Mystery of the lost 1820 Pennsylvania Capitol pillars in Harrisburg PA & the Curse of Stephen Hills.

The Curse of Architect Stephen Hills: The first Pennsylvania Capitol building in Harrisburg PA was designed by Architect Stephen Hills to house the Pennsylvania Government, after they moved out of the Independence Hall in Philadelphia. During a snow storm in 1897, the Capitol burned to the ground leaving only a shell and the 6 front pillars remaining. The pillars were dispersed throughout the Commonwealth but 3 are missing.
In this video I locate and investigate the known pillars, disprove pillars that were previously believed to be part of the 6 originals and attempt to determine what happened to the 3 missing pillars.

In February of 2024, this video was added to the Capitol Fire exhibit, at the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum in Harrisburg.:

Links to referenced information:

#lostcapitolpillars #harrisburgcapitolfire #pennsylvaniacapitol #pennsylvaniahistory #hillscapitol #stephenhills #dauphincountyhistory #harrisburgpa #jerseyshorepa #linwoodcemetery #wi-daagh #pennsylvaniawilds #i80frontier #pennsylvanianationalfiremuseum #firefighter #firehistory #harrisburgpa #harrisburghistory #thinredline #historysmysterys #dauphincountyhistoricalsociety #dauphincountypa #firemuseum #firememorial #antiquefiretruck #vintagefiretruck #historychannel

[rkhnd]

And all this time we all thought the Market St. columns were from the Capitol. They were HUGE! Good work tracking them down. It chokes me up seeing the original. Good job, Barry! I thought you were going to say Stephen Hills died in a fire. Lol!

[castevens]

It’s eerie that all Hill’s buildings were destroyed in a fire.

[Runnerrwe]

There are some beautiful buildings in your area showing great history. Your editing is awesome.

[pless.]

I just drove past this building. And wasn’t sure what it was. The pillars are definitely still there standing in front of a giant brick building

[BepsiV]

love the mic sound, came from the amazon review, to the other video and now to this video lol, also liked the editing and the video in general !

[CharChar]

Great information! I nevet saw the photos if the burned building. Wow, not much left! When we did the Harrisburg Cemetery Walk, we were told that those beautiful statues they have there, the artist was never paid. Sad.

[YaelSharon]

This came up in the suggestions videos. Very happy it did! Good video.

[XUltraPunchx]

What a great video! I’d love to see your take on the State Street Bridge and the massive eagles that sit on the pylons. There was to be a museum built under it as well.

[Swami-imoo]

I love your videos - very well done, all of them - i might

[Dave__I]

Interesting video. An aside: the brownstone columns from the Old Dauphin County Courthouse were quarried from sandstone at Connewago Road in northern York County, and a piece that was rejected is in somone's yard, visible from the road, at 1721 Connewago Road.

[kokkodrums]

I found a photo of the market street bridge in 1906 with the big white pillars, not the smaller sandstone pillars that are there now. Upon research I found an article from 1941 making mention of the sandstone pillars at the entrance to Market Street Bridge. So some time between 1906 and 1941 the white columns that flanked the bridge disappeared.

[scottybrown]

I can't find any pictures of the actual construction of the Harrisburg Capitol building?Why would we not have proof of any phases of the construction?

[MissRailfan]

I've seen 3 of the pillars. McElhatten, Jersey Shore and one on private property near JS.

[taradattisman]

There's a pillar in Penn park. Been a while since i was down that way. (Not the greatest neighborhood) but. May be one of the pillars. Like the one you showed. It has something on top

[PoPo-xpyk]

i can't believe they wouldn't let you see pillar #2.

[kingofthistledowns]

...and in 1972 a crack commando unit was framed for a crime they didn't commit.. I swear this guy did the voice over for the A-Team

[christianm]

Look at the construction of the And look at the construction of the building he built… that’s why the state capital was founded.. it was re-purposed. He did not build that stop it.😮