Portal To The Past

Pennsylvania has been a leader in the pageant of industrial America because of her natural mineral re- sources, geographical location, and the ingenuity and industry of her citizens. Brick and other clay products were manufactured in Philadelphia in William Penn's time. Ores of iron, zinc, lead, and copper were mined and smelted in eastern Pennsylvania long before the Revolution. Coal was mined on a commercial basis in the anthracite region as early as 1820 and in the bituminous fields in 1830. The first canals and railroads were constructed to transport minerals and mineral products. Oil was struck at Titusville in 1859. A significant event occurred in 1855-the establishment of the Farmers' High School-Pennsylvania's first attempt to provide higher education for its youth. The Farmers' High School included instruction in geology, mineralogy, and assaying. In 1859 the laws of Pennsylvania transferred to the School the state geological and mineralogical collections formerly located in Harrisburg. Well-informed people are familiar with the effects of the Land-Grant Act of 1862. With inspiring words it established state institutions of higher learning where "the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies . . . to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts . . . in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the sev-