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The Banana Split Historical Marker in Latrobe, PA
Discover the sweet history behind Latrobe’s Banana Split Historical Marker. Learn how apprentice pharmacist David Strickler created the first documented banana split in 1904 and turned this small Pennsylvania city into the birthplace of an American dessert favorite.
The Roeblings Historical Marker in Saxonburg, PA
The Roeblings historical marker in Saxonburg connects this small Butler County town to the Brooklyn Bridge and the birth of America’s wire-rope industry. Discover the history of John and Washington Roebling and why their story is commemorated here.
Pennsylvania Historical Markers
Pennsylvania’s familiar blue-and-gold historical markers transform ordinary roadsides into an open-air museum. Nearly 2,600 markers across the Commonwealth commemorate the people, places, events, organizations, and innovations that helped shape Pennsylvania—and often the nation.
The Giants in the Woods
There’s a particular kind of magic in rounding a bend on a wooded trail and suddenly finding yourself eye-to-knee with a forty-foot troll made entirely of old pallets and scrap lumber. That’s the whole idea behind Thomas Dambo’s work — giant, gentle, recycled giants tucked into forests, parks, and greenways on five continents, waiting patiently for someone to stumble across them. Here’s their story, where to find them across the U.S., and what really happens when a troll’s time in the wild finally comes to an end.
Emily Warren Roebling: More Than The Engineer’s Wife
Emily Warren Roebling never received an engineering degree, and she was never officially named chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. Yet when illness confined her husband to his home, Emily became his eyes, ears, voice, and trusted representative. For more than a decade, she mastered complicated engineering principles, dealt with contractors and politicians, defended her husband’s position, and helped guide one of America’s greatest landmarks to completion. Her remarkable life did not stop at the bridge. Emily later studied law, advocated for women’s rights, traveled the world, and proved that a woman did not need an official title to make history.
Ambridge, PA From a Harmonist Village to a Steel Town
I grew up in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, a small Ohio River town with an unusually big story. Long before the steel mills, it was home to the Harmony Society and the remarkable community known as Economy. Then American Bridge arrived, thousands of immigrants followed, and Ambridge became one of the most important steel-fabricating towns in the nation. This is the story of my hometown—its rise, its difficult years after the mills closed and the signs of renewal visible today.
Bedford PA Small Town Charm & Perfect Getaway Weekend
Tucked into the mountains of south-central Pennsylvania, Bedford is the kind of small town that makes me want to slow down and explore. With historic streets, colonial history, covered bridges, unique shops, beautiful mountain scenery, and the legendary Bedford Springs, there is much more here than you might expect. Whether you come for a day or make it a weekend getaway, Bedford is one Pennsylvania town worth putting on your road-trip list.
Latrobe PA, A Small Town with a Very Big Scoop of History
Tucked into the foothills of the Alleghenies, Latrobe looks like any other small Pennsylvania small town — until you learn what actually happened here. In the summer of 1904, a 23-year-old pharmacist’s apprentice named David Strickler sliced a banana lengthwise at a Ligonier Street soda fountain, piled on three scoops of ice cream, and accidentally invented one of America’s most beloved desserts. But it doesn’t stop there.
Driving the Appalachian Trail
From Georgia’s Springer Mountain to the lowest point on the entire trail at Bear Mountain, New York, this series follows the Appalachian Trail by car — where to stop, where to get out and hike a little, and the history hiding in every gap along the way. Five parts in, and we’re just getting to New England.
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