Wall Street, 1903
A colleague recently asked me where Wall Street used to be in York. It doesn't appear on present-day maps. A search through old maps with a magnifying glass located a tiny little Wall Street in the 1903 Atlas of York published by Frederick B. Roe.
Finish reading 'York, PA Had Its Own Wall Street' »
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I recently recounted the story of the rumors that swept Hanover, PA of a Confederate invasion on April 22, 1861, when the Civil War was barely a week old.
Click here to read about the Hanover incident told by eyewitness Henrietta Stroman Stair.
Captain W. H. Jenifer, then of the U.S. Army played a prominent part in the confusion. In an article written in 1927, George R. Prowell says that Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtain sent a telegram to Hanover ordering Jenifer's arrest. He too thought Jenifer was deserting and would relay information to the secessionists.
Finish reading 'Panic of Hanover--What Happened to Captain Jenifer?' »The Prince family, that is. A few days ago I wrote and that I thought there were two contemporary David Princes in York. I based that assumption on that two different women married David Prince, and that one David Prince moved to Baltimore and another taught at the York County Academy for around forty-five years.
Click here to read the previous Prince post.
A further search at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives of transcribed original records shows that they were indeed the same person, and he did all the things listed above.
Finish reading 'More on the Princes of York' »Henrietta Stroman was born in York, Pennsylvania on August 26, 1830, the daughter of Henry Stroman. At the age of 24 she married Daniel F. Stair and moved across York County to Hanover. He was probably the Daniel F. Stair that served in Company A of the Sixteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War and was a cigar manufacturer after the war.
News of the firing on Fort Sumter, igniting the Civil War, on April 12, 1861 had quickly reached southern Pennsylvania. Henrietta Stair shared her lucid memories of that tense April, and ensuing panic among the citizen of Hanover, in a York Gazette article in 1908.
Click here to read about a Confederate sword left in Hanover in 1863.
See below for my recent York Sunday News article based on Mrs. Stair's recollections:
Finish reading 'York Woman Tells of Panic in Hanover' »
Variety Iron Works from 1868-69 city directory at York County Heritage Trust
I am glad to see that some of the remaining buildings of the Smyser-Royer Variety Iron Works complex are part of York City’s Northwest Triangle redevelopment project.
One of my York Sunday News columns outlined the metamorphosis of the company from a small stove manufacturer to a huge fabricator of mill gears and turbines; garden benches, fountains, and statuary; cast iron buildings fronts; light posts; lacy iron railings, such as the famous ones in New Orleans; iron bridge parts; and much more. You can read that column below.
Then I just came across an article in an 1867 York Gazette that added even more variety to the company’s products.
Finish reading 'York’s Variety Iron Works Produced Real Variety' »That was the headline above the Hanover news section of the York Gazette on April 30, 1908.
Why did Civil War veteran George M. Prince write to Hanover, Pennsylvania Postmaster Hostetter asking for names of widows?
York Countians have always been readers. At any give time in the nineteen century several newspapers flourished simultaneously in York and Hanover. Just about every small town in the county also had their own weekly paper.
Bookstores, such as Jas. B. Small's Book and Stationery Store in the Hartman Building on Centre Square, were popular and prominently located. They advertised all kinds of reading material, including the latest magazines.
Finish reading 'York County People Well Read in Fashion and Science' »A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that, judging by the ads from real estate agents in other areas trying to entice York County buyers, this area must have been quite prosperous in the late 1860s. Merchants and other entrepreneurs wanted a chunk of our cash too.
Click here to read real estate offerings to York County "capitalists."
For example, though York had its own jewelry stores, James E. Caldwell & Co., Jewelers, Importers, and Manufacturers of Philadelphia took out a sizable ad in the Gazette offering “watches, diamonds, jewelry, solid silver wares, plated goods, mantel clocks, bronzes, decorated china vases and ornaments, musical boxes, and carved wood ornaments to shoppers from York County.
Most surprising to me was Union Pacific Railroad’s nearly full column advertisement offering bonds to York Countians to invest in the western railway, then under construction.
A few days ago I wrote about the "cure" for Murrain, several extremely serious diseases of horses, cattle, and swine. It was concocted and marketed by William Heffner, York Cattle Doctor.
Click hear to read about Heffner's horse, swine, and cattle cure claims.
It wasn't only veterinarians who promised that their mixtures would work wonders for just about any ailment. The following ad from the Gazette of 140 years ago hardly misses a malady:
The incident described below is possibly depicted in the background of this Lewis Miller drawing of "Old Mr. Rudyseal" offering his assistance to General Kilpatrick near Hanover.
One hundred twenty-five years ago, in 1882, the Gazette reported, under Hanover news, that a few weeks before a sword was plowed up on Karl Forney’s farm, which adjoined the town.
Finish reading 'Civil War Confederate Sword Plowed Up in Hanover' »
