Life is busy. Carving out time to do historical research is difficult and despite having a list of things I want to accomplish with the blog this summer and fall I am falling behind.
Falling behind was the motivation for this particular blog. I thought some of you would be interested in how the blog works. This may help explain why I am behind schedule.
First, I am the only person who works on the blog.
I do all of the research and writing. I maintain the website for the blog, the Facebook, and Instagram for the blog. When I am actively working on the blog I work anywhere from 10 to 20 hours a week on the blog.
I am the only person who finds pictures, edits them when necessary, and creates the occasional marketing pictures.
I didn’t know what I was doing before this blog. I had never written a blog before. Nor had I maintained a business Facebook page or participated in Instagram. It was all new. The only thing I had was an interest in history.
I received my B.A. in History/Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford and an M.A.T. from the University of Central Florida in Social Studies Education.
Last summer I started writing social studies curriculum for my own company. I write an education blog as well.
In my spare time (which I don’t have much) I write short stories under a pen name. I also maintain a writing blog for that pen name.
Making Money
No. At this time I do NOT make money from the Pine History Blog. I do not charge you to read the stories nor do I charge you to have access to the information.
People assume that every blog makes money. They only make money if you monetize them – in other words, sell ads. I have not done that.
I may in the future set up the blog to make money. I may sell local advertising on the website. I may be set up to take donations. But as of now, I use my own money to support the blog. Last year I spent $240 on the blog. This year I will spend closer to $400.
Research and Time
F. Laklia took probably five hours of research and another five hours of writing and editing.
Veteran Status Confirmed was a rewrite of our guest bloggers original blog. I narrowed the focus and shortened it considerably which took about two hours of time.
Brown Road Farm wasn’t a traditional blog where I attempted to convey a story. It was a picture analysis but it also took about two hours.
The last article that took considerable research and writing time was Pine’s First Families. This particular article was created using already completed research and notes and creating a new article. It took about two hours of organization, another two to add additional details, and two to edit.
In other words, when I am actually working on an article, it is time-consuming.
The time commitment has been more difficult to manage as my youngest child has become more mobile. I started the blog when he was a newborn because I was stuck in bed feeding him so much. But as babies tend to do, he grew. First rolling, then crawling, now walking.
I also have an older son who is five.
Where Do I Get the Information
My number one research tool is newspapers.com. Newspapers.com contains the archives for many Pittsburgh area newspapers: Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh Commercial, Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh Daily Commerical, Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh Dispatch, Pittsburgh Gazette, and the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette.
But the most important newspaper I use is the North Hills News Record which is also included with the biggest membership. The North Hills News Record was a local newspaper for the North Hills and is the only newspaper that consistently reports the happenings of Wexford and Pine Township. Today, we receive the Pine Creek Journal which is very similar to the News Record.
I often wonder if there was a local newspaper in or around Wexford in the 1800’s and early 1900’s because the major Pittsburgh newspapers did not think of Wexford and rarely wrote the news of the area. This is the reason that the bulk of my stories are from the 20th century.
Most of Pine’s history is private, family history. The amount of historic information about Pine is minimal and what I can find usually leads me to more questions rather than an answer.
Other resources I use are:
Heinz History Center Detre Archives: “The Thomas & Katherine Detre Library & Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center offers a non-circulating collection of materials documenting life in Western Pennsylvania. Search our online catalog for books, archival collections, periodicals, and more.”
If you click on the search photographs button it takes you to the Historic Pittsburgh page. Historic Pittsburgh is hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Library System.
Every time I do a photograph search of Pine Township or Wexford there is something new. I am not certain, but I believe many of the new photographs are coming from North Allegheny History Museum.
Finally, when working with locations and historic maps, nothing beats Google maps. They do NOT have historic maps but many of the roads are the same and I am able to use the current maps as reference.
Guest Bloggers
We have been fortunate enough to have a guest blogger this past spring. He found me while doing research on his family. That research led him to confirm that his ancestor, George Wallace, was, in fact, a Revolutionary War Veteran and hopefully in the future, we can place a marker for him.
When we first discussed him writing for the blog, he was hesitant. Publishing your writing on the internet can be scary and intimidating. But in the end, I think he did a great job and I don’t’ think he minded it.
If any of you who actually read this entire article and are interested in writing an article for the blog, we can discuss it!
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How can you help the blog grow?
On Facebook, make sure you hit the like button every time. Consider hitting the love button. The love reaction will actually prompt Facebook to share the link with others in the area. The more loves, the more likely FB will share the blog.
Comment! Even if you can only say, “Loved it!” that helps. A comment and a love will put Pine History Blog even higher in the local algorithms. The more people who follow the blog the better!
The final piece of the puzzle, share it! The more shares, the more people see it because of you but also, FB will decide this is something more people want to see.
Do you follow the blog directly?
Thank you! That is awesome. Please make sure you hit that like button every time and comment!
Read it. Love it. Share it.
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Make sure you are following the blog! Either directly with your email address or on Facebook!
Pine History Blog is on Instagram. If you are too, please make sure to follow me. #pinehistoryblog
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