Tag: Pennsylvania
70 Bodies Found After Finleyville Coal Mine Blast
In April 1913, the hills around Finleyville, Pennsylvania, shook with the force of a mine explosion so violent it shattered windows hundreds of yards away….
Pottsville Boy Denies Making Grandmother His Target
In 1924, a 14-year-old boy from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, became the center of a grim and puzzling murder case after his grandmother was found dead and…
Troopers Use Riot Clubs in McKees Rocks Strike
In the summer of 1909, the strike at the Pressed Steel Car Company in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, had become a scene of hunger, fear, and…
Twelve Men Killed in Johnstown Mine Blast
In the coal regions of western Pennsylvania, danger was never far beneath the surface. Men went underground each day into narrow passages where darkness, gas,…
The Night Black Tom Island Blew Up
At 2:15 on a July morning in 1916, New York Harbor erupted. A series of explosions tore through munitions cars, barges, and warehouses near the…
Philly Girl Thought a Spider Was Eating Her Life Away
A walk through the woods near Manayunk turned into a terrifying ordeal for 16-year-old Mary Schulz in the spring of 1895. What began as a…
Smallpox Panic Stops a Philadelphia Train
At the height of the early twentieth century, a single word could bring a train, a hotel, a ship, or an entire neighborhood to a…
Pennsylvania “Corpse” Sat Up and Asked for Breakfast
In the early 1900s, death was not always as certain as it seemed. Doctors had fewer tools, homes often served as sickrooms, and the line…
100 Venomous Copperheads Attacked Pipeline Workers
In the autumn of 1913, newspapers across America carried a startling report that sounded more like frontier folklore than modern industry. As crews pushed a…
True Crime on Trial: When History Faces the Jury Again
On November 12, 2025, the Chester County History Center is inviting true crime fans and history lovers to step into the jury box for True Crime…
