Please, please, please, loyal readers - go check out my guest post on "The Organized Garage" over at professional organizer and fellow York Countian Debbie Jordan-Kravitz's blog.
You can learn how to keep your garage "car-park-able" for winter. In fact, I was so motivated by my guest post, that I parked MY car in the garage last night, gave it a thorough vacuuming, and then left it there! What a novelty.
Anyway, go check it out!
I was really excited to see some people who I don't even know starting to submit to our new user-submitted photo galleries!
One woman, Dianne Bowders of York Township, posted a really interesting set of photos of buildings around York County, complete with detailed captions, so I thought I'd share them with you.
Ye Olde York Valley Inn
Dianne writes: "Ye Olde York Valley Inn was originally built between 1738-1747 in Springettsbury Township. The early stone inn was located 2.5 miles east of York near the site of WalMart along the Lincoln Highway/Route 30. George Washington and the Marquis de LaFayette were among its early visitors. Proprietor rules for the inn included that no more than five could sleep in a bed, and that boots were not to be worn while in bed. In 1962, a large portion of the stone inn was moved from its original location to Susquehanna Memorial Gardens in York Township where it serves as the cemetery office." Read more on Jim McClure's York Town Square blog post, 1730s York Valley Inn may outlast its namesake.
Billmeyer House
Dianne writes: "A front view of the beautiful Victorian Italianate York House or Billmeyer House, built by Charles Billmeyer in 1863. The house is part of the First Presbyterian Church complex. Thirty-five years ago the Church petitioned to tear down this blighted landmark. The restoration began after a prolonged battle between the Church and York's Historic Architectural Review Board who refused to grant permission to destroy the home. The home now stands as a beautiful testament to preservation." I've seen this spelled both Billmeyer and Billmyer - not sure which is now accepted! For more on it under any name, read Jim McClure's York Town Square blog post, Colonial York, Pa.? No, try Victorian York, Pa.
Dritt Mansion
Dianne writes: "Historic Pleasant Garden, or the Dritt Mansion/Zimmerman Center for Heritage, was built about 1738, the year when settlers streamed across the Susquehanna River. The land was first owned by Thomas Cressap and a log fort was constructed near this site (1729) to prevent settlement on the west side of the River. The Georgian style mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located about 3.5 miles south of Wrightsville at Long Level and is now owned by the York-Lancaster Heritage Region. On the first Friday of each month, the Susquehanna River Art exhibit is open for viewing." Read more about the Dritt family on Jim McClure's York Town Square blog post, Native Americans help clean up Dritt family cemetery in new York County park.
Wallace-Cross Mill
Dianne writes: "Built in 1826 in East Hopewell Township, the mill once operated 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places it is now part of York County Parks and Recreation and is open for tours during part of the summer and on special miller days. The miller's house sits on the hill above the mill." Read more about the mill on Jim McClure's York Town Square blog post, Pioneering sisters operated York County grist mill.
Thank you, Dianne, for sharing these photos! Have any of my readers been to these places? Cross Mill in particular is on my "Top 10" list to visit next summer, and I'd love to hear about your experiences there or elsewhere, so leave me a comment!
Reader Jo took this photo of the 39th annual apple butter boil held at the home of a friend of hers in October. I was invited - again. I missed it - again. It's becoming a fairly irritating tradition! What does apple butter have to do with this post? Read on.
I don't normally do this, but I am hoping to engage in some gratuitous self-promotion here on the blog and get some feedback from you, loyal readers, in the process.
Here's the deal:
I have four "big things" going on online right now - two on the blog here, and two elsewhere. Here, in no particular order, they are:
1. Next week, I'll be guest-blogging for a good virtual friend and fellow Yorker, Debbie Jordan Kravitz, a professional organizer. I'll make sure to post a link when my post is up over there, but rest assured - if you're a neat freak like me, I think you'll love it!
2 and 3. I've got two new "blog series" ideas that I'm going to kick off as soon as possible - hopefully by the end of this month. I've gotten great response to series posts like yorkisms and what stores used to be. The two new series are also going to be occasional and, hopefully, very reader-interactive.
They are:
First, an ABCs of York County. I'll be taking suggestions each week for York County icons that begin with a particular letter, then we'll post a poll and let everyone vote for which gets to "own" that letter. Just think about it. Is S for Shoe House or Scrapple? And is A for apple butter, like that seen above, or the Accomac Inn? This should be fun.
Second, we'll do Names Around Town. Who was A.B. Farquhar and why did we name a park after him? Who is Norman A. Trimmer, for whom my daughter's school is named? (I don't even know the answer to that second one - yet!) We'll find out together, and again, I'll be taking suggestions as well as working through some good sources, like names in county parks and schools.
4. Finally, I am just finishing up something cool for the newspaper's Web site - a new user-submitted photo gallery. This is a great way for you to share your photos, whether you're in York now, from York but living elsewhere, or just a friend of mine with cool pictures. Hahaha! This is another case where I'm asking for your help! Remember the apple butter boil picture above by Jo? Well, she's helping me out by filling up the gallery with some of her great photos before its official launch. I'd love for ALL my readers to do the same. Just go here, click on "Submit photo," and fill out the form. And, of course, let me know if you have any problems or questions!
So what do you think? Willing to stick around with me for some more fun blog adventures? I'm really looking forward to it!
