Results tagged “Earl Shaffer” from York Town Square

Earl Shaffer chat with fellow Appalachian Trail hikers north of Harpers Ferry during his last through hike in July 1998. Other hikers recognized the celebrity Shaffer during this hike, which came on the 50th anniversary of his first through hike - the first such on the Appalachian Trail. West Manchester book contains valuable gold coins' and Who were most prominent 20th-century sports heroes in York and Adams counties? and Highpoint offers Susquehanna River view for the ages.

West Manchester resident Earl Shaffer was out of the service after Army Signal Corps duty in World War II.

And he was ready to "walk the Army out of my system" on the Appalachian Trail.

"Late in 1947 I had seen an article in an outdoor magazine entitled 'The Long Trail's Challenge,' " he wrote in in his book "Walking with Spring." "It said that no one was known to have hiked the entire Trail in a continuous journey, though many had tried, and such a trip might actually be impossible."

Shaffer proved it was possible with the first through hike in 1948, a second hike the other way in 1965 and a 50th anniversary hike in 1998. He was then almost 80 years old.

This information comes from a Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History news release, telling about the opening of an Earl Shaffer exhibit next month... .

Did you know Richard Nixon's brother went to school in York County in a military uniform?

Gold coins such as this can be found everywhere in York County's past.

My past two posts tell of a couple precious moments in the county, specifically in West Manchester Township.

The township enjoys a book telling the story of one-room schools and trolley cars, better than those literary resources found in most other parts of York County.

A committee overseeing the 200th anniversary of the township in 1999 put forth one of the best of all municipal history books: "A History of West Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania, 1799-1999."

The thick book is packed with hundreds of photographs and stories from a township that always seemed to be in the middle of things, possibly because it is somewhere near the center of the county and straddles key transportation routes... .