Pennsylmania

The previous episode took us to about 1870, with Williamsport as the lumber capital of the United States. Challenges to the lumbering industry arose. The eastern white pine forests of Pennsylvania were being depleted, to the point that total forested land in the Commonwealth dropped to under 70% from the 95% that William Penn first encountered in the late 17th century. There was intense competition from the lumber industry in Michigan. North Central Pennsylvania’s forests were still full of heml

The story of Pennsylvania, first as a colony and later as the Commonwealth, is in many ways inseparable from its trees. The name Pennsylvania, which means “Penn’s Woods,” is itself an indication of the fact that, when William Penn arrived in Pennsylvania in1682, over 27 million acres – or about 95% – of what is now the Commonwealth was heavily forested. Those trees were a highly valued resource, especially the expansive stands of eastern white pine that stretched across northern Pennsylvania. On

In the previous episode, we described how the Pennsylvania Assembly’s Committee on Safety established the Pennsylvania Navy, developed three forts along the Delaware River, and installed a series of underwater hazards to big ships sailing up the Delaware. These were all meant to defend Philadelphia from the powerful British Navy. It worked until the British Army sidestepped the River defenses in their efforts to reach Philadelphia. They landed at the top of Chesapeake Bay in Elk Head, Maryland,

Did you know that, during the American War for Independence, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had a navy? Let that sink in. It’s true. The Pennsylvania Navy was established in 1775, six months before the U.S. Navy. Its job was to police and protect the capital city Philadelphia and the surrounding region. It played a prominent role in two major revolutionary war battles: the Battle of Fort Mercer and the Battle of Fort Mifflin, the second of which was the scene of the largest bombardment in Nort

What does Black Lives Matter have to do with rededicating a street in Northwest Philadelphia? In February of 2022, community leaders in Philadelphia celebrated the recognition of an important historical figure, the Reverend Richard Allen, when City Council named a street in his honor. Allen was one of the City’s first Black preachers and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, of which Allen ultimately became bishop. He was also co-founder of the Free African Society, a mutual a

In 1793, the capital city of Philadelphia was struck by a terrible yellow fever epidemic, one that caused President George Washington and Congress to flee the City, which ultimately lost 10% of its population to the disease. In our last episode, we met three notable Philadelphians of the Early American period. Most famous among them was Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, physician to America’s founding fathers, and one of, if not the most prominent physician at the tim