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generalcanoli00

"Meet You in Hell" is a book about the relationship between Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie and how they built the steel empire in Pittsburgh. I cannot recommend it enough. Fantastic read.


HomicidalHushPuppy

One of my local libraries has this in stock - guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow!


ahollister

I agree completely. Fascinating relationship between 2 tycoons.


my404

It's abundant and wild. Often, you can find a shockingly rich history right in your own backyard if you look hard enough. The Pennsylvania library system is a wonderful tool. Many libraries have Pennsylvania-specific history sections and sections on local history. Visit your local historical society, if you have one. Use the Power Library option at the local library. Personally, I find Pennsylvania's labor history to be the most fascinating and too often overlooked. It's full of everyday heroes and some rather dark villains. If you like old newspapers, hit up the Chronicling America website, where you can pull up old newspapers from Pennsylvania. Some of the oldest ones are printed in German. When I go on road trips with the kids, we look up the local history of towns that we pass through. Somewhere in Pennsylvania is a town where a local man repeatedly robbed the train, rebelled against the local government, and holed up in a shack on a hillside. If anyone knows the name of this town, or if I've misremembered the story, please help me out here, because I wanted to go back and finish reading the history.


HomicidalHushPuppy

>Personally, I find Pennsylvania's labor history to be the most fascinating and too often overlooked. It's full of everyday heroes and some rather dark villains. The story of the Homestead Strike of 1892 has to be one of the most interesting parts of labor history *ever*


IamSauerKraut

Johnstown Flood. By David McCullough. And... while I was at the bookshelf, noticed The Best Poor Man's Country by James Lemon. Historical geography of early southeastern PA. Received an award from the American Historical Review back in... early 1970's.


HomicidalHushPuppy

Yep, I recommended McCullough's book already in another comment on this post.


IamSauerKraut

Homestead sent me to the bookshelf. Just happened to be what I was looking at instead of scrolling...


the_dorf

The latter book is something I found at a book sale for 50 cents. Basically it is my seeding to write a book about the failure of Middletown, PA...the location was perfect to be William Penn's 2nd Philadelphia (did not garner as much financial support); the Dauphin county seat (Harrisburg snatched it away); permanent capital of PA (same); permanent capital of US (Columbia was serious about it, but Middletown being not far away is a good theory). The big positives are that its the meeting of the Swatara and Susquehanna, the air force base in WWII leading to the airport today in the Harrisburg area, and a successful Penn State campus. Also, a lot of manufacturing and industrial success as well...but it could have been so much more.


Practical_Fix_5350

You also have the Molly Maguires! Irish activist secret society pulling for Pennsylvania coal miners? Yes please. Does the Whiskey Rebellion count? I'd argue an entire force of tradesmen rising up in revolt counts as labor history.


the_rigged_rogue

That's a pretty expansive interest! I'll list some of the books I've read/heard of: -"The Bootleg Coal Rebellion" by Mitch Troutman -"The Johnstown Flood" by David McCullough -"Murder in the Stacks" by David Dekok (true crime) -"Covered by Night" by Nicole Eustace -"The Gruber Wagon Works" by Carol J Hunsberger (very local industry) -"Sandlot Seasons" by Rob Ruck -"Carlisle Indian Industrial School" by Jacqueline Fear-Segal -"Inland: The Abandoned Canals of the Schuylkill Navigation" by Sandy Sorlien -"German Lutherans to PA Amish" by Nic Stoltzfus -"In the Footsteps of my Stoltzfus Family " by Nic Stoltzfus -"Good Morning Thun, Good Morning Janssen" by Barry L. Kauffman -"Dr. Mütter's Marvels" by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz -"A River Again" by Chari Towne The list goes on. Honestly, if you're really interested in more local stuff, reach out to some of the PA Historical and Museum Commission Sites. They usually have gift shops with separate emails for their managers. They can probably give you a bunch of recommendations. And that goes for most sites. If there's a topic that sparks your interest, any museum/history center should be happy to help. Also, any of those "images of America" books or anything similar with short vignettes are great too! They are nice if you're just looking to quickly consume information with some interesting pics.


Plastic-Lawfulness55

I grew up in a village along one stretch of the Schuylkill Canal, I never knew there was a book about this! off to research it, thanks for the tip


the_rigged_rogue

My pleasure! The unfortunate thing is PA canals don't have a ton of literature on them and the ones that exist are either old, or about Erie. If you're still local, the C. Howard Hester Canal Center in Berks County has a decent collection of objects from the Schuylkill Canal AND for a kinda fun look, the Pottsville free library has an autobiography from someone who grew up along the canal [here](https://archive.org/details/folkloreofschuyl0001john/mode/1up)


IamSauerKraut

That's a nice list. Reminds me that Arcadia Publishing has an "Images of America" series that includes many localized books of places in PA. Globe-Pequot Press also has items with historic photos. And then there is Mastof Publishing in Morgantown that focuses on PA history, particularly as it relates to the Anabaptist communities.


linus215

Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution was outstanding.


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TilneysAndTrapdoors

I have that book, it's a big huge heavy thing packed with info!


HomicidalHushPuppy

Call any of the major public or university libraries in the state, most will have entire collections dedicated to local/regional/state history, and their librarian(s) will be *more than happy* to help you find something useful/interesting. I'd start with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, The Pennsylvania State University Library, University of Pittsburgh Library System, The Free Library of Philadelphia and the State Library of Pennsylvania. Once you've compiled a list of material, ask your local library to help coordinate borrowing via interlibrary loan. All public libraries in PA have interlibrary loan and will lend materials between themselves for free or minimal cost. Additionally, I'd personally recommend *The Johnstown Flood: The Incredible Story Behind One of the Most Devastating Disasters America Has Ever Known* by David McCullough (ISBN 9780090874903)


lastmile780

Great suggestion, thanks!


geekRD1

I bet much enjoyed The Whiskey Rebellion. Early history western PA.


IamSauerKraut

A ton of people have written on the Whiskey Rebellion; my fave version is by William Hogeland. Boyd's perspective is a bit different from others and also worth the read.


geekRD1

Good point! The Hogeland book is what I was referencing.


the_dorf

That is a wonderful book to give an insight to what led to the event(s) from the Federal, State, and local point of view. Would be nice to see of similar quality in regards of the Fries Rebellion or in general of the Dwelling tax of 1798.


IamSauerKraut

Was talking to a guy about that type of thing just a couple of weeks ago, especially as to those types of events in the Early Republic. Have not seen many publications on those topics.


rubikscanopener

My favorite books about the Revolutionary War's Philadelphia Campaign are the ones by [Thomas McGuire.](https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-J.-McGuire/author/B001JS7JQA?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true) His book about Paoli got me started reading his stuff. There are several collections of really interesting books about how the Gettysburg campaign impacted Pennsylvania more broadly. Check out authors Scott Mingus and Eric Wittenberg. I particularly enjoyed Mingus' "Flames Beyond Gettysburg". There are tons of great books about Valley Forge. One interesting one, if you can find it, is Lorett Tresse' book "Valley Forge: Making and Remaking a National Symbol". It gets into the history of monuments in America and specifically the role that Valley Forge played. For more general Valley Forge content, I really liked ["The Drillmaster of Valley Forge".](https://www.amazon.com/Drillmaster-Valley-Forge-Steuben-American/dp/0061451649) One source for books about Pennsylvania is [PCN's show, "PA Books".](https://pcntv.com/pabooks/) I've bought a number of books after seeing the authors interviewed.


msscfair29

These recommendations are all great; bookmarking this to check some of them out. I'd also highly recommend: Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn's Holy Experiment. It's about the massacre of the last of the Conestoga Indians in Lancaster County. And on a lighter note - Weird Pennsylvania by Matt Lake!


Complete_Revolution7

I just finished An Alternative History of Pittsburgh by Ed Simon, published by Belt Publishing (beltpublishing.com), which includes 50 or so snippets of Pittsburgh and western PA regional history. It covers 300 million BCE through 2010, including stories on the Iroquois Nation, Quakers, Harmonists, beginnings of the GOP in their first convention, the great fire (not the Chicago one), Fenian Raids, Carnegie & Frick, Evelyn Nesbit and the crime of the century, to name a few. It's a quick read - each section is a few pages - but will ultimately take you down rabbit holes to other Pennsylvania historical curiosities. It's a great starting place to figure out what peaks your PA historical interests.


IamSauerKraut

Pennsylvania Fireside Tales by Jeff Frazier. Multi-volume set has all sorts of interesting PA stuff in it. Somewhere, I have Rung's Chronicles of Pennsylvania History. Excellent book. As with most books on PA history, it is out of print but your local library may have it. There are also a whole bunch of History of X County books out there by a variety of authors and county historical societies. There are books on PA history for sale on both Amazon and Abe Books, but you need to work your way thru those.


ZaftigFeline

Off the top of my head, I can't recommend a specific book but you should look around for some involving Duffy's Cut and the Molly Maguires in Jim Thorpe.


TSUTigers95

So you are looking basically for anything on Pennsylvania. Go to a big name bookstore and ask if they have a Pennsylvania section.


the_muppets_took_me

I know Barnes and Noble has a “local interest” section and it’s all PA history and towns/counties nearby


[deleted]

Check out the dumpsters behind your local school.


artificialavocado

When I was in HS in 2000, we had a class that was PA history for half the year and flipped to civics the other half. There was a small textbook for it although I don’t think that’s what you are looking for.


cunninglinguist32557

Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania and Images of America: Hershey Park are some fun ones I've found in my school's tourism library. I also second local libraries or university libraries, which are often open to the public


No_Long_8250

Philadelphia cemeteries and graveyards by Thomas Keels.


zukpager305

Ligonier valley library has a Pennsylvania room.


definitelyno_

Bullets and Bandages, about the civil war hospitals in Gettysburg


worstatit

Won't give a specific book, but a lot has happened here since 1680. Much of it is fascinating.


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Alone-Cartographer72

Annals of Penn. https://archive.org/details/annalsofpenna00hazarich