Water Week: Canals of the Conewago Falls

As part of Lancaster Conservancy's annual Water Week celebration, I led a Northwest River Trail History…

River Monsters of the Susquehanna Deeps

Local legend holds that a diver at Safe Harbor went down behind the dam to remove…

On this Day in History: Winter so cold the railroad ran tracks across a frozen Susquehanna

On this Day in History. The winter of 1852 was so cold that it froze the…

Ancient Native American eel weirs slumber beneath the waters of the Susquehanna

Before the Egyptians built the Pyramids of Giza, Native Americans were constructing giant stone structures on…

Artifact: ‘Indian Relics of the Lower Susquehanna Valley Preserved for the Public’ brochure

I was recently made aware of this rare vintage brochure from the 1950s entitled "Indian Relics…

Armchair Explorer: LiDAR Scans of Little and Big Indian Rock

On a voyage out to the millennium-old petroglyphs of Little Indian Rock and Big Indian Rock…

The Lower Susquehanna before the dams

I have often wondered what the Lower Susquehanna looked like before the dams at Holtwood (1905)…

Ice on the Susquehanna

Ice on the Susquehanna is a femme fatale—mysteriously beautiful and potentially dangerous. More than once, this…

1852: Winter so cold the railroad ran tracks across a frozen Susquehanna

The winter of 1852 froze the Susquehanna at Havre De Grace solid. This presented a problem…

Enjoy this Safe Harbor Visitor’s Guide and Map from 1989

During a recent tour of Safe Harbor Dam, I picked up a copy of the company's…

Lock 12 Historic Area

Being a firm believer that "information wants to be free," when I came into possession of…

Where did Lake Aldred get its name?

Located on the Susquehanna between Safe Harbor and Holtwood lies the 2,400-acre body of water known…

A Brief History of ‘Black Diamond’ Dredging on the Susquehanna

Believe it or not, between the early 1900s and 1972, there were numerous coal dredging operations…

Port of Lancaster and the Curious Etymology of Safe Harbor’s Name

Where does the name Safe Harbor originate? Believe it or not, but it comes from the…

Side Quest: Forgotten Structure of the Susquehanna

Less than 100 feet from the Susquehanna River nestled beside the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad…

Armchair Explorer: Make your reservation today for the Pequehanna Inn – Pennsylvania’s Crown Jewel answer to Lake Placid

In an alternate universe, a five-story, 384-room luxury hotel sits high on a hill above the…

The Lower Susquehanna that was! Enjoy this 1951 Safe Harbor / Holtwood visitor’s guide and map

Enjoy this 1951 Visitor's Guide to Safe Harbor & Holtwood plus an annotated map marking areas…

The Great Ice Flood of 1904 that erased Lancaster County towns from the map

In 1904 an ice flood destroyed towns along the Susquehanna. Flooding far exceeded what occurred in…

Visit the ambitious Lancaster County engineering project that killed 200 men and cost half a billion dollars. Traverse the Enola Low-Grade Rail Trail.

The Enola Low-Grade Line was the engineering marvel of its day. More earth was moved in…