Results tagged “Susquehanna River” from York Town Square

This newspaper advertisement touts Gen. John B. Gordon's return to York to deliver a speech. The friendly, enthusiastic crowd welcomed the general-turned-politician. (See photo of Gordon below.) Background posts: York County Civil War hero grandmom of Gore Vidal and Civil War affected women in York County - and vice versa and Years after Civil War, (a) Longstreet steps onto York County soil .

The head of this hypothetical invading force was gentlemanly, but this did not keep his men from stealing the cars and other property from many York countians. Further, he damaged other property - catalyzing the destruction of an expensive Susquehanna River bridge and trampling valuable crops in fields. He killed at least two defenders of the county and shaped the way York viewed itself for years.

Would we welcome him back as a hero? ... .

This photograph shows bridge supports running alongside Veterans Memorial Bridge, sometimes called the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge. An urban legend persists concerning the 1930 Veterans Bridge. Background posts: A rehabbed, lit up Columbia-Wrightsville bridge: 'It'll really be a dramatic view' and A 7th bridge? Pedestrian walkway may span Susquehanna River some day and Almost ... a double deck bridge across the Susquehanna River.

A worker constructing the new bridge connecting Wrightsville with Columbia fell into freshly set concrete. His body was never retrieved, and he is entombed in a bridge support to this day.

Jim Fahringer has raised this on-again, off-again claim in a comment to the recent post: Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge celebrates quiet birthday... .

This photo from John Wright restaurant in Wrightsville, Pa., is undated but it must come from the late 1920s because the Veterans Memorial Bridge opened in 1930. Notice the now-dismantled older bridge to the left and the temporary, construction bridge on the downstream side. Background posts: Wrightsville's overlooked attractions and When did Wrightsville ferry service end? and Nature had its way with short-lived York Furnace Bridge in southeastern York County.

A recent York Daily Record/Sunday News story on the restoration of lighting on the old Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, known as the Veterans Memorial Bridge, brought applause from a commenter.

|"To me, the decision to restore the bridge is a no brainer," he wrote. "Let's do it!"

He also raised the question about when tolls were lifted from the Depression-era structure which carried the Lincoln Highway across the Susquehanna River:

This drawing of the iron-hulled steamboat "Codorus" by William S. Stair appeared in "Greater York (Pa.) in Action." The flat-bottom boat was launched for a northward Susquehanna River journey from the Accomac area. Background posts: Murals of York get another colorful panel and How Sam Lewis State Park sightseers view Highpoint's dome and For years, York countians have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams.

Wish all questions from York Town Square readers were this easy.

An e-mailer posed a readily answerable question:

"Exactly where was the location where the first iron steam boat was built?"

In 1825, John Elgar constructed the iron vessel in York shops near the Codorus Creek. He labored at a factory that Phineas Davis later made famous for crafting what is considered to be the first successful coal-burning locomotive. (In 1831, Davis gained a $4,000 award from the Baltimore and Ohio Steam Railway for building "The York," the first successful coal-burning locomotive steam engine in the United States.)

A historical marker at West King and South Newberry streets in York marks the site on the shops, demolished long ago.

This excerpt from "Never to be Forgotten," tells more:

Bowman's Hill (New Hope, Pa.) Wildflower Preserve reps enjoy Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve in Lancaster County recently. Backgrounds posts: York County still home to unvarnished beauty, On York County parks, Susquehannocks and carved river rocks and With hot controversy cooled, Highpoint offers Susquehanna River view for the ages.

Man has converged on the Shenk's Ferry glen that houses an impressive wildflower preserve for four or more centuries.

American Indians built lodges near this southern Lancaster County site, and their European successors built a plant to make charcoal, consuming trees by the thousands. They mined iron ore and built a dynamite factory, site of a blast that killed 11 men in 1906.

Today, Grubb Run flows through a culvert under railroad tracks at its west end.

A larger culvert allows the creek to run through another railroad embankment in its east end. That tunnel is known locally as "The Culvert." ...

Workers construct a platform under the Susquehanna River's Norman Wood Bridge in the summer of 2008. The platform aided painters working on the bridge, a dizzying height above the river bed. Background posts: How many Amish have crossed the bridge from Lancaster to York County? and Bridge painters stalled: 'Everybody's looking for the eagles ... nobody has seen any' and For years, folks have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams.

Scott Mingus made a quick aside that said much during a speech to the York County Civil War Roundtable in March.

John B. Gordon's Confederates marched in late June 1863 to the bridge spanning the Susquehanna River between Wrightsville and Columbia.

That bridge was the only one standing between Harrisburg and the Maryland Line.

Just a few years earlier - in 1857 - wind and ice had knocked down a bridge at York Furnace in southeastern York County... .

Flames shoot from a grill atop a pier from the bridge that the Union Army burned in 1863 to stop the Confederate advance. Two subsequent bridges used those same now-empty piers. In recent years, re-enactors have simulated the burning of the bridge as an observance of this milestone in local history. Scott Mingus has penned a history, 'Flames Beyond Gettysburg' that tells about that moment when Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon's raid reached the west bank of the Susquehanna. Background posts: New Lincoln blog category introduced to honor Abe's 200th birthday and History-making evening on rebel occupation of York could turn into daylong symposium and Mayor of York, Pa.: 'We are no longer unprotected'.

Scott Mingus writes many memorable stories in his new book on the Confederate occupation of York County.

But he provides one quote that creates an image that will never leave your mind.

Here's what one Union cavalryman later observed about the rebels' charge at the bridge linking Wrightsville and Columbia in late June 1863:

"One old negro to whom was entrusted the duty of igniting the fuse sat very coolly on the edge of the pier, smoking a cigar."

Jim Miller runs The Miller Carriage and Wagon Museum at his Codorus Township home. Its collection includes long years of collecting wagons, carriages and buggies. Background posts: Is mystery railroad the old Shrewsbury narrow gauge?, Vermont promotes Podunk, but York County has its Sticks and The Acme Tongue Carrier of Hanover, Pa.: Are there any around today?.

York County has long had a love affair with wheels.

As the first county in Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna River, its borders would naturally contain roads pointing to all compass points, crossing and veering off by themselves.

With the roads, came wagons. Farm wagons. Conestoga Wagons.

With increasing affluence, came buggies. And carriages. And coaches

And to produce all these wheeled conveyances, came wagon makers - large and small.

And then automakers.

Jim Miller who name is given to Codorus Township's The Miller Carriage and Wagon Museum has been collecting wagons and buggies and carriages for years... .

The Indian Steps Museum, seen here in 2006, sits near the Susquehanna River in Lower Chanceford Township. The York County Conservation Society-run museum houses York County's most comprehensive exhibits about the American Indians. For details, call the museum at 717-862-3948. Background posts: 400 years ago, John Smith explored Chesapeake Bay, White Woman of the Genessee captured 250 years ago in York County and John Smith gave Susquehannocks their name.

Controversy over Lauxmont and Highpoint land brings York County's rich American Indian heritage into the spotlight.

Part of the Lauxmont land now in public hands covers the site of a Susquehannock Indian village.

A museum or some other interpretive center near the village would add to the scant offerings in York County devoted to Indian history... .

That's local conservationist Michael Helfrich arriving at the top of the hill at Samuel S. Lewis State Park in 2006. The dome-like elevation in the background is Highpoint, now a York County Park. At that time, its fate as a development site was up in the air. Sam Lewis park was named after the former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor from York County. Background posts: Where exactly is the York/Lancaster border?, Absorbing photo and overlay shows locations of six Susquehanna bridges and Lauxmont breeds queries of great import - or little.

A recent York Town Square post showed the view from Highpoint now that the controverted piece of land has become a York County park.

Now, we see the view of Highpoint from Samuel S. Lewis State Park.

But wait... .

York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel captured this award-winning photo of ice upon ice at Long Level along the Susquehanna River in the blizzard of 1996. That blizzard hit on Jan. 8, 1996, and it dropped 30 to 36 inches of snow. Businesses closed for a week. Municipalities exhausted their annual snow removal budgets in five days. (See additional photo below). Background posts: Susquehanna bridge makeover flowing along, Doctor made house calls in blizzards and Newspaper Web site introduced in blizzard.

"I remember opening my front door of our home and only seeing a couple inches of our antenna of our car."

That's how West Manchester Township's Gary Huber described one of the York County blizzards of the 1990s.

"I also remember no one was supposed to be on the street, because everything was shut down by the mayor. We, the maintenance department of York City schools, were asked to report to work the best way we could. Roads were hardly open, schools were closed for a week, which is about how long it took us to clear all the pavement," he said.

This discussion on snow and ice started when Jim Buckner shared slides of a major Susquehanna River ice breakup in 1959, and images found their way into the York Town Square post: For years, folks have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams. ...

W. Scull's map of York County shows York as a busy crossroad community in 1770. But notice that Harrisburg - Harris Ferry on this map - is north of Dover, or maybe Weigelstown. Background posts: York County: It's shaped like a horse's ...., Scenic Yellow Breeches snakes along York County's northern boundary and Site filled with wealth of York County geological info.

Several observers of York County history were on their way to Chickies Rock, across the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County.

The conversation went like this.

If the Susquehanna flows north/south, then Harrisburg should be due north of the Wrightsville/Chickies rock area.

Right?

Sounds right.

Wrong... .

Tubers take a leisurely ride recently near the covered bridge spanning the Yellow Breeches on Messiah College's campus. The beauty of the countryside is similar to that witnessed by Charles Dickens in his visit to northern York County in 1842. Dickens' coach would have crossed the Yellow Breeches downstream close to the point that it spills into the Susquehanna River. Background posts: Big Conewago serves as divider, York County: 'It's shaped like a horse's... ' and Scenic Yellow Breeches snakes along York County's northern boundary.

Charles Dickens and 11 others filled a large coach that traveled along York County's eastern edge in his visit to America in 1842.

He arrived in York via railroad. He traveled to Harrisburg via coach. And traveled to Pittsburgh from Harrisburg via canal.

Dickens noted the uncomfortable coach ride and took time to observe - and later write about - the foiables of York countians. But he also Dickens noticed the beauty of the county's northern end, as he describes in his "American Notes:"

Perched above the Susquehanna River bed on the Norman Wood Bridge, High over the Susquehanna River under the Norman Wood Bridge, a worker constructs a platform for painters. York Daily Record/Sunday News photogapher (and blogger) Bil Bowden capture this photo and the one below. Background posts: Pennsylvania: Rivers run through it (see neat picture of an Eagle), Photographer tramps to far reaches of York County and York County still home to unvarnished beauty.

Many people are familiar with the two bridges that cross the Susquehana River between Wrightsville and Columbia.

Many people know that the Conowingo Dam carries U.S. Route 1 over the river in Maryland.

But the remote Norman Wood Bridge, the third bridge over the river between Harrisburg and the Chesapeake Bay gets less respect.

The eagles that nest below its deck have even deserted it. ...

This map showing the early stages of the Confederate invasion in June 1863 also shows the roughly triangular shape of York County. In the next five days, the Confederates crossing all of York County except for the southeastern angle - the Delta-Peach Bottom area. (See additional image below.) Background posts: Rebs' short visit creates long memories, A square courthouse in the middle of York's Centre Square, 20 questions and answers prove your York smarts.

The Yellow Breeches Creek carves a ragged northwest border for York County. And Beaver Creek forms part of its western border. The Susquehanna River creates the eastern border and the legendary Mason-Dixon Line its southern.

So, what shape is York County as a result of these geographical influences?

My shorthand version is to call it triangular. In times when its decision-makers have been less than astute, I've also called it triangular with the northern part, its head, sleepily nodding off... .

This scene could come from the Smoky Mountains. But York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Bil Bowden captured this near old Lock 12 on the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. Background posts: A far different view of York County, Pennsylvania and water: The river runs through it, Readers can view best of Bil Bowden's photos on new blog and Photographer tramps to the far reaches of York County.

Another photo in York Town Square's series of iconic images - images that tell a story about York County and its history:

During a visit to the area last week, David Whelchel stopped at the monument to his great-grandfather Lt. Gen. James Longstreet at the battlefield in Gettysburg. Whelchel is married to a York County native. Background links: Local Civil War Roundtable gets new digs, Noted writer to blog on local Civil War scene and Unsung farmhouse loud symbol of a shaping moment for York.

Jubal A. Early commanded the 6,000-plus Confederates who overran the York area and reached the banks of the Susquehanna River in Wrightsville in late June 1863.

He was part of Richard Ewell's corps.

James Longstreet was another of Robert E. Lee's corps commanders (A.P. Hill was the third.)

Longstreet's men never made it farther east than Cemetery Ridge during Pickett's charge, also known as Longstreet's assault, during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Had Longstreet's men broken through and won the battle, they might have kept going east to York County on their way to capture Harrisburg, the prized Northern state capital... .

This turbine, also known as a runner, was manufactured at Voith Siemens Hydro's West Manchester Township plant in 2006. (See related photos below.) Background posts: Glatfelter, Smith top industrial legacy list, Voith turbine runner legacy of former pastor/entrepreneur, York made big, heavy things - and was immensely proud of it.

A student in my OLLI class at Penn State York wondered why S. Morgan Smith, an industrial giant in the late 1800s, isn't better known today.

The short answer is that no company with Smith connections bears the name of the Moravian-minister-turned-entrepreneur today... .

Peaceful Lauxmont, site of much controversy, overlooks the Susquehanna. This photograph came from the vantage point of the equally controversial Highpoint. Both prime patches of real estate were part of York Safe & Lock owner S. Forry Laucks' country home. Background posts: Lauxmont breeds queries of great import - or little, Forry Laucks, Lauxmont sparked debates and York Safe & Lock faltered after owner's death.

Continuing the series of telling York County, Pa.'s, history through images: ... .

This photo, courtesy of J. David Allen & Son, of York, Pa., was taken in the late 1950s. It shows Springettsbury Township's York County Shopping Center in full operation. The shopping center was the first of its type in the York area, and Sears, Roebuck & Co., the large building at right, was the first major retail business to move from York's downtown. PACE Resources Inc./Buchart Horn Inc. used the photo as part of an exhibit at the York Business Expo in 2005. Background posts: Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph, Bury's burger memories far from buried, From top dog and hot dogs to dogfight and dog days in York County, Pa.

Continuing the series of telling York County, Pa.'s, history through images: ... .