opportunity to talk about those skills and how difficult they can be for young children. He's also deliberately careful about hanging up his clothes and putting his shoes away, letting children see that we are responsible for things that belong to us.

Why don't we ever see Mister Rogers in Make-Believe?
From the very beginning, Fred Rogers decided not to appear in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. He intended that to be a place for pretending. Because young children have a hard time sorting out what's real and what's just pretend, he created two separate areas -- the "television Neighborhood" where reality prevails -- and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. By introducing that Make-Believe segment, he could encourage children's pretending, and he could be clear that he is a real person, not a pretend person. In that role, he also could be the mediator after that segment, helping children think about what they've just seen and be more aware of the overall message in the Make-Believe story.

Why don't the puppets' mouths move?
The puppets in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe are hand puppets. Because of their simple movements, without moveable eyes or mouths, they leave much to the child's imagination. That allows children to bring their own ideas to what they're seeing. Also, children might be encouraged to have their own play with simple puppets, making one from a sock or paper bag or even just using their hands. What makes them believable for children is that the characters they portray are childlike and believable. Children know what it's like to feel pompous like King Friday, shy like Daniel Tiger, and feisty like Lady Elaine.

How does Mister Rogers' Neighborhood help children be ready for school?
The Neighborhood series is full of people -- real people -- who enjoy learning and who want to share what they've learned with young children. As with most things, attitudes about learning are "caught" not taught.

All through the series we include traditional "tools" for learning ABC's, numbers, letters, colors, and basic concepts. They're offered in a way that children can see that reading, writing, and counting are helpful, interesting, and fun, so they'll want to learn those skills.

Just as importantly, the programs foster the social and emotional "tools" for learning self-esteem, curiosity, self-control, the ability to pay attention, to handle mistakes, and deal with anger. Children are more able to use their energies for learning if they feel good about themselves, can deal with their feelings, and get along with others.

1970 - The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a double-header against the Chicago Cubs - the last game ever played at Forbes Field.

1985 - Pittsburgh is named "America's Most Livable City"

1989 - Pittsburgh elects its first female mayor - Sophie Masloff.

1991 - Steel Phantom roller coaster is unveiled to the public at Kennywood Park.

2001 - PNC Park, one of the most beautiful major league ball parks in the country, opens in Pittsburgh
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Day 110 - Greensburg

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:09:02 GMT

Greensburg
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: No (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $47.12

War: We ran around the town of Washington, before we had to check out the Motel we where staying at, as I was running in the parking lot 2 TV stations came running up to me, I thought that they where excited about one of the only father and son team to run across America. That is not what happened, they wanted to know what I thought about a guy that got beat up and stabbed in the parking lot and it was in the front page of the paper, I go they really didn't tell me at the front desk (not really good for business) So be careful out there. Off to the mountains.

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History of the House and David Bradford

David Bradford was a successful lawyer, businessman, and Deputy Attorney General of Washington County. Construction of his house on South Main Street began in 1786 and was completed in 1788. His home reflected his high social standing, not only by its size, but also by its fittings. The magnificent mahogany staircase and the interior wood finishes show remarkable craftsmanship. The stone for the exterior was quarried near Washington, while the interior decorations came from the east and had to be transported across the mountains at great expense. It was, and is again today, an 18th Century architectural showpiece. This was all the more striking at the time, because Washington consisted largely of small, rustic, log buildings. During restoration of the house, a tunnel was discovered that appears to have led to what was then a steep ravine nearby. It is thought that this tunnel was constructed to provide a means of escape if this obviously wealthy house came under attack.

David Bradford and his family lived in this house from 1788 to 1794. However, his residence was cut short because of his involvement in the Whiskey Rebellion. Local residents and landowners had longstanding grievances, caused in substantial measure by their isolation on the frontier. There were many land title issues, caused by competing title registries in both Virginia and Pennsylvania, and a host of absentee landlords (including George Washington). There were no local federal courts, which necessitated prolonged and burdensome trips to Philadelphia for trials. The area was still in danger of Indian attacks. And to make matters worse, the federal government imposed a high excise tax on whiskey. This tax was particularly onerous because the cost of shipping local grain to the East for sale was very high. Local farmers could sell their grain crops for more (and lessen their shipping expenses) by converting their grain into whiskey. So high taxes on this product were seen as a blow directed principally at frontier communities like Washington. When federal tax collectors appeared in the area to collect these taxes, local mobs drove them off and worse (including tar and feathering one poor official). In 1794, President George Washington decided that the new federal government could not tolerate such lawlessness and ordered 13,000 troops to the Washington area. Upon learning that he would be arrested, David Bradford fled south to Spanish West Florida (which is present-day Louisiana). He took up a new life there and, in 1797, completed a home in St. Francisville. His wife, Elizabeth, and children joined him shortly thereafter. Eventually, David Bradford received a pardon for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion.

The house had its hard times. It suffered its greatest damage when converted into a furniture and coffin store in the early 1900's. (Note the interesting second-floor windows in the photo on the right. You can click on this photo to see a larger version.) In 1959, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission assumed control of the house and supervised a restoration back to its original 18th-century design. The house is again furnished as it would have been at the time it was built. The furnishings also reflect Bradford's place in society. Landscape work in the rear of the house led to the discovery of an old well. It was repaired, and a well house characteristic of Bradford's time was constructed. This fine example of gracious frontier living is complemented by a garden of plants, herbs and flowers, typical of the 18th-century.
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Washington and Jefferson College History:

W&J is a modern educational institution with roots reaching back to frontier days. The corporate history of the College dates from 1787, but its history reaches even farther back.

Between 1781 and 1787, three Presbyterian ministers established schools in Washington County, then the frontier of the American west. The Rev. Thaddeus Dod, the Rev. Joseph Smith, and the Rev. John McMillan then decided to establish a single academy with better facilities than they possessed individually. In September 1787, a charter was granted for an academy to be situated in Washington, the county seat. On April 10, 1789, Washington Academy opened.

A few years later, a move to establish a school in nearby Canonsburg resulted in a charter being issued in 1794 for “The Canonsburg Academy and Library Company.” In 1802, this school was chartered by the Pennsylvania legislature as Jefferson College. Four years later, Washington Academy received its charter as Washington College.

Rivalry between the two small colleges, located in towns only ten miles apart, served to block the progress of both. Lack of money was a hindrance to their development. From time to time, suggestions were heard that the two colleges merge, but nothing developed until inadequate financial resources and the decline in enrollment at both schools because of the Civil War made such a step necessary. In March 1865, the Pennsylvania legislature granted a charter for a united college, but with the provision that some classes be taught in Canonsburg and others in Washington. This arrangement proved impractical, and in 1869, the legislature authorized reorganization of the College. Two months later, the trustees voted that all departments be located in Washington.

The College became firmly established and grew into a well-known educational institution under leadership of dedicated presidents. It purposely remained a small, all-male liberal arts college for many years.

In 1969, the College authorized granting of undergraduate degrees to women and inaugurated a new curriculum and calendar. The first undergraduate women students were admitted in September 1970.

Now, in its third century, the College continues to offer modern educational opportunities while adhering to long-established principles. It provides its students an opportunity to obtain a sound general education in the arts and sciences.

Fully accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, W&J is a private, independent educational institution devoted to the training of men and women qualified for their tasks both in scholarship and in character.
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Captain Philo Norton McGiffin
The first American to command a modern battleship in wartime

Five years before the famous Admiral Dewey sailed into victory in Manila Bay, a fellow Annapolis graduate had already been in command of a modern battleship

Philo Norton McGiffin, who was born on December 13, 1860, near Pittsburg. After spending a year at Washington Jefferson College, he received his commission as cadet midshipman at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1877. McGiffin was an adequate student but spent a large part of his time performing complicated pranks and other antics for which he is remembered to this day. He graduated near the bottom of his class and served two years at sea as a midshipman before being basically 'laid off' from the Navy in 1884. At the time, the US Navy was scandolously underfunded. Many elderly ships were in disrepair, steaming days and gunnery practice were limited due to shortages in the budget, and promotions had stagnated. In McGiffin's graduating class of ninety midshipmen there were only ultimately enough openings in the fleet for twelve of the graduates to be commissioned. McGiffin was not one of the top twelve in his class so he found himself discharged with the remainder of his class. The young unemployed officer had two things in his favor: a thousand dollar severance package and a first class officer's education in one of the world's few steam and steel navies. At that time the Tong King war was on between France and China, and he decided to offer his knowledge to foundering young Chinese Navy.

He reached China in April, 1885 and through the offices of Mr. Pethick, US. Vice-Consul to the Viceroy Li Hung Chang, he offered his services. He was offered a commission in the Chinese navy of a new torpedo boat providing he could pass a board of examination by the combined professors of the Chinese Naval College. He was examined in seamanship, gunnery, navigation, nautical astronomy, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, conic sections, curve tracing, differential and integral calculus and other naval subjects. He was recommended by the director of the Chinese Naval College to become a professor at the school, rather than be commissioned as a junior officer. He was promptly made professor of seamanship, gunnery, navigation and nautical astronomy. He was also to take on the roles of drilling the young new officer cadets in infantry, artillery, and fencing. He was given a house, servants, and $1800 a year. The 24-year old professor settled down at Tien-Tsin began teaching immediately. Almost all of those who in the Chinese-Japanese War served as officers were his pupils. During the next nine years McGiffin served as professor both at the academy and on board ships at sea, often devising new tactics for the handling of the new ships. In 1894 when war with Japan was declared he was placed as second in command on board the 7670 ton new battleship Chen Yuen. With fourteen inch thick steel armor and its powerful armament of four 12inch guns the Chen Yuen was one of the most capable ships in the world. On 17th of September, 1894, the battle of the Yalu was fought, and the new Chinese navy was basically battled out of existence with the help of another former US Navy officer. During almost the entire battle McGiffin's ship was ablaze as it had been full of combustibles and was heavily coated in multiple coats of flammable varnish and paint. However he saved his ship, drew Japanese fire away from the lighter vessels, and affected a fighting withdrawal to port. The Chen Yuen had been struck more than four hundred times during the battle.

Having suffered terrible wounds during the five hour fight in which McGiffin distinguished himself and saved not only his battered vessel but the remainder of the infant Chinese fleet, he resigned from the service. He moved back to the United States and lived for two years in a convalesance ward in New York. Blind and suffering, on February 11, 1897 he asked for his dispatch box to be brought to him so that he could go over his memoirs. Unknown to his nurses at the hospital, he had hidden his naval revolver in the bottom of the box under his papers. Captain Philo Norton McGiffin, USNA class of 1882, formerly of the Imperial Chinese Navy, died of his own hand at age 36, the first American to command a steel battleship in war. Author David Poyer memorialized McGriffin's Annapolis antics towards his otherwise fictional characters in "The Return of Philo T McGiffin".

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History of Edward Acheson:

Edward Goodrich Acheson, the son of Williams and Sarah Diana (Ruple) Acheson, was born in Washington, PA., March 9, 1856 and was raised in the coal fields of southwestern Pennsylvania. In his youth he attended Bellefonte Academy, Bellefonte, PA., but for the most part he was self taught. As a child, Acheson had been fascinated by engineering and mathematics. His inventive tendency exhibited itself as early as 1872; in that year, at age 16, Acheson filed a caveat with the United States Patent Office for force auger to use in coal-mining operations.

His father's sudden death in June 1873 necessitiated the termination of young Acheson's formal education. Acheson, still a teenager, was forced to go to work. For the next 7 years he earned his own living in a variety of endeavors and contributed also to the support of his mother and sisters. Surveying gauging tank capacities in Pennsylvania's oil fields, and mining iron ore in a joint venture with his brother William were representative of the varied nature of his efforts. He also worked on various railroad jobs.

Concurrently, he was devoting his evenings to his private scientific pursuits, primarily in the field of electricity. Acheson became interested in the electrical field and decided to work for a manufacturer of electrical equipment. He first applied to Edward Weston who made electroplating dynamos but was turned down. However, one product of his labors was an electric pile, which he brought hopefully to the attention of Thomas Edison. Edison put him to work on September 12, 1880 at his Menlo Park, NJ laboratory under John Kruesi (father of Paul Kruesi ECS Pres. 1928-1929). Acheson experimented on making a conducting carbon that Edison could use in his electric light bulbs. He contributed toward production of the first truly durable incandescent light bulb.

Edison recognized his inventive genius and advanced him quickly. After a year he was sent to Europe as assistant chief engineer, where Acheson spent 2 ½ years building generating plants and lamp factories in Europe. He worked for the Edison interests in England, France, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as well as in New York. While in Europe he installed the first electric-lighting systems in such public places as Hotel de Ville in Antwerp, Restaurant Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam, Musee du Nord in Brussels, and La Scala Theater in Milan.

In 1884 Acheson married Margaret Maher. Five sons and four daughters were born of this union: Veronica Belle, Edward Goodrich, Raymond Maher, Sarah Ruth, George Wilson, John Huyler, Margarret Irene, Jean Ellen, and Howard Achibald.

Upon returning to the United States in 1884, Acheson quit Edison and became superintendent of a plant manufacturing lamps that competed with those invented by Edison. Acheson soon was on his own experimenting and inventing many new and useful things. On June 1, 1886, Acheson received the first of the 70 patents he was to be granted in his lifetime. This was for a "conductor of electricity". He sold the patent to George Westinghouse, who in turn transferred it to Standard Underground Cable Co. for exploitation. In 1884 he began his own experiments on methods for producing artificial diamonds in an electric furnace. He heated a mixture of clay and coke in an iron bowl with a carbon arc light and found some shiny, hexagonal crystals (silicon carbide) attached to the carbon electrode. Because he at first mistakenly thought the crystals were a compound of carbon and alumina from the clay, he devised the trademark Carborundum, after corundum, the mineral composed of fused alumina. In 1891 Acheson built his plant in Port Huron at the suggestion of Mr. Edison, and used the electric generating plant of considerable power to experiment with carborundum.

On February 28, 1893, he received a patent on this highly effective abrasive. Later, while studying the effects of high temperature on Carborundum, he found that the silicon vaporizes at about 4,150 C (7,500 F), leaving behind graphitic carbon. He was granted patents for this process in 1896 (Production of Artificial Crystalline Carbonaceous Materials; Article of Carborundum and Process of the Manufacture Thereof Carborundum Patent Numbers 492,767; 615,648). In 1926, the U.S. Patent Office named carborundum as one of the 22 patents most responsible for the industrial age. Not long after that, it was noted that without carborundum, the mass production manufacturing of precision-ground, interchangeable metal parts would be practically impossible.

His early product initially was offered for the polishing of gems and sold at a price comparable with natural diamond dust. The new compound, which was obtainable from cheap raw materials and in good yields, soon became an important industrial abrasive. About the same time Acheson made his discovery, Henri Moissan in France produced a similar compound from a mixture of quartz and carbon; but in a publication of 1903, Moissan ascribed the original discovery to Acheson. Some natural silicon carbide was found in Arizona in the Canyon Diablo meteorite and bears the mineralogical name moissanite.

In 1894 he established the Carborundum Company in Monongahela City, Pennsylvania, to produce grinding wheels, whet stones, knife sharpeners, and powdered abrasives. However, demand for the product soon exceeded his ability to supply it, so he built a larger plant in 1895 in Niagara Falls. The Carborundum Company was the second company to contract with the Niagara Falls Power Co. Production began on a four-acre plot of land on the upper river about ½ mile from the power plant.
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Day 109 - Change in Direction (Off to West Virginia)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:05:19 GMT

Change in Direction (Off to West Virginia)
Road Finds: No (View Details)
Tunes: Yes (View Details)
Money Found So Far: $46.32

War: Welcome to West Virginia, the team decided to change the eastern route of the Freedom Run course, to hit more major towns along the way, so Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Baltimore, have been added, this should increase donations along the way, I designed the original course with the intent to avoid the megatropolis area.

The pleasant aspect to the course change is we are in hill country (Got to love them hills) and the history of the areas, the course is back on the historic highway, so get ready for some good Warren history lesson, and the area is up there as some of the best in the country, with hollows, water falls, babbling brooks and of course those UP's and down's.

Thanks for all the support!

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Southwestern Pennsylvania History Timeline
Note that "western" or "southwestern" Pennsylvania refers to the area where present-day Washington County (an others) is located, although ownership of the land changed many times before 1786.
1669 - Earliest French exploration of western Pennsylvania.
1739 and 1749 - More French expeditions to establish fur trade with the Indians.
1748 - The Ohio Company is formed by Virginia gentlemen, including two of George Washington's brothers, to affect settlement in southwestern Pennsylvania and carry on Indian trade on a large scale.
1750 - Disgruntled Indians pushed back from the east into western Pennsylvania by this time.
1753 - French build forts and begin asserting their claim to the region including western Pennsylvania.
1754 - Spring, Col. George Washington sent by Virginia with a military force to get the French to leave the territory. Washington loses the ensuing battle at Fort Duquense.
1755 - British Gen. Braddock takes troops west, is joined by militia, and is ambushed and massacred before reaching Fort Duquense. Indians begin attacking settlers along the frontier, forcing them back east of the Alleghenies.
1755 to 1756 - Settlements begin in the area of present Washington County.
1756 - Colony of Pennsylvania declares war on the Shawnees and Delawares. Pennsylvania begins building forts along the frontier, provisioned with men and supplies.
1758 - Peace treaty signed between Pennsylvania and the Shawanees and Delawares.
1758 - November, British Gen. Forbes takes Ft. Duquense with a force of 2500. Fort renamed Fort Pitt.
1759 - French abandon area of western Pennsylvania
1762 - British sign treaty with French, British left in possession of all eastern America.
1763 - Summer, remaining dissatisfied Indians attack all along the frontier. Some forts defeated. British send troops reinforce Fort Pitt. Indians defeated at battle of Bushy Run.
1765 - Settlements made at Redstone (below Brownsville on the Monongahela) and Turkey Foot.
1768 - October, Proprietary of Pennsylvania purchases country from the Indians as far west as the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.
1769 - April, opening of land offices for sales of lands obtained in the 1768 Land Purchase. Within one month, 3200 applications for warrants were made, mostly by Scotch-Irish in eastern Pennsylvania.
1770-1771 - Influx of Scotch-Irish from Chester, Lancaster, Bedford, and York counties and some directly from Ulster.
1775 - April, war breaks out in Massachusetts against the British.
1776 - July, Continental Congress declares the American Colonies independent.
1776 - Pennsylvania given a new constitution, overthrowing the proprietary Penn government and shifting control away from the Quakers.
1780 - Pennsylvania passes slave emancipation law.
1781 - March, County of Washington established with population 23,866.
1781 - October, British surrender to the Americans and the Revolution is over.
1786 - Region of southwestern Pennsylvania previously under the claim of Virginia is ceded to Pennsylvania by a joint commission of the two states.
1787 - Early, Constitutional Convention convenes in Philadelphia.
1787 - December, Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the Constitution.
1788 - Allegheny County established, taken from Washington and Westmoreland Counties.
1789 - April, George Washington inaugurated President.
1791 - Tax on whiskey passed by the Federal government.
1794 - Farmers in southwestern Pennsylvania openly oppose all efforts collection of the tax. President Washington sends militia troops to the area and the rebellion is quashed.
To be continued...

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Who were the settlers and what routes did they take?
The first settlers of southwestern Pennsylvania were primarily English and came from Virginia and Maryland following Braddock's Road (see History Timeline above) to Redstone Fort. These were the settlers enticed by the Ohio Company to settle and commence trade with the Indians in the early 1760's. Many of these held "Virginia Certificates", which referred to land warrants issued by the Colonial Virginia. With the passage of Pennsylvania's slave emancipation law in 1780, many of these early Virginian and Maryland settlers commenced a migration to Kentucky which continued brisk for the next 10 or so years.

From George K. Schweitzer's 1986 work Pennsylvania Genealogical Research, page 22, we read:
"Most settlers of the new land [western Pennsylvania] followed the river valleys and old Indian trails to the interior, but the trip beyond the Alleghenies was more difficult, since this required going across the mountains. The most used route was known as the Great Pennsylvania Road, running from Philadelphia to Lancaster to York to Gettysburg to Chambersburg to Bedford to Somerset to Greensburg to Pittsburgh."
The Great Pennsylvania Road started as Braddock's trail, created for Gen. Braddock's ill-fated expedition to take Fort Duquense in 1755. Essentially, this is the course of modern day US Rt. 30.

After provincial Pennsylvania's land purchase from the Indians in 1769, a migration of primarily Scotch-Irish people began coming from the eastern counties of Chester, Lancaster, York, and Dauphin as well as those of Northern Maryland. By 1773 the Scotch-Irish population was increasing steadily. And it was between 1771 and 1775 that the lands west of the Monongahela River were settled. Most of these lands were obtained under Virginia titles, especially along Chartiers Creek, rather than Pennsylvania, mostly because the price Virginia was asking is said to have been one fourteenth the cost asked by Pennsylvania.
After the Revolution, the preponderance of settlers in southwestern Pennsylvania were Scotch-Irish mingled with some English, Germans, and others. By 1790, ten Presbyterian churches had been established in the area. By the second generation, even more settled by these peoples which overflowed to the north and to the west into Ohio, making the region a stronghold of this ethnic group in the commonwealth.

From a letter written in 1832 by Rev. Dr. John McMillan we get a glimpse of conditions in 1775 when he first crossed the Allegheny Mountains to preach along Chartiers Creek in what is now Washington Co.:
"...But we had neither bedstead, nor tables, nor stool, nor chair, nor bucket. All these things we ad to leave behind us, as there was no wagon road at that time over the mountains."
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In 1781, Washington County became the first county in the United States of America to be named in honor of General George Washington. Washington County was formed to allow "the inhabitants of the area west of the Monongahela River to have more convenient courts and public offices, rather than the inconvenience and hardship of being so far remote from the seat of justice" (Preamble of Legislation creating Washington County, March 28, 1781). Shortly thereafter, Canonsburg was chartered in 1802 and remains the county's oldest borough.

Washington County indeed has a proud historic heritage. While settled primarily by Scottish and Irish immigrants moving from Virginia, the county's history of community actually is much older. Washington County is home to Meadowcroft Rock Shelter that is one of the oldest known sites of human settlement in North America. Through excavations at the site, it is known that the first "citizens" of Washington County arrived several thousand years ago. In early colonial times the county was roamed by French fur traders and George Washington campaigned through the area during the French and Indian War. A log structure built in 1787 served as the first county courthouse in the town of Basset, later renamed Washington. The present-day Washington County Courthouse, completed in 1900 by the F.J. Osterling Company of Pittsburgh, is a registered national landmark.

The Whiskey Rebellion, one of the most famous events of early American history, took place in Washington County when David Bradford, noted attorney and community leader, directed area farmers against the Federal excise tax on whiskey passed in 1791. Governor Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee, father of Civil War General Robert E. Lee, smashed the rebellion when he led Federal troops into Washington and Allegheny Counties. The whiskey rebels finally disbanded in the City of Monongahela, located in the county on the banks of the Monongahela River. Built in 1788, Bradford's main street residence in the City of Washington remains a historical site maintained by the David Bradford House Association.

Another tourist attraction preserved by the Washington County Historical Society is the residence of Dr. Francis J. LeMoyne, a leading abolitionist and founder of the Western Abolition Society in 1824. The Western Abolition Society also founded the Underground Railroad, which surfaced in such places as West Middletown and Washington where the LeMoyne House remains today as a legacy to the Civil War. Dr. LeMoyne also constructed the first crematory in the United States. Built in 1875, Dr. Lemoyne and 42 other people were cremated over a period of 24 years at the crematory located in the City of Washington.

George Washington's early years as a surveyor enabled him to see the need for a "national" road through the Allegheny Mountains connecting the eastern seaboard centers with the Ohio Valley and the western frontier. Completed in 1818 and still in use today, the National Pike (Route 40) runs through Washington County. Route 40 connects Washington City with the southeast of the state and with West Virginia and Ohio to the west. Route 40 was America's first federally funded transportation system. Numerous antique shops and historical points of interest such as the Century Inn of Scenery Hill-the oldest hostelry along National Pike-is still located along Route 40.

During the first half of the 19th century scattered settlements grew into boroughs and townships. "Farmers became business leaders; business leaders became civic leaders; town councils were formed; volunteer fire departments were organized; and the Washington County citizen became more aware of the outside world as newspapers began circulation in the new-formed municipalities." (Washington County - "…A 200-year Reflection")

Coal was discovered near the Monongahela River, which became a principal passage to ports within the U.S., its territories and foreign markets. As railroads worked their way westward, Washington County's economic prosperity was assured in 1849 by the opening of a telegraph office in the county seat.

The very nature of Washington County's industrial foundations (coal, steel, glass & oil) allowed the county to prosper and grow. At the turn of the century many of Washington County's communities had electric streetlights, streetcars and the "horseless carriage." This prosperity propelled the Monongahela River town of Charleroi into the fifth largest retail hub in Pennsylvania, where today people still shop in the collection of quaint stores that provide unusual and often homemade products unavailable elsewhere in the region.

Scenic Washington County boasts a number of historic and architectural landmarks including 23 well-maintained covered bridges, the National Pike, and its renowned courthouse, which is considered one of the finest examples of Italian renaissance architecture in the United States.

Education has always been an important part of the county's history. California University of Pennsylvania began as an academy more than 140 years ago. In 1928, the academy was transformed into the institution of the California State Teachers College. Then, in 1959, the teacher's college became California State College and in 1983 it became California University of Pennsylvania. Washington & Jefferson College was founded in 1781. It is the oldest college west of the Allegheny Mountains and the 11th oldest in America.
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