Results tagged “Conewago Creek” from York Town Square

Bryan Bennett looks demonstrates how to pan for gold in York County's Conewago Township earlier this year. Modern-day prospectors are seeking a permit to dredge the Conewago Creek for gold. (See photo of dredge below.) Background posts: Conewago crossing near Manchester hot spot for years and Old York County Boy Scout camp still teaching lessons and Does Washington Township's 'The Pickets' link with Civil War?.

York County sent forth a bunch of exuberant prospectors to seek California gold in 1849.

Well, their heirs are at work 150 years later, panning in Conewago Creek.

They're finding some flakes and recently asked the state for approval to use a small dredge to uncover more... .

The Gazette and Daily reported a raid of a bawdy house in the Conewago Heights area between Manchester and York Haven in 1918. Preparing for the raid was the easy part. Bringing the proprietors into custody proved to be much more difficult and dangerous. Background posts: Conewago crossing near Manchester hot spot for years - Part I and Conewago crossing - Part II and Conewago crossing - Part III.

The Conewago crossing near Manchester has seen Confederate raiders and contented sunbathers.

Conewago Inn-goers have long sipped prized turtle soup. A 750-pound snapping turtle, carved with a chainsaw, posing in that area can evoke a thought about how many bowls of soup his real-life counterpart would have produced.

For years, children licked ice cream cones from Elm Beach's concession stand. Cold Springs Park played host to picnickers by the thousands.

Trolleys ran near there. Trains too.

And the crossing has long served as the symbolic boundary between York-oriented folks and Harrisburg-leaning commuters.

It's an example how so much has happened at a single point in York County. Multiply that point by thousands and you have a rich history.

And as the following story shows, crime is not just a city problem. For years, newspaper headlines have related rural misdeeds - often with dangerous implications - even in recreational areas such as the Conewago crossing.

The crossing was abuzz after a police raid on a house of ill repute - the "Liberty Bell" - in the spring of 1919... .

Only a bridge pier remains today of the trolley line from York to York Haven, cut back to North York on June 1, 1932. The pier sits near the once bustling Cold Springs Park and Elm Beach. Background posts: Conewago crossing near Manchester hot spot for years and Conewago crossing, Part II and Big Conewago serves as physical, symbolic divider of York County culture.

Sue Shiflett of East Berlin is looking for photographs of Elm Beach, the popular swimming spot on the Conewago Creek near Manchester.

The beach - actually a concrete deck extending from the bank - operated on the north side of the Conewago across from Cold Springs Park, destination for trolley excursions.

"My great grandfather, Fred Spiese, operated a swim suit rental and restaurant at Elm Beach," she wrotes.

Today, Elm Beach is abandoned and Cold Springs Park developed. A silent pier from a long-one trolley bridge stands guard... .

The once-beautiful Ganoga Bridge, the span that divided Boy Scout Camp Ganoga into two parts, may be coming down.

And at least one area preservationist is not happy about it.

Barb Raid of Historic York wants PennDOT to leave the old structure standing when its replacement eventually opens to traffic.

And the owner of the old campgrounds says its replacement will be unremarkable architecturally.

The old bridge bears many interesting features including the remains of 12 lamp posts in honor of the Scout Laws... .

The Kralltown Road bridge, seen here in 2006, is of the truss construction typical of those PennDOT is systematically replacing. In fact, PennDOT is placing some of them up for sale. Background posts: When the bridge over the Codorus moved, Charles Dickens on his Susquehanna River crossing: 'I was in a painful dream', and A 7th bridge? Pedestrian walkway may span Susquehanna River some day.

I recently turned onto the one-lane Bowers Bridge crossing the Conewago Creek near Manchester and wondered how the rickety but beautiful structure had escaped the wreckers ball. After all, a trolley bridge downstream was no more. And a highway bridge even further down the Conewago was there but no longer used.

As it turns out, PennDOT has caught up with the Bowers Bridge... .

Camp Ganoga athletic director Don Roehm leads Boy Scouts in exercises in 1921. Scouts trooped about three miles into the isolated camp on the bank of the Big Conewago Creek near Strinestown after disembarking from the trolley in Manchester. This York County Heritage Trust photo was published in the book "On My Honor, 70 Years of Scouting in York & Adams Counties." The Big Conewago is the symbolic divide between northern York County and the other two-thirds of the county. Background posts: Monica Goodling proves that all roads lead to York, Part of Elm Beech still visible and Northern York area strawberry part of Neapolitan county.

Monica Goodling, in the news recently for her practices in hiring federal prosecutors, lived in a region where northern York County met southern York County.

In a forthcoming York Sunday News column, I tell about the Conewago Creek region where she lived and how at least intra-county cultures met on its banks.

The column follows:

York County trolley car No. 163 served as a summer home along the Conewago Creek near Strinestown from 1939 until the 1972 flood. It was acquired by the Rockhill Trolley Museum and restored during a 17-year period. It's in operation today. Farther east from Strinestown on the Conewago Creek, trolley cars crossed the bridge near Manchester. Background posts: Conewago Crossing near Manchester busy spot for years, Part I, Part II, and
Hanover trolley bed work seen as 'springboard to accelerate future phases of the trail'

Ed Beck of the Manchester area is helping us explore the the area on both sides of the Conewago Creek where the trolleys crossed on their way to and from the line terminus in York Haven.

He conjectured last time that the concrete slab that represented Elm Beach on the York Haven side might still be there. That was a major swimming locale for trolley riders coming to Cold Springs Park, on the Manchester side.

Here's an edited version of Ed's report:... .

Messiah College's bridge, the last covered bridge touching York County, straddles Yellow Breeches Creek. It connects Cumberland and York counties. The college's athletic fields are located on the York County side. The bridge, seen here in this Wikipedia photo, was moved upstream to the college from Bowmansdale. Background link: Photo collection adds to historical record.

Dallastown's John Fishel is concerned that the Minnesota bridge collapse will spell the end of local steel truss bridges - those big, picturesque, bridges with the overhead beams.

These impressive bridges will be replaced by blander, modern bridges in the name of safety. Perhaps some could be left standing, he wrote.

York County has lost all but one of its covered bridges in the course of modernization. Meanwhile, Lancaster managed to hang onto 29 of its covered structures... .