Andrew Jorgensen
It's better than bad, it's good!

Pete vs. Phil?

No one is quite sure of the origins of Phil's name... but there are stories that he was indeed originally called "Punxsutawney Pete" when the first observations of Groundhog Day were held in the 1800s. One popular story is that a newspaper reporter kept erroneously calling him "Phil," and that name eventually stuck.

At 12:40 PM 1/27/2004, you wrote: My family has been trying to figure out if there was ever a Punxsutawney Pete. Some of use remember there being one, but I couldn't find any evidence on your website. There are some brief references to such a groundhog on the web.

Can we get an official (or at least semi-official) statement from the Punxsatawney Groundhog Club to settle this?

Thanks!

Andrew Jorgensen

Alan Freed, Webmaster
PunxsutawneyPhil.com / Groundhog.org America's Second Favorite Holiday!