This bridge, completed in 1890, is the oldest surviving structure to have spanned the Susquehanna River and is one of the largest multi-span, truss bridges ever fabricated by the nationally significant Phoenix Bridge Company. It is also the oldest . . . — — Map (db m6372) HM
Oldest surviving bridge over the Susquehanna. Opened by the People's Bridge Co. in 1890. "Old Shakey," one of the last remaining multi-span Phoenix truss bridges, was a toll bridge until 1957. Flood damage, 1972, closed it to automobiles. Three of . . . — — Map (db m7104) HM
Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, which opened September 9, 1999, is the successful culmination of decades worth of community effort to develop a major performing arts and science center in downtown Harrisburg. The resources which were . . . — — Map (db m6654) HM
Here at the base of Blue Mountain and within the City of Harrisburg's northern tier lies the 212-acre Wildwood Lake Sanctuary, the last vestige and magnificent preserve of the Susquehanna flood-plain wetlands which at one time were common prior to . . . — — Map (db m7101) HM
Inspired by 'City Beautiful' advocates Horace McFarland and Mira Lloyd Dock, Wildwood Park opened its first trails in 1907. The largest of several Harrisburg parks designed in 1901 by leading horticulturist Warren Manning, it was part of a . . . — — Map (db m7106) HM
In the stone house opposite lived William Maclay, who as a member of the first U.S. Senate, wrote a famous Journal of its debates. A critic of Washington and Hamilton. Pioneer leader of Jeffersonian Democracy. — — Map (db m6290) HM
Situated across this street is the home of William Maclay (1737-1804); statesman, surveyor, lawyer, the Country's first U.S. Senator and son-in-law of John Harris Jr., the founder of Harrisburg. It was Maclay and Harris who laid out the plan of . . . — — Map (db m6291) HM
The growth in the activities and membership of the Harrisburg Masonic Shriners had by the end of the 1920's, resulted in the demand for a grand new facility. The emergence of Italian Lake Park, William Penn High School and the establishment of . . . — — Map (db m6482) HM
"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" was the familiar political slogan of the 1839 Presidential Campaign. The Campaign began when William Henry Harrison and John Tyler were nominated as the Whig candidates for U.S. President and Vice President in this church, . . . — — Map (db m6662) HM
John Harris Mansion has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 by the United States Department of the Interior — — Map (db m217085) HM
The first State Capitol on this site was designed and built by Stephen Hills, 1819-1821. It was first occupied by the Legislature on January 2, 1822, and was used until destroyed by fire, February 2, 1897. — — Map (db m6768) HM
North at the head of Beaver Creek, Joseph Barnett's loghouse was a frontier refuge in 1756-63 against Indians raiding the frontier. His son William was stolen by Indians in 1756 and not recovered until 1763 by Col. Henry Bouquet. — — Map (db m31296) HM
Nearby stood Patton's Fort, a station of the Paxton Rangers, who defended the gaps and farmsteads along the Blue Mountains from the Susquehanna River to Swatara Creek, near Indiantown, against Indian raids from 1756 to 1763. — — Map (db m31295) HM
Named for Dr. Lewis Heck - Born 1810 - Died 1890 - Reared in Shippensburg, Dr. Heck settled here in 1832. He practiced medicine and served as a Representative in the Pennsylvania General Assembly during the Civil War. He also operated a large steam . . . — — Map (db m12507) HM
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
Built in 1898
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior — — Map (db m217062) HM
Bike, walk or run the Capital Area Greenbelt, a 20-mile scenic trail connecting five communities. The Greenbelt is old, envisioned by landscape architect Warren Manning in 1901 during the City Beautiful movement. The innovative plan called for . . . — — Map (db m137462) HM
Stockaded blockhouse, built 1755-56, on the site of present Fort Hunter Museum. Used to protect the frontier and as a supply base in building Fort Augusta. Abandoned and fell to ruins after 1763. — — Map (db m1511) HM
Prior to European settlement this land was inhabited by the Susquehannock and Delaware Indian tribes. *Around 1750 Samuel Hunter married the widow Catherine Chambers and settled here to run her gristmill. *The Fort at Hunter’s Mill or Fort Hunter . . . — — Map (db m85934) HM
The first State mental hospital in Pennsylvania. Opened in 1851, a result of efforts by the noted humanitarian, Dorothea Lynde Dix, to improve this State's treatment of the mentally ill. The hospital is on the wooded hills east of this marker, . . . — — Map (db m6474) HM
The Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December of 1862, was one of the bloodier engagements of the American Civil War. On December 13th, Federal troops made repeated assaults against Confederate positions behind the stone walls along the . . . — — Map (db m7272) HM
Governor Andrew G. Curtin signed an act on March 30, 1866, establishing a commission to improve water quality and restore migratory fish passage. It serves as a leader for national initiatives, including state fish hatcheries and environmental and . . . — — Map (db m121980) HM
Slavery was entwined with Pennsylvania’s earliest colonial history. Governor William Penn, founder of the colony in 1681, owned eleven enslaved people. A century later, Pennsylvania passed the 1780 Gradual Emancipation law. This allowed for the . . . — — Map (db m85972) HM
Conservation leader and Pennsylvania Fish Commission executive director, 1972-87. Abele’s “Resource First” philosophy strengthened the agency’s mission to protect, conserve, and enhance water quality, improve fish passage, and increase youth . . . — — Map (db m121981) HM
The longest stone masonry arch railroad bridge in the world, visible to the south, was built between 1900 and 1902. Named for the surrounding small settlement, it has forty-eight arches and a length of 3,820 feet. It is the third bridge constructed . . . — — Map (db m85730) HM
Frontiersman known as the “Great Renegade” was born nearby. Captured by Indians, 1756, he lived among the Senecas and learned their language and culture. Following his release, he became an interpreter for the American army; deserted in 1778. . . . — — Map (db m1587) HM
From 1786 to the early 1830s, over twenty enslaved people lived and worked at Fort Hunter. Their parents and ancestors had been stolen from Africa. The McAllister family, who created all of Fort Hunter’s earliest surviving buildings, was one of the . . . — — Map (db m85939) HM
At the birth of the United States in the 1770s, slavery was firmly embedded in its fabric. Blacks stolen from Africa were shipped to America as part of a lucrative trade system. Most enslaved people lived in the South, but about 10% lived in the . . . — — Map (db m85973) HM
A short way from here is early 18th century Paxton Church. The first pastor was installed in 1732. In the churchyard are buried John Harris, founder of Harrisburg, Senator William Maclay, and many other eminent leaders. — — Map (db m6821) HM
Abolitionist, minister, orator, editor, educator. Born in New York City; traveled in the U.S., Canada, and Britain on behalf of antislavery and free Blacks. General Secretary, A.M.E. Zion Church. Lived after 1870 in Harrisburg, where he edited the . . . — — Map (db m7161) HM
At Union Deposit, five miles south, can be seen remains of this canal. It connected the Susquehanna at Middletown with the Schuylkill at Reading. Suggested by William Penn, the canal was surveyed in 1762. Completed in 1828; abandoned in 1885. — — Map (db m31298) HM
Before Milton Hershey achieved success with his first confectionery company, the Lancaster Caramel Company, he started out by selling his caramels door to door using a wooden pushcart similar to the one on display. The paintings on the cart . . . — — Map (db m180402) HM
Hershey's Chocolate Workers Local 1 (CIO) responded to a labor-management impasse on April 2, 1937 by initiating the first sit-down strike in Pennsylvania and in the confectionery industry. The strike was ended by strike-breaking violence and . . . — — Map (db m7135) HM
Founded in 1729; the first pastor, William Bertram, installed in 1732 by Donegal Presbytery. Its grove was patented to it by the sons of William Penn in 1741. The churchyard is the oldest pioneer graveyard in this region. — — Map (db m122385) HM
Born in Derry Township, Milton S. Hershey (1857 - 1945) attended this one-room schoolhouse during the winter of 1863-1864. Built in 1844, this was the first of seven schools he attended before apprenticing to a Lancaster, PA. candy maker at age 14. . . . — — Map (db m7139) HM
Oldest pioneer graveyard in Dauphin County. Here, near Pastors William Bertram and John Roan, lie heroes of the French and Indian Wars and the Revolution; and Colonel John Rodgers, a signer of the Hanover Resolves in 1774. — — Map (db m7157) HM
In 1936, Milton Hershey asked his horticulturalist, Harry Erdman, to design "a nice garden of roses." The Hershey Rose Garden opened in 1937. By 1942, Erdman expanded the 3½-acre rose garden into a 23-acre botanical garden. — — Map (db m180416) HM
Model industrial town and noted tourism destination established in 1903 and named for its founder, Milton S. Hershey (1857 - 1945). Hershey's companies developed housing, recreation, education, and cultural facilities, financial institutions, public . . . — — Map (db m7134) HM
Though the Milton Hershey School campus is graced by a number of magnificent trees, one of the oldest and most meaningful to generations of HIS/MHS students might be this Chinese chestnut. Known informally as the “climbing tree) for . . . — — Map (db m84238) HM
Catherine Hershey loved cannas and the gardens at High Point included many examples. On the occasion of Fanny Hershey’s 80th birthday in 1915, Milton prepared a surprise birthday party for his mother at High Point. The event was big news in the . . . — — Map (db m84227) HM
This is a special Cryptomeria japonica 'Dense Jade' tree. It began life as an aberration of nature in a New Jersey nursery. In the early 1960s, a tree variety known as Cryptomeria japonica 'Lobbii' grew a "witches' broom," which is a . . . — — Map (db m216954) HM
Records indicate that Isaac Hershey, great-grandfather of Milton Hershey, purchased the Kinderhaus property circa 1800. The building is the oldest structure on the Milton Hershey School campus and one of the oldest homes in Derry Township.
In 1826, . . . — — Map (db m84236) HM
Entrepreneur and philanthropist born here September 13, 1857. Founded Lancaster Caramel Company in 1886 and Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894; introduced milk chocolate in 1900. Developed Hershey as a model town and home of the world's largest . . . — — Map (db m7137) HM
Milton S. Hershey founded the world famous Hershey's Chocolate Company in 1903 and built a town around it for his employees, complete with homes, schools, and cultural and recreational opportunities.
In 1907, Milton S.Hershey founded HERSHEYPARK . . . — — Map (db m95209) HM
Planted 1908 at High Point home of Mr. & Mrs. M.S. Hershey. Now Hershey Country Club. Transplanted 1942 to current location in original form and plants. — — Map (db m216243) HM
First uniformed state police force of its kind in the nation, created by an Act of the General Assembly May 2, 1905, signed by Governor Samuel Pennypacker. The force was formed in response to concern over labor and capital unrest, especially the . . . — — Map (db m216237) HM
The Boy with the Leaking Boot statue was purchased by Milton Hershey in 1913 for his High Point home. It was then relocated to Hershey Park and later, the Hershey Zoo Reptile House. It was moved to its current location, the Hershey Rose Garden, in . . . — — Map (db m180395) HM
Dedicated to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and its long-serving Executive Director Susan Kelly-Dreiss, at whose kitchen table, overlooking Hershey Gardens, a small group of women came togsther in 1976 to create the nation's . . . — — Map (db m180400) HM
Milton S. Hershey was born here on September 13, 1857. The house was built by his great-grandfather, Isaac Hershey, in 1826. Milton S. Hershey purchased The Homestead in 1897 and lived there with his wife Catherine from 1905 to 1908. The building . . . — — Map (db m7138) HM
In 1940, the American Rose Society honored Milton Hershey by naming a rose after him. Over the years, the number of these rose bushes has steadily declined to only a few remaining at the Gardens.
This year, to commemorate Hershey Gardens’ 75th . . . — — Map (db m106344) HM
At Union Deposit, just to the north, can be seen the remains of the canal. It united the Susquehanna at Middletown with the Schuylkill at Reading. Suggested by William Penn, the canal was surveyed 1762, in use by 1828, abandoned in 1885. — — Map (db m7158) HM
Native grass meadows are used as a constituent of the landscape on the campus of Milton Hershey School. Benefits of meadow installation:
• Meadows provide excellent habitat elements for a variety of wildlife species. In particular, ground nesting . . . — — Map (db m84240) HM
In a basketball game played here on March 2, 1962, Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks - a record for points scored by a single player in any National Basketball Association game. The Warriors . . . — — Map (db m216241) HM
Tinian, home of Col. Burd, is still standing on the opposite hill. Burd was road-builder of Braddock's expedition. French and Indian War commandant at Fort Augusta. Patriot and a soldier in the Revolution. — — Map (db m11428) HM
"Wir sind Bruder"
"We are Brethren!"
Philip William Otterbein, 1767
Commemorating the Two Hundredth Anniversary
of the beginnings of the congregation known as
Highspire United Methodist Church
which had its origins in the preaching . . . — — Map (db m191037) HM
Hotels and taverns have a long-standing presence in Hummelstown. For Hummelstown—a town along stagecoach routes, the Union Canal, railroads, and later, roads—the provision of facilities for travelers was an active business. The following . . . — — Map (db m137405) HM
Hummelstown was laid out in 1762 on the same tract originally patented by Robert Chambers in 1744 and deeded to Frederick and Rosina Hummel. At the same time, it was called Frederickstown. Hummel's original draft of Frederickstown shows the center . . . — — Map (db m137396) HM
These photos depict businesses and properties which will be familiar to many, despite changes in location and appearance. By 1950 the Borough's population had grown to 3,789 and is currently 3,981. Development in surrounding communities, . . . — — Map (db m137398) HM
High quality brownstone was quarried near here 1863-1929, and sold across the nation as a preferred masonry material of builders. The Hummelstown Brownstone Company, founded by Allen Walton, employed immigrant skilled stonecutters and laborers in . . . — — Map (db m7132) HM
Having served Hummelstown for over 150 years as a primary hostelry, the Keystone House lives on; albeit serving the town's citizenry in a different capacity.
This historic landmark, built in 1839 by George Fox as a two and hone half story, . . . — — Map (db m137389) HM
From the founding days, Hummelstown's Square has been the center of business and social activities as well as a visual focus and a transportation crossroads. These photos depict various time periods and features of the "Square" as well as some . . . — — Map (db m137392) HM
During the British occupation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s provisional government moved west and its official gun factory was established at Hummelstown. Secretly operating near here from 1777 to 1779, it mass-produced muskets and rifles for the . . . — — Map (db m85728) HM
The 1997 Square Project is the culmination of nearly 20 years of discussions, studies, and efforts to improve traffic safety and pedestrian amenities at the center of town.
As early as 1950, there were discussions at Borough Council meetings . . . — — Map (db m137406) HM
The "Arch" was constructed by John Bieber in 1930, initially as an advertisement for Indian Echo Cave, a natural cavern located approximately ½ mile south of the Borough. In the photos, the arch is shown with its various modifications over the . . . — — Map (db m137407) HM
This map, from a Dauphin County Atlas, depicts the development of Hummelstown as of 1875. Hummelstown was incorporated as a Borough in 1874. By this time, the population had grown to 2,900. The erection of bridges across the Swatora Creek, the . . . — — Map (db m137397) HM
The "Fountain" came into existence in the center of Hummelstown's Square in 1910 as a memorial to honor Henry Hershey and Nancy Landis Hershey. It was erected by their son, Henry Landis Hershey. It should be noted that by this time, piped water . . . — — Map (db m137404) HM
Though located outside the Borough limits, the Hummelstown Brownstone Company contributed more than any other single industry to the growth of Hummelstown. The brownstone was quarried in a ridge in South Mountain, 2 ½ miles south of . . . — — Map (db m137408) HM
Hummel Property
13-15 East Main Street
Originally this was the home of Joseph Hummel and Elizabeth Leebrich, both from Hummelstown, Joseph being the grandson of founder Frederick Hummel. They moved into the house in 1817, . . . — — Map (db m137395) HM
Nisley Property
13 West Main Street
In this late 1800s photo, the Schaffer family is shown on the porch, gathered for the wedding of their daughter, Ethel. The 1830 date stone on the building and the Flemish bond brickwork . . . — — Map (db m137409) HM
Clunie-Swartz Property
2-6 West Main Street
This property is one of the oldest documented structures in Hummelstown. The western portion is a two-bay, two-and-one-half-story limestone building, and the eastern portion is a . . . — — Map (db m137410) HM
1753 — Earliest record of congregational meeting.
1756 — Land donated for church by Frederick & Rosina Hummel.
May 16, 1766 — Log church building dedicated destroyed by fire Dec 1817.
May & Sept. 1769 — Visits by Henry . . . — — Map (db m137411) HM
The Conestoga wagon
was a sturdy wagon used by American pioneers. The wagon was named for the Conestoga Valley in Pennsylvania where it was first built during the early 1700's. Conestoga wagons carried most of the freight and people that moved . . . — — Map (db m137413) HM
This is the last covered bridge in Dauphin County standing in its original location. Constructed about 1880, it was reconstructed in 2003 after a fire. The bridge has a Burr arch truss as its structural support system. Like all covered bridges, it . . . — — Map (db m218064) HM
Cornerstone laid July 13, 1767, and dedicated in 1769 by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, patriarch of American Lutheranism. Church erected on ground provided by George Fisher, the founder of Middletown, for annual rental of "one grain of wheat." — — Map (db m7167) HM
B'Nai Jacob Synagogue has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 by the United States Department of the Interior — — Map (db m137418) HM
Col. James Burd of "Tinian", able and gallant officer in the colonial wars, author of the Middletown Resolves for Independence, June 1774, and wife, Sarah Shippen, lie buried near the entrance of Middletown Cemetery. — — Map (db m7163) HM
The oldest town in Dauphin County; laid out in 1755 by George Fisher, Quaker. It was an important port at the junction of the Pennsylvania and Union Canals in the 19th century. Site of early flour, lumber, and iron industries. — — Map (db m7165) HM
Erected by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Swatara-Pine Ford Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution This tablet is in commemoration of the services of Revolutionary War soldiers buried at Middletown or immediate vicinity. This . . . — — Map (db m222043) HM
This one and a half story log building originally constructed in two sections in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century was the ferry house when a ferry boat plied the Swatara Creek at this point. It was placed on the National Register of . . . — — Map (db m223925) HM
This boulder stands on "Pine Ford", the ancestral home of George Fisher, founder of Middletown in 1755, the land having been granted to his father by the Penns in 1747.
About 300 feet east spanned by a modern structure known as Fisher's Bridge, . . . — — Map (db m223929) HM
This canal was operated from 1828-1884. It connected the Susquehanna at Middletown with the Schuylkill at Reading, following the Swatara and Tulpehocken Creeks. Much coal and iron ore were transported. Course of canal was just west of old mill race. — — Map (db m7166) HM
On March 28, 1979, and for several days thereafter — as a result of technical malfunctions and human error — Three Mile Island's Unit 2 Nuclear Generating Station was the scene of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear accident. Radiation . . . — — Map (db m900) HM
Covering three square miles, the former Camp Meade was situated a half mile to the northwest. Named for famed Civil War General, it was opened during the Spanish-American War and visited by President William McKinley on August 27, 1898. — — Map (db m216484) HM
The G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Post 212 and the Millersburg Sentinel together raised the money to have a Civil War monument erected. The soldier and the base were quarried and cut in Italy. The soldier stands 6 feet and weighs 900 pounds. . . . — — Map (db m12497) HM