From June 26th through July 1st Benson Memorial Library is hosting our first annual Summer Art Show! Below, you will see a virtual version of our art show for those who can't come into the library and see it in person.
Author: Jessica Hilburn
My name is Jess and I am the administrator & author of the NWPA Stories blog as the Executive Director of Benson Memorial Library in the small northwestern Pennsylvania town of Titusville. I am a trained historian experienced in public and academic history. I am also the webmaster of the Hydetown Boro government website and social media and an administrator and editor of the Ridgway Cemetery website and database. I have a Masters in History from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. I explore obituaries, local history, interesting news from yesteryear, and the exciting past of Northwestern Pennsylvania!
Origins of the Dick Kraffert Pool at Burgess Park, Titusville
Few lifelong residents are unable to conjure up a memory of when they first learned to swim at Burgess Park or got a summer job as a lifeguard or hung out with their friends and family poolside throughout the decades. However, it is also likely few people remember when and why the Dick Kraffert pool came about.
Dixmont Asylum for the Insane: Sanity & Insanity in the Oil Region
Towering on a hilltop near Pittsburgh sat Dixmont Asylum for the Insane, later deemed Dixmont Hospital. Though Dixmont no longer looms in the minds of Northwestern Pennsylvanians today, it was both lauded and feared by residents in the late 1800s.
Hidden Heroes: EMS Week 2017
May 21 - May 27 is National EMS Week and here at Benson Memorial Library we are highlighting our local heroes. We hope to put a name and a story to the faces who care for you every day. Who is "Behind the Nametag" at Emergycare Titusville? Learn about four of our community members below!
“The Jennings Horror”: A Quack Cancer Doctor Tortures the Oil Region, 1876
n this blog I have covered many foul murders, but none quite so insidious as that of young Mary Jennings of Troy Township. Mary Jennings was a sweet, fifteen-year-old girl who was going to school and growing up all in due time until her life was taken by a quack doctor in February 1876.
The Ashtabula Train Disaster, 1876
The night was dark and the snow fell heavily onto the moving train, slick tracks, and quiet woods along the Lake Shore Railroad from Erie, Pennsylvania to Ashtabula, Ohio. December 29th, 1876 was like many other winter nights, until at approximately 8:00pm, when everything changed.
Christmas during World War II
The year was 1942. The United States had been at war for just over one year. Fighting was fierce in the Pacific, Africa, and Europe.On Saturday, December 26, 1942, The Titusville Herald reproduced an Associated Press story about how Americans were keeping the Christmas spirit alive on the homefront. The article read:
The Ghost of Mr. Mack
August 5th, 1881. It was an uncharacteristically cool week at the beginning of August, the height of the summer. A ghost was about to chill Warren to its core.
“A Horrible Cutting Affair,” 1874
Despite the constant reports of violence we are inundated with every day, we live in a low-violence society compared to the 1800s in the Oil Region! In particular, 1874 was a very violent year.
NWPA Stories 