Results tagged “York County Prison” from York Town Square

These ornate iron pieces atop the York Elks porch are the type of fine metal work adorning the organization's 233 N. George St. building. (See related image below.) Background posts: York County ... 'A smorgasbord of architectural styles' and York County's connection to the French Quarter and Collector searching for Western Maryland Railroad memorabilia and When the bridge over the Codorus moved

My recent post - Plaques offer historic insight into 'The Swamp,' before Sovereign Bank Stadium drained it - provides a historic look at York's Arch Street area.

But for those parking at Small's Field, north of Codorus Creek, or in the downtown area, south of the creek, their stroll to the park affords many landmarks scrutinize.

My York Sunday News column for July 1, 2007, covers interesting sites as one moves into or out of The Swamp... .

This photograph shows two generations of York County prisons. The 1853 prison, above, had a castle-like appearance. Its successor, with its imposing fortress-like appearance, has been abandoned for years and is currently on the sales block. Background posts: First county prison irks Brits and Wanted: 'Inmates' to fill old York County prison.

Before the York County's campus in Springettsbury's Pleasant Acres came a similar clustering of buildings at the foot of Broad Street.

The York County poor house, hospital and prison stood on that site now occupied by Alexander Goode school. The county property holdings were extensive with agricultural land contributing food for those under county care in the three buildings... .

The first York County (Pa.) Jail, seen here in a Lewis Miller drawing, came under fire from a group of prisoners of war in May 1778. British prisoners in the American Revolution complained about conditions. The jail was located at South George and East King Streets. (Courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

The York community is pondering uses for the former York County prison on Chestnut Street now that it's up for sale.

Makes one think. Where was York County's first prison?

The answer is at the corner of South George and East King Street in York, just down the street from York County's Centre Square Court House.

Many people are aware that British prisoners were detained at Camp Security, but this first county lockup housed its share, too.

In fact, allegedly poor conditions there attracted the attention of Continental Congress, then meeting in York. "Nine Months in York Town" describes the Brits' complaints this way:

An article in World magazine suggests a use for York County's 1906 lockup now on the sales block.

World reports that Boston's 18th-century Charles Street Jail is being renovated into a luxury hotel.

The city worked up a $150 million bill to convert the prison, once home to anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, into a hotel... .

Food loaf won't be on the menu of any restaurant that opens in at the old York County (Pa.) Prison on Chestnut Street in York. In fact, it's no longer on the menu at the new York County Prison on Concord Road. Prison officials discontinued it about two years ago. Background posts:Old York County Prison on endangered list and York's Chestnut Street prison bad symbol of York's past.

I was writing an editorial for the York Daily Record/Sunday News on the oft-mentioned prospect of a restaurant going into the old York County Prison, now for sale for $3.9 million.

I suggested the menu would have to fare better than food loaf, served over the years to problem inmates at the county prison.

What is food loaf?

Well, it's today's jail meal, dumped into a blender. Add in flour or corn meal and bake.

I actually tasted some about four years ago when the York Daily Record did a story on the topic. It tasted like corn bread with curious lumps in it, which I didn't want to think about.

The Daily Record's story of this prison menu item with accompanying quotes from taste testers:

The old county prison, declared an endangered York site this week was endangered even when it was operating.

The Chestnut Street prison served as the county's lockup from 1906 to the late 1970s, when prisoners were moved to a new Springettsbury Township jail. The fortress-like structure has stood vacant since.

But as this excerpt from "Never to be Forgotten" attests, the prison was a symbol of a lot that was not right about York as recently as the 1950s.

The city has listed the old York County jail on Chestnut Street among six endangered historic sites.

Some years ago, a developer eyed the massive prison for a restaurant, but plans never moved forward. Now, city officials are looking for any investor to save the six-story structure in the revived Sovereign Bank Stadium area. ...