A walk in Squirrel Hill is always pleasant, but as I followed the sidewalk yesterday after a summer of ethnobotanical study, I looked at the plants growing along the…

  “Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd…” Each summer, Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village in scenic Avella, Pa., hosts an exciting afternoon of vintage…

  Spring is a wonderful time to be at Meadowcroft. So far this year, we have observed a variety of nesting birds: ravens, bluebirds, red-shouldered hawks, and red-tailed hawks. We…

  Sarah Kizina on her first day working in Meadowcroft’s blacksmith shop. Dewayne Curry, the primary smith at Meadowcroft, is teaching. Nothing quite strains our nostalgic vision of times past…

  Rehabilitation and maintenance of our historic structures is a high priority during the off-season. Here the school is getting its new roof and chimney in 2018. Meadowcroft’s October Fall…

  Two carpenters marking the notches for the next log to be put onto the Meadowcroft cabin. The European settlement of Cross Creek started in the early 1770s as families…

  Oriental Bittersweet Invasive plants can be native or non-native, spreading fast and labeled as noxious weeds from mostly disturbed ground. Native plants are indigenous to North America with specific…

  This article will also appear in the Fall 2019 issue of Western Pennsylvania History magazine. The Meadowcroft Rockshelter is a world-renowned archaeological site and a National Historic Landmark. It…

  Saledka Mine of Cliftonville after the Battle. A&M 2139, Lee Collection, courtesy of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection, West Virginia University Libraries. The area that was once…

  The planting of cultivated varieties of apples was part of the continuous effort of those living on the frontier to improve their farms and provide food for their families.…