Old Forge, Lackawanna County

Only one week remaining to get your answers in for the scavenger hunt! I'm starting to worry I made it too difficult, but I really just wanted everyone to have fun trying to find the answers. Here's a fresh clue for my readers: The Fulton Opera House is not the answer to any of the questions, but it's mentioned in the blog posts about the men who are the answers to questions #6 and #10. Remember, answers must be submitted by midnight next Wednesday! Even if you don't have them all, you can still enter, because the winners will be determined by who has the most correct answers. Feel free to guess if you get stumped!

This past weekend I made a trip to Bethlehem for their fine arts festival, with one particular goal in mind - I wanted to meet up with Jim Cheney, the owner of the marvelous Uncovering PA website. We had a very nice chat; not only are we familiar with and admirers of one another's work, but we also have a mutual acquaintance in one of the members of my Sherlock Holmes club. I also got a signed copy of his wonderful book, Waterfalls of Pennsylvania, which I heartily recommend to nature lovers and hiking enthusiasts. Thanks again, Jim, it was great to meet you!

By complete coincidence (no, really), Jim is one of my sources for today's blog post, which is the first one ever for Lackawanna County. My bff Andrea and I took advantage of a mutual day off and went up to the southernmost corner to collect a few markers; I was a little torn about which one to cover today, to inaugurate the county, but here's the one I chose.

Doylestown Agricultural Works, Doylestown, Bucks County

It looks like a lot of people are taking interest in the "fiveaversary" scavenger hunt, and I'm excited about it! I've shared a few clues on the blog's social media outlets already, so if you're not already following the Facebook or Twitter, definitely hop over there to read those. Meanwhile, here's a clue for everyone: The answers to questions #7 and #15 have the same first name, and that's pretty much the only thing they have in common. You've got just two more weeks to submit your answers - good luck!

As for the quest, I said last week that it was the final week of not repeating a county this year. I was wrong! I was recently able to take a couple of unexpected side quests and add a bit more to my list of captured markers. This past Sunday, the plans that I had with my youngest sister Liza were upended, and she surprised me by proposing we go and collect some markers instead. We had an excellent day in Doylestown, where we toured the Mercer Museum and she delighted the docent with her exclamation of "Wow!" upon seeing the central room. After that we visited Peace Valley Lavender Farm, which was new to us both; her whole car smelled like lavender for the rest of the day from everything we bought. Following lunch, we had some delicious ice cream at Evolution Candy on State Street. Before heading home, we went to Le Macaron Doylestown, on Oakland Avenue, and treated ourselves to gourmet cookies. (Hi Steve! Thanks for the Facebook follow!) I definitely recommend all of these places for the next time you're in the area, and I particularly recommend the lemon macarons, which were divine.

And I managed to get five markers, which means I've got almost all of the Doylestown markers now, and today we're going to look at one of them.

New Goshenhoppen Reformed Church, East Greenville, Montgomery County

We're kicking off the fifth month of the year, and thus far I've managed to do a marker from a different county every week. This is the last week I'll be able to say that, but it's still kind of exciting!

Speaking of exciting, if you haven't already heard, the big news I promised last week has been unveiled on social media and in the monthly newsletter. This month marks the blog's fifth birthday! To celebrate the "fiveaversary," as I've dubbed it, I've launched a virtual scavenger hunt. You don't have to go anywhere or hunt down any physical objects; you just have to go through the blog and find the answers to questions about the people featured on markers or in the stories behind them. There's some silliness and some shameless self-promotion and some great prizes too! Head over to this page to read all the guidelines and find out how to get started. Good luck!

Meanwhile, for today's quest, my bff Andrea and I took a drive down to Montgomery County last week to grab a couple of markers, since I hadn't done anything there in quite a while. We found this beautiful church tucked out of the way in East Greenville, and if I'd been alone I probably would have spent an hour or two looking through their old churchyard at the 18th century headstones. 

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.

Daniel Brodhead and Dansbury Mission, Monroe County

Well, it's Wednesday, and you know what that means - besides the fact that my vacation is over, that is. (It was a very hot trip. But we had a great time; we visited ancient Mayan ruins, and I even held a sloth!)

This week I'm doing a double quest in the mountains of Monroe County. The two markers are in separate communities, so initially I thought they would each get their own post; but they are so connected that it made more sense to put them together.

I won't lie - this one was tricky to research. Google kept turning up results for the wrong person, or the wrong location, because of similar names. I think all my information is now correct, though, thanks in no small part to the resources of the Monroe County Historical Association. 

The Angel of Gettysburg, Gettysburg, Adams County

Greetings, friends! I'm preparing this post in advance, because I'm going away on vacation with my parents and best friend Andrea for a week. I will actually be in Mexico at the time I would normally be blogging on a Wednesday morning.

(How are things in the future? Do we have hover cars yet?)

Kevin is at home caring for our kitties, and as I was trying to get ready, I realized that I was running out of time to get everything done. So he suggested that I do something unusual given the unusual circumstances. Therefore, rather than a marker backstory, I'm going to instead tell the backstory behind one of the many statues in Gettysburg. This article was originally published at the now-defunct Herstory Club, and when the website folded I lost most of my contributions. I did manage to save this one, though, and I'm sharing it with all of you. This is the story of one woman who, though she probably didn't see herself that way at the time, became a true hero of the American Civil War.

Bethlehem Steel Plant, Bethlehem, Northampton County

Zenkaikon was - as always - exactly what the doctor ordered for me. My presentation about "The Red Rose City: A History of Lancaster" (and also my second presentation about Welsh history and language) went extremely well and I was very excited! I had wonderful attentive audience members who asked great questions and really wanted more stories, so I've promised to come back next year and provide them. Hello to everyone who has found their way here because of the convention, and thank you for checking out my passion project!

The April newsletter went out a few days ago - if you haven't seen it yet, you can find it here. I'm hoping to do something interesting for my subscribers in the coming months, so please consider subscribing. (It's free!)

I came back from the convention and got sucked right into a week of work, so I just had no time to do a blog post last week. Heck, I barely remembered to get the newsletter done. But this week I'm going to stay right here in my adopted county of Northampton, and take a look at one of the Lehigh Valley's biggest industry titans of bygone days. Bethlehem Steel has a couple markers, actually, which we'll be examining in coming posts; today, we're going to visit the actual plant... or what's left of it. This post has more pictures than usual, simply because I have been there so many times and taken so many pictures.