A Guide Book of Art, Architecture, and Historic Interests in Pennsylvania

This Guide Book of Art, Architecture, and Historic Interests in Pennsylvania, commenced by advice of Mrs. Edward Biddle of Carlisle, and fostered by Mrs. Samuel Semple of Titusville, during their presidency of the “State Federation of Pennsylvania Women,” for the use of tourists, is arranged chronologically, beginning with the counties first formed; towns in each county follow each other in location as closely as possible. Works of good art in the state have been catalogued, together with a story of most interesting pioneer history, that each one of the sixty-seven counties should have a chapter in the book; those that have no art have the Indian trails and thrilling experiences of our first brave pathfinders.

Serious effort has been made to have all the information verified; in some instances, two or three counties have made the same claims for various historic firsts, which have here been given their proper record, through consultation with the State Historians at Harrisburg. To keep the book small, facts are scarcely more than outlined; further information about them may be obtained from the bibliography of this book.

The chapter of each county was written by a most responsible person, who lived there, judges, clergymen, historians, and a few by officers of the women’s clubs, thus giving inside knowledge that a stranger could never get. All dry-as-dust statistics are omitted, and only that which is of prominent interest is given. Authorities consulted have differed, and mistakes will occur; there will be sins of omission and commission in the work, according to the point of view of the reader; but they are few in comparison with the wealth of real information brought together within this cover.