Results tagged “Penn Park” from York Town Square

The ascension of brave folks in balloons has taken place for decades. Here, artist Lewis Miller captures the ascension of a balloon from York, Pa.'s Penn Park in 1835. Notice the crowd that had gathered to watch the contraption ascend. Also of interest: 5,000 Penn Park fans witnessed first York night baseball and Posts linking to Lewis Miller's art and Where was York County's earliest documented airstrip?

In 1854, George Elliott prepared himself to ascend in a balloon over Hanover. A newspaper reported that arrangements are made with the "intrepid Aeronaut" for the public-pleasing stunt.

This information came from my "Never to be Forgotten," and is presented here as a tie-in to the confusing incident in Colorado in which a 6-year-old boy was thought to be aboard a balloon.

In the 1800s, itinerant balloonists toured the country - and York County - to show off.

According to "Never to be Forgotten":

This York (Pa.) Gazette story from Aug. 29, 1901, tells about the first night baseball game played in York - and probably York County. Special rules were put in for this game. Background posts: Sons of Union vets seeking relatives of Civil War soldier from U.S. Colored Troops, 32nd Regiment and York's American War Mothers monument captures interest and Adding to York baseball timeline: Revs ready for 'second helping'

Officials are looking for ways to give York's Penn Park new life.

The relatively light use of the city park today can shroud its heavy use throughout history.

For example, it was the place where freedman from the South headed upon reaching York, north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

It housed a large Civil War military hospital.

And, on a lighter note, a ballpark, complete with grandstand, home of a Penn Park team, operated there. It was there that York's first night baseball game was played in late August 1901... .

Two aging Civil War veterans flank a Lincoln impersonator in this photo from York County Heritage Trust files. The black veteran is thought to be John Aquilla Wilson, who enlisted in the United States Colored Troops, 32nd Regiment in 1864. Background posts: 'One of the shells found its mark' and Black soldiers from York County served in 'Glory' unit - Part I and 'Glory,' Part II.

Will descendants of Civil War vet John Aquilla Wilson please make yourself known?

That is the request from sponsors of a public rededication ceremony of four Civil War cannons at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hanover Junction.

According to my "East of Gettysburg," "Quil" Wilson lived in the New Park area of southeastern York County where he died at the age of 101 in 1942. He was buried in the Fawn AME Cemetery.

He enlisted as a 15-year-old in the 32nd Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, a black unit and became of scores of black soldiers from York County to serve in Northern forces.

Bob Rudy of event sponsor The Sons of Union Veteran of the Civil War (SUVCW) , Camp 33 (York), asked relatives to contact him at bob@bobrudy.com.

The big guns might have a familiar look to connoisseurs of cannons... .

This map from 'East of Gettysburg' shows the location of various units in Jubal Early's division as his Confederates invaded York in the days before the Battle of Gettysburg. One of his commanders, Isaac E. Avery, directed a brigade that lodged in York for nearly two days. Avery was later mortally wounded in fighting at Gettysburg, and his burial site has reportedly been identified. Background post: Civil War in York County, by the numbers.

The Associated Press has reported that the burial site of Col. Isaac E. Avery probably has been identified in Hagerstown.

The Civil War colonel, temporary head of North Carolina brigade, was mortally wounded in fighting on Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg.

Before Gettysburg, Avery was in York... .

This photograph from Florence La Rose Ames' "That Sovereign Knowledge," shows the Women' Ward at York Hospital around the turn of the 20th century. Parts of the hospital, then located on West College Avenue, serves as an apartment complex today. The hospital moved to its South George Street campus in 1930. Background posts: Yank mortally wounded on ninth day of service and Doctor wrote about oxygen use to aid 'average country practitioners' and Cemetery bears rich Civil War tales.

The U.S. Army General Hospital, the large Civil War hospital located on Penn Park, is a master's thesis waiting to happen.

To my knowledge, no scholarly work has been written on the complex, which operated from 1862 to past war's end. The hospital even had its own newspaper, available on microfilm, so it would be possible to pull together strands into a helpful monograph.

One intriguing piece of that research would be to connect the dots, if possible, between the military hospital and York Hospital, started in 1880.

Some links aren't hard to find: ...

The historical marker explaining York's Penn Park is one of at least nine roadside monuments are missing from York County. Background post: Columnist adds to sense of community .

The Camp Security marker isn't the only one missing along York County's roads.

A York Daily Record states that at least nine are missing from York County. About 200 of the 2,200 markers across Pennsylvania are missing. The number is hard to pin down.

It could be people want these state-owned signs for their rec rooms. Or sell them as scrap.

York Hospital's Dr. Douglas Arbittier shows a 1730s-vintage saw used to amputate limbs. He will demonstrate saws from his collection on a History Channel program. See History Channel for programming.

Douglas Arbittier has collected surgical saws and bloodletting devices for years. He even has a Web site to show off his collection.

His collection gives a poignant view of progress in medicine and the horrors of war.

York County, of course, is historically in tune with such horrors. In fact, the the U.S. Army Military Hospital operating in York during the Civil War had its own collection of surgical saws... .

The American War Mothers monument in York, right, rear, honors those who served, died and achieved in World War II. It is an overlooked York County landmark.

A photograph published with my column on Sunday, 'A Memorial Day tour of, well, memorials,' brought a nostalgic response from a reader.

Linda Just wrote about my tour of York's military statues, particularly Penn Park's American War Mothers marker: ...

The Prospect Hill Cemetery, vandalized last week, is just one of York County's unsung treasures... .