Tag: preservation
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A Return to Jollytown
A couple of weeks ago, Mark Tennant and I went out to Jollytown to see how the Jesse Taylor monument was holding up. As some of you may remember, WVRA members and the Sons of Union Veterans teamed up to clean up site and paint the cannon and mortars at the monument. We were quite…
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Sgt. York
The following is a report by our correspondent, Matt Gillespie: With the electricity off in West Virginia and no freezer, gasoline or water, just to mention a few items, I decided to take the family to a place with all the afore mentioned amenities; Pall Mall, Tennessee, the home of World War I Medal of…
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Decision for Justice William Smith House Coming Soon
Here’s the latest from Karen Ramsburg on the Smith house, soon to go to Ireland….? “Decision in Fate of Justice William Smith House Approaching MERCERSBURG, PA- One thing is for sure now, the Justice William Smith House has two options: it will be shipped to Ireland or bulldozed to the ground. Mercersberg, Montgomery, Peters and…
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Jollytown Civil War Memorial – A Job Well Done
On September 4, 2010, the Reenactorpost and the Sons of Union Veterans drove to Jollytown, PA and cleaned up the Jesse Taylor Civil War memorial and repainted the guns. The SUV commander, Matt Gillespie, had gotten Lowe’s in Buckhannon to knock 50% off the cost of two gallons of Rustoleum. One can was olive drab…
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A Working Visit to the Tank Farm
This one is a little late, but it has been a busy summer and fall (so far). On July 12-13, Bill Donegan and I drove to the Virginia Military Vehicles Museum to work as volunteers. The ‘Tank Farm,’ as it is also known, is located near Manassas, Virginia and contains an amazing collection of 20th…
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Smith House – Fire Department accepting Demolition Bids
The latest and grimmest news out of Mercersburg concerning the Justice William Smith House, as reported by Roscoe Barnes on http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_16273782?source=email “If retired historian Richard MacMaster comes in with the lowest bid, then the house, one of the oldest in Mercersburg, could go to the Ulster-American Folk Park in Ireland — a place designated for…
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USS Olympia – Are We Going to Lose This National Treasure?
On Sunday, September 19, I toured the cruiser USS Olympia with my friend, Don Taylor. We were in Philadelphia for the Russian Mosaica Festival and took the opportunity to check out this historic vessel. I had, of course, seen many pictures of ships of the “Great White Fleet”, but had never experienced actually boarding one.…
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Save the Justice William Smith House (continued…)
Here is a short update from Karen Ramsburg concerning the ongoing effort to save the Smith House in Mercersburg, PA.: To all: We are pleased to have received a letter of support from Professor of History, Kevin Kenny of Boston College, author of the recently published book on the Paxton Boys titled Peaceable Kingdom Lost.…
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Mercersburg’s Most Historic House Attracts Penn State Professors
This is the latest update on the situation on the historic Smith House in Mercersburg, PA, from Karen Ramsburg: The Justice William Smith House, circa 1759 is gaining recognition after two distinguished Penn State Professors of History and Art/Architecture have taken an interest in the property. Dr. William Pencak respected author and historian and Dr.…
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Mercersburg – A Further Discussion
As part of coverage of the ongoing fight to save the Justice William Smith House, we present more discussion by Tim McCown in the Philadelphia Progressive Examiner : “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is when both sides of an argument allow emotion to trump common sense. In the case of the Justice William…
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Does Anyone Care About American History Anymore?
The following is a link sent to us by Karen Ramsburg concerning the Smith House in Mercersburg, PA. We ran an article about it earlier this year. It would appear that things have taken a turn for the worse. Once again, we seem to have short-sighted local officials who don’t seem to give a hoot…
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Old Bedford Village – A Call to Action
The following letter forwarded to the 193rd Rifle Division requesting help and support for the Village: Dear Bob, I’ve just received our date to go before the Bedford County PA review board over these property taxes: Oct 29th at 9am. This is a ‘Call to Quills’ as part of a timed and measured response prior…
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Historic Preservation Effort – Mercersburg, PA
This just in today. It sounds like a crisis, so I decided to put it here ahead of some other pieces: Karen Ramsburg October 6th, 2009 at 2:52 pm We are desperately looking for Civil War re-enactors to do a Living History on Oct. 10 @ 10am at the Steiger House, 120N. Main St. Mercersburg…
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WVU Today: WVU Civil War historian lends expertise to battlefield preservation efforts
This was posted on the
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Organizations Fight to Save State’s Civil War Battlefields [The State Journal]
Some of West Virginia’s Civil War battlefields are scenes of new fighting. For the past four years, a group of Jefferson County residents has been fighting to save an historic battlefield there, said Edward Dunleavy, president of the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association Inc. “It’s been difficult for the past four years,” he said. “(A developer)…