Things seem to endure in/around Philadelphia, for better or worse. I didn't grow up in the area, descending instead from people who had begun moving south and west about the end of the French and Indian War. (My last ancestor to actually live here died in 1918.) I grew up in Michigan, married an expatriate Philadelphian and, together, we moved here 20 years ago. Mr. Haley had introduced me to genealogy in the 70s, but I hadn't imagined how much infrastructure would still exist. (In most of the country, what one most often finds is a family name on a road sign or a home site.) There's a 1700ish house up in Bucks County that I've known about for several years but have never seen. My wife and daughters are burned out from looking at ancestors' houses that "all look alike." Perhaps they'd appreciate them more if the bulldozers were more active. Mark >I've lived in this area for over fifty years and I didn't > really appreciate how deep my families roots were until I started doing > research. It's so exciting to see a place where you know your family > lived.