John Heisman - Football Legend from Titusville

Coach John Heisman (center) with his 1909 Georgia Tech team.

The name Heisman has become synonymous with the best in college football, however it is often forgotten that the man behind the trophy found his start right here in Crawford County. John Heisman grew up during the 1870s and 80s in Titusville, PA during the height of the oil boom. The family had originally settled in Cleveland, Ohio, but soon after John was born moved to Titusville to allow Heisman’s father, a cooper, to seek work thanks to the high demand for barrels the oil boom provided. Heisman attended Titusville High School, and graduated a member of the class of 1887 at the age of 17, before attending Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania to study law.

The Magnificent McHenry House Part 2 - Departures and Demises

A & GW Depot with McHenry House to the left in 1869

As with most establishments in the hospitality industry, success could not have been attained without competent management. The same holds true for the McHenry House, which appears to owe much of its heralded reputation to Superintendent, R. M. N. Taylor. (Mentioned in Part 1 of this series) Taylor had previously managed the Angier House in Cleveland, Ohio before being recruited away to Meadville. Given the accolades he would earn during his tenure at the McHenry, it proved to be a fortuitous move for all parties.

Healing and Luxury: A History of the Saegertown Inn

Front view of the Saegertown Inn with French Creek along left side.

With the overwhelming interest in photographs of the Saegertown Inn recently posted on the Crawford County Historical Society's social media pages, what better time to "get away from it all" for a while and discuss the history of this grand hotel and vacation venue.

The History of "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays" in Crawford County

"Hold up there, Santa. How should we greet you?"

Not so long ago I was admonished for wishing somebody a "Happy Holiday" instead of a "Happy Thanksgiving."

"I don't celebrate 'holidays,'" the person told me. "I celebrate Thanksgiving and then I celebrate Christmas. I hate it when people like you wish me 'Happy Holidays.' It's a made-up, politically-correct phrase that you should stop using!"

After promising myself that a person like me might never bother wishing a person like that a happy anything, ever again, I got to thinking about the two phrases: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I wondered if there might be a way to track their use over time within Crawford County.

Turns out you can. Sort of.

Origins of the Crawford County Fair

Ohio race horses helped bring about the county fair

With the excitement of the Crawford County Fair upon us, it’s worth taking a belated look at the origins of the what arguably is the county’s largest and most popular annual event. The fair of as we know it today is nearing 75 years of continuous operation, but in actuality, the county fair—or fairs as it turns out—traces back much farther than this, and not without a little drama along the way either.

The Story of James Densmore and the First Typewriter

James Densmore

As you string out words into strings of sentences across the screen of your computer, tablet, or mobile phone, know that the keyboard layout we have all become so familiar was conceived in Crawford County. The story behind this claim begins with a man named James Densmore and the invention of the first typewriter.  

James was one of seven children who arrived in Meadville when their father, Joel, moved the family from Rochester, New York in 1836 to open a water-powered plant for making wooden bowls. Despite having less than a year of formal schooling, Joel had educated himself so well that he engineered the machinery needed for his plant and could even accurately predict the various eclipses that occurred in the area. It was this grasp of mathematics and mechanics that Joel  would pass along to James and his brothers.

Mapping History: How Chasing Sanborn's Show What Once Existed

The Sanborn Map Company 

Those interested in the past often obsess over the "when" of things. The first person settled in 1822. The first brick home was built in 1845. The first train arrived in 1888. Columbus sailed the ocean blue in…

But the "where" is important, too, because things exist in both time, and space. There's a reason your home, your town, or the road you travel is where it is. Hardly anything, in fact maybe nothing, ends up where it is purely by chance.