
York County Academy on North Beaver Street is seen in 1922. It was the earliest forerunner of York College of Pennsylvania. The historic building, which also served as York County USO headquarters in World War II, was demolished in the 1960s. Today, a parking lot across from St. John Episcopal Church covers the site, but the academy's old gymnasium still stands in the back corner of the lot. York County Academy and York Collegiate Institute later merged and their successor became four-year York College of Pennsylvania in 1968. Background posts: Old King's Mill-Smurfit Stone site giving way to information age and Central Pennsylvania histories make smart part of summer reading stack and New York College book provides insight into school, community.
Another in an ongoing series on providing historic background on YorkCounts community indicators:
YorkCounts: The percentage of high school students planning to attend postsecondary institutions is up in most York County school districts.
Background: With people often foregoing high school degrees historically, it follows that the percentage furthering their education after high school would be low.
That helps explain why York has never been considered a college town and the fact that no full college held classes here until 1968... .




