State College owes its name to scholarly pursuit

History of State College, PA ...

State College's metaphorical groundbreaking, in Hench's view, actually occurred in Harrisburg in January 1853, when the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society "highly approved" Gov. William Bigler's recommendation "that an institution to impart instruction in the science of agriculture should be established."

Two influential members of that society were William G. Waring who, as Hench wrote, organized one of the pioneer teachers' institutes in Centre County in 1851, and James Irvin, a member of Congress and part owner of the Centre Furnace property.

Read full article from CentreDaily.com

Oil City High School, Oil City, PA 1928 Football Team

View the photograph

Lettermen: James "Red" Dorwart - captain, Philip "Nooky" Olmes - Captain-Elect, Jack Reynolds, Edward York, Dude Moran ___ Vogler, Maynard Hipwell, Bernard Haumesser, John "Jack" Hadley, Jack Hershelman, ___ Muldoon, William Bechtel, ___ Stroughton, ___ Waitkus, Floyd Malcolmson.

R. E. Brown - Coach, W. L. Palmer & E. E. Bellen - assistant coaches, Ed. Richards - manager

The photo includes several unknown players.

More Venango County Old Photos
More Pennsylvania Old Photos

Warren High School, Warren, PA 1931 Football Team Photo

View the Photograph

In the photograph: Everett Samuelson, John Gettings, Frank J. Graziano, Ray W. Caldwell, Robert C. Christie, Robert A. Murphy, Jack Logan, Richard Juline, Philip Taylor, Thomas Lyle, William Wilson, Paul Coppola, Homer T. Morrison, Walter Streich, Walter Confer, and ___ Scalise. Managers: Walter Bowes and Joseph Allen Coach: J. B. Leidig. The other coach may be Henry G. Kolpein.

More Warren County, PA Old Photos

10,000 Pennsylvania Old Photos

Pennsylvania Train Wrecks, Fires, Floods, Storms & Other Disasters

GenDisasters.com, finding Genealogy in Tragedy

New Pennsylvania disaster articles at GenDisasters.com

GenDisasters.com chronicles the events that touched our ancestors' lives - train wrecks, fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, storms, mining explosions, ship wrecks, drownings, and accidents. Transcribed newspaper accounts, excerpts from historical books and photographs detail hundreds of life's tragedies that our ancestors' endured, from the 1800s to
the 1950s. (and it's free)

Here's what's just been added:

Austin, PA Weisert's Store and House Fires, May 1902
Bodines, PA Train Accident, May 1902
Bridgeville, PA Train Wreck, Apr 1907
Carnegie, PA Train Wreck, Jun 1907
Charleroi, PA Monongahela River Drowning, Jun 1913
Chester, PA Trolley - Train Wreck, Aug 1895
Connellsville, PA Drowning, Jan 1909
Connellsville, PA Storm & Flood, May 1902
Curwensville, PA Flood, May 1889
Delaware County, PA Flood, Aug 1843
Doylestown, PA Fire, Dec 1913
Eddystone, PA Baldwin Locomotive Works Fire, Nov 1915
Essington, PA Delaware River Drowning, Jun 1901
Exeter, PA Train Wreck, Oct 1884
Faunce, PA McDonald Barn Fire, May 1932
Glenshaw, PA Train Wreck, Nov 1908
Hamburg, PA Church Fire, May 1875
Hamburg, PA Fire, May 1930
Huntingdon, PA Brush Fire, May 1885
Huntingdon, PA Fisher House Fire, Feb 1913
Huntingdon, PA Train Wreck, Mar 1888
Hyndman, PA Train Wreck, Sept 1908
Indiana, PA Gas House Fire, May 1890
Lynn, PA Redstone Creek Drowning, Apr 1895
McDonald, PA Storm & Lightning Strike, Mar 1902
Norristown, PA Train Accident, Aug 1895
Philadelphia, PA Electricity Accident, Jan 1902
Philadelphia, PA Fire, Feb 1865
Philadelphia, PA Grand Central Theatre Fire, Apr 1892
Philadelphia, PA Phoenix Pants Shirt & Overall Co., Feb 1907
Philadelphia, PA Standard Glass Varnish Co. Fire, Mar 1882
Philadelphia, PA Tornado, Apr 1856
Pittsburgh, PA Fire, Apr 1845
Pittsburgh, PA Storm, Apr 1894
Pittsburgh, PA Storm, Aug 1895
Pittsburgh, PA Train Accident, Feb 1896
Portage, PA Train Wreck, Jan 1902
Slate Run, PA J. B. Weed & Co. Sawmill Fire, Jan 1893
Somerset, PA Storm, May 1911
Springdale, PA Six Men Drown, May 1898
Troy, PA Train Wreck, Oct 1907
Uniontown, PA Windstorm Hits Circus Tent, Jun 1917
West Leisenring, PA Connellsville Coal & Iron Co. Explosion, Feb 1884
West Pittston, PA Lehigh Valley Coal Co. Accident, Jul 1894
Wilkes-Barre, PA Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. Explosion, May 1890
Wilkes-Barre, PA Mine Explosion, Dec 1896
Wilkes-Barre, PA Mine Explosion, Mar 1890
Wilkinsburg, PA Fire, Mar 1908
York, PA Tornado, Apr 1856

Thanks to Michelle, Trish, Regina, Regina, Audrey, Victoria, Ken, Trudi & Rosemarie and our other transcribers for helping get this material online!

Don't see the disaster you've been researching? Try out the search engine - or browse through the hundreds of other train wrecks, tornadoes, drownings, mine explosions, fires, etc. catalogued on the site.

Photo above Hyndman, PA Train Wreck, Sept 1908

Eldora Park Remembered

Eldora Park was big part of the Pittsburgh - Monongahela Valley area history

Leonard Marraccini is a man on a mission. And he's leaving few of those proverbial stones unturned in his quest for information about Eldora Park, a popular recreation and amusement site for many years in Carroll Township.

Marraccini's pursuit of the history of Eldora Park extends far beyond the realm of its reputation as a gathering place for family reunions, dances, picnics and myriad other events. In reality, it's an expansion of his natural interest in the mining industry

Read the full story from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review