Meriwether Lewis, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County

First, thank you to those who wished me a happy anniversary last week! Husband Kevin and I had a very nice day at the Franklin Institute, which he and I have visited many times over the years. They were even so kind as to feature us on their Twitter page that day.

The weather was not entirely compatible with marker hunting, as it rained a lot; however, there are two markers right near the Franklin itself, and I was able to grab both of those before we returned home. This one, which was the first one I spotted, is about a man who opened the western frontier before meeting with a tragic end - and a mystery which has never been solved.

James Smith, York, York County

I'm not often speechless, but I definitely had a few dumbstruck moments upon logging into the blog. Last week's quest, an examination of the work of William G. McGowan, was shared by a number of individuals on Facebook, as well as two large organizations - Anthracite Coal National Park and the Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society. As a result, the hit count catapulted it into the #1 spot on my all-time statistics record! In just six days, it managed to overtake the piece about the Moravian Cemetery in Bethlehem, which is over three years old. I'm truly floored and very grateful for all the shares.

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary, so husband Kevin and I have plans to go down to Philadelphia for the first time in over a year. Catching some Philly markers isn't the focus of the trip, but you can bet it's going to happen, because I'm having a serious problem with the blog - I'm running out of markers. That's not to say that they aren't there (the commonwealth has more than 2,000, as I've noted on other occasions); I just don't have pictures of them. The only county where I've literally run out of markers is Carbon County, since they only have six and I've done them all, but I definitely need more. So this trip to Philly should help.

Meanwhile, for today we're going to head back to scenic York. I've already told you about one signer of the Declaration of Independence who's buried in the city, but there's another one across town.

William G. McGowan, Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County

The weather's continuing to be a thorn in my side. Over the weekend we had temperatures close to 70 degrees, then thunderstorms on Monday, and now it looks like a blizzard here. I know this is Pennsylvania, where the forecasts are made up and the seasons don't matter, but it's getting to be a bit much.

This post has been a tricky one to write - not because it's a delicate topic or anything, but because there's just so much information that it's a real challenge to distill it all into an easy-to-follow article. I don't remember Ma Bell; the major event of this post took place when I was a small child. So in order to understand the life's work of the man in this week's quest, I first had to do a lot of reading about that whole situation.

Matthew S. Quay, Beaver, Beaver County

I'm almost afraid to say anything and possibly jinx things, but we're finally starting to have some decent temperatures around here. I had to skip last week's post because I was down with a severe head cold, no doubt at least partly because of the roller coaster weather we had throughout the month of February. But I did get the March newsletter out on schedule yesterday, so if you aren't subscribed to that and want to check it out, you can find it here.

Meanwhile, let's take a trip out to Beaver County, which I had intended for the end of February, and have a look at the last of the markers sent to me by my kind friend John Robinson.

Fleetwood Metal Body Company, Fleetwood, Berks County

I rather like this latest quest. I've mentioned my grandfather several times in this blog, and one of his hobbies was collecting and learning about vintage and antique cars. He and I were very close; I have fond memories of attending various car shows with him as a child. So I think he would have enjoyed this one.

As I mentioned last week, I had a recent road trip to Lititz in Lancaster County. Because my husband is a rather indulgent sort (which my longtime readers have probably noticed), we veered a bit off course on the way home in order to catch a marker in Berks County. Fleetwood is a small, unassuming community not far from Kutztown, where I attended the university back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but it's had quite an impact on the automotive industry. 

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.

Christian Frederick Martin, Nazareth, Northampton County

Happy Groundhog Day! One of these years I'll get out to Gobbler's Knob and meet the famous Punxsutawney Phil for myself. Yes, there's a marker, but more importantly, there's a cute critter. Anyway, I'm hoping and praying that Phil has promised an early end to winter.

Unfortunately, regardless of what the Seer of Seers decrees, it's still really cold. So let's warm ourselves with some music by visiting the oldest guitar manufacturer in the United States.