2022 Retrospective, 2023 Plans

Well, here we are again for another end-of-year wrap-up post! As those of you who have been with me for a while know, I like to end the blogging year with a final post which shares some facts and figures related to the blog, acknowledges certain persons, and talks about what I have in mind for the coming year. Also, because I work in retail, I've developed the habit of doing this at the end of November so that I can take the month of December off from blogging. I do miss it and look forward to getting back to it in January, but at this time of year - between helping frantic customers (and coworkers), doing my own holiday preparations, and dealing with unpredictable Pennsylvania weather - I need all the extra sleep I can get.

In last year's post I made the comment that 2022 didn't even sound like a real year. I think 2023 sounds even less like one. 

Anyway, let's wrap up the year together!

Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County

Here we are, the final blog post of 2022! Well, almost - next week I'll be sharing my annual wrap-up post, where I talk about the statistics of the blog and the new friends I've made and what I've got in mind as I head into the next year. I will then be radio silent, apart from occasional posts on Facebook, for the month of December. (Why? Because as my longtime readers know, my day job is retail. That pretty much says it all.) In 2023, I'll be heading into my fifth year of this blog, which kind of astounds me.

We're going to close out the active blogging year with a visit to a place that has been gone for many years. Unlike many of the buildings I've profiled on this blog, however, this one is like the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - I've actually been inside. I grew up roughly an hour's drive away from Philadelphia, depending on traffic anyway, and the two big settings for much of anything in those days were Veterans Stadium and the Spectrum Arena. Nothing else really compared to the two. Both were part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex; both were home to Philadelphia pro sports teams (baseball and football at the Vet, hockey and basketball at the Spectrum); and both were popular venues for concerts and other large-scale events. Both are also gone.

First Iron Rails, Danville, Montour County

It took me longer than usual to finish putting this together, partly because a storm knocked out my internet for a few hours at one point in the week. But it's mostly because we're heading into that time of year where everything happens all at once, especially since I'm in retail, which is why last year I decided to take the month of December off from blogging. I'll be doing that again this year, so look for the annual wrap-up post at the end of the month.

Anyone who's been reading this blog (or any of the other countless sources of information about our commonwealth) for a while knows that Pennsylvania is full of firsts. During my visit to Montour County earlier this year, I encountered this one, which is probably one of the lesser-known firsts, but railroad enthusiasts might be familiar with it.

Railroading in the United States dates back to around 1830, at which time the first locomotives were brought here from Europe. By that point, railroads had been in general use in England's northeast landscape for roughly twenty years. These earliest trains were drawn by horses (hence the use of the term even today of "horsepower"), and then later engines used steam or, more commonly, coal. Railroad tracks, meanwhile, were another story, and they're the focus of this week's quest.

Indian Jasper Quarries, Vera Cruz, Lehigh County

I've been wanting for some time to do this post, but my past attempts to visit the location in question never worked in my favor. But that ended up being a good thing! The Longswamp Township Historical Society invited their members and the general public to join them on a visit to the Upper Milford Historical Society to learn about the jasper quarries of the Lenni Lenape, and so off I went.

Our guides were John Fegley and Neil Moser of the UMHS, and as Neil put it, they "learn something new every week" in the organization. John in particular is an absolute fount of knowledge about the jasper quarries, which are so much the pride of the area that the community of Vera Cruz uses a jasper arrowhead as its emblem. 

Fort McClure, Bloomsburg, Columbia County

There's some interesting news from the PHMC, the ones who keep putting up these markers and therefore give me something to do in this blog each week. They've launched a new initiative called the PA Humanities Discovery Project, which they describe as "an effort to map, network, and celebrate Pennsylvania's wonderfully rich humanities landscape," and they're looking for informative contributions from historians, preservationists, archaeologists, and anyone else who works with Pennsylvania's heritage. To find out more, and possibly contribute your own experiences, check out their article here.

For this week's quest, we'll head back to scenic Columbia County. When I wrote about Fort Wheeler back in August, I mentioned that the story of Moses Van Campen continued in the history of Fort McClure, so let's resume telling that tale.

Leap-the-Dips, Altoona, Blair County

My apologies to anyone who missed a post last week. I had entirely too much happening at one time and I just couldn't give the blog the attention it deserved. Things are a bit calmer this week, though, so let's head back to beautiful Blair County. You might remember that I was there in July to celebrate my husband Kevin's birthday. 

Kevin is a big fan of roller coasters. I am not, mostly because I'm prone to motion sickness and I also have chronic pain. But Altoona happens to be the home of the oldest roller coaster still operating in the world, and said roller coaster happens to have a historical marker, so I said "Happy birthday, dear," and off we went.

Fort Norris, Kresgeville, Monroe County

"Pennsylvania in October is so beautiful it breaks your heart."

My best friend Andrea and I went on a trip to Monroe County yesterday in order to gather some more markers. We stopped for lunch at the Chestnuthill Diner in Brodheadsville; while at the table by myself, I was gazing outside at the trees and admiring the changing colors, and that was the thought which went through my mind. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for the purpose. I'm fattening up my hoard of markers for the coming winter, so that when I'm snowbound (as I'm likely to be at some point) I can still keep sharing the commonwealth's history with you.

Today we'll take a look at the story of Fort Norris. I mentioned this one in a few other fort-related posts; it was one of the 'chain' of forts commissioned by Benjamin Franklin to defend Pennsylvania's settlers from Native American attacks during the French and Indian War.

St. James Episcopal Church, Lancaster, Lancaster County

I'm going to start today's post with my super exciting news of the day, which is that the lovely folks at the Columbia-Montour Visitors Center have graciously given me space in the autumn issue of their quarterly magazine. And when I say they gave me space, I mean they gave me three full-color pages. This magazine is chock-full of interesting things to read and discover about those two beautiful counties, and I'm very honored to be included in what they do! You can find it on the web here, and consider subscribing to receive it in your email.

The remnant of Hurricane Ian has been dumping more than a little rain on my area for the last four days, and I've been hurting an awful lot. (My longtime readers know that I'm one of those "my body is a barometer" people. Worst superpower ever.) So this post is going up later than planned because I just haven't had the energy to put it together at the usual time; but I'm looking outside at some sunshine for the first time since Friday, which is very encouraging. Meanwhile, let's take a virtual trip to a place that's always sunny in my mind, if not in fact - beautiful Lancaster.

Eckley Miners' Village, Weatherly, Luzerne County

Recently I did something that I haven't done in a while. As I mentioned last week, the PHMC held a free admission day this past Saturday at all of the historical sites they personally superintend. Well, it happened to work out that nobody was available to go with me for one reason or another, so I ended up going all by myself to my destination of choice up in Luzerne County. I don't often go on quests alone, mostly for health reasons, but I had a great day with beautiful weather and was even able to make a couple side quests to collect additional markers.

My main objective was to pay a visit to Eckley Miners' Village Museum, which I have long wanted to see; and after carefully navigating some hairpin turns up into the mountains, I reached my destination in time to join the 11 a.m. walking tour. Our tour guide was a wonderful retired miner who has been doing research about the region for more than fifty years. He was lovely (I regret not getting his name) and I learned a lot from him. I apologize to my mobile readers, because I took so many pictures in Eckley that this post has more than the usual number.

Daniel Alexander Payne, Gettysburg, Adams County

Don't forget that this coming Saturday, September 24th, is Free Admission Day at all participating Pennsylvania Trails of History sites! I'm hoping to head up to Eckley's Miners Village, because every other time I've planned to go there I've had to cancel. Check out this page for a list of participating sites, and indulge yourself in some free history near you.

Meanwhile, my new friend the Hometown Historian has produced the start of a new playlist, in which he features YouTube channels and other sites which provide him with information and inspiration. I am extremely touched to be featured in this first video, which can be found here; I'm "last but not least" in quite a bit of illustrious company, so definitely check out some of the other recommendations he makes too!

As for today, we'll take a look at a gentleman who spent an important chunk of his life in Gettysburg, but isn't famous for being connected to the battlefield.

Reed's Fort, Annville, Lebanon County

So today's blog post took a weird turn as I was collecting my sources. As I was searching for information online as I do every week, I came across a YouTube video from nearly a year ago, part of a series related to the PHMC markers. "Cool," I thought, "I can watch this and see what the Hometown Historian has to say about Reed's Fort!" And so I started to do exactly that, and then I got about two minutes into the video and had to stop because I was completely gobsmacked.

I have the video linked down below, so you can see it for yourself, but the long and short of it is that the good Hometown Historian talks about this blog. This one. The one you are reading right now. He couldn't remember what it was called, but given that my work is extremely niche I think it's fair to say that there's no other blog it could have been. He had some very nice things to say about it and I'm extremely flattered, so thank you, sir! We're corresponding and will possibly be collaborating on something in the future.

Researching this one has been a wee bit tricky, because Reed's Fort and Fort Reed are two completely different places. They both have markers, so we'll get to Fort Reed whenever I finally make my way to Clinton County. Today, we're looking at Reed's Fort.

Abolition Hall, Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County

As you may have seen in the latest newsletter (please forgive the typos I only noticed after it went out, it was an emotional one for me), I'm spending this week in the company of one of my dearest friends. Rachel, who has contributed to a number of the Bethlehem posts on the blog, is back with us for the occasion of my birthday week, and it takes some of the sting out of getting older. We're having plenty of good nerdy fun with my usual wrecking crew, including having spent Labor Day at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. There's nothing quite like having random strangers in funny costumes walk up to you and start singing birthday songs.

I wanted to give a quick plug here for the upcoming Museum Day, which will be all day long on Saturday, September 17th. Anyone carrying a Museum Day ticket will be granted free admission to participating museums throughout the country! You can download one free ticket per email address, so to get instructions and find out which Pennsylvania museums are taking part in the event, click here. (Not going to be in Pennsylvania? Just uncheck it from the box on the left to see participating museums across the United States.) 

As for today, we're going to meander back down to Montgomery County and pay a visit to a beautiful still-standing structure from the anti-slavery movement. Many thanks to my new contacts at the Historical Society of Montgomery County for their kind remarks and helpful information!

David Salisbury Franks, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County

August has come to an end very quickly. It always does, and I don't know why. Tomorrow I'll be sending out the September newsletter, in which I recap the events of this very topsy-turvy month. (If you don't already receive it, why not subscribe using the form on the right side of the page? It's free and I never ask for a loan. Heck, I don't even ask people to join my Patreon, because I don't have one.) September is my birthday month, and this year I'll be celebrating a little harder than usual - my friend Rachel, who has in the past contributed images and knowledge to some of the Bethlehem posts on this blog, is coming to spend my birthday week with us and we have all sorts of adventures planned. So I'll be scuttling to get next week's post ready ahead of time.

To close out August, let's travel back to Revolution-era Philadelphia, and learn about a man who was wrongfully accused of helping to betray the infant United States.

Anna Wagner Keichline, Bellefonte, Centre County

And this is the last of the 'county firsts' for August! Kevin and I were both absolutely charmed by the little community of Bellefonte, which we visited on our way home from his birthday trip last month; it's picturesque and out of the way, nestled between the mountains of Centre County. We were actually a little sorry that we couldn't stay longer. It seemed like every turn we took brought us to another beautiful building, particularly the Centre County Courthouse, and there were a surprising number of historical markers to be found.

I decided to go with this one for the first Centre County marker because the woman it celebrates is quite extraordinary, and I was curious to learn more about her.

Fort Wheeler, Bloomsburg, Columbia County

It's been a really good month with these 'county first' posts, and I'm happy to observe that my readership seems to be on the rise! So hello to all of my new friends, and a particular wave in the direction of Shane and the rest of the gang at the Columbia-Montour Visitors Center.

We were in Columbia County on our way to Altoona last month, and we stopped in Bloomsburg for lunch and some markers. My husband is an extremely good sport. It would have been neat if Fort Wheeler had still been there for us to see, but I still get to share its interesting history with all of you.

Montgomery House, Danville, Montour County

Continuing this month's trend of county firsts, let's take our first shot at Montour County! This little county has only a handful of markers at present, and I was able to grab roughly half of them while we were on our way to Altoona last month. It's a lovely green landscape with many attractive historic buildings, and Kevin and I definitely want to go back and spend more time there. Sadly, because we were there on a weekday, the building in today's post was not open for tours; but I'm sure it's as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.

Altoona, Blair County

I say it a lot, and think it even more frequently, but I really do believe we live in one of the most beautiful states in the entire country. My recent trip with my husband was a perfect example of that, since out to the west there is so much open space and woodland and mountainous territory. Kevin and I had such a good time on our trip that I've really been looking forward to doing the next several blog posts - most of August is being dedicated to "county firsts"! 

To kick off that plan, I'm going to share a bunch of what I learned about Altoona. Although it's not the seat of Blair County (that honor goes to nearby Hollidaysburg, with its gorgeous courthouse), it does have the distinction of being the only incorporated city in the county, and has a number of interesting aspects to it - historical and otherwise.

Liberty Bell Hiding Place, Allentown, Lehigh County

We have returned triumphant from our trek to Altoona! Kevin and I collected a whopping 22 markers in five counties - Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Centre, and Blair. (We almost added Union and Clinton Counties to the list, but I didn't have my lists handy for those.) It was a lovely trip and he very much enjoyed his birthday celebration, and was an absolute champion about asking me if I wanted to stop for markers. We visited a number of interesting places and I look forward to telling you all about them in future posts.

But first, we're picking up where I left off last time. In last week's post, I talked about my experiences attending a marker dedication earlier in the month at the "Liberty Bell Church" in Allentown. It was a fun event and I was glad to be there. Now this week, I can tell you about the actual history which led to the marker being put there.

Marker Dedication: Liberty Bell Hiding Place

Husband Kevin's birthday is this week, so we're getting ready to head out on our little road trip. The plan is to leave first thing in the morning tomorrow - if I can get my to-do list cleared! That includes updating this blog, of course, so here we are. As part of the lead-up to his birthday celebration, we attended the marker dedication in his home city of Allentown this past Saturday, where the beautiful Zion's Reformed United Church of Christ celebrated their very unique place in history.

Lots of churches have bells. Not too many have had bells underneath their floorboards.

Anthony Sadowski, Douglassville, Berks County

I hadn't planned on taking last week off from blogging. But I delayed the post due to some family stuff that came up, and between that and work I just decided it made more sense to wait until this week to take you all on another quest.

We're returning to Berks County for a trip back in time to when this was the Province of Pennsylvania, and people were lured by William Penn's promise of religious freedom - like this guy was.

Moravian Gemeinhaus and Linden Hall, Lititz, Lancaster County

As I mentioned a while back, my little adventuring party spent a day this past February in scenic and historic Lititz. We had quite a pleasant experience, even though the borough was very quiet and many of its attractions were closed for the winter season, and I'm hoping to go back before the summer ends.

Lititz is a Moravian settlement at its roots, and while I will go into the history of the community itself when I talk about the actual Lititz marker, today we'll take a look at one of its most enduring institutions - a place where young women have been educated and given the keys to their future for almost 300 years.

Slate Industry, Lehigh and Northampton Counties

June is going by entirely too fast. But as an acquaintance of mine recently observed, it always seems to do that for some reason. I've been enjoying the wonderful weather - not something you have seen me post often! The temperatures have been mild and the humidity has been low, so except for my seasonal allergies, this is the kind of weather which is kindest to me.

This week's quest partially takes us back to my grandmother's hometown of Slatington, in northern Lehigh County, to examine the third and final of their historical markers. I already spoke on the subject of Slatington's namesake substance in my post about the First School Slate Factory, but the slate industry itself is more than manufacturing chalkboards. In fact, it has more than one marker, that's how big it was in this region; we're also visiting Bangor in Northampton County.

Eddie Plank, Gettysburg, Adams County

As I mentioned when I wrote about the Pottsville Maroons, I am not the biggest sports fan in the world. I respect the athletes and everything; I just don't find it very entertaining to watch other people play a game. I support the Philadelphia teams more out of proximity than anything, though between the Phanatic and Gritty I also think we have the best mascots. 

Having said that, I can definitely appreciate that sports have had a role in the history of our country and our state, and when I was in Gettysburg for my birthday last year, I discovered the story that I'm sharing with you today. I'd never heard of Eddie Plank, but he's quite the legend in his hometown.

John Walter, Annville, Lebanon County

Before I get into today's subject, I just want to give a shout-out to my fellow local author, Scott Morro. I've mentioned Scott before as having written The Washington Pursuit, an enthralling young adult mystery set in Moravian Bethlehem. He announced on Twitter yesterday that the sequel, The Albrecht Society, will be released later this year and he's anticipating a launch event on August 20th. I very much enjoyed Pursuit and am looking forward to being there. Congratulations, Scott!

Fun fact: Scott's new book actually has a relationship to today's blog post. Well, sort of.

George Nakashima, New Hope, Bucks County

The June newsletter is out, after I had a bit of an argument with the server! Click the link to find out who won the Twitter giveaway and see what other nonsense I've been accomplishing.

Because I was having technical difficulties, I completely forgot to put something very important in the newsletter: the William Tennent House, in Bucks County, is in serious need of funds. William Tennent was the founder of Log College, the first school in the United States for the training of Presbyterian ministers; he was the teacher of George Whitefield, among many others, and his school was a forerunner to such big-name universities as Princeton. The school has a marker, so it'll be discussed in a future blog post, but the William Tennent House Association is trying to raise money to preserve his home and have it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You can help! Click here for details.

Speaking of Bucks County, my best friend Andrea and I closed out the month of May with a day trip to scenic New Hope, which is full of history. Neither of us had ever been there. She was a good sport despite the oppressive heat, and we had a great time exploring the Delaware Canal and poking our noses into some of the shops. 

Unfortunately, a lot of the attractions in New Hope are only open on the weekends, so it wasn't to our best advantage that we went there on a Tuesday. But we did have a wonderful meal at Martine's Riverhouse Restaurant, where we ate delicious seafood (grilled salmon for me, shrimp po'boy for her) while enjoying a beautiful view of the Delaware River. Shout-out to our server John, who was delightful. After collecting markers and doing a bit of shopping, we wrapped up our visit with some excellent homemade ice cream at Moo Hope Ice Cream, so hello to those guys too. I definitely recommend both places (and the borough as a whole) to travelers who want to get off the beaten path.

Before we left, we ventured just outside of New Hope proper to collect this marker. This is the story of a woodworker whose unique vision helped to usher in the American craft movement.

Lehigh Path, Drums, Luzerne County

My sister Lisa went hiking a couple of weeks ago, and while husband Kevin and I were collecting markers in Lebanon County on our way to have lunch with our fellow Sherlockians, she was up in Luzerne County sending me pictures of the Lehigh Path.

Anna Morris Holstein, King of Prussia, Montgomery County

It's a new first for the blog, the first quest in Montgomery County!

I went down to the King of Prussia Mall recently to have lunch with Christine, one of my friends from the old college days. Roughly half a million years ago, we were baby freshmen at Kutztown University, and we hadn't seen each other in quite a while so we had plenty of catching up to do. Christine's a food blogger (she's on my Quest Links page) and also an editor at MontCo Today, so she knows plenty about what goes on in Montgomery County. As a result, she was the one who had first alerted me to a marker dedication happening last fall. Specifically, she's the author of this article about it. Unfortunately, we both had something come up to prevent us from going to the ceremony.

Since we were eating so close to its location, though, I was able to head over there after our fabulous lunch at Maggiano's Little Italy. Christine had to get back to work, but we're talking about going together to get another MontCo marker sometime this summer, so she can see how I do this. (My work is probably less glamorous than anyone thinks. The number one rule: don't get hit by a car. I did that already, a long time ago, and I definitely do not recommend it.)

Much to my surprise, this marker hadn't yet been added to the Historical Marker Database, which my regular readers know I link in every post. I've created a page for it there, but as of this writing it hasn't gone live yet, so I'll have to come back and add the link once it does. Edited 5/20/2022: The page is now live and the link is in the sources section at the end of the post.

U.S. Sanitary Commission Great Central Fair, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County

A friendly hello to the members of the Retro York group on Facebook! They very kindly welcomed me and took great interest in last week's post about York House. 

This week's quest brings us back to Philadelphia, for the second marker that I collected on my last visit. I'll admit this one had me scratching my head a little bit, because I'd never heard of either the organization in question nor the event they operated. But then again, I'm here to learn and then share what I learn.

"York House," York, York County

May the Fourth be with you! This post went up quite a bit later than I intended due to... well, it's hard to put this any other way, but due to a kitten emergency. We had a situation with abandoned two-week-old kittens at my mother's house. I'm happy to report that things have been resolved and the babies are in a good, safe home where they're being well fed and loved.

As the subscribers to the blog's monthly newsletter are aware, I'm running a giveaway over at the new Twitter account. Become a follower of the MarkerQuest Twitter by May 31st and you'll automatically be entered. One lucky winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift certificate, because that way nobody needs to give me their mailing address (which seems to have been a problem with the last giveaway). The winner will be announced in the post and newsletter on June 1st, since that's conveniently a Wednesday.

Meanwhile, let's head back to downtown York and have a look at one of their many exquisite historic houses.

James Buchanan's Birthday, Lancaster, Lancaster County

It's been quite some time since I did a 'special edition' post on this blog, but instead of covering a marker this week, I'd like to tell you all about something you could call marker-adjacent. This past Saturday, April 23rd, was the 231st birthday of James Buchanan - the only President of the United States who was born, died, and is buried in Pennsylvania. Traditionally, there is a ceremony at presidential tombs each year on their birthdays, at which wreaths of red, white, and blue flowers are presented in memory of their years in office. For the last few years, because of the pandemic, these ceremonies have been suspended. This year, Lancaster was able to hold theirs again, and my husband Kevin and I decided to make the trip down there and see what this entailed.

Moravian Community, Bethlehem, Northampton County

Before we dive into this week's quest, I'd just like to draw your attention to something new. As of a few days ago, the blog now has its own dedicated Twitter account! I'm using it to follow assorted historical organizations and news outlets and to help spread the word about events and discoveries in the commonwealth. Of course, I'm also using it to promote the blog itself. So if you've got a Twitter, please give MarkerQuest a follow.

For this week, we're going to mosey back to beautiful downtown Bethlehem and take a look at the Moravian community.

Fisher House, Oley Township, Berks County

I'm deeply pleased with all the attention my last two posts have received. Thaddeus Stevens is such a fascinating person and subject, and I'm so thankful to everyone who took the time to read what I had to say about him.

This week's quest is a much simpler one, at least on the surface. You can blame my weary eyes for it; to quote from a certain ridiculous commercial, "I have special eyes," and they've had to be tested a fair bit this week. So I decided to make the quest a bit easier on them than usual. We collected this marker on the way home from Zenkaikon last month - husband Kevin deliberately took a scenic route home just so I could grab some to keep me busy for a while. 

Thaddeus Stevens, Lancaster, Lancaster County

And here we are for part two of the 230th birthday celebration for Mr. Thaddeus Stevens! I very much would like to thank everyone who has shared the previous post, especially the Thaddeus Stevens Society. This past weekend, they celebrated his birthday by putting up a new statue of the gentleman outside of the Adams County courthouse, and I'll look forward to seeing that the next time I go to Gettysburg. I'm also grateful to my fellow Zenkaikon attendees who expressed interest in this, and who have been so kind as to click the links I'm giving them.

This post will be a little more image-heavy than the first one was, because I have more pictures from Thaddeus's later life. I made them smaller than usual for the post, but you can click on any of the pictures if you want to see the larger versions.

Thaddeus Stevens, Gettysburg, Adams County

As my Facebook followers are aware, I went radio silent for much of the past week due to being on a desperately-needed vacation. For the first time since 2019, my beloved Zenkaikon once again took place at the Lancaster County Convention Center and I was there for the whole thing, participating in discussions about my favorite media and admiring the colorful costumes and hugging people I had not seen in far too long. It is my happy place and I missed it more than I can say. (To use a modern colloquialism: If you know, you know.)

It was originally my intention to do this as a double marker post. However, there is simply too much to say about this particular subject; I can't confine myself to just one. So since there are two markers, in two counties, and a lot to say... you get two posts. The timing of this is deliberate, because the gentleman in question is observing his 230th birthday this coming week, and the two posts will be examining his life and legacy in both Gettysburg and Lancaster. 

Meriwether Lewis, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County

First, thank you to those who wished me a happy anniversary last week! Husband Kevin and I had a very nice day at the Franklin Institute, which he and I have visited many times over the years. They were even so kind as to feature us on their Twitter page that day.

The weather was not entirely compatible with marker hunting, as it rained a lot; however, there are two markers right near the Franklin itself, and I was able to grab both of those before we returned home. This one, which was the first one I spotted, is about a man who opened the western frontier before meeting with a tragic end - and a mystery which has never been solved.

James Smith, York, York County

I'm not often speechless, but I definitely had a few dumbstruck moments upon logging into the blog. Last week's quest, an examination of the work of William G. McGowan, was shared by a number of individuals on Facebook, as well as two large organizations - Anthracite Coal National Park and the Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society. As a result, the hit count catapulted it into the #1 spot on my all-time statistics record! In just six days, it managed to overtake the piece about the Moravian Cemetery in Bethlehem, which is over three years old. I'm truly floored and very grateful for all the shares.

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary, so husband Kevin and I have plans to go down to Philadelphia for the first time in over a year. Catching some Philly markers isn't the focus of the trip, but you can bet it's going to happen, because I'm having a serious problem with the blog - I'm running out of markers. That's not to say that they aren't there (the commonwealth has more than 2,000, as I've noted on other occasions); I just don't have pictures of them. The only county where I've literally run out of markers is Carbon County, since they only have six and I've done them all, but I definitely need more. So this trip to Philly should help.

Meanwhile, for today we're going to head back to scenic York. I've already told you about one signer of the Declaration of Independence who's buried in the city, but there's another one across town.

William G. McGowan, Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County

The weather's continuing to be a thorn in my side. Over the weekend we had temperatures close to 70 degrees, then thunderstorms on Monday, and now it looks like a blizzard here. I know this is Pennsylvania, where the forecasts are made up and the seasons don't matter, but it's getting to be a bit much.

This post has been a tricky one to write - not because it's a delicate topic or anything, but because there's just so much information that it's a real challenge to distill it all into an easy-to-follow article. I don't remember Ma Bell; the major event of this post took place when I was a small child. So in order to understand the life's work of the man in this week's quest, I first had to do a lot of reading about that whole situation.

Matthew S. Quay, Beaver, Beaver County

I'm almost afraid to say anything and possibly jinx things, but we're finally starting to have some decent temperatures around here. I had to skip last week's post because I was down with a severe head cold, no doubt at least partly because of the roller coaster weather we had throughout the month of February. But I did get the March newsletter out on schedule yesterday, so if you aren't subscribed to that and want to check it out, you can find it here.

Meanwhile, let's take a trip out to Beaver County, which I had intended for the end of February, and have a look at the last of the markers sent to me by my kind friend John Robinson.

Fleetwood Metal Body Company, Fleetwood, Berks County

I rather like this latest quest. I've mentioned my grandfather several times in this blog, and one of his hobbies was collecting and learning about vintage and antique cars. He and I were very close; I have fond memories of attending various car shows with him as a child. So I think he would have enjoyed this one.

As I mentioned last week, I had a recent road trip to Lititz in Lancaster County. Because my husband is a rather indulgent sort (which my longtime readers have probably noticed), we veered a bit off course on the way home in order to catch a marker in Berks County. Fleetwood is a small, unassuming community not far from Kutztown, where I attended the university back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but it's had quite an impact on the automotive industry. 

John Siney, St. Clair, Schuylkill County

As you're reading this, I've just returned from my first-ever visit to Lititz, in Lancaster County. Spent some time collecting markers and learning about pretzels, so you'll see some of the pictures from the trip in coming months.

For this week's quest, though, we're heading into the coal country. Mining coal in Pennsylvania remains a big part of our history, as we've already had occasion to note in this blog, and this gentleman's story is a significant thread in the tapestry.

Christian Frederick Martin, Nazareth, Northampton County

Happy Groundhog Day! One of these years I'll get out to Gobbler's Knob and meet the famous Punxsutawney Phil for myself. Yes, there's a marker, but more importantly, there's a cute critter. Anyway, I'm hoping and praying that Phil has promised an early end to winter.

Unfortunately, regardless of what the Seer of Seers decrees, it's still really cold. So let's warm ourselves with some music by visiting the oldest guitar manufacturer in the United States.

A. Mitchell Palmer, Stroudsburg, Monroe County

Between the winter weather and a rather annoying sinus infection, I haven't felt too terrific lately. I hope my readers are in better shape! I'm certainly not sorry to be saying goodbye to January, and they're promising warmer temperatures for the first week of February, so fingers crossed.

I'm sure that as cold as it is here, though, it's much colder up in Monroe County at the gateway to the Poconos, where today's marker stands by the county courthouse.

Hall & Sellers Press, York, York County

I hate winter. I know I say that a lot, but I mean it more than usual this week. This week's quest was delayed by the fact that I took a nasty fall on the ice in my driveway and was pretty banged up for a couple of days. It could have been a lot worse though, I'm okay!

It's been almost a year since I paid my inaugural visit to lovely York, but I've still got plenty of markers to share from that county. So let's head out that way and read about one of Benjamin Franklin's printing endeavors, shall we?

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gettysburg, Adams County

I'm not a big fan of winter, as you might have guessed from previous posts. The temperatures this week have been remarkably unpleasant, even for January. So I'm heading back to my sunny weekend in Gettysburg for today's quest.

I'm sure that Dwight Eisenhower doesn't require much of an introduction. He was a hero of World War II, President of the United States, and so on. I imagine that at least some of my readers are also aware that, after his Presidency, he retired to a beautiful farm on the outskirts of Gettysburg, which today is a historic site toured by thousands of visitors annually. However, that's not where we're going, because that's not where his Gettysburg marker can actually be found.

Charles Demuth, Lancaster, Lancaster County

Happy New Year! It almost feels strange to be updating the blog again, but in a good way. As it turned out, taking a hiatus in December was probably the best thing I could have done, since my regular job was (and still is) a bit topsy-turvy. This unfortunately meant that I didn't really get to go much of anywhere, and I definitely didn't get to collect any new markers. But even so, it's good to be back. I hope all of my readers had a wonderful holiday season.

Meanwhile, for today we'll take a run back to beautiful Lancaster, where I hope to be in several weeks, and learn about a local artist and his unique local roots.