Step back in time and explore Pennsylvania as your grandparents knew it, before interstate highways and suburban sprawl.

In 1940, the PA office of the Federal Writers Project—a New Deal relief program—published Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State. This volume in the American Guide Series offers a unique snapshot of the Commonwealth's past through topical essays and descriptions of both the built and natural landscapes.

The goal of this Web site is to digitize the Pennsylvania guide in a way that provides geographical context and a method for you to annotate the text with stories, images and links.

View a sample entry with annotations, or click the Map or Tours tab to browse what's available. As this site is developed, more text from the book—and therefore, more towns and villages—will be added regularly.