Blog

It isn’t Indiana Jones unearthing the Ark, or Nicholas Cage finding a secret treasure map in the U.S. Constitution. But discovering a trove of nineteenth century mortgage documents in a musty church attic sure can make a geeky historian smile. (more…)

The Falls of Schuylkill Baptist Church (that used to share a border with Hohenadel House) kindly slipped us one of their print-ups of this fascinating document: William Penn’s 1685 Treaty with 13 Native American chiefs for the purchase of property believed to include East Falls. Does it? We’re still mulling that over, as we also explore the absurdity of land ownership to Native American sensibilities.
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Big spring rains like we had earlier this month often flood the Schuylkill River, making for great photos of submerged roads and providing hours of television chatter for teams of meteorologists.

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Suburban Philadelphia’s quintessential building material is called “Wissahickon Schist,” and designers from the 18th thru the 20th centuries relied on this durable, easily-mined, and ubiquitous “pelitic schist” to create masterpieces in all styles: Italian Villa, Gothic Revival, Georgian, Colonial Revival, Second Empire…  (more…)

Funny thing about researching historical documents — tracking them down is just the first part of the puzzle. The easier part, at that. (more…)

“Breweriana” is how collectors of beer stuff like to refer to the “collectible historical Brewery advertising” they seek, which comes in many forms: trays, coasters, taps, signs — just about any common item you can think of, a beer company has likely thought to slap its name on it.  (more…)

From a grand spire to a modest stub in only a hundred years, the steeple of the Falls of Schuylkill Baptist church shrinks (more…)