In June 1902, three men were killed instantly, two were fatally hurt and five others were injured, including one man who later died, following an explosion at the Cambria powder plant's coining mill in Seward. According to news coverage, "The explosion occurred as the men were loading a pot of powder on a wagon driven by" one of the victims, thirty-eight-year-old John Rhoads, who reportedly left a large family. The others who were killed were: Seward resident J. B. Smith, aged forty, who was also the head of a large family; Charles Drover, a thirty-five-year-old, unmarried resident of Wapwallopen in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; and Seward resident W. F. Bracken, who was married with three children.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1923
2012
