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Blair County's extensive railroad history brings many millions of tourism dollars to the county annually, the main point of interest, of course, being the Horseshoe Curve.
Meanwhile, it is safe to speculate that many tourists coming here are unaware of the county's rich Revolutionary War history, the central point of that history being Fort Roberdeau.
Tourism-minded people living here already know -- or should know -- that there is not enough signage at or near the county's entry points indicating the existence of the fort and its location.
Some of those people might also believe that the county could do a better job in calling attention to the Horseshoe Curve and the site of the Walter L. Main Circus Train accident just outside of Tyrone.
Those points aside, it is encouraging and commendable, from a tourism perspective, that the county commissioners have voted to pursue a grant of about $500,000 for improvements at the fort, in anticipation of the nation's semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary in 2026.
The grant is being sought through the America250PA initiative, which has yet to be funded and, thus, has not yet distributed any money. However, when fully up and running, the program intends to identify the top five projects in each of the state's six regions to consider for funding.
Blair County is part of Region 3, which also includes Bedford, Fulton, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Perry, Juniata, Franklin, Cumberland, Adams, Dauphin, Lebanon and York counties. Thus, the competition for funding will be formidable.
Other grant requests emanating from Blair include requests on behalf of the county Historial Society and the Railroaders Memorial Museum, so even the competition within Blair itself will pose a challenge to the fort.
The proposed fort grant, if in fact it is received, will be targeted toward acquiring a replica cannon like one that would have been at the fort during the Revolutionary War, as well as for expansion of the fort's parking area, improvements to walkways and the barn and building a cabin.
All of those items had been envisioned prior to the announcement regarding the potential availability of the America250PA money, but when that money might be available - to wherever it is allocated - remains unknown.
Cassandra Coleman, executive director of America250PA, told the Mirror on Aug. 11 that the Infrastructure Improvements and Projects Committee, which is composed of 24 appointed senators and state representatives, will be completing a series of 12 hearings on proposed projects by the end of this month.
The county rebuilt Fort Roberdeau in 1976 in recognition of the United States' Bicentennial Celebration. It was a worthy project consistent with other efforts across the country that year to showcase the nation's beginnings and the challenges from which it sprang forth.
Hopefully, the upcoming 250-year celebration will be equally -- or even more -- patriotic than what took place in 1976, despite whatever spillover friction there might be from the current political climate in the nation.
The United States displayed some of its best patriotic fervor in 1976 despite the political crisis it endured just two years earlier.
It is capable of reviving that same kind of spirit over the course of the next three years.