Today I go behind the scenes to show what I saw while reviewing the digital map between Pittsburgh and East Palestine.
Screen captures come from Excel 2007. Minor edits made using MS Paint.
Other images are sourced as noted.
TL;DR
- Introduction
- Fun with Maps
9. Unity, OH
8. Edinburg, PA
7. New Galilee, PA
6. Bessemer, PA
5. Darlington, PA
4. Oakland, PA
3. Beaver Falls, PA
2. S.N.P.J., PA
1. East Palestine, OH - More Fun with Maps
Introduction
The cartographic review of Pennsylvania ends with David Guardia crossing Pennsylvania into Ohio. The southwestern portion of Pennsylvania is dominated by the greater Pittsburgh suburban area, and just a few feet across the state lines is the town of East Palestine in Ohio.
Unlike most of the ride through Pennsylvania, David Guardia's was always meant to stop in East Palestine, Ohio (one way, or another).
Along the way, he must have been looking at digital (or even paper) maps.
What was he looking at? What caught his eye? What surprises did he find?
While I can't answer those questions for him, I can answer them for myself.
In our physical offline world, the trip would have been shorter and more efficient (not to mention cheaper) had David Guardia used some navigational aid, be it GPS or a Viking Sunstone. It also would have been a much more boring ride for him (and for us as readers).
Maps are a vital part of The GHAWG Universe, both for me as storyteller and for the characters. As much as I want to have scenes take place at certain locations, the ultimate decider is THE MAP: If the location doesn't make sense for the story, then I can't use it for that story. On the other hand, the map may show me a location I hadn't considered before but makes perfect sense both for utility and symbolism.
While reviewing digital maps, there are times I find locations which get me scratching my head and scruff, get me laughing, or even get me wondering "WTF is this??" This post features what I discovered between the suburbs of Pittsburgh and East Palestine, Ohio.
Fun with Maps
As with earlier editions of Fun With Maps, a few places on the map
… I had known about over the years;
… are better known by their more famous alternatives; and
… I just hadn't expected at all.
While in Ohio, there will be more plaes where we see David Guardia spend time. Some of these places were meant to be part of the story, and others were destinations of opportunity.
This is my sixth look at the 325 mile stretch the story skipped over. Here is the 6th set of discoveries in this section which I had skipped:
Just to remind myself that this map was part of Pennsylvania, I added the labels OHIO and PENNSYLVANIA. Then I highlighted 9 locations (with East Palestine double-lined as a destination in the story. This map isn't directly tied to any other map, so I added the label Mars ▬►► for reference. Here are the 9 locations in reverse order of interest:
9. Unity, OH
Unity is sorely lacking in this world today. With the world on the verge of World War 3, it seems that only an event on the level of an extraterrestrial invasion or The Apocalypse will unite humanity.
Unity is a township in Columbiana County in Ohio. Unity was founded and organized in 1806 by George Augustine. Columbiana County contains Unity Township plus 17 other townships, along with the village of East Palestine in the southeast part of Columbiana County and New Waterford in the western part of the county. East Palestine will be covered later in this post.
8. Edinburg, PA
This name is similar to the place name Edinburgh, and the most famous of these is located in Scotland, UK. This unincorporated community is located in Lawrence County.
7. New Galilee, PA
This town completes the New Testament hat trick (New Galilee, Nazareth, and Bethlehem). Perhaps there's a town named "Galilee" (without the adjective "New"), but I didn't see any on sections of digital map which included the route David Guardia rode for 325 miles through Pennsylvania.
New Galilee itself goes back to 1800 when settlers came from eastern Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the northern part of Ireland (not necessarily from the area we know today as Northern Ireland). In June 1867 [an application was submitted to name the town New Galilee]((https://www.bcpahistory.org/beavercounty/BeaverCountyCommunities/NewGalileefolder/NewGalilee/NewGalileeByMadden.html) due to the fact that the small stream flowing through it was called Jordan's Run (after the Jordan Family) and the name "Galilee" means "beyond Jordan". On 1868-January-15 the town officially became New Galilee.
6. Bessemer, PA
Pennsylvania is known as one of the leading producers of steel in the world. One reason for this is the Bessemer Process, a breakthrough innovation in the production of mass quantities of steel. Although many people were credited with developing the theories and techniques needed to reach this point, it was Englishman Sir Henry Bessemer who was given the honor of having the process named for him.
Bessemer, Pennsylvania is considered part of the greater Pittsburgh suburban area. The first settlers came to the area in the late 1790s and early 1800s. Many of the new settlers were descended from the Scoth-Irish and the Germans. The town came into existence decades before it became a borough in 1913. The process which made it possible to mass produce steel was a factor in th town getting its name.
5. Darlington, PA
There may be other places named Darlington, but the one which comes to my mind first is Darlington Raceway in
South Carolina, where NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) has one of its more anticipated races during the season.
Darlington, Pennsylvania itself wasn't always known by this name. When it was founded in 1804, it was named Greersburg, after one of the town's founders, George Greer. Due to poor penmanship in that time, mail kept going to Greensburg (and mail to Greensburg ended up at Greersburg). At one point, business owner David Gilliland accused Pittsburgh merchant Samuel Darlington of not mailing invoices for purchases he had made. Once the source of the error was discovered-- confusion due to bad penmanship for Greersburg and Greensburg-- the Pittsburgher suggested the town change its name to something more disctinctive. A short time later, Greersburg was renamed Darlington.
4. Oakland, PA
The place name Oakland is more common than we realize. Countless streets are named Oakland. Many localities are named Oakland, the most famous of which is in California, next to San Francisco.
Oakland is considered a suburb of Pittsburgh. During the 1800s Pittsburgh became a densely populated city while surrounding areas (including Oakland) remained sparsely populated. While Oakland had few people living there in the first half of the 19th Century, by 1865 it had become a thriving community.
3. Beaver Falls, PA
For many National Football League fans, Beaver Falls is known as the birthplace of Joe Namath, quarterback for the Crimson Tide football program at the Univesity of Alabama, then for the New York Jets first of the AFL (American Football League) and then the NFL. Joe Namath was the winning quarterback in Super Bowl III (SB3), and the Jets are now in their 55th year waiting for their 2nd Super Bowl.
Beaver Falls was originally called Brighton, and it was chartered as a borough in 1868-November-9 when it was incorporated. In 1913 Brighton/Beaver Fallsswitched to a comission form of government. Besides being known as the hoem of Joe Willie Namath, it's known by many television viewers as the setting for the series Mr. Belvedere.
2. S.N.P.J., PA
At first glance, the town name S.N.P.J. is just as puzzling or head-scratching as Zzyzx, California. Unlike with Zzyzx, S.N.P.J. has a more straightforward origin story.
The Slovene National Benefit Society was founded in 1904-April-6 and based in the Chicago area. When it was founded, it went by the native Slovenian name Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota. To honor the founders of the Slovene National Benefit Society, the organization retained the initials of the Slovenian name, SNPJ. To this day the society is best known as SNPJ.
SNPJ had been based near Chicago from 1904 to 1993. In 1993 it moved its national headquarters to western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. The influence of SNPJ was so great that it had become a place name on the map-- literally.
1. East Palestine, OH
S.N.P.J., Pennsylvania would have ranked Number 1 in this edition of Fun With Maps, but the section of digital map containing S.N.P.J. also contains the village of East Palestine, Ohio. East Palestine is the second named destination after Allentown in GHAWG, and it's the first where David Guardia spends enough time to require multiple entries in the daily zapfic serial.
Around the time I began the zapfic serial in March 2023, East Palestine was the site of a train derailment which led to a toxic chemical burn which disrupts life to this day for its residents. While it was in the news for a few weeks, it receded from public consciousness since then. I hadn't forgotten, and it will make another appearance in the sequel zapfic serial I code named Blue Lion.
More Fun with Maps
Where else in Ohio will David Guardia find himself? What other notable people will he find there? How does his ride further unfold?
Let's find out together as I continue my research and we have more fun with maps.
As more posts in this series are published, they will be added to the pinned post "GHAWGnav: Navigating The GHAWG Universe". Thanks for taking time to see how this part of The GHAWG Universe is being built.
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[!!]See you next time for another edition of Fun with Maps!
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