Throughout the last century Phil's fame has continued to grow.  His  yearly  Groundhog  Day predictions are now entered into the Congressional Record. 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT GROUNDHOG DAY IN PUNXSUTAWNEY:

Where does the name Punxsutawney come from?
 
Punxsutawney was first settled by the Delaware Indians in 1723 and its name comes from the Indian name for the location "ponksad-uteney" which means the "town of the sandflies." The name woodchuck also has Indian origins, coming from the legend of "Wojak, the groundhog."

Where exactly is Punxsutawney?

Punxsutawney is located in Western Pennsylvania, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

How did Phil get his name?
 
The groundhog's full name is actually "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary." It was so proclaimed by the "Punxsutawney Groundhog Club" in 1887, the same year they declared Punxsutawney to be the weather capital of the world.

How do you know it is really Phil at Gobbler's Knob?
 
For most of the year, Phil lives in a climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library. He is taken to Gobbler's Knob and placed in a heated burrow underneath a simulated tree stump on stage before being pulled out at 7:25 am on Groundhog Day, February 2, to make his prediction.

How old is Phil anyway?

Phil is reputed by townspeople to be more than 100 years old, surviving beyond a marmot's normal life span thanks to the strong constitution of his wife, Phyllis, and a steady diet of Groundhog Punch.

German tradition holds that if the sun comes out on Candlemas, the precursor to Groundhog Day, the hedgehog (or badger) will see its shadow and six more weeks of winter will follow. When German settlers came to Pennsylvania they continued this tradition, using groundhogs instead of hedgehogs to predict the weather. 
 
The first official Groundhog Day was celebrated on February 2, 1886 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, with a proclamation in The Punxsutawney Spirit by the newspaper's editor, Clymer Freas: "Today is groundhog day and up to the time of going to press the beast has not seen its shadow." The legendary first Groundhog Day trip to Gobbler's Knob was made the following year by a group of spirited groundhog hunters who dubbed themselves "The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club." Clymer, a member of the club, used his editorial clout to proclaim that Phil, the Punxsutawney Groundhog, was the one and only official weather prognosticating groundhog. 

Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinaire