Results tagged “Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission” from Universal York

Tray of items found at one level in one hole of dig

Many thousands of artifacts were found during the recent archaeological dig at the Schultz House, items such as pieces of pottery and dishes, bottle glass and window glass, animal bones, coal, bricks, mortar, plaster and nails--lots and lots of nails. Even a few Native American items were found. I didn't get to participate in the dig, but I was privileged to be one of the volunteers that spent nearly two weeks cleaning and marking the artifacts. Archaeologist Steve Warfel will spend the winter cataloging the artifacts and present a report to Historic York, Inc., the owner of the house, in the spring. The items will be placed with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, also the custodian of the items found in the 1979 limited dig that identified part of the prisoner of war camp.

The four+ acres on which the Schultz House sits was part of the whole tract of 280 acres owned by David Brubaker during the Revolutionary War. Camp Security was located on about 40 acres of the same tract.

It was somewhat disappointing not to find any military-related artifacts, as Camp Security was just across the field. Maybe we shouldn't be too surprised though. The Shultz House is said to have been a tavern during the Revolutionary period. Even if it was frequented by the guards, they may not have left much behind in the immediate vicinity of the house. The prisoners themselves would have been expected to stay close by the camp. The ones confined in the stockade, which still has not been located, wouldn't have had a choice. The others, those with more freedom, still needed permission to move about.

Still, the importance of the dig was twofold. First, the Schultz House is at least 245 years old. As a historic house, it is significant enough to warrant exploration. Secondly, there was no way to know if any military artifacts were there without doing a dig. To me, that underscores the importance of further exploration of other parts of the original 280 acres. My hope is that owners of the two large remaining tracts, known as the Wiest farm and the Rowe farm, someday give permission for further archaeological exploration.

Click the links below for more on Camp Security's history.

Documenting Camp Security.

Another clue to Camp Security.

Camp Security prisoner numbers hard to pin down.

See below for more photos.

A little while ago, in a post on York Fair horse racing, I mentioned that there were some motion pictures of racing at the fair on films recently digitized and preserved by the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives, through a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Charles and Carrye Noss editing film. Note the movie camera at left.

Those images and many more were taken and shared with the community, by Charles H. Noss and his wife Carrye Neiman Noss. From 1923 to 1960 Mr. and Mrs. Noss filmed local parades and events, such as the York Fair and the construction of the 1930s Wrightsville-Columbia Veterans Memorial Bridge across the Susquehanna River, and shared them with the community. They also traveled around the country and recorded subjects from Pennsylvania Dutch customs to national parks.

The Nosses showed the movies free of charge to churches and civic groups. An admission or offering must have been collected for the groups to keep, because a November 12, 1946 Gazette and Daily newspaper article says that by then the Mr. and Mrs. Noss had shown the films to about 132,000 persons and raised nearly $100,000 for the organizations. Since they continued the showings until Mr. Noss died in 1962, they could have conceivable raised hundreds of thousands of dollars by then.