Category: Chapter News and Events

Oliver Evans chapter president, Christopher R. Dougherty, has a recent article posted on the Hidden City website. The website is known for Exploring Philadelphia’s Urban Landscape. From Arctic Stone to Aluminum Skies: Cryolite, Philadelphia, and the Geometry of Industrial PowerAugust 13, 2026 The recent fixation on Greenland’s mineral wealth presents itself as novel: a 21st…

The Calhoun Street Bridge linking Trenton NJ and Morrisville PA was built in 60 days in 1884 on the original piers of an 1861  wooden covered bridge lost to a fire, and has carried everything from trolleys to the Lincoln Highway.————————————————————————- The Society for Industrial Archeology — Oliver Evans Chapter presents The Historic Bridges of…

Bucks County Trolley Lines In person presentation by Mike Szilagyi, AICP, author and historianWednesday, September 9, 2025, 6:00 – 7:30 pm Here is the link for people unable to attend in person: https://freelibrary-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jzRAHDU2To2gpnczTJNUDg Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was once served by 120 miles of trolley lines. During the decades spanning the 1890s to 1950s, a variety of…

An interior and an exterior view of the Paul Valley trolley power plant and car barn on Easton Road in Warrington Township.  The power plant building still stands today, albeit repurposed. Bucks County Trolley Lines  by Mike Szilagyi, AICP, author and historianWednesday, September 9, 2025, 6:00 – 7:30 pm Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was once served…

The program will be in Rooms 405 and 406 on the 4th floor of the library. Access is only by the public elevators in the lobby, which should open at 5:30 p.m. Fastest entry point will be through the main entrance on Vine Street. The elevators are located to the right of the grand staircase…

Wednesday June 10, 2026, 6:00-8:00 p.m:an illustrated talk by Robert P. Thomas, AIA Join us for a slide-show adventure to the scenic Upper Delaware River above tidewater at Trenton NJ and its historic bridges up to Port Jervis NY.  We’ll learn not only about the bridges’ details and many of their wooden predecessors, but also…

Lost Creeks and Sewers of PhiladelphiaSaturday, April 18, 2026, 10:30am Chapter member Adam Levine is offering a gallery talk on his exhibit with photographer Joseph Elliot at the Athenaeum in Philadelphia. The event will be limited to the first 20 people who register. To sign up please send an email to the Oliver Evans chapter…

Dear Members and Supporters of the Oliver Evans Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology The chapter has been in existence since 1984, and during that time has hosted two national SIA conferences (1990 and 2007), published books on local industrial history, and sponsored numerous tours, presentations, banquets, and Zoom talks.  Unfortunately, while we are…

On Thursday, November 20th, chapter members had a tour of the exhibit, “And Let Victory Tell the Rest: 250 Years of Shipbuilding in Greater Philadelphia,” at the American Swedish Historical Museum. The exhibit is on display until January 4, 2026. One of our members prepared this review of some elements of the exhibit. Last Thursday…

The Oliver Evans Chapter, Society for Industrial Archeology presents U.S. Lighthouse Tender Lilac A presentation by Mary HabstrittWednesday, December 10, 2025, 6pm She was launched in 1933 at the Pusey & Jones shipyard in Wilmington, De, and her original base was at the U.S. Lighthouse Service Depot in Edgemoor. In 1939, when duties for tending…