George Croghan, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County

I'm having one of those times where it feels like everything is happening all at once. I've been granted a new role at my beloved Zenkaikon (meaning that I'll be doing more than just babbling about history next year), I'm trying to start stockpiling markers for the winter blog posts, and I've still got a lot of work to do on books. I've also got something really exciting coming up next week, but I'm waiting to announce it until the time is right. Here's a hint, though - see that link I added to the masthead for "MQ in Other Media"? It's going to make a huge addition to the list on that page. I'm trying not to think about it too much so I don't make myself nervous, honestly.

To that end, let's head back in time to the colonial era and talk about an often-forgotten figure. This gentleman started out well, but the American Revolution led to him being caught between the opposing sides, and his reputation took a blow from which it could never fully recover.

Gnadenhütten, Lehighton, Carbon County

As promised, after last week's unusual post, it's back to business as usual. I had hoped to finish my Carbon County book last October, but life has a tendency to get in the way. Between work, health, weather, and the holidays, I haven't gotten it done. But it's almost done. I have two chapters and an afterword left to finish, plus some tweaks I want to make to the finished chapters, and I'm hoping to get it wrapped up in the next few weeks.

So when I was trying to decide what to write about this week, I took a poll on the blog's Facebook account asking if people would rather have a new quest or another sneak peek at the book. It was a close call (things were in a dead heat even when I woke up this morning), but the tie finally broke with one last vote to do a sneak peek. 

The original post about Gnadenhütten remains one of the most popular I've ever done, and I'm extremely proud of how I've fleshed it out in the book. I won't share the entire chapter, but here's a look at some of the detailing, including an image I've never before shared on this blog.

Fort Allen and Fort Allen Well, Weissport, Carbon County

Some of my older readers might be looking at that subject line and thinking this looks familiar. They might even be thinking Laura, are you feeling all right? You wrote this post seven years ago.

I'm fine, thank you. Actually, I'm a little giddy, because I have been making excellent progress on the first book version of this blog! I'm really happy with what I've got so far, I'm about halfway through at this point. The book will contain all of the blog posts about Carbon County, which is thus far the only county in which I've completed posts about all of the markers. (Well, all of them except for the ones related to the Walking Purchase. That's a big hornet's nest that needs special consideration.) The original posts are being expanded, with more information, more images, and - my apologies - more humor.

I recently finished the chapter about Fort Allen and its well, and I thought that as a sneak preview, I'd redo the blog post and put in some of that new stuff. I won't put in all of it, of course, because I have to save some goodies for the finished project. But if you like what you see here, then you have an idea of what I'll be releasing fairly soon!

Provincial Courthouse, York, York County

I'm going to start this week's post with something special. I had an email from John Robinson, longtime reader and occasional guest photographer of the blog, and he had a wonderful idea for something fun for my readers to do. Since I presume most of you are here because you enjoy and care about the PHMC marker program, I'd love to hear about your personal favorites! 

Take a picture of your favorite marker, or one of your favorites if you just can't decide, and email it to me at markerquestblog@gmail.com along with a short explanation of why it's important to you. Maybe you had something to do with getting it added to the Pennsylvania Trails of History, or maybe it's related to your own family tree, or maybe it's a subject that's dear to your heart for some reason. Tell me about it, and for the blog's seventh birthday in May, I'll do a post sharing the stories I receive. I'll accept submissions until Sunday, May 18th (the blog's actual birthday) and put them in the post for Wednesday, May 21st. Let me hear from you! And thanks again, John, for the great idea!

Meanwhile, I have another bit of guest photography from Kaylee Lindenmuth of the Shenandoah Sentinel, since she managed to get out to York County and collect one of the markers I was missing. So let's dive in.

Andrew Ellicott, Lancaster, Lancaster County

Well, it might be another dreary January day in Pennsylvania, but at least it's the last one? Literally, of course, since tomorrow is the start of February. Rumor has it the temperatures might be going up a little bit soon - here's hoping. I'll be sending out the first monthly newsletter of 2024 tomorrow too, so if you don't already subscribe, now's the perfect time.

I'm slightly panicked because I now have just under two months until I return to my beloved Zenkaikon and give presentations about the history of Lancaster. This always happens to me; I jump at a chance to do something, then I get scared that I'm in over my head, and then somehow it all works out. Usually, anyway. So to get back into practice of telling Lancaster stories, we're going to spend today's quest learning about a gentleman who had a house there and contributed greatly to science and exploration back during the early days of our country.

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.

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?

Fort Hamilton, Stroudsburg, Monroe County

First, hello to anyone who is finding their way here for the first time after my book signing this past Saturday! Thank you very much to everyone who turned out to see me. I had a really good time and they're hoping I'll come back again - maybe with a new book. We'll see what shakes out in the coming months.

I'm trying to get a little ahead of myself (instead of constantly feeling like I'm running behind) because the winter holidays are approaching, and since I'm in retail, you can imagine that my free time tends to be at a bit of a premium. So I'm doing my best to create a little bit of wiggle room in terms of having blog posts ready to fire up on a Wednesday. For this week's quest, we're heading back up to lovely Monroe County to have a look at a colonial fort which isn't there anymore.

Fort Franklin, Andreas, Schuylkill County

The Schuylkill County Historical Society is following this blog on Facebook! I was so excited to learn this that I was determined to get to a marker in that county this month, and here we are.

Here's a fun fact which I didn't know until I started researching today's quest. Pennsylvania has actually, at different points in the 18th century, had two different places named Fort Franklin. One was in Venango County, which I've never visited, so I expect to be tackling that subject in a future post. The other, which is today's subject, was the first of its name and stood in Schuylkill County overlooking a scenic valley.

Trucker's Mill, Slatington, Lehigh County

July is almost over, which is jarring to realize when you consider what a weird year this has been. The summer is flying, almost like 2020 itself is in a hurry to be finished. I hope my readers all continue to be well and safe.

Tomorrow would have been my maternal grandmother's 89th birthday if she were still with us, which is also hard to imagine, and she and my grandfather would be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. (Pop always said they got married on her birthday so he didn't have to worry about remembering two different dates. I always said he was the smartest man I ever knew.) So in honor of the occasion, I thought that this week I'd wander back over to Nana's hometown of Slatington, to talk about some of Pop's ancestors. It always sounded a little peculiar in my head, but while it's my grandmother who grew up in the little borough, it's my grandfather whose family founded the place.

Fort Deshler, Whitehall, Lehigh County

Hello and Happy 2019, history fans! I'm looking forward to another year of sharing with you the fascinating stories of our beloved commonwealth. To start us off, I'm back in my native Lehigh County for a marker which I pass almost every day.

A few months ago I told you about Fort Allen, up in Carbon County, which was built during the French and Indian War to help protect the local settlers from Native American raids. In fact, Pennsylvania was home to quite a number of similar forts, most of which are gone. One of these stood in Whitehall, near what today is Route 145, and it was called Fort Deshler.

Fort Allen and Fort Allen Well, Weissport, Carbon County

Edit 8/20/2025: This post has been updated! For the more recent version, click here.

I mostly know Weissport as the little town under the route 209 bridge, which every August hangs up signs advertising their "Redneck Festival" over Labor Day weekend. I also know it from my article about Gnadenhütten, where I mentioned that Weissport was eventually formed from two of the three Moravian settlements by that name. 

In the Gnadenhütten article, I mentioned that Fort Allen was built as a direct result of the attack on the Moravians, and that I'd be getting to that in a later post - and here we are. This is another two-fer, because there are two markers connected to the fort; the well, which is the only part of the fort still existing today, has a marker all its own.

Gnadenhütten, Lehighton, Carbon County

As promised on Facebook, I'm making my first foray into Carbon County with this article, but also keeping with the Moravian theme of the last one. Gnadenhütten (or Gnadenhuetten if you write it without the umlaut) is a German word literally meaning "huts of grace," and this was the name given to many settlements established by the German Moravian church. 

Two such settlements by this name were formed in North America, both of which came to unfortunate ends. "The Gnadenhütten Massacre" specifically refers to the incident in Ohio, in 1782. But a few decades earlier, here in Pennsylvania, there was a similar but smaller massacre in what today is known as Lehighton.

Edited 2/23/2024: This blog post is now available as a podcast episode! Learn even more facts about Gnadenhütten by downloading the episode today at Audio.com, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

Edited 2/4/2026: In preparation for my upcoming book about Carbon County's markers, this blog post is now available in an updated form, which you can find here.