Fort McIntosh, Beaver, Beaver County

I almost don't dare to believe it, but we managed to get through pretty much the entire month of March without any snow (or at least, any snow accumulation). We even had some actual springlike weather! April is just around the bend, and with the days getting longer, I think the worst of winter really is behind us at last.

Time to add another name to the list of guest photographers, and it's someone I hadn't anticipated when the blog began! John Robinson is retired from the PHMC itself, and has been kind enough to send me my first (of many, I hope) marker from Beaver County. This particular landmark actually has several markers for it, as I discovered when I went to the Historic Marker Database to look for it, but only one was erected by the PHMC so that's the one in today's post. Let's pay a long-distance visit to a garrison of the American Revolution - a very important one, in fact.

Christ Little Tulpehocken Church, Bernville, Berks County

I'm very excited because as soon as this post goes live and I take care of a few other details related to it, like updating the Facebook page, I'll be heading out on a long-expected road trip. It's my best friend Andrea's birthday, and to celebrate, she and I are making a trek to York County to visit our friends who operate Moon Family Studios - we haven't seen them in nearly two years because of the pandemic. Naturally, the plan is for me to collect some markers while we're in the vicinity, because all of my travel now has an ulterior motive.

Before we get into the actual quest, which takes us back to Berks County for the first time since last summer, I want to direct your attention elsewhere in the same county. I'm a member of the Berks History Buffs group on Facebook, and I was asked to share this with my readers in hopes of giving the matter a wider audience. The historic Kemp Family Burial Grounds is being threatened by a developer, who wants to put a warehouse on the land where some of Berks County's earliest settlers are buried. Their plan is to disinter the remains and transfer them to another cemetery, but the people buried there have descendants in the area still and these descendants are not happy about this. The Berks History Center has put out a call for help with the struggle to come to a mutually satisfying agreement with the developer; you can read the details here. You can learn about the burial grounds and the people interred there by visiting the official website, where you will also find links to the petition and a donation page, as well as photographs of the grounds.

Meanwhile, in a different part of Berks County, I was able to capture a couple of markers on a recent run, and this is one of them. Here's what I can tell you about a lovely church on a rolling hillside, which as of this writing is still covered in snow.

Little Lithuania USA, Shenandoah, Schuylkill County

It was my hope, for this week's post, that I'd get the chance to drive into Berks County and pick up a couple of markers there. Unfortunately, once again, my plans were upset by the arrival of more snow. I'm starting to run out of my backlog of saved markers, so hopefully the worst of winter is behind us now.

Instead, we'll take another nip back to Schuylkill County. Did you know that Pennsylvania is home to the oldest Lithuanian community in the world outside of Lithuania itself?

First Presbyterian Church, Lancaster, Lancaster County

February is running rampant in Pennsylvania right now. The groundhog has promised six more weeks of this nonsense. I'm unfortunately very affected by weather changes, especially cold and damp ones, so this has been less than entertaining for me.

Very wistfully, I'm thinking back to last June, when my best friend Andrea and I took a day trip to Lancaster and I collected several markers for this blog. Lockdown had just been lifted, social distancing was in full force, and we were enjoying the beautiful sunny weather in one of our favorite cities. So for today's post, I'm going to remember the warmth and take you all on a visit to one of Lancaster's oldest churches.

George Taylor, Lehigh and Northampton Counties

Today, we're taking a look at the most famous resident of my Lehigh County hometown of Catasauqua. He had two different houses, and thus has two different markers, but I've never actually managed to see the one in Northampton County. Despite living in the same county, I don't get to Easton very often. Luckily, my biggest fan was in Easton some weeks ago and took some pictures for me, so I get to add another name to my list of guest photographers.

Mahanoy Plane, Frackville, Schuylkill County

Happy New Year, friends and readers! I hope that this year, there will be more opportunity for me to get out and about to photograph subjects for this blog. I meanwhile have had some people inquire about being guest photographers - if that's something you'd find interesting, thank you! Please send a message to me at markerquestblog@gmail.com and let me know what you have in mind.

Now, let's head for the coal country.

2020 Retrospective, 2021 Plans

When I wrote my 2019 post about what I hoped to do in the next year, I never could have imagined that 2020 would be... well, 2020. Then again, nobody could have seen that coming.