The United Brethren Church built two-story cabins when it opened the Heidelberg Township (Pa.) campground in 1896 for churchgoers to stay overnight or weekly. Penn Grove Campground later operated as Camp Pamaveda and is known today at Penn Grove Retreat. All but one of the wooden structures, sometimes called tents, have been torn down, and campers to this southwestern York County facility now sleep in newer cinderblock cabins. The corner of the tabernacle, an open air pavilion for worship services, is seen at right. The campground was a stop on a recent tour of religious sites in York and Adams counties. Other posts of interest: Abe Lincoln, Gwyneth Paltrow passed through Porters Sideling and Conewago Chapel steeple worker wondered if he'd ever get up there: Now, 'Here I am' and Pamadeva. Get it? Pennsylvania. Maryland. Delaware. Virginia..
The 10-mile line between York County's Spring Grove and Adams County's Edgegrove bears a rich vein of history.
Spend five hours mining that vein with three knowledgeable students of history, and you come away with a clarity about how much you don't know about this fascinating region.
Actually, those students are longtime teachers about York County's history: Jim Rudisill, Luther Sowers and June Lloyd.
On a recent Saturday, Rudisill served as tour guide, equipped with his 14-stop itinerary neatly handwritten on lined notebook paper... .
