Amazing Twp workers helped me retrieve my phone from inside of a drain. They were super helpful…read more So nice to come by great people. Thanks!

Why is the Hans Herr House significant and who the hell was Hans Herr?…read more The house itself is significant as it is the last remaining structure that is still standing from the original group of Mennonites who came to the Lancaster County area to escape religious persecution from their native Switzerland. The house is also significant in that it is the oldest structure in Lancaster County and likely the oldest remaining Mennonite meetinghouse in the Western Hemisphere. The original group traveled from Switzerland to Germany to escape religious persecution then after a governmental regime change they were forced from Germany to England where they met with William Penn who allowed them to colonize a portion of what is current day Lancaster County or when they arrived in 1711, the extreme most western frontier of Pennsylvania. One interesting piece of information is that the house did not belong to Hans Herr as it was built by his son Christian which is why his initials are over the doorway along with the inscribing mark of 1719. On the tour you are told why the name remained(s) Hans Herr House versus Christian Herr House but honestly I forget why. Maybe something just deferential from Christian towards his father or because of his father's status with the original group that came to the area or maybe everyone just liked the flow of the name more so it's based on tradition? The tour itself is around 40-45 minutes and it starts in the building which houses the gift shop and you are given a brief overview of the Anabaptist faith, the Mennonites who are direct descendants of the faith and a map which shows the route the initial settlers took from Switzerland to Pennsylvania. After that you are taken over to the house where you see the three rooms which make up the first floor (kitchen, bedroom and all purpose dining room-meeting room-family room) and the second floor which is where the eight children slept and finally the basement which is accessed from a side entrance outside of the house. You learn that the key to the home's design is that they didn't believe in wasting any space so every inch served a purpose such as not having hallways so as soon as you walk in the front door you're right in the kitchen. One thing worth noting, if you are someone who is hardcore hung up on only visiting historical places if they have lots of original items then this place might not be for you. There is not a whole lot original to the house that you can see with the exception of a piece of the ceiling insulation on the first floor (rye straw + manure + ??), the wooden crossbeam over the kitchen fireplace and the steps which go from the second floor to the third floor attic (obviously you can't use them). Past that I think most everything else was changed out in the 19th century when the house was still used as a residence or in the early 70's when the initial renovation occurred to make things into a tourist destination. If you want more original take a look at the bibles on display in the gift shop which are original to Hans and Christian. I wouldn't call the Hans Herr House a must see, but it's interesting enough and the tour is the right length to keep everyone interested along with being located close enough to most of Lancaster County's tourist elements. If you go: The 1719 Hans Herr House is open April 1 through November 30, Monday-Saturday, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM. Forty-five minute Herr House tours are offered at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. This is not the tour information for their reproduction Native American Longhouse. That tour is offered at 10 a.m., 12 noon and 2 p.m and has an entirely different focus. Prices are currently Adults: $8, Children 7-12: $4 and Children 6 and under: free with a slight discount if you choose to tour both structures. There are also several special events that happen throughout the year and that information is available on their website.

I visited the 1719 Museum this past Saturday and really enjoyed the experience…read more The guided tour starts with a short film about the property that provides some great context for the rest of the tour. Then you leave the visitor center and walk over to the first structure of tour, which is a full-sized reproduction of a Native American longhouse. Longhouses (large multi-generational family homes made of logs, saplings, and tree bark) were once ubiquitous in Pennsylvania, including along the Susquehanna River. At the time the Hans Herr home was built, south-central Pennsylvania was home to several Indigenous tribes, including the Shenks Ferry, Conoy, Lenape, Mohawk, Nanticoke, Seneca, Shawnee, and Susquehannock peoples. The 1719 Museum collaborated with the Circle Legacy Center and members of the local indigenous community to build the longhouse reproduction in order to share the history of and honor Pennsylvania's native communities and educate visitors to the area. With your guide, you walk into the longhouse, where you sit down while the guide explains quite extensively about the Native communities in the area, the longhouse and its architecture, and the relationships between the indigenous people and the Mennonite people who made homes in the area. After the longhouse, the guide walks you over to the Hans Herr House. It was built in 1719 and is a 2-story, rectangular sandstone Germanic-style dwelling. It is the oldest dwelling in Lancaster County and the oldest Mennonite meetinghouse in America. The guide walks you through various rooms in the house and shares information about the Herr family as well as the larger Mennonite community in early Pennsylvania history. Our guide was Cindy, and she was incredible. I learned so much about the Native, Indigenous and Mennonite communities of 18th century Pennsylvania (and - in the case of the Native peoples - a much earlier history of their lives in Pennsylvania). She really educated us on a broad range of topics, while keeping the tour fun (I love fun education)! She made my tour extra special. If you're spending some time exploring Lancaster Counter, the 1719 Museum should definitely make your itinerary! In one place, you can learn a little bit about Pennsylvania's Native and Mennonite communities, and it's just a special place!

Great place. They have fire engines and hoses. If your house is burning down, give them a call…read moreand they'll swing by and put water on it.

This week's edition of Reviews That Do Not Matter features the Market Street Bridge by Aaron S…read more What a useless review, you say? You'd be correct. However, this is a great bridge over troubled waters (polluted Susquehanna River) that carries Harrisburgers to and fro City Island and the west shore. It certainly serves its purpose, but there are no porpoises underneath. Very picturesque this time of year. Enjoy the views.

I'm going to cross this bridge, mark my words, market in your calendar…read more This is one of the many beautiful bridges crossing the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg. Old and glorious and part of one of the most picturesque views in all of the USA. The bridges crossing the river in Harrisburg are spectacularly old and gorgeous, and it's hard not to give any of them 5 stars.

Who doesn't like talking a stroll or bike ride over old shaky? Hard to believe Walnut Street Bridge…read morewas once open to vehicular traffic back in the day considering the size of cars way back when. Great views from on or under the bridge allow you to enjoy the river and scenery. Nice walk to city island to enjoy a baseball game or just recreate. Highly recommend a walk through Riverfront Park to enjoy all the area has to offer.

Someone was like, are you reviewing ALL the bridges, and I was like... "walnut ALL of them."…read more The bridges over the river Susquehanna are absolutely gorgeous. You can't really imagine a more beautiful sight in downtown Harrisburg, than these stunning bridges crossign the river. This is one of the beautiful old bridges that spans this gorgeous stretch of water. The cool thing is, this is a pedestrian bridge! How awesome is that? I bet you didn't even think those existed in the US. It no longer crosses the river because portions collapsed in 96 due to flooding, and it was never restored. Now it's open to pedestrians, basically as a long pier on either side.

It is worth going here just to see the beautiful countryside just a bit off the beaten path. You…read morecan drive your car over the bridge. There is a small parking area for one car on the south side and you can pull over on the shoulder on the southbound side once you are on the north side of the bridge (there is a slight drop off so better to do this with a Jeep, truck or a 4WD vehicle with some ground clearance). Two or three cars were parked there on the spring day, with people fishing in the creek. This beautiful bridge was built in 1849 at a cost of $700 along Hammer Creek when thousands of people were rushing to find gold in the California Hills. The bridge was later rebuilt in 1887 by John Bowman for $1744.

Where are the PA history buffs? If you're interested in family lineage, the PA State Archives…read moreoffers extensive information and free access to Ancestry.com via www.PAStateArchives.com Today, Sunday, March 9, 2025, visitors can view a treasured copy of William Penn's land grant from the King of England, the 1681 Pennsylvania charter, which includes all four pages. The charter is displayed only once a year, usually on the second Sunday in March.

Indiana Jones actually filmed here for the movie Raiders Of The Lost Archives. No, I can't back…read morethat up. But I can back this up. (pulls down pants) The museum and the state archives are absolutely spectacular and huge and imposing and you can see this massive structure for 10 blocks in any direction - so it's definitely one of the main center points and centerpieces of Harrisburg - and is well worth the five star rating because of the grand old design, which stands the test of time and in fact looks timeless. Harrisburg is a splendid city with a gorgeous downtown and this is one of the reasons why.