Model Train Layouts In Delaware Valley Highlighted - 10/28/10 12:24 PM
Model train layouts in private homes are highlighted in a month-long event running from October 30 to November 30. What is possibly the largest event of its kind covers Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Complete information is on the Model Train website http://www.modelrailroadopenhouse.com/
The picture here is one I took at a celebration in Ellicott City, Maryland.  The B&O Railroad Museum: Ellicott City Station is the oldest surviving railroad station in America, and was the original terminus of the first 13 miles of commercial railroad in the country.  See my previous post on the Frank Furness designed Baltimore and Ohio … (2 comments)

Historic Train Station in Wilmington, Delaware Hosts Train Buffs - 10/26/10 12:21 PM
    
Last week, I walked up the Christina River Riverwalk towards the Amtrak station and downtown Wilmington. It was a big day for our Friends of the Furness Railroad District. We were hosting the Baltimore and Ohio RR Historical Society, which brought 2 busloads of conventioneers from Baltimore to visit the Wilmington & Western RR steam train, and the waterfront turn of the 20th century B&O Water St. station, which has been restored by ING (which explains the big orange ball)
    
The restoration of this building (which is part of the Furness RR District which also includes  the Pennsylvania … (2 comments)

A Frank Furness Fantasy in Haverford, Pennsylvania - 10/19/10 07:50 PM
                                         
Frank Furness and his partner, Allan Evans, began the design of Clement Griscom's Dolobran in 1881, and continued with ever more grand modifications until 1895. Griscom was president of the American Steamship Company and the Red Star Line of ships, and a director of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
We had a chance to see the first floor of this house on a tour sponsored by the Lower Merion Conservancy this week. Although the house looks large, the inside is even larger, because it slopes on a hillside in back. Located originally on 150 acres, grounds contained formal and informal gardens, farm buildings … (2 comments)

Life in Cloistered Ephrata Pennsylvania Examined - 10/12/10 07:23 PM
           
During a recent visit to the Ephrata Cloister in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I learned that German immigrant Conrad Beissel emigrated to this area in 1732, joining other German, Swiss, Dutch, and French Protestants escaping religious persecution in their homelands.  Our tour guide, Michael, explained that the two main issues for Beissel were that Saturday was the main day for worship, and celibacy was necessary in pursuit of heavenly goals. By 1750, the community numbered nearly 80, plus families who, while not celibate, sympathized and lived on nearby farms which supplied earthly needs which the Brothers and Sisters needed … (2 comments)

Visiting the Past in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania - 10/10/10 09:46 PM
        
A recent trip to Columbia, Pennsylvania introduced me to a town with many well-preserved buildings.  Above is Wright's Ferry (the original name of the town) Mansion, built in 1738. What you can't see in the picture is the exquisite interior, which is approriately furnished with many 18th century pieces which belonged to the Wright family (no photos allowed). Susanna Wright's father established a ferry across the Susquehanna River, which was once visible from the house. After her father's death, this enterprising woman raised silkworms (on her windowsill no less) and had a thriving business producing fine silk.            
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The National Watch & Clock Museum: A Timely Place to Visit - 10/05/10 08:01 PM
    
A visit last week to Columbia, Pennsylvania, brought a group from the New Castle Historical Society to the National Watch & Clock Museum, a very interesting building, before we even got to the timepieces. It has a clasically inspired building with a frieze of triglyphs on the outside and a dome (real) with sky (painted) peeking out of the top.
          
One of my favorite exhibits was of instruments that Mason and Dixon could have used when they marked off the lines separating Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania in the 1760's. They didn't say it, but I'll bet … (0 comments)

 
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Carolyn Roland-Your Delaware and Chester County Historic Homes Specialist

Wilmington, DE

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Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate

Address: Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate, 7234 Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, DE, 19707

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