Andrew G. Curtin, Bellefonte, Centre County

It's been an unexpectedly busy week! As I mentioned last time, I was recently interviewed by Alton Northup of the Harrisburg affiliate of ABC News. He was doing a piece about places that claim that "George Washington slept here" and my pal Kaylee Lindenmuth recommended that he contact me. We had a wonderful conversation and his article is now live, so definitely check it out here.

I also came across a surprising discovery on YouTube. I found a video about Thaddeus Stevens, whom I've often mentioned as being one of my favorite historical figures. Much to my surprise, about a year ago a video was produced about him using this blog as one of the sources! I'm very happy to have contributed, however unknowingly, to helping Thad's legacy spread in this way. You can watch the video here. I guess I'm going to have to create a page for listing places where I find MQ in other media.

Meanwhile, this week we're going to venture back to lovely Bellefonte, in Centre County, and talk about one of the individuals who grew up to be the governor of our fair commonwealth. 

Abraham Lincoln, Harrisburg, Dauphin County

I probably don't need to tell very many of you this, but it is cold here. We had several inches of snow dumped on us this past weekend, followed by two days of single-digit temperatures, and they're predicting an extremely bad snowstorm for this coming weekend too. I'm already expecting to call out of work on Sunday, since as of right now the snow is projected to start sometime Saturday night and not stop until sometime on Monday. Currently my plans for the event involve soup, cats, computer games, and maybe a little crafting - basically not a whole lot of movement.

For now, though, let's visit a different winter. This blog post is going to be on the relatively short side, because I'm not finding a great many sources about it, but it's nevertheless very interesting and worth examining. While he was on his way to be inaugurated as President in 1861, the great Abraham Lincoln had a stop in our capital city and gave two speeches - one short, one longer.

Celestia, Laporte, Sullivan County

A week later than it should be, but we have a blog post! The weather recently in my corner of the commonwealth has had a negative impact on my health, particularly the coastal storm that threatened to dump a few inches of rain on us. (It didn't, but I still felt it coming.) So there was no way I was going to get a post up last Wednesday, and between one thing and another I just never got to it during the rest of the week either. But I'm better this week, so it's back to business as usual.

I'm sure that my contact Melly at the Sullivan County Historical Society has been waiting for a new post from her neighborhood. She was a wonderful tour guide when Kevin and I visited a few months ago for his birthday, and I think it's time I shared more of what we learned on that trip. Pennsylvania has its share of ghost towns and abandoned settlements, and Sullivan County in particular has a few, one of which has a PHMC marker. It has a pretty unique history. I don't currently have photos to share, as we weren't able to visit during our trip, but I hope to make a return journey to Sullivan County and see it then.

Market Square, Harrisburg, Dauphin County

You all are amazing! When I updated last week, I said that the blog was about to reach 17,000 hits for the month. Well, apparently some of you took that as a challenge, because July ended with more than 18,000. (Think we can get 20,000 this month? Let's find out.)

As my Facebook followers may have seen, I took the leap and started an Instagram account for the blog. I have never used Insta before and I have practically no idea what I'm doing, but let's see how it goes. If you're on that app, please consider giving MQ a follow - you'll find it here. Not much there just yet but I'm trying.

For this week's quest, I realized it's been months since we talked about anything in Dauphin County, so I decided a look at Harrisburg's early days was in order. As you might expect, it looked very different than it does today.

John F. Hartranft, Fagleysville, Montgomery County

I ended up skipping last week, and as my Facebook followers may have seen, I blamed it on the holiday. That was only partly the reason. It had more to do with the fact that my beloved great-aunt Gene, the last surviving sibling of either of my maternal grandparents, was in her final days. A true patriot who loved her country, she was born on Memorial Day and died on the Fourth of July, one hundred years old (plus a few weeks) and feisty to the end. She was also a great reader and fond of history, so while she didn't read this blog, she enjoyed my book about Laury's Island and loved to hear about my adventures when I would be out doing research for my posts. I visited her often and I already miss her.

I would have liked to tell her about my little adventure from this past weekend, when I collected the marker of today's post. I was able to get three in all, but they were actually a side quest for a change, because I was in Montgomery County for a completely different reason. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I attended Kutztown University, and during that time I was a member of the (now defunct) Medieval & Renaissance Club. It's been several years since I had seen most of them, literal decades in some cases, but on Sunday there was an enormous reunion party and that was what lured me down that way. It was a truly extraordinary gathering, and in some respects it was as though no time had passed at all. There was a universal agreement that we can't let so much time pass again, and I think we'll be holding reunions a few times a year going forward. Thanks, everyone, I don't think I realized how much I had missed the club until you were all in front of me like that.

But before the party got started, I picked up this marker about one of our governors. The location mentioned on the marker is a bit of a mystery, though, which is interesting.

York County

Last week's playful foray into the roasting of this blog by ChatGPT seems to have amused many of you as much as it amused me, and I'm glad. It helps me stretch out my dwindling list of markers that much farther. There are, of course, more than two thousand of 'my' markers here in Pennsylvania, so I still have plenty more to cover - I'm just running out of my supply of markers I've collected. I haven't had opportunities to go marker-hunting since October or so. But Zenkaikon is now only a month away, so I'll be able to grab markers between my home and Lancaster, and since we were able to get our hotel room for an extra night, we can take a leisurely route home afterward and get some that are a bit more out of the way.

In the meantime, though, there are still a few weeks in which blog posts need to be made. So without further ado, let's take a look at the circumstances which ultimately gave us scenic York County.

Hummelstown Brownstone Quarries, Hummelstown, Dauphin County

Happy New Year! This post was meant to go up much sooner, but the year has been off to a bit of a wonky start for multiple reasons, including my husband being sick and me struggling with pain issues due to the polar vortex temperatures. (Danged arthritis and sinus headaches.) But I made it through another holiday season in retail with my sanity mostly intact and my hair only a little more gray than it already was, so I'm taking the wins where I can find them. And given how truly awful January has already been for some parts of the country and the world, that's really all any of us can do. 

Meanwhile, we've still got plenty of Pennsylvania history to uncover in the coming year, so we might as well get started. As you may remember, I had a marvelous day exploring in Dauphin County last summer with my college friend AmyBeth, and this is the second of the two Hummelstown markers. Besides, it's so bitterly cold and windy here lately that it does me a bit of good to remember that hot July afternoon.

Phoenix Iron Company, Phoenixville, Chester County

The May newsletter is out! If you're not already subscribed, you can read it here. (But please consider subscribing.)

This Friday, May 3rd, I'll be heading to my birth city to attend the marker dedication ceremony for the Allentown State Hospital. It was originally supposed to be held last fall but got rescheduled, and I only just found out a few days ago that it was set for this week! They've scheduled a few more dedication ceremonies throughout the coming summer, so be sure to check the official calendar to see if any of them are happening near you.

Meanwhile, for the first quest of the fifth month, let's travel to Chester County and take a look at the history of a company which, like the bird for which it was named, emerged from its own ashes repeatedly over almost two centuries before finally closing its doors.

W. W. H. Davis, Doylestown, Bucks County

First, happy capital day to the city of Lancaster! As you may remember, it was on this day in 1777 that Lancaster became the capital of the United States... and lost the designation one day later. The Founding Fathers, having taken refuge in Lancaster as the British captured Philadelphia, decided to put the Susquehanna River between themselves and anyone who might be pursuing them, and relocated the capital to the city of Yorktown (now just called York). 

I couldn't quite decide what to write about for this week's quest, so I put up a poll for the blog's Facebook followers and asked them to make the choice for me. Much to my surprise, it ended in a tie, which was no help to me at all! So I resorted to that time-honored method of making a decision, flipping a coin, and the result is today's post. (If you voted for one of the other two options, don't worry - they'll both be appearing in October.) Join me for a look at the life of one of Bucks County's most celebrated sons - a veteran of two wars, prolific author, and prominent Doylestown resident.

Irving Female College, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County

My bff Andrea and I are spending part of today attending the marker dedication for the Haines Shoe House in York County. So next week I'll be telling you about our adventures, and then the following week I'll be telling you about the marker and the house. That'll bring us into August, and those of you who subscribe to the monthly newsletter will be getting a big one because I may have sort of forgotten to send the one for July. (If you're not subscribed, there's plenty of time to sign up before the new one comes out - just use the handy little form on the right side of the blog. It's 100% free.)

Meanwhile, for today, I thought I'd head back to Cumberland County and take a look at a very interesting institute of higher learning. It's not a school anymore, but for a few decades it was one of the best places for a young woman to be educated, and at a time when only about 2% of women were attending college at all, that was an especially noteworthy feat.

John A. Sutter, Lititz, Lancaster County

First, thank you to everyone who shared last week's post about the Marshalls Creek explosion and the search for surviving relatives and friends of the victims. If you haven't seen it, please do check it out and pass it on to anyone you think might be able to help with that.

For this week's quest, we're heading out to Lancaster County thanks to some help from my pal Jon, the Hometown Historian. We both were researching this gentleman last year, and we had amusingly opposite experiences. I was in Lititz on a bitterly windy day in February and was able to get photos of the marker, while he was there later in the year and was able to get photos of the gravesite. But I hadn't found the grave, and he hadn't found the marker, so naturally we teamed up and traded pictures. You can find the video he made in my sources section at the bottom of the post. Thanks, Jon!

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.

The Angel of Gettysburg, Gettysburg, Adams County

Greetings, friends! I'm preparing this post in advance, because I'm going away on vacation with my parents and best friend Andrea for a week. I will actually be in Mexico at the time I would normally be blogging on a Wednesday morning.

(How are things in the future? Do we have hover cars yet?)

Kevin is at home caring for our kitties, and as I was trying to get ready, I realized that I was running out of time to get everything done. So he suggested that I do something unusual given the unusual circumstances. Therefore, rather than a marker backstory, I'm going to instead tell the backstory behind one of the many statues in Gettysburg. This article was originally published at the now-defunct Herstory Club, and when the website folded I lost most of my contributions. I did manage to save this one, though, and I'm sharing it with all of you. This is the story of one woman who, though she probably didn't see herself that way at the time, became a true hero of the American Civil War.

Bethlehem Steel Plant, Bethlehem, Northampton County

Zenkaikon was - as always - exactly what the doctor ordered for me. My presentation about "The Red Rose City: A History of Lancaster" (and also my second presentation about Welsh history and language) went extremely well and I was very excited! I had wonderful attentive audience members who asked great questions and really wanted more stories, so I've promised to come back next year and provide them. Hello to everyone who has found their way here because of the convention, and thank you for checking out my passion project!

The April newsletter went out a few days ago - if you haven't seen it yet, you can find it here. I'm hoping to do something interesting for my subscribers in the coming months, so please consider subscribing. (It's free!)

I came back from the convention and got sucked right into a week of work, so I just had no time to do a blog post last week. Heck, I barely remembered to get the newsletter done. But this week I'm going to stay right here in my adopted county of Northampton, and take a look at one of the Lehigh Valley's biggest industry titans of bygone days. Bethlehem Steel has a couple markers, actually, which we'll be examining in coming posts; today, we're going to visit the actual plant... or what's left of it. This post has more pictures than usual, simply because I have been there so many times and taken so many pictures.

The Union League of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County

The next few weeks are going to be very busy for me - not only do I have Zenkaikon coming up next week, but in April I'll be on a family trip out of the country. (No marker hunting? What do normal people do on vacation?) Throw in the job, the writing gigs, the book I'm trying to finish... well, there's a reason I'm actually working on this blog post the night before it goes live instead of on Wednesday morning.

I'm not complaining, though. I do like to keep busy. Now if it would just stop snowing...

For today we're going back to that very un-snowy day last August, when my mother treated the BFF and me to a day in Philadelphia and helped me catch some markers there. This was one of the markers I spotted while we were riding on the upper level of a double-decker bus tour; for that reason, my current photo of the marker is not the clearest, and I promise to replace it with a better one at the first opportunity.

Cumberland Valley Railroad, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County

Many thanks to everyone who shared and commented on last week's post! I'm sure the good folks at the Liberty Bell Museum will be grateful that so many people have taken an interest in the museum's precarious situation, and I truly hope that we can make a difference.

Just a quick reminder that it's the first of the month, which means the newsletter has gone out with links to all of the February posts. To read it online, click here - and please do consider subscribing, it's free and sometimes there is exclusive content.

For today's post, I'm introducing the first new county of 2023. This past Saturday, Kevin and I made our way to Mechanicsburg for a meeting of our beloved Sherlock Holmes club, the White Rose Irregulars. After the meeting, we amused ourselves with running around the community collecting markers, and managed to get almost all of them. As a reward for his help, I treated him to some incredible homemade ice cream at Urban Churn Creamery. (I had the honey lemon lavender, and all I can say is that it's a good thing this place isn't closer to our house, because I'd go bankrupt.) This was the first of the seven markers we got that day, and we were a little chagrined that we were about twenty minutes too late to go inside the building in question.

John F. Reynolds, Lancaster, Lancaster County

A quick congratulatory shout-out to my pal the Hometown Historian, who just reached 1,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel. So proud of you, Jon, keep up the great work!

As I write this, there's just a little more than two months separating me from Zenkaikon, my annual gift to myself. Each year (except when things like a global pandemic prevent it) I travel to beautiful downtown Lancaster to join my fellow nerds from all over in a long weekend of costumes, pageantry, and general mayhem as we celebrate all the different forms of media we love. It's very important to me.

This year, I'm deeply gratified to be able to say that I've become kind of an official and permanent part of the convention, in my own way. At last year's closing ceremony, during the feedback session, an out-of-town participant suggested that the con staff create a sort of primer about Lancaster's history. And since they already have someone right in their midst who will take any opportunity to ramble about history in Pennsylvania, they knew just who to call. About Lancaster City went live on the convention website earlier this week and I'm so happy that they welcomed my unique contribution to the program. Many thanks to the con staff, and especially vice-chair Adam, for giving me this opportunity.

Well, since I was already immersed in the history of the Red Rose City, it seemed only natural that this week's post should continue in that direction. The story of this gentleman begins in Lancaster and ends in Gettysburg, but there are some who claim that his story still continues to this day. 

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.

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!

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.