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1869 (Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries)

A Road Trip to Gettysburg and Homes of Founding Fathers

(NYTimes) You can almost see them, spectral figures moving through thick forest, ragged, rugged men who endured astonishing hardship just to get here, creeping with their muskets in the sticky haze of a July morning in central Pennsylvania’s Appalachian Mountains. They wouldn’t even know the name of this place, Gettysburg. Yet their blood would become the ink that sets down the town’s name for history.
It is a cast of tens of thousands, generals and infantry, civilians, horses, even dogs.
This was the vision that lodged in my mind as I drove through Gettysburg, the first stop on a winter tour of historic sites in four states. Continued

Aged grist mill awaits scarce federal funds

(Baltimore Sun) PERRYVILLE, Maryland — A 250-year-old grist mill near the mouth of the Susquehanna River has sat mostly vacant since the end of the Civil War, its thick stone walls serving no purpose but the protection of a few old tools.
Though the building is historic — it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places decades ago — it is uncelebrated and receives few visitors. While many old mills are being restored, plans to develop the Cecil County property have stalled.
The lack of interest in the old mill is partly due to its owner: the federal government. Continued

York's Civil War-era train closer to completion

(YDR) A sign hangs on a former feed store along the Northern Central Railway tracks in New Freedom, announcing the home of "Steam Into History." Renovations have been under way in the building at 2 W. Main St. as the nonprofit gears up to start a train excursion in June that will take travelers back in time to the Civil War era. The opening is scheduled to be in time for the 150th anniversary of the Confederate invasion of York in late June and the Battle of Gettysburg in early July. Continued

Stewartstown Railroad line abandoned by federal board

 

(YDR) A federal board ruled Friday that it has granted the abandonment of the 7.4-mile line of the 127-year-old Stewartstown Railroad.
The estate of George M. Hart had asked the Federal Surface Transportation Board to declare the railroad abandoned. It's a step the estate needed to take so that it can foreclose on the railroad to collect a $350,000 debt the railroad owed to Hart.
The federal board ruled that the record does not show a credible need to keep the line in the national rail transportation system, the ruling states. The Stewartstown Railroad Company is unlikely to restore rail service on the line. Continued

Efforts to preserve Stewartstown Railroad focus on fund raising

(YDR) Friends of the Stewartstown Railroad, an independent group, is pursuing its fund raising effort that began in 2009.
More recently, the railroad company has expanded that effort to PayPal, in its efforts to use the magic of the Internet to save the 128-year-old railroad.
In addition, a group is being formed to loan money to the railroad, loans that would be secured by its assets. The idea would be to allow the company at least five years to begin showing a profit. Continued

Maryland House's historic art to be preserved, but won't return

(Aegis) The Maryland House on I-95 near Aberdeen may be known more for its fast food and bevy of bathrooms than for fine artwork, but its murals portraying Maryland history, that have adorned the travel plaza for more than 40 years, have a significant history of their own.
When the Maryland House went into what will be at least a one-year hibernation this past weekend, so did the mural pieces done by artist William A. Smith that depict significant events in Maryland's history and have long hung around the building.
The Maryland Transportation Authority says it is working to ensure the mural panels will survive the plaza's demolition and reconstruction. They will not, however, be a part of the new Maryland House. Continued

Gettysburg map for sale

(YDR) If you have an extra $5 in your pocket you might be able to buy a 12-ton piece of Gettysburg history.
Only thing is, you'll probably have to drop another $100,000 or more to refurbish and display the beloved, but beleaguered, tourist display.
The Electric Map is currently up for auction through General Service Administration, an online auction site for federal property, according to an email from National Park Service spokeswoman Katie Lawhon.
As of Saturday evening, no one had placed the opening bid of $5. Continued

Wayside markers tell the story of York, Pa. during the Civil War

(Cannonball) York, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War hosted a major U.S. Army Hospital, a large military training camp for the Union army, and important manufacturing concerns which made such military items as railroad cars. The borough of some 8,600 (according to the U.S. Census of 1862) in late June 1863 became the largest town in the entire North to fall to the Confederate Army when Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s division of more than six thousand veteran soldiers marched into the area.
A series of full color wayside markers now commemorates the events, people, and places of York during the war years. These are part of the popular Civil War Trails program sponsored by www.VisitPA.com. Continued

America's Journey Stories on display at Abingdon library beginning Saturday

(Aegis) For the first time, Harford County will host an official Smithsonian exhibit when Journey Stories, a look at how and why Americans have traveled since the country's inception, opens at the Abingdon library Saturday.
The exhibit, which will be open though July 6, focuses on themes of immigration, migration and transportation and how these aspects shaped the nation.
The exhibit, which will open at 9:30 a.m., will be divided into different sections for each theme and include items such as panels, photographs and maps, Bethany Hacker, community relations specialist for Harford County Public Library, said. Continued

Washington Road trails in Westminster a hidden treasure

(Baltimore Sun) There is a peaceful atmosphere walking along the Washington Road Community Trail, despite the continual rumble of traffic.

A section of the wide, mowed trail rambles along behind the Carroll County Career and Technology Center, as well as Westminster High School before plunging into a wooded area that blocks buildings from view and also shields walkers from the ever-busy Route 97 to the east and Route 32 to the west.

To keep from getting lost, some 92 bluebird houses serve as markers along the trail, with arrows pointing the trail's direction painted on their sides. Continued

Harley-Davidson expands tours at York plant

(YDR) You've strutted between the yellow lines, looking sharp in your plastic safety goggles and electronic ear piece.
They know your name at the Harley tour center. Your free pin collection spans the consecutive years you've visited the Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer's Springettsbury Township operations.
You think you've seen all there is to see at the birthplace of the company's Trike, Tour and Softail lines.
But it's only the beginning.
Next month, a new Harley-Davidson attraction -- the "Steel Toe Tour" -- will raise the bar, offering each guest an inside look at what goes on behind closed doors at the manufacturing plant. Continued

Photo: American Red Cross in Great Britain. One unit of the famous "Flying Squadron" priding themselves on being able to get under way within three minutes of the time a call is received. American Red Cross., ca. 1918 (National Archives)

Travel guide: Coal country has tourism potential in southern W.Va.

(Bluefield Daily Telegraph) Some of the bloodiest and most important moments in the American labor movement happened in the coalfields of southern West Virginia. But most who live beyond its rugged mountains, and even many who live in them, don’t know the stories.Doug Estepp is trying to change that, one busload of tourists at a time. Continued

Photo: Sid Hatfield

Harford, Cecil counties tell their stories from War of 1812

(Baltimore Sun) ... on May 3, 1813, the British fleet sailed up the Chesapeake Bay and set fire to Havre de Grace homes and businesses. The invaders razed the nearby Principio Furnace, which had manufactured some of the first cannons for the U.S. Navy.
The counties and their towns will tell such stories through their museums, battle recreations, site tours and a Star Spangled trail. Continued

Historic hotels try to compete in shaky economy

(AP) The signature green and white china is packed, the Adirondack chairs are stored away and the corridor lights are dimmed.
The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in the forests of northern New Hampshire — a remote destination nestled in a mountain pass for lovers of the great outdoors, fine dining and turn-of-the-century elegance — is closed for now. How long is anyone's guess. Continued

MDRails calls it quits, almost

I took down MDRails, our railroad photography website today. It had a good run, but we've been cutting down on expenses and it just had to go. I will be reconstituting the site on blogger under the same name. You can find the new MDRails at http://mdrails.blogspot.com/. I will also be adding some railfan location information and camera stuff to the posts.

Traveling Civil War museum opens at Penn Park

York, PA (YDR) A giant traveling museum dedicated to the Civil War is open this weekend at Penn Park -- a place with a heritage as divided as the country was during the 1860s.
On the one side of history is Penn Common -- home to a hospital during the Civil War, a mustering site for soldiers and once the flowering garden spot of the city. Continued

Also: Civil War experience exhibit continues today (Saturday), Sunday in York

And: Period newspaper shows glimpse of life in York's Civil War hospital

Maybe it's time for the Baltimore Ravens to cough up a little dough?

Fiscal Woe Haunting Baltimore Poe House

BALTIMORE (NYTimes) Even now, 162 years after his death here, Edgar Allan Poe still seems to be suffering from the kind of bad luck that haunted his life. For a second year city leaders have chosen not to subsidize a museum in the tiny house where the impoverished Poe lived from around 1833 to 1835, a decision that means it may have to close soon.
Since the city cut off its $85,000 in annual support last year, the house has been operating on reserve funds, which are expected to run out as early as next summer. Continued

Harley-Davidson opens new tour center

(York Daily Record) As a shiny orange automated guided cart rolled past a tour group on the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. factory floor, Amy Warner flashed a big smile.
"I told you that you get really close," the manager of factory tours said.
The up-close experience impressed Robert Seneker of West York. "It's amazing that it's open to the public," he said.
Seneker was among the 400 guests who experienced the factory tour and browsed the Vaughn L. Beals Tour Center at the plant in Springettsbury Township on its opening day. For the first time, visitors get to see the Harley production process from frame to "final dress." Continued

Ed Bearss close to proving the Civil War is not an inexhaustible subject

(Cannonba!!) Historian Ed Bearss ... is an American treasure. Wounded as a Marine in the South Pacific in WWII, he later became the chief historian of the National Park Service and the leading authority on the Vicksburg Campaign. He has led Civil War and WWII tours for several decades, and these are punctuated with his booming voice and machine-gun-like delivery. He and several long-time friends are members of the "Joe Hooker Society," a self-named group which enjoys touring Civil War sites. ... The group spent a delightful Sunday touring Wrightsville sites and eating at the historic Accomac Inn. Continued