Wednesday, June 29, 2022

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.

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

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.

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

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.

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

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.

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

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.