Davies and Thomas Company, Catasauqua, Lehigh County

One final reminder: I will be signing copies of Laury's Island: The Lehigh Valley's Forgotten Park at the Laurys Station Volunteer Fire Company's annual Community Day this coming Saturday, September 21st. The event runs from noon to 8 p.m. and will include a ton of activities for kids, plus food vendors, crafters, local non-profits, live music, and more. If you're within driving distance of the Lehigh Valley and this sounds like it might interest you, check out this Facebook page for more information, including the address of the fire station.

As I said on my own Facebook, I will be there until I run out of books. Please help me run out of books. ;)

Speaking of running out, I am genuinely starting to run out of markers! I haven't been able to take too many road trips this summer for various reasons, so I haven't had a lot of opportunities to add to my stash. I do still have a few from prior trips, but I need more. I have a visit planned with a friend next week in Chester County, so that will help. In the meantime, I'm going to start occasionally updating Confessions of a Wandering History Nerd on Wednesdays instead of MQ, just to help my content stretch a bit farther, so look for a new post over there next week. (It'll be about a cemetery, for those of you who like that sort of thing.)

My hometown of Catasauqua put up a new marker last year when I wasn't looking, so for this week's regularly scheduled nonsense, let's go visit my former neighbors and see what we can learn.

Crane Iron Works, Catasauqua, Lehigh County

Before we get into this week's quest, I have a very exciting announcement. Next month I will be celebrating five years running this blog! Over the years it's transitioned from updating twice a month to every week (usually), the day of update has changed, and the whole thing has grown beyond what I had ever dared to hope. I've met fantastic people and had some extraordinary opportunities that I never expected. And a lot of is thanks to you, my loyal readers, who have accompanied me on my quests. 

There's a lot more to come, but the big news is that I'm celebrating my anniversary with a special contest. I'm still finalizing the details, especially with regards to prizes. It's going to be a virtual scavenger hunt, which will send you back through the various quests I've already completed in search of answers. I'll be launching the contest on Monday, May first, and it will run through the blog's actual anniversary on Wednesday, May 24th. Be sure to follow the blog on Facebook and/or subscribe to the email list! That'll give you first crack at signing up to participate. 

Meanwhile, as the anniversary month is about to begin, I'm going to head back to the very first quest (is that a clue? it might be!) and revisit good old David Thomas, the founding father of my hometown and one of the leading industrialists of the 19th century. My terrible sense of humor makes me really want to make a joke about how I certainly hope Crane iron works. If I have to live with that in my head, so do you.

George Taylor, Lehigh and Northampton Counties

Today, we're taking a look at the most famous resident of my Lehigh County hometown of Catasauqua. He had two different houses, and thus has two different markers, but I've never actually managed to see the one in Northampton County. Despite living in the same county, I don't get to Easton very often. Luckily, my biggest fan was in Easton some weeks ago and took some pictures for me, so I get to add another name to my list of guest photographers.

Bryden Horse Shoe Works, Catasauqua, Lehigh County

Before I get started on today's post, I wanted to share something from the PHMC - today, January 15th, is Museum Selfie Day! Do you have a picture of yourself visiting one of Pennsylvania's museums or historic sites? Share it on social media and use the hashtag #MuseumSelfie so they see it! (Somewhat ironically, I do not have any such selfies.)

Growing up in Catasauqua, two things in particular stuck with me in terms of my education. One, I became an excellent speller, mostly in self-defense. Two, the town has a peculiar place in Pennsylvania's history. I mean, it's literally the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, thanks in part to founding father David Thomas. It has, as of this writing, six different PHMC markers, which is kind of impressive when you remember that the town is roughly a mile square in size. Most of the subjects of those markers are fairly well known to me, and indeed I've already covered Father Thomas and George Dery. However, today's subject was one that had me scratching my head a little bit, because what's so special about horseshoes?

Dery Silk Mill, Catasauqua, Lehigh County

I ended up doing this week's blog post a few days later than usual, on account of some bad weather in my area. My internet was extremely unreliable. I appreciate the patience shown by my Facebook followers, and now I'm taking you back to my hometown of Catasauqua for a look at another famous industrialist.

As I mentioned when talking about David Thomas, I grew up in the tiny borough which is proud to be known as the birthplace of the industrial revolution. The first thirtymumble years of my life were spent on Race Street, the town's main drag, which is also home to the Dery Silk Mill - a cornerstone of the company which was once the largest single private producer of silk in the entire world. 

David Thomas, Catasauqua, Lehigh County

Well, they say it's best to start at the beginning. So to start this adventure, I set the quest marker on a small community that used to be known as Biery's Port. It's not the site of the first historical marker placed by the PHMC, or anything like that; it's my hometown, and since that's where I started, it seemed like a logical place to start the show.

Edited 2/20/2024: This blog post is now available as a podcast episode! Learn even more facts about David Thomas, his work, and his family by downloading the episode today at Audio.com, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.