Historic
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Couple Flips, Maintains Authenticity of Squire Cheyney’s Estate in Thornbury
In 2013, John Murphy, a history buff with a keen interest in the Revolutionary War, and his wife Vicki purchased Squire Thomas Cheyney’s estate – a house and 11.9 acres – in Thornbury for $80,000. Now, after three years of restoration aimed at preserving its authenticity, it’s on the market for $2.199 million, writes Alan…
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French General Who Fought in Battle of Brandywine Played Key Role in American Independence
A French figure is being lauded as a foreign fighter that contributed to the success of the Revolutionary War. Marquis de Lafayette has a family legacy of fighting against the Brits, writes Claire Barrett for the website History Net. At only 19 years old, Lafayette was wounded during the Battle of Brandywine in 1777.…
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Historic William Peters House in Chadds Ford Hits Market for First Time in Six Decades
The historic William Peters House in Chadds Ford which traces its roots back to before the Revolutionary War has hit the market for the first time in 60 years for $3.85 million, writes Ryan Mulligan for the Philadelphia Business Journal. The home was originally built in 1750 in Aston before it was relocated and reconstructed…
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Ardmore Company Lists Letter Proving Benjamin Franklin’s Influence in the American Revolution
The Raab Collection, an Ardmore-based company that buys and sells historical documents, recently listed a letter written by Benjamin Franklin, writes Tori Latham for the Robb Report. The letter, written by the Founding Father in 1777, will be displayed in the firm’s Philadelphia office before being put up for sale on April 11 for $120,000.…
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British Loyalists Played a Role at Battle of Brandywine in Chadds Ford
The Battle of Brandywine, which took place in 1777 in Chadds Ford, was the largest, longest, and loudest land battle in the Revolutionary War, writes Peter Crimmins for WHYY. “The firing was so intense that Congress, all the way in Philadelphia, could actually hear the cannon fire,” said Randell Spackman, president of the Chadds Ford…
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The Revolutionary War’s Tide Turned in Bucks County. Washington’s Crossing Changed Everything
By the last week of December 1776, a full year before the winter encampment in Valley Forge, the fields and riverbanks of Bucks County felt as cold and uncertain as the fate of the Revolution itself. After defeats in New York City and a desperate retreat across New Jersey, George Washington and the Continental Army…
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Exton Man, Gene Delaplane, Digs Up the Past at the Oldest Home Still Standing in Berks County
Exton resident Gene Delaplane, a former history teacher and the president of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology’s local chapter, is among a group of volunteers who are working at the oldest house in Berks County to uncover remnants of everyday life in the 1700s, writes Susan Miers Smith for the Daily Local News. Sewing pins…
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Was The Revolutionary War America’s First Civil War? You Decide
When Ken Burns sat down with Joe Rogan last month and called the American Revolution “our first civil war,” it caught a lot of people off-guard. The phrase stopped Rogan cold, and it’s been bouncing around ever since. Was Burns exaggerating for dramatic effect, or was he pointing out something we’ve missed all along about…
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Ridley Creek State Park Street Named for Revolutionary War Traitor
A street in Ridley Creek State Park is named for a controversial Revolutionary War figure who was later hanged as a traitor, reports Joseph A. Gambardello for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Sandy Flash Drive in Ridley Creek State Park is named for James Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick, from a farm in Marlborough Township, joined a Pennsylvania militia after…
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Valley Forge Explained So a Fifth-Grader Could Understand: Cold, Courage, and a Comeback
Most of us have heard of Valley Forge, but not many people really understand what happened there, or why it mattered so much. It wasn’t a battle, and no famous victory was won in the snow. But the winter encampment at Valley Forge was one of the most important turning points of the American Revolution.…
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Ken Burns’ Delaware Valley Roots: How His Mother’s Battle with Cancer Forged a Passion for Storytelling
Before Ken Burns became the United States’ most admired documentary filmmaker, he was a quiet boy growing up in Newark, Delaware, the son of a University of Delaware professor and a mother whose long struggle with breast cancer defined his childhood. Long before The Civil War, Brooklyn Bridge, Vietnam War, or Mark Twain cemented his…
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For 33 Years, He’s Crossed the Delaware With George Washington
John B. Kelly of Drexel Hill likes to time travel back to Colonial America for Christmas. A 1776 Christmas, to be specific, writes Maria Pownall for the Daily Times. The 71-year-old has joined an annual tradition in the reenactment of George Washington’s Revolutionary War crossing of the Delaware River. Kelly is a historical actor who…
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Newly Discovered Original of Betsy Ross’s Husband’s Diary Confirms ‘Profound Sacrifices’ Flagmaker and Her Family Made to Create United States
The original diary of John Claypoole, the third husband of Betsy Ross, the seamstress often credited as the maker of the first American flag, has recently been found, writes Natalie Pompilio for The Washington Post. The 240-year-old record details the John Claypoole capture by the British as a prisoner of war and being charged with…
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Untangling a Revolution: How Ken Burns and His Team Brought America’s Revolution to Life
Everyone thinks they know the story of the American Revolution including the midnight rides, the musket smoke, George Washington at Valley Forge. But filmmaker Ken Burns saw something deeper waiting beneath the marble myths. In his new documentary series The American Revolution, premiering this month on WHYY, Burns and longtime collaborators Sarah Botstein and David…
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The Revolution Happened Here: 10 Philadelphia Area Battles That Shaped the Fight for Independence
Before the world called it the American Revolution, it began right here along the Delaware River, across the rolling farms of Chester County, and in the cobblestoned streets of Philadelphia. From Brandywine River to Germantown, the British Army and General Washington’s American forces fought for control of a region that would determine the fate of…
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Ardmore’s Raab Collection Selling George Washington’s 1777 Letter
The Raab Collection in Ardmore is offering a 1777 letter written by George Washington in Morristown, New Jersey, for $150,000, writes Rob Jennings for Military.com. Despite a recent defeat, the commander of the Continental Army penned an optimistic letter on the possibility of winning the Revolutionary War. Washington wrote that the strong resistance during the…
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Roundhouse Reimagined Offers Ideas on Repurposing Former Police Administration Building
The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia and Docomomo US/Greater Philadelphia recently partnered to host Roundhouse Reimagined, a half-day symposium showcasing responses to a call for concepts for the former Police Administration Building, known as the Roundhouse, writes Kimberly Haas for Hidden City. “The idea of the symposium is to shine a spotlight on the building,…
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The Overriding Importance of the Battle of Brandywine Is the Marquis Lafayette
By Bruce Mowday The Sept. 11, 1777, Battle of Brandywine is a historic event of enormous importance to the United States that has been ignored or at least overlooked, for many years. For sure, from a military standpoint, the battle was a total disaster for the rebel army of George Washington. There is little wonder…
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