History
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Sault Ste. Marie Adventure, 2014
Yesterday I saw the largest boat that I might ever see, and then I dragged my in-laws into my fascination with old buildings and old neighborhoods. We made our annual trip to Sault…
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A Short Trip to some Local Parnassus History
Hello reader people. Jenny and I were sitting on our soon-to-be-rebuilt porch this evening as the light went golden. We were just reading away, enjoying the evening as the temperature started to cool…
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Remembering World War I
This month (June 28) is the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. The aftermath led to World War I. My relatives suffered and sacrificed as a…
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“Down by the Riverside”
This is what the Allegheny River looked like today, on one of the coldest days of this century. I had Jonathan stop at Firemen’s Park in Arnold when we were out so that…
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Fort Pitt Had A Moat
January is the perfect month to . . . catch up on past seasons of Downton Abbey and read. After I finished “The Day Must Dawn,” I read another historical fiction novel by Agnes…
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A Local Novel by a Local Author: “The Day Must Dawn”
One of the main characters in “The Day Must Dawn” by Agnes Sligh Turnbull watches Colonel William Crawford burn at the stake while Simon Girty laughs. That scene isn’t the only dramatic one in…
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The “Ghost” of Simon Girty
My Grandma Gaffron often joked that the ghost of Simon Girty hung around the Gaffron family property in North Huntingdon, Westmoreland County. “Simon Girty took my glasses,” she said when she couldn’t find…
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Great Expectations
Last night, we and several family members walked for two and a half hours on the Old Allegheny Victorian Christmas House Tour. Jonathan believes that he and I have gone on the tour…
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Parnassus is Not Gone: A Non-Review of “American Elegy” by Jeffrey Simpson
When I found Jeffrey Simpson’s 1996 New York Times article about Parnassus two weeks ago, I was so excited that I posted a link to it on a Facebook page for local historical…
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Parnassus Mentioned in the New York Times / Chicago Tribune News
I want to share this article by Jeffrey Simpson dated August 31, 1996 titled, “When You Inherit the Family Farm, You Own the Memories, Too.” The byline identifies it as a New York Times story; however,…