Artist, lithographer, and chromolithographer James Fuller Queen, known for his attention to detail and composition, was born in Philadelphia in either 1820 or 1821. He began his career in lithography at around 14 years of age. His work over the years was varied. It included advertisements, sheet music, along with city and country views. This sketch, from 1851, is a sketch of a saddlery in Shamokin, Northumberland County. Queen died on January 15, 1886, from multiple sclerosis. (Library of Congress) Queen’s travels in the early 1840s and 50’s included trips to Pennsylvania’s interior. Among his sketches were numerous scenes from Northumberland County. Featured below is Queen's 1851 sketch he titled "Old mill in Mount Carmel. Part of the public domain and found in the Library of Congress.
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Ole Bull Colony In September 1852, a colony of Norwegians, under the leadership of Ole Bull, the famous Norwegian violinist, settled on a tract of land on Kettle Creek in Stewardson Township, Potter County. This tract consisted of 11,144 acres which Mr. Bull had purchased from John P. Cowan of Williamsport for the sum of $10,388. Four towns were laid out, New Bergen, New Norway, Valhalla, and Oleana, and several dwellings were erected. Ole Bull's summer residence was situated on an eminence, about a mile from New Norway. It was a two-story frame cottage 20 x 36 feet and was what is known today as "Ole Bull's Castle." According to reliable reports, the total number of colonists was less than three hundred. Four months after the signing of the deed of purchase, Ole Bull transferred the property back to John F. Cowan on September 22, 1853, for the consideration of the purchase price. The colony immediately disbanded. Some pushed westward and settled in Minnesota and Wisconsin; others returned to Norway and a very few families remained in Potter County. Historical Notes in the Development of Potter County Penn State University Digital Libraries Creator Welfling, Mary E. 1949 Publisher Potter County Commissioners Place of Publication Coudersport, Pa. Photo: Pennsylvania Power Library Postcard Collection [Public Domain]
The Repasz Band is the longest continuously operated American band which has been active since 1831. The band has played at many historic events which include Robert E. Lee's surrender near Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865. The band has also taken part in the presidential inaugurations of Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft and the 1897 dedication of Ulysses S. Grant's tomb. The band was founded in 1831 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and was named after its director Daniel Repasz. Source: Wikipedia Photo of Repasz Band at Washington School in Williamsport (Circa 1896) “Repasz Band On Steps Of Washington School”, James V. Brown Library - Lycoming County Digital Photo Archive, no date. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Apjvbl-archi_1123.
Incorporated in 1846, the Pennsylvania Railroad opened its first sixty-one mile stretch from Harrisburg to Lewistown in 1849, crossing the Susquehanna River on a twenty-three-span wooden truss bridge at Rockville that would later be replaced by an iron bridge and, eventually, by the landmark 1902 stone-arch Rockville Bridge. By 1850, the PRR line reached Altoona, where it established a repair shop for engines and cars that later made the city the largest railroad shop town in America. - ExplorePAhistory.com
"The first steel passenger car in the world, to be used by steam or electricity, built at Berwick, Pennsylvania" -- (postcard inscription). It was manufactured in 1904 by the American Car & Foundry Company, the first in an order of 300 cars for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company of New York City. Date circa 1905 Public Domain Wikimedia Commons
Artist, lithographer, and chromolithographer James Fuller Queen, known for his attention to detail and composition, was born in Philadelphia in either 1820 or 1821. He began his career in lithography at around 14 years of age. His work over the years was varied. It included advertisements, sheet music, along with city and country views. Queen died on January 15, 1886 from multiple sclerosis. (Library of Congress) Queen’s travels in the early 1840s and 50’s included trips to Pennsylvania’s interior. Among his sketches were numerous scenes from Northumberland County. Featured below is Queen's 1851 sketch he titled "Old mill in Mount Carmel. Part of the public domain and found in the Library of Congress.
Advertised as a popular summer resort in the 1878 Pennsylvania Railroad Excursion Guidebook. From the Williamsport Sun-Gazette February 19, 1881, Page 1 Mr. James A Davidson looks after the Crawford House guests diligently and makes everyone feel that it is good to be there. James was specially designed for a “hotelist.”
Arks and rafts were a common mode of transportation on the Susquehanna River and on creeks large enough to handle them in the region. Pictured here are three arks for a log drive on Pine Creek, in Lycoming or Tioga County, Pennsylvania, USA. The left ark was for cooking and dining, the middle ark was the sleeping quarters, and the right ark was for the horses.
Steel engraving by H. Griffiths after William Henry Bartlett, 1839.
