A recent York Town Square blog entry by Jim McClure regarding the Howard Tunnel prompted me to write about the venerable tunnel's Civil War history. Jim tells a little about the overall history of this impressive passageway, through which the Northern Central Railway ran during the war years.
The tiny hamlet of Hanover Junction in southern York County is perhaps best known today as a stop on the Rail Trail, with restrooms, parking, and shade. During the Civil War, it played an important role as both a railroad and telegraph interchange. A telegraphy school produced several well trained young operators who fanned out to other area telegraph offices, spreading the new form of communication. During the Gettysburg Campaign, these stations would provide an important linkage to relay messages to Federal commanders in Washington, Baltimore, York, and Harrisburg. Two railroads intersected at Hanover Junction, the north-south running Northern Central Railway and the east-west Hanover Branch Railroad. A cavalry raid in June 1863 temporarily suspended both telegraph and rail service.
Recently, local service organizations have undertaken a campaign to place some old Civil War-era cannons at Hanover Junction as a memorial. These vintage gun tubes used to adorn Penn Park in York. Here is an e-mail from Ivan Frantz, the secretary of the PDC, announcing the new Hanover Junction monument.
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