Middletown, Pa.

"Brownstone & Middletown R.R. Co. Good for one passage. Waltonville to Brownstone. Good during year of issue. 2792. Allen K. Walton, president. Round trip. Return coupon." The Brownstone and Middletown Railroad Company transported passengers and cargo, especially the Hummelstown brownstone that was quarried nearby, along its four-mile route in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania . For additional information about the railroad and quarry, see Brownstone Quarry Near Hummelstown .

"Stop! Look! Listen! Rally Day, Methodist Episcopal Sunday Schools, Ann Street and Riverside, Middletown, Pa., October 1, 1911. It's coming next Sunday afternoon. We will have a great program. Good music. We want to have every member present, 200 visitors, 100 new members. Will you help us to realize our hopes? I am depending on you to be present and bring someone else with you. ________________, teacher."

"Camp Geo. G. Meade, Middletown, Pa. ________ 1898. Horse Shoe Plug Tobacco is the best." Top portion of a letterhead or billhead sheet--with a flag illustration and an advertisement for Horse Shoe plug tobacco--that was evidently printed for use at Camp Meade in Middletown, Pa., during the military camp's existence between August 24 and November 17, 1898. The 45-star version of the United States flag as seen here was in use from 1896 to 1908 (see the Historical Progression of Designs section in Wikipedia's Flag of the United States entry). As Wikipedia explains, " Camp George G. Meade near Middletown, Pennsylvania was a camp established and subsequently abandoned by the U.S. Volunteers during the Spanish American War. . . . Camp Meade was established August 24, 1898, and soon thereafter was occupied by the Second Army Corps of about 22,000 men, under command of Maj. Gen. William M. Graham, which had been moved from Camp Alger in an attempt to outrun the typhoid fever epidemic. Camp Meade was visited by President William McKinley on August 27, 1898. . . . Camp Meade was abandoned about November 17, 1898."

Photographer: "C. C. Keim, Middletown, Pa."

A "photo that was taken in the town you currently live in" for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . I purchased this photo a year or two ago at an area antique mall, and it was only when I got it home that I realized that it showed a monument near where I live in Middletown, Pennsylvania . Middletown--named for its location midway along the old road between Lancaster and Carlisle--is situated along the Susquehanna River about 10 miles from Harrisburg, the state capital, and is less than 5 miles from the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station , site of the 1979 nuclear accident . Middletown is also in the midst of a south-central Pennsylvania tourist region that includes destinations like the Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch farmlands in Lancaster County , the Gettysburg Battlefield in Adams County , and the town of Hershey --known for chocolate manufacturing and an amusement park --in Dauphin County , the same county where Middletown is located. Founded in 1755, Middletown is one of the oldest communities in the county, so it's not surprising that this Revolutionary War monument was erected and dedicated in 1931 with six-year-old William Lemon and his three-year-old sister Mary standing by in colonial costumes during the dedication ceremony on October 28. The monument still exists today next to St. Peter's Kierch , an historic Lutheran church dating to 1767. For a recent photo of the monument, mouse over the image above. For additional views of the Revolutionary War monument and St. Peter's Kierch, select the thumbnail images below. The inscription on the monument: "Erected by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Swatara-Pine Ford Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. This tablet is in commemoration of the services of Revolutionary War soldiers buried at Middletown or immediate vicinity. This marker is dedicated in grateful recognition of their patriotism, valor, and fidelity." The rest of the tablet lists the names of 17 commissioned officers, 7 non-commissioned officers, and 134 privates. Typewritten note pasted to the back of the photo: "Picture of marker and children who unveiled the tablet, October 28th, 1931: William Kemp Lemon 3rd, aged 6 years, Mary Katheryn Lemon, aged 3 years. "Children of the American Revolution, descendants of four of the Revolutionary soldiers whose names appear on the tablet: Joseph Flora, Sr., John Bomberger, Capt. Frederick Rathwon, John Blattenberger. "This memorial erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Swatara Pine Ford Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution in commemoration of the services of the Revolutionary Soldiers buried in Middletown and vicinity."

Text of the blue and yellow historical marker: "Saint Peter's Kierch. Cornerstone laid July 13, 1767, and dedicated by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, patriarch of American Lutheranism. Church erected on ground provided by George Fisher, the founder of Middletown, for annual rental of 'one grain of wheat.' Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission." For additional views of St. Peter's Kierch (St. Peter's Church) and the Revolutionary War monument that stands next to it, select the thumbnail images below.

For additional views of the Revolutionary War monument and the historic St. Peter's Kierch (St. Peter's Church) that stands next to it, select the thumbnail images below.

See St. Peter's Kierch on Google Maps for a street view of the church. For additional views of St. Peter's Kierch (St. Peter's Church) and the Revolutionary War monument that stands next to it, select the thumbnail images below.

"Old Lutheran Church and Cemet[e]ry, Middletown, Pa." An old real photo postcard. This church still stands along North Union Street in Middletown today and is known as St. Peter's Kierch or St. Peter's Church. For a similar street view of the church today, see St. Peter's Kierch on Google Maps . For additional views of St. Peter's Kierch and the Revolutionary War monument that stands near it, select the thumbnail images below.

Located at the corner of Wilson and Wood Streets in Middletown, Pa., these two buildings now comprise Woodlayne Court, a 44-unit apartment complex. The building on the left formerly housed the A. S. Kreider Shoe Company ("Kreider's Shoes, Factory No. 1" is painted on the water tower) and later the Rough Wear Clothing Company. The Bayuk Cigar Company building on the right was later used by the Michael Bachman Shoe Company. Additional information and photos are available in David Ira Kagan and Edward William Sunbery, Middletown Borough (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2009), pp. 62-63.

License plate on front of car: "Middletown Bi-centennial, 1755-1955, July 11th-16th, 1955, Keystone State."

For additional views of the Revolutionary War monument and the historic St. Peter's Kierch (St. Peter's Church) that stands next to it, select the thumbnail images below.

Although "TMI" simply means " too much information " to most of us, residents of central Pennsylvania also use it to refer to the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station , a nuclear power plant situated on an island in the Susquehanna River that's three miles downriver from the borough of Middletown and twelve miles from the city of Harrisburg, the state capital. Thirty-five years ago--on March 28, 1979--one of TMI's two nuclear reactors experienced a partial nuclear meltdown , which the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission still calls the "most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history." The partial meltdown resulted in a release of radioactive materials, and pregnant women and young children living within a 20-mile radius of the plant were advised to evacuate the area. It took several days until plant operators were certain that the situation was under control. Gary and the Outriders, a local music group, recorded an original song, "Goodbye T.M.I. (The Ballad of Three Mile Island)," and released it as a 45 rpm record. Its catchy melody contrasts with its dire refrain: "Goodbye, goodbye to your life, T.M.I." To hear the song, check it out on YouTube: Gary & The Outriders - Goodbye T.M.I. (1979) . For another musical reaction to the TMI accident, see the cover of the record album, Potter County Was Made by the Hand of God But the Devil Made Three Mile Island , on Flickr.

"Lancaster, E., & M. Turnpike Co. The gate keepers must punch the spaces. Gate - 1, 2, 3, 4, 4½ , 5, 6, 7. Horse Team - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Cattle, Etc." An unused ticket for the Lancaster, Elizabethtown, and Middletown Turnpike Company, which operated a private turnpike in Lancaster and Dauphin counties in Pennsylvania. Sections of what are now Pennsylvania Route 230 and Pennsylvania Route 283 eventually replaced the turnpike. See also a rotated version of the ticket .

For more information, see the original version of the ticket .

An early raffle ticket for a chance on a "$25 suit of clothes." It's likely that the "Liberty Band" was the one with that name based in Middletown, Pennsylvania. "This ticket is good for one chance on a $25 suit of clothes to be chanced off by the Liberty Band. Tickets, 5c or 6 for 25c. No. 832."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of down on the corner, out on the street (people on the sidewalk or in the street) . Caption: "Middletown Fire, Apr. 9, 1910." This is a real photo postcard of a man walking down the street past the burned-out shells of buildings in Middletown , Pennsylvania. A fire on Saturday, April 9, 1910, decimated the town, destroying 75 commercial buildings and residences in a four-block area of the business district. Notice the dog that's following along behind the man. On the right-hand side of the photo, a second dog is walking past a barrel at the side of the street. Visible in the distance beyond the man, a crowd of people -- probably sightseers -- has gathered in the street.