Historic
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How Levittown’s Home Construction Method Transformed Homeownership After World War II
A simple slab of concrete helped reshape the American Dream, and its origins trace back to Bucks County, writes staff for PhillyBurbs. After World War II, millions of veterans came home to a country without enough housing. Levittown planner and builder Bill Levitt had a solution, and it started from the ground up. Rather than…
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Chester County Reenactors Ready Their for Busiest Year Yet as America250 Kicks Into High Gear
When Randell Spackman steps onto his Thornbury Township farm, he’s standing on hallowed ground. The Battle of Brandywine was fought largely in what is now his backyard, and 249 years later, that history is anything but distant. As America250 celebrations ramp up across the region, Spackman is among the Revolutionary War reenactors preparing for one of their busiest years ever, writes…
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130 Years Later, the Phoenix Wheel Returns to the Borough That Built It
The Phoenix Wheel returned to Phoenixville on Saturday, more than 130 years after it was first forged there, in what the Schuylkill River Heritage Center is calling the culmination of a nearly two-decade restoration effort, writes Emily Neil for WHYY. What once carried riders high above the Jersey Shore now stands still in the Pennsylvania borough where it was…
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How New Hope Became, and Stayed, One of America’s Greatest Art Towns
Walk through New Hope on any weekend and you feel it before you can explain it. Something about the place hums. Galleries tucked into 18th-century storefronts. Live music spilling out of open doors. Theater companies, sculptors, photographers, and painters all sharing the same few walkable blocks along the Delaware. What most visitors do not know…
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Secret Cave That Used to Serve as Hideout for Revolutionary War Outlaws Discovered in Bucks County
A secret cave that used to house Revolutionary War outlaws–British spies and armed thieves also known as the Doan gang – was recently discovered in Bucks County and is currently being excavated, writes John McDevitt for KYW Newsradio. Known as America’s first outlaws, the men were considered to be the “greatest threat to the American…
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Street in Kennett Square Bears the Moniker of a Revolutionary War Traitor
Sandy Flash Drive in Kennett Square carries the moniker of James Fitzpatrick, a Revolutionary War traitor and highwayman who died by hanging, writes Joseph Gambardello for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Fitzpatrick’s life story was anything but simple and sheds light on an aspect of the Revolutionary War that is often overlooked: how divided loyalties tore apart…
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Step Inside History Saturday at the Hood Octagonal Schoolhouse Open House
On Saturday, June 6, 2026, step back in time at one of Delaware County’s unique historic treasures. Dunwoody Village in Newtown Square will host a special open house at the historic Hood Octagonal Schoolhouse, located on the community’s picturesque campus at 3500 West Chester Pike in Newtown Square. The schoolhouse will be open to the…
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How Philadelphia’s John Fitch Launched America’s First Steamboat on the Delaware River in 1787
Long before Robert Fulton became a household name, a lesser-known inventor was already churning up the Delaware River. In 1787, John Fitch launched what is widely recognized as America’s first functioning passenger and freight steamboat right here in Philadelphia, writes Violet Comber-Wilen for Billy Penn at WHYY. His original 45-foot vessel was a radical idea…
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Before It Was Replaced by a Mall, This Amusement Park Delighted Locals for Nearly Eight Decades
The space that is today occupied by Willow Grove Mall was once home to Willow Grove Amusement Park, which delighted residents for nearly eight decades, writes Alonzo Kittrels for The Philadelphia Tribune. The park, which opened in 1895 and closed in 1972, was seen as more upscale than the nearby Woodside Amusement Park, projecting a…
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Researchers Unveil Findings of Mass Grave in Downingtown, Likely Connecting to Duffy’s Cut
A newly discovered mass gravesite in Downingtown is believed to be the final resting place of around 120 Irish railroad workers who died in 1832, writes Bill Rettew for The Daily Local News. The breakthrough discovery of human remains at Northwood Cemetery was announced by brothers Dr. William Watson and Rev. Dr. Frank Watson during…
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Phoenixville Gives Up Secret Stash of Revolutionary War Artifacts
A treasure trove of historical artifacts from the Revolutionary War have left Phoenixville after 17 years in hiding. Items like “Gen. George Washington’s luggage bag, a Revolutionary War soldier’s foot locker, and a pensioner jacket from the 1812 era worn by a Revolutionary War veteran” were recently moved to the new Museum of the American…
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William Hood Dunwoody: The Man Behind Dunwoody Village
The history of Dunwoody Village in Newtown Square is closely connected to the life of William Hood Dunwoody, a Pennsylvania-born flour merchant and investor whose business career helped shape what later became General Mills. The continuing care retirement community has equally deep roots in the land. It resides on a property that dates back more…
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“Make a Left at the Airplane”: The Story Behind Penndel’s Most Iconic Landmark
For decades, one phrase instantly told people they were in Lower Bucks County: “Make a left at the airplane.” Long before GPS, nearly everybody knew exactly what that meant. The Airplane Family Restaurant and Diner in Penndel was one of Bucks County’s most unforgettable landmarks. Sitting at the corner of Route 1 and Durham Road,…
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Pennsylvania’s Other 250-Year-Old Document Deserves Its Own Celebration
As we reach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it is natural to focus on that world-changing document. However, the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, written in that same era, deserves just as much attention. While the U.S. Constitution is more famous, Pennsylvania’s original state constitution was actually older and, in several key ways,…
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Philadelphia’s Centennial Exposition 1876: The World’s Fair That Changed Everything
Philadelphia played a defining role in the history of world fairs by hosting the Centennial Exposition, the first official world’s fair in the United States, writes Heidi Mitchell for The Wall Street Journal. Held in 1876 in Fairmount Park to celebrate the nation’s 100th anniversary, the exposition introduced millions of visitors to emerging technologies and…
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Step Inside History: Hood Octagonal Schoolhouse Open House at Dunwoody Village, June 6
On Saturday, June 6, 2026, step back in time at one of Delaware County’s unique historic treasures. Dunwoody Village in Newtown Square will host a special open house at the historic Hood Octagonal Schoolhouse, located on the community’s picturesque campus at 3500 West Chester Pike in Newtown Square. The schoolhouse will be open to the…
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Philadelphia Historic Register Eyes Chinatown Factory That Revolutionized American Cosmetics
The former Tetlow Manufacturing Company building in Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood could soon earn a place on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, writes Aaron Moselle for WHYY. Located at 10th and Cherry streets, the five-story factory became home to the cosmetics company in the 1880s and is now being considered for historic designation because of…
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Historic Rock Ford Leads Lancaster’s Role as an America250 Epicenter
As the nation gears up to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, one historic site in Lancaster is stepping into the spotlight as a key “epicenter” of the celebration: Historic Rock Ford. Tucked just beyond downtown and surrounded by the natural beauty of Lancaster County Central Park, Historic Rock Ford is more than a…
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