(I slept on this and lost it in drafts after the LOC was discussed by a few, and because the link I copied didn't seem to work when I checked one of them. I suspect searching LOC.gov for the titles will find the things I cited.) Someone else already sent the link, but I wanted to add some comments and additional links. You can enjoy quite a lot at the Library of Congress via their web site without going to Washington. See www.LOC.gov I especailly recommend the maps. The Bird's Eye panaromic maps from 1850's to 1920's have wonderful perspectives of small towns and valleys in much detail and in formats suitable for printing frameable poster sized versions if you're willing to put a little effort into it figuring out hoiw to get them printed. I think one option is to use Kinko's remote printing service or to save a file and take it in there. In many cases these maps include businesses and famous buildings. Since many businesses were named after local residents it can become a useful research tool to find what families were promninent in business in that era and what they did. Some are more subtle versions of the kind of advertising maps of local tourist areas we see nowadays and function as business directories also. At another site I ounce found an early town map that had a business directory with ads that led to to discover that my ancestor there had run a casket making company in Indiana, and that the family he married into also was in the same line of business. Then there are the great collections of broadsides and printed materials. Here's one printed by Francis Bailey of Lancaster on July 5, 1776, to muster troops: An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera At a meeting of the Committee of the County of Lancaster, 5th July, 1776. The Committee taking into their consideration the important business of raising the quota of troops in this county. [Signed] Geo. Ross, Chairman. Lancaster. Printed by Francis Bailey, in King-Street [1776]. <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbpe&fileName=rbpe14/rbpe144/14 402000/rbpe14402000.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?rbpebib:14:./temp/~ammem_bPz0::&l inkText=0> Here's a broadside printed during Lafayette's visit to Chester County in July, 1825: "General La Fayette. To have been a partaker with Washington, in the perils and glory of our great conflict for freedom, is a passport to our hearts. In meeting you, his loved form seems to approach us ... Chester County, July 26, 1825." <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/rbpe:@field(DOCID+@lit(rbpe1520 3200))> I've been looking at his visits to Lancaster and Paxtang from his visits in 1825 and found that he met with local freemasons (Lafayette was a Grand Master Mason) and old vets in my family in both cities. I'm interested in knowing more about Lafayette's visit to Chester County. He appears to have taken a lengthy visit to the states that year, soaking in love from those who admired him for his help in the Revoultion.