Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Military History (Page 2 of 2)

2017’s Newly Approved Markers

I am happy to announce that the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission recently approved 18 new historical markers!

As you’ll see from the list below, over half of the approved subjects are for markers in Philadelphia County. The Marker Program encourages broad distribution, so we’d love to see more individuals and organizations from Pennsylvania’s other 66 counties research their history and develop nominations for people, places, events, and innovations in their own backyard. Continue reading

UPDATE: Local Landmarks For Sale

In our June 2013 post, we featured the upcoming sale of National Register listed state armories located in historic communities throughout the Commonwealth.  To date, eight of the armories marketed for adaptive reuse by the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs have been sold to buyers who have agreed to purchase the buildings with a historic preservation covenant. The covenants will help to ensure future improvements to the buildings will be carried out in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings. Continue reading

The Battle of Brandywine Revisited

By Jill Hall and Karen Marshall

Brinton 1704 House and the surrounding lands were the location of core combat actions in the final phase of the Battle, Chadds Ford, Delaware County

Brinton 1704 House and the surrounding lands were the location of core combat actions in the final phase of the Battle, Chadds Ford, Delaware County

On September 11, 1777, British General William Howe and his professional army engaged General George Washington and his citizen soldiers along the banks of the Brandywine River about 30 miles southwest of Philadelphia. Part of a larger strategy known as the Philadelphia Campaign, the Battle of Brandywine was one of the earliest and largest battles of the American Revolution, encompassing some 30,000 British and American soldiers. The Battle lasted from sunup to sundown, instantly changing the character of a quiet farming community that consisted predominately of Quakers. Although the Battle of Brandywine was a loss for the Americans, they proved that they had the resiliency to withstand the British, increasing French support of the American cause.  Continue reading

Into the Wilderness!: The Search for Thompson’s Island

Former BHP Keystone interns in front of the Allegheny National Forest headquarters in Warren, PA.

Former BHP Keystone interns in front of the Allegheny National Forest headquarters in Warren, PA.

In July 2014, the Bureau for Historic Preservation received an American Battlefield Protection Program planning grant from the National Park Service to locate, document, and delineate the boundaries of a significant, but little known Revolutionary War conflict site in northwestern Pennsylvania.  The Battle of Thompson’s Island, in present day Warren County, is listed with “Other Sites of Interest” in the 2007 Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States, but its exact location is unknown.  In fact, it is possible that the battle simply took place near Thompsons Island, not on it—but we are certain that it is located within the Allegheny National Forest.  This project seeks to answer some of those questions.  Continue reading

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