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.

Thompson's Rifle Battalion, Carlisle, Cumberland County

I'm a bit shook, as the kids today like to say. Tomorrow evening I'll be giving my first on-camera interview since Laury's Island was published back in 2020. Alton Northrup, of WHTM ABC 27 in Harrisburg, was introduced to my blog by Kaylee Lindenmuth of the Shenandoah Sentinel and he wants to ask me some questions about it. Unlike last week's disappointment with the publisher scam, this one's legitimate and actually going to happen. I still haven't decided what I'm going to wear. (Thank you, Kaylee!)

Meanwhile, a post! This week's topic ended up being a bit more complex than I expected. It's actually spread across four different markers in four different counties, although this is the primary one and the others are sort of supplemental material, if that makes sense. I don't have the other three, but I'll give them posts when I do and connect them with this one. The other markers are about some of the companies which served in this battalion of lore, so I'm sure they've got some interesting stories of their own. As I've said in a few other posts, Pennsylvania is a treasure trove of American firsts, and this is no exception: we provided the Revolutionary War with the very first battalion authorized by Congress itself. (And really, is anyone surprised by that?) To put it another way, the Army of the United States was born here.

Oliver Pollock, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County

I've decided to do something a little different for a future blog post. On reddit they sometimes host "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) sessions with various individuals based on their occupations or other life experiences, and I thought it might be interesting to do something like this here. So leave a comment - anonymous if you prefer - asking me anything you've ever wondered about what I do regarding this blog. The questions can be about the markers themselves, about my so-called adventures collecting them, people I've met, things I do or do not do, my cats, my books, and so on. As long as it's a reasonable inquiry, I'll most likely answer it. I'm not sure when I'll post all the answers, it'll depend on how many questions I get and how soon.

Meanwhile, for this week's quest, we're going over a marker I collected two and half years ago. When time permits, Kevin and I like to go marker-hunting in Cumberland County after a meeting of our Sherlock Holmes club, the White Rose Irregulars, and this was one of the results of such a hunt. I will admit that part of the reason it's taken me so long to write about this one is that there's a insignificant portion of the gentleman's history that makes me decidedly uncomfortable.

However, what I didn't learn until much later was that this largely-forgotten figure of the American Revolution has a much bigger claim to fame than anything mentioned on his historical marker, and I'm genuinely surprised that it's not included. He devised a little something that we here in the United States use pretty much every day, but I think it's fair to say that most of us barely give it any thought. It's just something we're taught when we're young and use for the rest of our lives and we rarely, if ever, question its origins.

I'm about to introduce to you the man who invented the dollar sign.

Gen. John Armstrong, Carlisle, Cumberland County

Happy Memorial Day! Take that however you like - either belated (for Memorial Day observed) or early (for the actual holiday).

This past weekend, husband Kevin and I went to Cumberland County for a meeting of the White Rose Irregulars of York. The weather throughout May has been rather hit or miss this year, but we had a beautiful day on Saturday, so after the literary gathering we wandered off in search of history. After studying my list of which markers are where, we decided to travel just a bit more westward and visit the community of Carlisle.

I mostly know Carlisle as being the home of Jim Cheney, my fellow Keystone State enthusiast who runs UncoveringPA.com. I'm pretty sure I've passed through the outskirts at least once or twice, but I have never (as far as I can remember) actually gone there until now. Carlisle dates its founding to 1751, so it's not surprising that it's home to a fairly large number of PHMC markers, most of which are related to the American Revolution. I believe we collected about half of the markers to be found there, and only gave up the hunt because we wanted to be home for supper. 

I have since been pondering the question of which one I wanted to use for this week's post, and it hasn't been an easy decision. Literally every marker we collected is fascinating. I finally settled on today's subject because it answered a question I didn't realize I had never asked, which is this: who is the eponym of Pennsylvania's Armstrong County?

Silver Spring Presbyterian Church, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County

The temperatures are above freezing. I even heard a rumor that we could exceed 40 degrees tomorrow, which after last week feels like a prospective heat wave.

This is one of those blog posts that I have sincerely looked forward to writing ever since I collected the marker. But I knew it was going to be one that required a lot of attention and care, because of the sheer amount of information that was available just at the site alone, and I've been saving it for a week when I could devote myself to it properly. 

It seems that this is the week. So join me for a trip back in time almost three hundred years, to meet some of the Cumberland Valley's earliest European transplants and to visit what must be one of the loveliest and most historic churches in the commonwealth. My apologies to my mobile readers, because this one will be a little heavy on the images. As always, you can click on any image to see a bigger version of it.

Simpson Ferry Road, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County

So we've been in a drought for much of the summer, and yes, we needed the rain we got last week. It's my considered opinion, however, that we did not need it all at once. I hope that those of you who gave the "Rainy Day in PA" crossword a try found it enjoyable, it was actually quite fun to make. Happily, the weather this week has been much kinder to me and I've been able to do a lot more of my usual stuff and nonsense.

For this week's quest, we're heading back to scenic Cumberland County to talk about a very old ferry road. The road is still there; the ferry, not so much. This post will probably be one of the shorter ones because in all honesty, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information about the subject, but I'm going to share what I was able to find.

Union Church, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County

Again, I really want to say how much I appreciate all the support I've received for the podcast. I haven't gotten a ton of feedback, but every single scrap I've been given has been very positive. Some of it even came from people I don't know personally! If you haven't checked it out already, please investigate this page for all the details. I posted a new episode yesterday featuring a surprise cameo by one of my cats; he's taking his newfound fame in stride.

We're coming down to the wire for Zenkaikon, at which I'll be doing three history-related presentations - two about Lancaster, where the con takes place, and one about Celtic mythology and its relationship with modern media. It's crunch time and the panic is starting to set in, because my to-do list for the two weeks remaining is out of control. I think I picked a bad year to give up soda for Lent, because I desperately need some caffeine!

Well, in the interest of getting at least one thing checked off of that list, let's have a blog post, shall we? This week I'm taking you back to beautiful Cumberland County to learn about the oldest public building in Mechanicsburg, and the many ways it has served the community for nearly two hundred years. Please note that the images in this post turned out inexplicably large, so I had to shrink them in order to make the page readable; just click on them if you'd like to see bigger versions.

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.

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.