Crawford County Messenger and CCHS News

The Baldwin-Reynolds visible from the pond in the spring months Eleanor Davies is one of Meadville’s oldest residents and was a personal friend of John and Katherine Reynolds. She was the speaker at the museum’s...

From a 1907 postcard, Conneaut Lake’s main thoroughfare (Water Street) facing west. With summer now if full swing, many area residents and vacationers have already made their way to Conneaut Lake to enjoy the many...

Oakwood Park, Meadville PA In the late 1890’s, after acquiring a parcel of approximately 35 acres, the Meadville Traction Company established Oakwood Park as a destination resort. Located in what is now West Mead Township,...

As colorful balloons fill the skies over Crawford County for the annual Thurston Classic, it’s always a worthwhile venture to dig into the histories of father and son, Samuel and Alic (sometimes Alex) Thurston, the...

When fire damaged the three-story apartment house at 390 Liberty Street in January of 2014, many were surprised to learn it was nearly 200 years old and had survived a similar fire 70 years ago....

Ray Harroun 1879-1968 The winner of the first Indianapolis 500, Ray Harroun was born on January 12, 1879 in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania in northern Crawford County. Harroun was the youngest of Russell and Lucy Harroun’s four...

The architectural beauty of the Mead Avenue Bridge in modern times The Mead Avenue Bridge, as many can recall, has through the years, been a stalwart fixture within the Meadville Community. The bridge not only...

James Densmore As you string out words into strings of sentences across the screen of your computer, tablet, or mobile phone, know that the keyboard layout we have all become so familiar was conceived in...

Hotel Conneaut with new south and north wings added – 1920’s What do the coming of the railroad, the discovery of oil, a major lakeside resort, the healthful promise of mineral springs and travel have...

The Sanborn Map Company Those interested in the past often obsess over the “when” of things. The first person settled in 1822. The first brick home was built in 1845. The first train arrived in...

Editor’s Notes: James Monroe (“Roe”) Reisinger’s family came to the French Creek area from Lancaster via Beaver County. Descended from Hessian immigrants who arrived about 1750, the family settled in the 1840s along French and...

1865 map showing the site off Miller’s home Of the names associated with the history of Conneaut Lake, none carries the intrigue of Phil Miller. Philip W. Miller was a boat builder and expert outdoorsman...