History Endangered: Can the Shrine Be Saved?

This isn't the blog post I had intended to write today, but it's the one that I'm writing because... well, to put it bluntly, I'm upset.

A while back, my friend John, who lives in Allentown, contacted me to say that the Liberty Bell Shrine on Hamilton Street was in trouble. My regular readers may recall that the old Zion's Reformed Church is where the Liberty Bell was concealed for safekeeping during the American Revolution; for sixty years, a museum has been maintained in the church basement to celebrate this fact. Last summer they got a PHMC marker and I attended the dedication ceremony. At the time, attendance in the church was dwindling, due to an aging congregation, and they were expecting to sell the building.

John was letting me know that the museum was in danger of not surviving the forthcoming transition. As a member of the museum, I was concerned; however, due to various schedule conflicts I didn't have a chance to follow up on his tip, and what I had heard from other sources was that the buyers of the church were interested in maintaining the museum's presence, so I thought it was one of those things that would work itself out.

I have always been a little too optimistic.

Pennsylvania Match Factory, Bellefonte, Centre County

We've had suspiciously decent weather in recent days. February feels more like early April. I'm not sure I trust it, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

For this week's quest, we're heading back to beautiful Centre County, which I visited with husband Kevin last summer on his birthday trip. The weather was much more predictable on that occasion, since one generally knows what to expect from July, and we were charmed by the county seat of Bellefonte. The community has a lot of markers, including one for what I hadn't realized was once a major industry in central Pennsylvania.

Harold L. Ickes, Altoona, Blair County

Back in the saddle this week - I ended up having to take last week off from blogging, as my Facebook followers know, because I was hit with a sudden and unpleasant stomach bug. I did manage to get the February newsletter out at least, though, so if you didn't get your copy of that you can find it here.

So let's get into what would have been last week's post if I'd felt well enough to pull it together! The gentleman being profiled today was a key member of Franklin Roosevelt's cabinet and a fierce defender of the great outdoors. He also has a fictional claim to fame that I think might be unique to him among all Pennsylvanians, although I could be wrong.