Liberty Bell Hiding Place, Allentown, Lehigh County

We have returned triumphant from our trek to Altoona! Kevin and I collected a whopping 22 markers in five counties - Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Centre, and Blair. (We almost added Union and Clinton Counties to the list, but I didn't have my lists handy for those.) It was a lovely trip and he very much enjoyed his birthday celebration, and was an absolute champion about asking me if I wanted to stop for markers. We visited a number of interesting places and I look forward to telling you all about them in future posts.

But first, we're picking up where I left off last time. In last week's post, I talked about my experiences attending a marker dedication earlier in the month at the "Liberty Bell Church" in Allentown. It was a fun event and I was glad to be there. Now this week, I can tell you about the actual history which led to the marker being put there.

Marker Dedication: Liberty Bell Hiding Place

Husband Kevin's birthday is this week, so we're getting ready to head out on our little road trip. The plan is to leave first thing in the morning tomorrow - if I can get my to-do list cleared! That includes updating this blog, of course, so here we are. As part of the lead-up to his birthday celebration, we attended the marker dedication in his home city of Allentown this past Saturday, where the beautiful Zion's Reformed United Church of Christ celebrated their very unique place in history.

Lots of churches have bells. Not too many have had bells underneath their floorboards.

Anthony Sadowski, Douglassville, Berks County

I hadn't planned on taking last week off from blogging. But I delayed the post due to some family stuff that came up, and between that and work I just decided it made more sense to wait until this week to take you all on another quest.

We're returning to Berks County for a trip back in time to when this was the Province of Pennsylvania, and people were lured by William Penn's promise of religious freedom - like this guy was.

Moravian Gemeinhaus and Linden Hall, Lititz, Lancaster County

As I mentioned a while back, my little adventuring party spent a day this past February in scenic and historic Lititz. We had quite a pleasant experience, even though the borough was very quiet and many of its attractions were closed for the winter season, and I'm hoping to go back before the summer ends.

Lititz is a Moravian settlement at its roots, and while I will go into the history of the community itself when I talk about the actual Lititz marker, today we'll take a look at one of its most enduring institutions - a place where young women have been educated and given the keys to their future for almost 300 years.

Slate Industry, Lehigh and Northampton Counties

June is going by entirely too fast. But as an acquaintance of mine recently observed, it always seems to do that for some reason. I've been enjoying the wonderful weather - not something you have seen me post often! The temperatures have been mild and the humidity has been low, so except for my seasonal allergies, this is the kind of weather which is kindest to me.

This week's quest partially takes us back to my grandmother's hometown of Slatington, in northern Lehigh County, to examine the third and final of their historical markers. I already spoke on the subject of Slatington's namesake substance in my post about the First School Slate Factory, but the slate industry itself is more than manufacturing chalkboards. In fact, it has more than one marker, that's how big it was in this region; we're also visiting Bangor in Northampton County.

Eddie Plank, Gettysburg, Adams County

As I mentioned when I wrote about the Pottsville Maroons, I am not the biggest sports fan in the world. I respect the athletes and everything; I just don't find it very entertaining to watch other people play a game. I support the Philadelphia teams more out of proximity than anything, though between the Phanatic and Gritty I also think we have the best mascots. 

Having said that, I can definitely appreciate that sports have had a role in the history of our country and our state, and when I was in Gettysburg for my birthday last year, I discovered the story that I'm sharing with you today. I'd never heard of Eddie Plank, but he's quite the legend in his hometown.

John Walter, Annville, Lebanon County

Before I get into today's subject, I just want to give a shout-out to my fellow local author, Scott Morro. I've mentioned Scott before as having written The Washington Pursuit, an enthralling young adult mystery set in Moravian Bethlehem. He announced on Twitter yesterday that the sequel, The Albrecht Society, will be released later this year and he's anticipating a launch event on August 20th. I very much enjoyed Pursuit and am looking forward to being there. Congratulations, Scott!

Fun fact: Scott's new book actually has a relationship to today's blog post. Well, sort of.