Rocks and Rapids vs. Steam and Steel: The Story of Steamboats on the Susquehanna River

The Rumsey Monument overlooking the Potomac River
Author's Photo

Standing high above the Potomac River in Shepardstown, West Virginia sits a monument to a man and his machine. While the invention would eventually revolutionize transportation, the inventor has largely faded from public recognition. When his machine made its way to the Central Pennsylvania, it would usher in a new era of transportation. 

The Lost Elk of Centre County

A Rocky Mountain Bull Elk
Photo Retrieved From:https://www.fws.gov/

    Elk Creek, Elk Gap, and Elk Street are all locations that can be found amongst the ridges and valleys of southern Centre County. These names are remnants of an era long since passed, when the magnificent bugle of a bull elk could be heard echoing across the ridges. According to some sources, it was here that 140 years ago that the last native elk was killed and a species that had once prospered across the state was gone forever. Following their demise, it was thought that their absence would be permanent. However, an effort in the early 20th Century found elk once again roaming the region. Sadly, their return would only be temporary as they would disappear once again even quicker than the first time.

Now You See It, Now You Don't: The Death of the American Chestnut in Central Pennsylvania

A century old chestnut stump
Author's Photo

    "Now you see it, now you don't!" is a phrase that often accompanies a stage magician's vanishing act. A card or coin is visible one moment and if by magic, disappears the next. At the end of the act, the object reappears much to the amusement and disbelief of the crowd. However, no magician could match the vanishing act that occurred in the early 20th Century. Instead of a coin or card, a much beloved symbol of the forests and landscape, the American chestnut, vanished and no amount of magic could bring it back.

Miller's Spring Trestle Disaster (Centre County)

Looking across what remains of Miller's Spring Trestle

Safety and progress are forever in a race against each other. However, when progress outdistances safety, only disaster awaits at the finish line. On June 11, 1878, that is exactly what awaited a train bound for Bellefonte.       

Killing the Town Too Tough to Die: The Austin Dam Disaster (Potter County)

The ruins of the infamous dam that caused the Austin Flood

    Remember playing with dominos? At some point in our lives, all of us have made a long line of neatly stacked dominoes. If you did everything right, once you toppled the first domino, the entire line would follow suit in a spectacular chain reaction. In the end, there was always quite a mess to clean up. 

    Engineering disasters are, to a degree, a lot like this simple form of amusement. Rarely are they the work of a singular cause, but rather are the product of multiple factors that when linked together at the right time and the right place culminate in destruction. Unbeknownst to the residents of a bustling lumber town in northcentral Pennsylvania, their community laid at the end of a domino chain of disaster that once set in motion, would change it forever. 

Bombs and Broken Promises: The Tragic Story of Alvira (Union/Lycoming Counties)

Welcome to Alvira: Population 0
Author's Photo

`

    Bizarre concrete domes and crumbling foundations stand as monuments to the sacrifices made by an entire town and a broken promise that erased it forever.

Danger On The Rails: The Axemann Curve (Centre County)

The 1908 Wreck

    The completion of the Lewisburg & Tyrone Railroad from Bellefonte to Lewisburg in 1885 was a monumental transportation achievement for the region. Passengers and freight could now move faster than the steep and winding turnpikes had allowed them previously. The age of the iron horse had arrived. However, this new age would not come without dangers.