Jim recovered a two-horse wagon license plate from 1878 in Etna, just outside Pittsburgh. It's plate #1 - the first one issued that year. The plate broke into three pieces at some point, likely from soil weight or damage when it was originally lost. Jim found the first piece, then went back the next day and recovered the other two sections. Municipal wagon plates from 1870s Pennsylvania don't turn up often. Most were discarded when wagons were scrapped or melted down when plating systems changed. This one spent nearly 150 years in the ground. There's no way to identify the original owner. Etna's registration archives were lost in a flood, so whoever hitched up their two-horse team and paid for that first plate in 1878 remains anonymous. |