Keystone Unknown Podcast

If you’ve ever seen that program on life after humans, you will know that it doesn’t take long for nature to take over buildings and cover up that humans were even there.  This week we are visiting two ghost town of Pennsylvania. The first one is not far from Jim Thorpe in Carbon County and it’s history is a slight mystery.  And the second is located in Indiana County and has a much clearer picture of life there.  But can we prune away the weeds and uncover more history? Lausanne Ruins   Wehrum Cemetery   Sources: Atlas Obsura  https://historyarchive.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/western-pennsylvania-ghost-towns/ Warholic, George R. (2001). "Ghost Town Trail".  Tassin, Susan Hutchison. Pennsylvania Ghost Towns: Uncovering the Hidden Past

To me, summertime is for cookouts, the beach and going to amusement parks.  My personal favorite has to be Knoebels in Elysburg because I’ve never been a fan of really big amusement parks.  There are approximately 400 amusement parks throughout the United States and according to Trip Savvy there are 14 amusement parks in Pennsylvania.  At one time there were over 50 parks in this state! Today we are going to examine 2 parks that are no longer around today.   Check out the Williams Grove Park roller coaster. The White Swan Park Sources: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/pennsylvania/williams-grove-park-abandoned-pa/ "Memories of White Swan Park". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2008-05-08. www.pennlive.com

When you think of buried treasure what comes to mind is usually pirates and tropical beaches.  I doubt that you would even think of the wilds of Pennsylvania. But hidden somewhere in McKean County is a silver treasure worth millions of dollars. Like any good pirate story there is a sunken ship, a large treasure, a paranoid captain, and treachery.  Let me tell you this pirate story and then you can decide if you want to grab a metal detector and some shovels. But is this story truth or Pennsylvania folklore? Let’s start digging and I’ll let you decide.    Sources: http://www.treasureillustrated.com/our-article/ghost-towns-2/ghost-towns/  Popularizing Pennsylvania: Henry W. Shoemaker and the Progressive Uses of Folklore and History By: Simon J. Bronner Finders Keepers Treasure Hunters 

We’re back again this week with another famous Pennsylvanian.  I guarantee you know this one but you might not know her entire story.  Last week was flag day so it only seems fitting that we talk about a Pennsylvanian woman associated with the U.S. flag: Betsy Ross.  Most of us can recognize the flag of the colonies: 13 stripes of alternating red and white and 13 white stars on a field of blue. But how much do you really know about Betsy Ross?   Sources: David Hackett Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (February 1, 2006), pp. 199-200. ushistory.com  http://historicphiladelphia.org/betsy-ross-house/woman/ history.com 

This week we are switching it up and focusing on 2 Pennsylvanians that you might not have heard of. The first is a chemist from Western Pennsylvania and the second was a Eastern Pennsylvania business owner from the 1800s.  Don't forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.  Feedback is always welcome!    Sources: If you want to learn more about Carborundum click here.  For more information about the Steel Museum and Heritage site click here. 

For centuries people have honored fallen soldiers. We can all answer the question as to why Memorial Day was started but how many ask the question where was the first Memorial Day celebration held.  One town in Pennsylvania stakes a claim on being the town that held the first Memorial Day event.    Sources  http://www.boalsburgheritagemuseum.org history.com  Weeping Sad and Lonely on youtube.  A Civil War era song. 

This week we head up to Lake Erie and take a look at some of the shipwrecks that are littering the bottom of the lake. Brush up on your elementary school geography and learn about the Great Lakes too!    Sources: eriewrecks.com Maritime History of the Great Lakes 

This week it's another episode on Anti-Irish sentiment in the early 1800s.  This one is mystery and listen to the evidence and then decide for yourself if the deaths of 57 railroad workers was from disease or something far more sinister.   Click here to check out the excavation project!    Sources:  “Drama in the Courtroom, Theater in the Streets: Philadelphia’s Irish Riot of 1831” by Francis W. Hobber “Promising discovery in 1830s deaths of Irish rail workers on the Main Line” by Genevieve Glatsky  smithsonianmag.com “Blood on the Tracks” by Bette Browne http://duffyscut.immaculata.edu/index.htm

This week it's Part 2 of roads built during the French and Indian War.  Let's take a look at Forbes' Road from Carlisle to Pittsburgh.     I can't insert pictures right now so please click here to see a portrait of General John Forbes and click here to see the route Forbes Road took as opposed to Braddock's Road.     Sources:  Outposts of the War for Empire: The French and English in Western Pennsylvania: Their Armies, Their Forts, Their People, 1749-1764. Charles M. Stotz  explorepahistory.com         

This first part in a two part episode examining the routes taken to get to Fort Duquesne in the French and Indian War.     Sources: http://explorepahistory.com Oxford Dictionary of National Biography  https://www.braddocksbattlefield.com Braddock at the Monongahela by Paul E. Kopperman   General Edward Braddock  

Today we are going to visit the first quarantine hospital in the United States. Located in outside of Philadelphia, where the Delaware and the Schuylkill rivers meet is the Lazaretto Quarantine Station.  This place wasn't just a place to quarantine diseases but also an immigration station. Maybe your ancestor came through the Lazaretto!    Sources:  USHistory.org hiddencityphila.org explorepahistory.com http://thelazaretto.org

Take a walk into the Wissahickon Valley Park woods near Philadelphia suburb called Germantown.  There you might come across a cave built into a side of a hill. This cave was home to the first doomsday cult on American soil. Let's explore the unknown.   Sources: Explore PA History  Atlas Obscura Philadelphia Oddities

Today we will visit 2 locations: Lake Wallenpaupack and Codorus State Park.  Both of these locations are tourists spots for boating, fishing, and swimming.  But what is underneath these lakes?  Let's dive in and find out.    Visit the link below to see what the bottom of Lake Wallenpaupack looks like.  http://www.neagle.com/photogallery/PW/20120719/PHOTOGALLERY/307199962/PH/1?start=2

Travel with me to Jim Thorpe in Carbon County while we examine the Molly Maguires.  You might know them from songs or movies but learn the real story and the strange occurrence in the jail.     For more information visit http://www.theoldjailmuseum.com. And why not plan a trip.  

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