A.D.White Research Society

02/24/2026

Thank you, Vinny & Brad for sharing this!

02/17/2026

“Looking back, it looks like an act of Divine Providence that things happened the way they did because now thousands of people are enjoying Meadowcroft and untold thousands of people in the future will enjoy what was done in the restoration of this land.”
- Albert Miller, July 25, 1976

Nearly 50 years later, Miller’s words still ring true. From groundbreaking archaeological discoveries to hands-on history and outdoor exploration, Meadowcroft continues to welcome new generations to experience, learn from, and care for this remarkable place, ensuring its story carries on well into the future.



📸 Meadowcroft founder Albert Miller.

02/08/2026

Before it became Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, the site was known as Camp Meadowcroft, where visitors gathered for hands-on learning and outdoor adventure!

This photo shows Boy Scout Troop 71 cooking on the Village Green in August 1959, a snapshot of the property’s long history as a place for education, exploration, and community.

02/03/2026

🌲1785 – The Birthplace of the U.S. Public Land Survey: The Seven Ranges Beginning Point

The surveyors began by establishing a baseline 42 miles west from the intersection of the Ohio River and the Pennsylvania boundary. From this line, they laid out seven ranges of townships, each six miles square, extending northward from the Ohio River and following the Pennsylvania line. Numbering of the ranges and townships started in the easternmost part of Jefferson County, near present-day East Liverpool, Ohio.

The area played a part in early U.S. land surveying; nearby is the Beginning Point of the U.S. Public Land Survey. The original survey point, where Thomas Hutchins began the first formal survey in 1785, is actually about 1,112 feet south of the monument and is now beneath the river, so the obelisk monument was placed nearby on higher ground to commemorate it.

This location became the official starting point of the Seven Ranges survey, marking the first federally organized survey of public lands under the United States Public Land Survey System.🌲🌲🌲🌲

🌲Ohio History Vocabulary:

Northwest Territory:
Land in the Northwest Territory was set aside for new towns and jobs.

First American Regiment:
The first U.S. Army soldiers helped protect settlers in the Northwest Territory.

Magnetic North:
A compass points toward magnetic north, not the real North Pole.

Ohio Country:
The land around the Ohio River where early Americans settled.

Public Domain:
Land owned by the U.S. government for settlers to buy or use.

True Meridian:
The straight north-south line used by surveyors to measure land.

02/02/2026

Two years ago last week, Wil White, son of A.D. White, extended an open invitation to the Avella community to discuss the future of the A.D. White Research Society: whether we could fill crucial offices and continue or whether we would have to consider dissolving.

No one wanted to even think about dissolving, so a small group of volunteers came together and worked through the four phases of typical group development: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. Taking “Preserving the Future of Our Past” as our motto, here’s a recap of 2025:

Mission
Preservation
Digitized around 3000 pages of books and newsletters (so far!).
Sharing
Created our website at: https://www.adwhiteresearchsociety.org/
Implemented a collaborative workspace using Google Workspace for Non-Profits.
Digitizing files in searchable PDF format.
Responding to research requests (one from as far away as Italy!)

Community Events/Engagement/Support
May
Memorial Day Open House: Coffee, Tea and History
July
Whiskey Rebellion Festival
Avella Community Day
September
A.D. White Research Society History Fair (focus on Our Italian Heritage)
October
Shades of Death 10-Miler
Memberships and Donations
Avella Volunteer Fire Department
Heinz History Center Affiliate Member and History Contest judge

Fundraising
Washington County Community Foundation
Awarded a $10,000 Capacity-Building Grant which is ear-marked to acquire the equipment to enable us to copy and scan documents, making them accessible to the public and for the purchase of acid free-folders and boxes to preserve our physical historical records.

WCCF Gives (Day of Giving)
Raised $4600 through community contributions from 26 individuals and WCCF Bonus Pool distributions. These funds are earmarked for general operational expenses and upkeep. This reflects an increase in donors and average donations over last year, which qualified us for a greater percentage of the bonus pool.

In 2026, we are planning similar events and a continued focus on digitizing our files and making the searchable materials available to the community (per AD’s oft-stated wishes.)

Similar to the growth cycle of perennial plants (first year they sleep, second year they creep and third year they leap), we are preparing to leap in 2026! We are very excited to announce that we will be joined by Jimmy Silver, a graduate of Robert Morris University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and also a BA in History, and Ty Jaworowski, who is pursuing his MA in Public History at Duquesne University. And, they are both seasonal interpreters and tour gides at Meadowcroft Rock Shelter ad and Historic Village.

Join us by donating your Time (mostly scanning), Talent (e.g., social media, event planning) or Treasure (we’ll even take pennies!); call us at 724-507-6001 or stop in whenever you see our Open flag out!

The A.D. White Research Society, Ltd. was formed in 1994 by friends and fellow researchers of Mr. White to continue his work of capturing, preserving and sharing the rich history of Northern Washington County, Pennsylvania.Mr. Alvin Dinsmore White was born in 1894 and served as a longtime teacher an...

01/31/2026

In the late summer of 1777, the Ohio Valley was on edge. As the Revolutionary War raged back east, the frontier became its own battlefield. On August 31, more than 300 Native warriors allied with the British attacked Fort Henry near present day Wheeling. The assault failed, but fear spread fast along the river settlements and calls for militia echoed through the backcountry.

One of those who answered was Captain William Foreman, leading a company from the South Branch Valley. Ordered out from Fort Henry with Captain Ogle and scout John Lynn, the group set out to investigate reports of raids along the Ohio River. They found Fort Tomlinson near today’s Moundsville burned and abandoned. The danger was clear, but the mission continued.

On September 27, Foreman camped along the river at McMechen’s Narrows. Lynn warned him to leave the river trail and move along the ridges, a safer route in hostile territory. Foreman ignored the advice. The next morning, while examining trinkets deliberately scattered as bait, Foreman’s men were ambushed. In moments, 21 were dead, including Foreman and two of his sons. One man was captured. Others were wounded. Lynn’s men charged downhill firing and shouting, scaring the attackers away, but the damage was already done.

The following day, Colonel Zane led a burial party from Wheeling. The dead were laid to rest in a common grave near the river. Nearly a century later, their remains were moved to Mount Rose Cemetery, and a monument now stands at the site of the massacre. It marks not just a violent moment in frontier history, but a reminder of how thin the line was between survival and sudden death along the early Ohio Valley.

01/28/2026

Before there was Weirton, before steel mills lit the night sky, this bend of the Ohio River was known as Hollidays Cove, a quiet frontier hollow with a long memory.

The story starts in the 1770s, when Harmon Greathouse settled near what’s now Harmon Creek, carving out a life on the edge of the frontier. Not long after, a man named John Holliday built a small fort in the valley, a refuge in a time when survival depended on who heard the rifle shot first.

During the Revolutionary War, when Fort Henry in Wheeling was under siege in 1777, men from Hollidays Cove loaded canoes and paddled downriver to help. They arrived too late. The battle was already over. But for decades after, this place remained a lookout on the edge of the unknown.

Through the 1800s, Hollidays Cove stayed small and almost forgotten. No river wharf. No grand commerce. Just farms, sheep, orchards, and families tied to the land. By 1880, only a few hundred people lived here, tucked into West Virginia’s northern tip, watching the river move past and history mostly pass them by.

Then everything changed. Oil came first. Then steel. Just north of the Cove, E. T. Weir built a mill so massive it reshaped the valley and swallowed the future. Hollidays Cove incorporated in 1912, but it never stood a chance of competing with the industrial giant growing beside it. By 1947, the decision was made. Hollidays Cove, Marland Heights, and surrounding towns voted to become one city. On July 1, Weirton was born, and Hollidays Cove quietly disappeared, not destroyed, just absorbed.

Today, the name survives mostly in memory. But the ground remembers. Frontier canoes. Oil rigs. Steel smoke. Hollidays Cove isn’t gone, it’s just buried beneath a bigger story, waiting for someone to notice it again.

01/14/2026

Two years ago this month, Wil White, son of A.D. White, extended an open invitation to the Avella community to discuss the future of the A.D. White Research Society: whether we could fill crucial offices and continue or whether we would have to consider dissolving.

No one wanted to even think about dissolving, so a small group of volunteers came together and worked through the four phases of typical group development: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. Taking “Preserving the Future of Our Past” as our motto, here’s a recap of 2025:

Mission
Preservation
Digitized around 3000 pages of books and newsletters (so far!).
Sharing
Created our website at: https://www.adwhiteresearchsociety.org/
Implemented a collaborative workspace using Google Workspace for Non-Profits.
Digitizing files in searchable PDF format.
Responding to research requests (one from as far away as Italy!)

Community Events/Engagement/Support
May
Memorial Day Open House: Coffee, Tea and History
July
Whiskey Rebellion Festival
Avella Community Day
September
A.D. White Research Society History Fair (focus on Our Italian Heritage)
October
Shades of Death 10-Miler
Memberships and Donations
Avella Volunteer Fire Department
Heinz History Center Affiliate Member and History Contest judge

Fundraising
Washington County Community Foundation
Awarded a $10,000 Capacity-Building Grant which is ear-marked to acquire the equipment to enable us to copy and scan documents, making them accessible to the public and for the purchase of acid free-folders and boxes to preserve our physical historical records.

WCCF Gives (Day of Giving)
Raised $4600 through community contributions from 26 individuals and WCCF Bonus Pool distributions. These funds are earmarked for general operational expenses and upkeep. This reflects an increase in donors and average donations over last year, which qualified us for a greater percentage of the bonus pool.

In 2026, we are planning similar events and a continued focus on digitizing our files and making the searchable materials available to the community (per AD’s oft-stated wishes.)

Similar to the growth cycle for perennial plants (first year they sleep, second year they creep and third year they leap), we are preparing to leap in 2026! Join us by donating your Time (mostly scanning), Talent (e.g., social media, event planning) or Treasure (we’ll even take pennies!); call us at 724-507-6001 or stop in whenever you see our Open flag out!

The A.D. White Research Society, Ltd. was formed in 1994 by friends and fellow researchers of Mr. White to continue his work of capturing, preserving and sharing the rich history of Northern Washington County, Pennsylvania.Mr. Alvin Dinsmore White was born in 1894 and served as a longtime teacher an...

01/09/2026

11/22/2025

We here at the A. D. White Research Center have been busy sorting and organizing the history of Avella Area families like yours, and we realized that this upcoming holiday season presents a plethora of opportunities to capture your family’s stories. You know, all those “I wish I’d written that down” moments!
In anticipation of conversations that will happen while you’re catching up and getting reacquainted with family members, we’ve put together some tips to get the stories flowing!

Here are some conversation-starter questions:
• What are your earliest childhood memories?
• Who was your childhood best friend?
• How did you celebrate your birthday?
• What is your favorite family recipe or dish?

When the story has already begun, here are some questions you can ask to keep it going:
• Where did this happen?
• Who was with you?
• Was it planned or spontaneous?
• Did anyone get hurt?
• Would you do it again?
• Did you get in trouble for it?

Some other tips:
• Put the voice recorder app on your phone home screen for easy access when the stories start! Later, you can use a Talk- to-Text application to get a transcript you can edit later.
• Show people photos and note the details in pencil on the back, capturing what you can of who is in the picture, what is the occasion, where was it taken, when was it taken. For group photos, specify names are Left or Right or whatever is appropriate so faces and named can be matched up.
• Ask others what details they can add to the info you have.
• Take pictures of items and mementos such as tickets, receipts, locks of hair, memorabilia, souvenirs of trips, etc. This can help you tie items that may be loose in boxes to the stories behind them.

We hope you capture some valuable memories and would love to hear them!

11/03/2025

11/02/2025

What a great turnout for Trick or Treat at the Train Station today! Thanks to Carolyn Lee for passing out the treats and to Phoebe Armstrong from McKeever Study Library Association, Inc. for keeping us supplied!