Kay, folks. This is hitting close to home, literally– 724 is my home area code. 🙂 I lived not far from New Castle, so I’m pretty familiar with the town. Nothing in particular about New Castle jumps out at me — but looking at the list on a whole, I notice they all have the Beaver & Erie Canals in common. (either by location or influence) This fits nicely with the Merman theory.