Crawford County Messenger and CCHS News

Meadville’s Diamond Park as it may have looked in the early 1800s In the central part of a letter headed Meadville, Dec 18th, 1842, my great, great grandmother Agnes Kennedy (née Craig), described her life...

John Brown was one of the most radical abolitionists, an impressive man bound under the convictions of the church, who truly lived and died for his beliefs. As Hon. G.B. Delamater states in the Centennial...

Timothy Alden Jr., the founder of Allegheny College, was by all accounts a charismatic and motivated man who pursued opportunities to expand education throughout his life. He was descended from John Alden, who landed on...

The morning after – charred remains of the fire’s path. The Hotel Conneaut stands untouched in the background. As the morning darkness of December 2, 1908, dissolved into daylight, a scene of utter destruction revealed...

One of John Leech’s Original Illustrations for A Christmas Carol  With the Baldwin-Reynolds House Museum hosting their annual “Fezziwig’s Christmas Dinner” in just a few short days, some readers might be curious “what’s in a...

Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton Duel Crawford County does not have much of a history of domestic strife. The county was largely unsettled during the time of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 never...

A Passion for a New Art Much of the world’s first oil boom was captured in the photography of one John A. Mather, an English immigrant whose love for his art allowed such a vivid...

The colors of the 150th, on display at the state capitol The year is 1862. The War of the Southern Rebellion has flooded field after field with blood and the dead. Though volunteers had already...

Gate House at the Pymatuning Reservior – 1930’s While in recent times the imposition of man’s power over nature has come under much needed scrutiny, there are situations where the total destruction of one area...

A turnpike being raised Today, a trip from Meadville to Pittsburgh takes about an hour and half. The worst travelers have to deal with today are the occasional storm, constant road repairs, and the terror...

The Unitarian College, 1908 From the mid 1800’s up through the early 1900’s Meadville had not just one college in the city, but two–Allegheny College and the Meadville Theological School. This was unique as most...

Clarence F. Underwood – 1905 Clarence Frederick Underwood [1871-1929] was one of the leading illustrators and commercial artists of his generation, providing work to a range of books as well as highly circulated publications such...