Marker Dedication: Marshalls Creek Explosion

This past Monday I finally got to attend a marker dedication ceremony for the first time all year. These ceremonies will unfortunately be few and far between for a while - although the PHMC did approve a number of new markers for 2023, they are actually suspending the marker program for the time being, due to supply issues and other difficulties. So several of the newly approved markers have their dedication ceremonies "TBA" for the time being. This page will always show the most up-to-date information on when and where markers are being dedicated. But this Monroe County marker was ready in time for a particular anniversary, which meant a lot to many of the people there for the ceremony.

I'll be talking about the actual Marshalls Creek explosion in next week's post, so I'm not going to get into much of it today, but it claimed six lives and greatly impacted the entire Marshalls Creek area - and eventually, the country as a whole. But I can tell you that I had actually never heard of it until the marker was approved, so Monday was quite a learning experience for me.

Logan House, Altoona, Blair County

I'm waiting on confirmation about my work schedule, but if all goes as planned, I'll be in East Stroudsburg next Monday to attend a marker dedication. So there's a strong likelihood that next week's post will be about that. I still haven't been able to get up to Schuylkill County as I'd hoped, although there's a good chance I'll be able to do that very soon.

Meanwhile, let's take a trip out west to Blair County and the historical downtown section of Altoona. Today's marker is one that I was actually not able to find - when husband Kevin and I were there last year for his birthday, we did search for this one, but had no luck with it. However, my pal Kaylee of the Shenandoah Sentinel was recently out that way and got pictures of it, which she very kindly shared with me, so she's joining the list of guest photographers today with her contribution to this post.

Like so many buildings commemorated on PHMC markers, the hotel called Logan House is long gone, but it has left its mark on history in a very singular fashion.

Boyertown Burial Casket Company, Boyertown, Berks County

Happy Flag Day!

I had hoped that this week I'd be bringing you all the details of the new marker up at Fighter's Heaven in Schuylkill County, but between the poor air quality of last week, the lingering sinus issues I developed as a result, and my day job, I just didn't get the chance to go there. 

Instead, for this week's quest, it's the first time all year that I'm repeating a county! We're going back to Berks County, which was the location of the first post of the year, to find out the answer to a question I couldn't help asking: exactly why does a casket company, of all things, have a historical marker? 

Graceanna Lewis, Phoenixville, Chester County

It's a weird day in Pennsylvania today; we've all been urged to stay inside as much as possible. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires is affecting the whole state, and I live in the area that's been flagged as code red rather than code orange. I just hope everyone is staying safe. 

I really thought I was coming to the end of my ability to do a different county each week - the fact that I made it all the way to June without repeating one is quite something! But the bff Andrea and I had some free time last Tuesday, so we took a drive to Chester County and I'm now debuting my first marker from that locale. I wasn't able to attend the marker dedication this past weekend for Fighter's Heaven in Schuylkill County (they changed the date to one when I wasn't available), but I'm hoping I might get to take a run up there and get a picture of it fairly soon - it'll depend partly on this smoke situation. So next week you can either anticipate a Schuylkill post or else the first repeat county of 2023.

For this week, we're looking at the interesting life of a Quaker woman who battled both gender discrimination and slavery, while still finding time to make art.