It's not every day that archivists get to work in a uniquely-designed home with an interior covered in multiple types of artwork from floor to ceiling. It is the case, though, if you're working at the Wharton Esherick Museum--one of the coolest places I've ever visited! (I'm so glad that the museum decided to participate in our project!)

According to local legend, Lewis Wernwag, owner of a Phoenixville nail works mill, named the mill Phoenix Iron Company because the fiery red hot iron reminded him of the Phoenix (the mythical bird that dies and then rises from its own ashes). Shortly thereafter, what was once the small village of Manavon in Chester County, Pa., began to be referred to as Phoenixville.

If you were to travel through Lower Makefield Township in Bucks County during the first half of the 20th century, your olfactory senses would have likely been consumed by the sweet aroma of roses, and perhaps the not-so-sweet smell of what fertilized the internationally-renowned flowers grown on Joseph Heackock's 40 acre farm.