Local Authors Past and Present
Work in progress here -- the field is richer than first envisioned. We hope to incorporate past authors (Marianne Moore, Jean Craighead George, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and so on), present authors/illustrators (Amy Bates, Megan Lloyd-Thompson, Adrienne Su, Kim van Alkemade, Sherry Knowlton, and so on), and books from authors who knew the Valley well and wrote about events here (Lois Lenski, Lois Lowry, Conrad Richter, and so on). We will organize them with category headers for better searching and annotate them with the particulars as we work on this. Keep checking!
Crossing with the Clarks: A History of a Scottish Family's Ferries and Tavern on the Susquehanna River
Crossing with the Clarks: A History of a Scottish Family's Ferries and Tavern on the Susquehanna River
A History of a Scottish Family’s Ferries and Tavern on the Susquehanna River
After the Northwest Territory opened in 1787, a wave of pioneer expansion took place in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. New turnpikes were constructed to accommodate the ever-increasing number of settlers moving west. The history of Clark’s successful ferry and tavern businesses reflect an increase in the demand for ferry and tavern services brought about at the turn of the nineteenth century by increasing western migration and new road systems.
In Crossing with the Clarks, the history of Clark’s Ferries and Tavern on the Susquehanna River is traced from 1766 until the present. It traverses the rise and demise of their ferry service and fate of the tavern building through five time periods:
Pre-ferry and tavern, 1766–1787
Early ferry and tavern, 1787–1802
Peak ferry and tavern, 1802–1836
Post-ferry, 1836–1875
Post-tavern, 1875–present
The book also contains a contemporary architectural study of the tavern to determine what remains of Clark’s original tavern building.
About the Author:
Victor Hart is a retired secondary history teacher with over thirty-years of teaching experience in Washington, DC, Texas, Maryland and Pennsylvania. For twelve years, he was the Archaeological Director for the Historical Society of Perry County conducting community archaeological excavations at the following sites: Woolcomber Massacre, Robinson’s Fort, Fort Robinson’s Railroad Station, Foster Mound, Montour’s Spring and Clark’s Ferry Tavern. He is a 1967 graduate of George Washington University with a BA in history, a 1979 graduate of the University of the Americas with an MA in anthropology. He also completed post-graduate courses in education, archaeology, and museum studies at Maryland University, University of Texas, Stephen F. Austin University and York College of PA. He is the coauthor of Clark’s Ferry and Tavern: Gateway to the Juniata Valley and Digging for the Clarks: A Four Year Community Archaeological Excavation at Clark’s Ferry Tavern.