Octorara Area High School is in Atglen, Chester County, Pennsylvania. I found a few documents in my files and thought I would share. Class of 1984 Commencement Booklet This is a scan of the Twenty-eighth Commencement, Octorara Area High School Graduation Booklet, Class of 1984. Graduation took place on Sunday, June 3, 1984. Here’s a…
Joseph Turner built his 30 foot by 40 foot limestone grist mill with 18 inch thick walls on property once owned by colonist Benjamin Ring along “Ye Great Road to Nottingham” in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Using stone from earlier mills along Harvey’s Run, a nearby creek that runs parallel to today’s U.S. Route 1 and…
On September 11, 1777, the hamlet of Chadds Ford played host to one of the largest and deadliest battles of the American Revolutionary War, today called the Battle of Brandywine. An estimated 29,000 British and American troops gathered at the fledgling town populated mostly by peaceful Quakers. Britain’s campaign for 1777 was to split off…
I’ve got a few Revolutionary War ancestors, namely Moza Hurt, Philemon Hurt, Frederick Boyer, Cornelius Bogart, and Conrad Mehrkam. Sometimes when I’m reading an account of their service, I wonder to myself, what the heck are they talking about? Some of the terms are opaque to modern people. This list helped me navigate the unfamiliar…
Today I’m posting a set of beautiful photographs of Chester County, Pennsylvania, mostly in the southeastern part of the county, especially around Kennett Square, Longwood Gardens, and the Brandywine River. These were taken by my talented aunt who is always willing to share with me. Enjoy!
Pennsbury Mill at Hilandale Farm is a historically significant twentieth-century hydro-electric and pumping mill located in picturesque Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Owned by John Danby, a Wilmington, Delaware, banker, the mill and dam were built in 1919 by the Fitz Water Wheel Company before a commercial supply of electricity was available in Chester County. The technology…
In or around 2002, I went to see this exhibit at the Chester County Historical Society and found it so interesting that I came home and saved copies of the online portion from their website. They always do a wonderful job researching and presenting their material. Located just north of the Mason-Dixon Line dividing the…
These are screen shots from an online exhibit called Thrown, Molded, Dipped, and Glazed: Ceramics of Southeastern Pennsylvania from the Chester County Historical Society, 2001. I put them out here to share this info for anyone researching this subject. Thrown, Molded, Dipped, and Glazed explores the history of ceramics in the Chester County area with…
These are screen shots from an exhibit at the Chester County Historical Society in 2001 called Remember Me: Mourning in the 19th Century. The objects on display included funeral attire, antique jewelry, portraits, painted miniatures, and memorial needlework.
