This turn-of-the-20th-century building was originally used to burn refuse from York city and York Hospital. It's been converted into a crematorium.
Last post told the story of Revolutionary War patriot Henry Laurens, apparently the first American to be officially cremated in the 1790s.
Two hundred years later, the practice is gaining visibility around York, where Laurens dwelt for nine months as president of Continental Congress in 1777-78.
In 2000, a small brick building with a large smokestack on Kings Mill Road became a crematorium.
For years, it had been rumored that the then-spooky building was originally used for burning bodies.
A 1955 newspaper article gives a glimpse at how that legend grew. As the story goes, a south-side neighborhood gang lurked around the building on Halloween night. Some gang members who peeked in a window reportedly saw a "job" under way.
Thus ended their sleep for a month... .
