Pennsylvania's Historic Places

From the Inside Flap

From Independence Hall to Gettysburg to Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania offers a wealth of history. Pennsylvania's Historical Places tells the stories of such people and places as:
-- William Penn and his estate along the Delaware River.
-- The place where the U.S. Constitution was drafted.
-- The childhood home of frontiersman Daniel Boone.
-- Iron furnaces that built and armed a nation.
-- Religious communities of German mystics.
-- The first successful oil well in the world.
-- Coal mines that attracted immigrants from much of Europe.
-- The Native Americans who first settled the region, more than 12,000 years ago.

Author Ruth Hoover Seitz and photographer Blair Seitz capture the vitality of 31 historic sites and museums, from Valley Forge to a flagship from the War of 1812 to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The book includes descriptions of what to see and do at each site, along with an authoritative introduction by Harold L. Myers of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Ruth Hoover Seitz was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on a farm originally deeded by William Penn's son Thomas. She grew up near Pottsville in the state's anthracite region.

Seitz is the author of the book Amish Country and more than 300 published magazine articles. She has traveled extensively in Africa and Asia as a writer for UNICEF and the World Health Organization, and has served as a correspondent for several European magazines.

About the Photographer

Blair Seitz, Ruth's husband, is an editorial and corporate photographer whose work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, and European newspapers. He was the photographer for Amish Country, published in 1987.

Blair and Ruth live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and are the parents of two daughters.

Library Journal

Pennsylvania is often overlooked as a tourist destination; consequently, few good general guides to the state are currently available. Here is a guide to mostly state-owned historical properties, e.g., the Daniel Boone Homestead. Several national parks such as Gettysburg and Valley Forge are also included. Well-written essays briefly sketch the site's importance in state history, and there is a description of things to see and do today. The essays will appeal more to history buffs than casual tourists, but the color photographs will spark any traveler's enthusiasm. As this is the first book on the state's historical sites to appearin a long time, it would be an attractive purchase for any public library.-- Stephen Rees, Bucks Cty. Free Lib., Levittown, Pa.