Results tagged “Adams County” from York Town Square

Teachers in one-room schools in the 1870s had tall orders inside and outside of their classroom. Background posts: Interesting Web site dedicated to country schools, Can you identify this mystery school, believed to be in York County? and Two tales of four schools teach about change in York County education.

Bob Weaver has done a lot of research on York/Adams one-room schools, those ubiquitous boxy buildings that dotted this region's countryside before World War II.

And somewhere the East Berlin-area history enthusiast dug up a list of teacher expectations from 1872.

The list is so demanding - and intrusive - that I've often wondered if it might be a spoof.

For example, getting shaved in a barber shop could bring frowns from school directors?... .

The 2,000-pound bell Conewago Chapel bell as contractor measures the church belfry. The steeple of the mother church for Roman Catholics in York and Adams counties is undergoing renovations. (See additional photo below). Background posts: People of varying religious groups founded York County, Abe, Gwyneth passed through Porters Sideling and In bucolic countryside, royal body sat in the sun.

York's Christ Lutheran is the mother church for worshippers in that Protestant denomination in York and Adams counties.

The Codorus Church of the Brethren near Loganville is the founding Church of Brethren in York County.

But the hearth for York/Adams' United Churches of Christ, United Methodists and Roman Catholics Catholics came further west in present-day Adams County. Adams was part of York at the time these first churches were planted.

Here are some facts on those early, out-west churches, according to "Never to be Forgotten":

Kenneth Johnson poses in the original outhouse on an Adams County property he has remodeled. Outhouses can still be seen dotting the York/Adams countryside. For those trying to keep historical accuracy in remodeling old farmhouses, they're an integral part of the restoration. Background posts: Wanted. One slate-roofed privy from Delta, Pa., 'Bottle and Jug' enthusiasts must dig for York County gold and Two tales of four schools teach about change in education in York County

Outhouses remain ubiquitious parts of homesteads across York and Adams counties.

People around here are unabashed about the small backyard sheds being a memorable part of their growing up years.

Just mention them to a local audience, and that will start a string of stories... .

Baron de Beelen travels to church in York. Years later, the Belgium businessman was buried in Adams County's Conewago Chapel. (Lewis Miller drawing courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

Conewago Chapel surely would be near the top of any list of unsung or underrated sites in York and Adams counties.

It's in the middle of nowhere, but that makes its wonderful paintings, frescoes and architecture all the more captivating. One simply wouldn't expect to run into such artifacts in such a quiet place.

Which brings to mind a favorite story about the chapel and York history, as outlined in my York Sunday News column, a tour of York County's historic southwest (and Adams' southeast):

Curtis Musselman, head of the barn preservation project, photographs the Starr Pottery Barn near Abbottstown, Pa. Thomas and Dianne Starr live and work in the 1850s stone-and-brick barn, which is an example of one way a barn can be preserved. Those seeking a community of barn enthusiasts and preservationists should read below.

Debbie Lynch has been told that her 150-year-old barn is the oldest and largest in the Felton area.

She is casting around for help in keeping it up:

"It's a very large beautiful barn that's in desperate need of repair. We put all of our money, a few years ago, into a new roof....but we need to do the foundation before it falls down. We've had many contractors just happen to stop by wanting the old wood, it has cedar beams. The barn is approximately 60 foot tall, 60 foot long and 30 foot wide. An old bank barn with so much character."

She noticed the York Sunday News ran a barn restoration story and was seeking contact information. Here's information for her and others to at least get into contact with those who care about such historic structures: