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.

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.

Gettys Crossroads and Tavern, Gettysburg, Adams County

I'll admit I was partly inspired to return to Adams County by recent events. Like many people across the commonwealth and the country, I've been fascinated by the exploits of Kevin Bacon the pig, who escaped from his enclosure a few weeks ago and was on the run. Kevin, who is a beloved pet, never went very far from his Cumberland Township farm home; he would come and eat and then leave again, and it was only last week that his 'mom' managed to catch him at last. He gained national fame as various news outlets picked up his story, and even the human Kevin Bacon took an interest in his namesake's antics. If you somehow managed to miss the nonsense and want to see what all went on, just look for the hashtag #GettysburgKevin on social media.

Happy to have their mischievous porker back where he belongs, Kevin's human parents changed the name of their Facebook page from "Bring Kevin Bacon Home" to "Kevin's Home Adventures" and revealed their plans for the farm, which is chiefly occupied by various rescue animals - they plan on opening their gates to the public, offering programs especially for children and adults with neurodivergence or mental health needs. They're also looking into writing a series of children's books about Kevin! To that end, the Rumbaughs have started a GoFundMe to bring in enough capital to improve the fencing on the farm and purchase some heaters, which will allow them to host hot cocoa events in the winter. If you'd like to help these incredibly nice people achieve their dream of sharing Kevin and his friends with the world, please check out the fundraiser by clicking here.

Well, since Gettysburg Kevin is all the rage, I thought I'd return to the time when my own Kevin and I were in that beautiful little community. Here is the story of how it all began, how an immigrant's tavern at a significant crossroads turned into a bustling borough, long before the battle which gave the community its biggest claim to fame.

Old Courthouse, Gettysburg, Adams County

It's a snowy day here, so I hope everyone reading this is safe and warm. As usual with this kind of weather, I'm not feeling my best, so the result is kind of a quiet post this week. To be fair, there's only so much to be said about the subject, which no longer exists, but I will tell you what I can.

John Siney, St. Clair, Schuylkill County

As you're reading this, I've just returned from my first-ever visit to Lititz, in Lancaster County. Spent some time collecting markers and learning about pretzels, so you'll see some of the pictures from the trip in coming months.

For this week's quest, though, we're heading into the coal country. Mining coal in Pennsylvania remains a big part of our history, as we've already had occasion to note in this blog, and this gentleman's story is a significant thread in the tapestry.

Molly Maguire Executions, Carbon and Schuylkill Counties

This is a new one for the blog - the first cross-county post. Throughout Pennsylvania there are a number of markers which are related - either they contain the same information in two different locations (which is the case today), or they're a series of markers which, when put together, more or less tell a story. It's not going to be easy for me to do some of these; for example, there are several markers related to the various canals that will take me a long time to collect. But this one, which has just two, I can do.

Odd as it probably sounds, given the subject matter, I've been looking forward to writing this post. It contains one of the most interesting and obscure pieces of local apocrypha that we have in the Lehigh Valley region. I only waited as long as I did to do this one because I needed a couple of photos from the other location in the story. Now that I have those, here's how we'll finish out the summer - with the deaths of ten men.

Rock Ford, Lancaster, Lancaster County

Happy April! Pennsylvania is finally starting to get warm(ish)!

First, another shout out to Karen Galle, the director of the PHMC’s historical marker program. She recently updated their official blog with some info about new markers that are being erected this year, thus ensuring that I will continue to have blog subjects for years to come, and at the very end she gave a lovely shout-out to MarkerQuest! You can read the post, which is quite interesting, here.

If you read my post last year about the First Reformed Church of Lancaster, you may remember that I said I'm in that city at least once a year for Zenkaikon, the local annual gathering of pop culture enthusiasts. We were together once again at the end of March, so a big hello to any of my Z-pals who are reading this! While I was there with my usual guest star party members Rachel and Andrea, we took some time between panels to collect a few more signs for this blog. Today's subject was unexpected - we stumbled upon it while traveling between our hotel and the convention, and of course made the detour to get photos.