While I was helping to sort books for the annual York County Heritage Trust Book Blast, one of the other volunteers mentioned that she recently discovered that a best-selling author of horror novels lives in York County.

(Plug for book sale: Many thousands of books of all kinds for extremely low prices, August 14 & 15 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and August 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is held at YCHT's Agricultural & Industrial Museum, 217 W. Princess Street. Everyone is welcome.)

Other nationally known authors also have York County connections. Rita Mae Brown, who writes the mysteries with the helpful cats, was born near Hanover. When he spoke here a few years ago, David McCullough mentioned that he had ancestors in the Peach
Bottom area.

One of my favorites is Hanover native John Luther Long, whose novella Madame Butterfly was the basis for the Puccini opera, as well as the play Miss Saigon. See below for more on Long from my previous Sunday News column:

Posted in 1890s Hanover Universal York York County authors books

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Dr. William Bigler stars in one of my favorite examples of how easy it was to get just about anywhere from here with the public transportation of over a century ago. At 2:30 p.m. February 5, 1890, Dr. Bigler simply stepped on the train near his home in Springvale (Windsor Township). A few days later he arrived at his son’s residence in Orlando, Florida. Simple, huh?

(See below for my previous Sunday News column on the multi-talented Bigler family.)

The “RAILROAD TIME TABLE” below from the November 20, 1877 Gazette shows how often trains left and arrived at York on the several railroads that connected here. That doesn’t even begin to address the multitude of stops made at every little hamlet along the way.

Posted in 1870s 1890s Peach Bottom RR Pennsylvania Railroad Universal York Windsor Township York County railroads trains transportation

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A recent newspaper article said there is a shortage of court stenographers. It reminded me of Henry Clay Demming, official York County court stenographer for nearly 45 years.

Demming was born in Geneva, NY, but came to Harrisburg to learn printing at the Patriot and Union newspaper as a young man. He served in the Civil War and eventually reached the military rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Before becoming a professional court stenographer, Demming served on the editorial staff of the Harrisburg Daily Telegraph and a verbatim reporter for the Legislative Record.

His friendship with Thomas Edison probably came about because of Colonel Demming’s interest in science, including rocks and minerals, judging by his position as State Geologist in the early 1900s. Edison’s shared interest in minerals, especially iron ore, led to the great inventor’s biggest failure.

Posted in 1890s Civil War Harrisburg Universal York York County courts inventions veterans

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Hartman Building Revealed March 2008
Miller View With Spectators in the Cupola

You can’t miss the news that the Hartman Building in the Square of York is going to get a drastic facelift. It has been reported in print, on TV and online. I also whipped out my camera when I walked by the other day, struck by the sight of the impressive stone keystone lintels and sturdy bricks that had been covered by metal siding all those years.

I read the news stories that the owner, commendably, plans to restore the building. But then I started to look at the various incarnations and wonder which one will be chosen. Six stories or seven? Cupola or no cupola?

The site has been drawn, photographed, and made into postcards as much as any in York County over the past 200 years. I picked six out of the many views available to share with you. See below for more.

Which Hartman building do you like best?

Posted in 1830s 1880s 1890s 1900s Lewis Miller Universal York York City architecture buildings

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1876 Pomeroy, Whitman map of York Township showing the paper mill/shinnerhannes site.

It seems like I’ve been writing a lot about ailing or dead large animals in York County. When you think about it, there were a whole lot of large animals living amongst the people of York County 100 or so years ago. Even if you weren’t a farmer, you would often have your own cow for milk, even in town.

Click here to read about York Cattle Doctor's cure.

And horses--horses were transportation, horses were tractors, horses were necessities. Cattle could be turned into roasts before they got too old, but even cows came down with fatal illnesses.

All those horses are another matter--this is York County, Pennsylvania, not France. That’s where the rendering plants came in. Rendering plants basically recycled dead animals--hides, tallow, bone meal....

Click here to read about Earnest Dempwolf's plan to build a horse and dog hospital next to his York Rendering Works.

Rendering plants, however, were subject to the NIMBY (not in my back yard) syndrome, with good reason, according to the following December 1897 York Gazette news item from Tilden [Longstown area]:

Posted in 1890s Universal York York Township animals cattle horses mills recycling

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One hundred and ten years ago an article on the front page of the Gazette starts out: “A gang of burglars raided the post offices at Dallastown and Red Lion sometime Monday night and succeeded in making a fairly good haul.”

The first robbery was in Red Lion. The article states: “About 12 o’clock that night [Monday] a number of residents in the vicinity of the post office were awakened by the noise of an explosion. A family named Spangler residing in the office building, on hearing the explosion made an investigation of every room but the post office, and finding everything all right, retired to bed. At Hildebrand’s hotel on the opposite side of the street the explosion awakened occupants of the house.”

It goes on to say that:

Posted in 1890s Dallastown Red Lion Universal York Yoe York County business crime

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One hundred and ten years ago, most folks, especially in rural areas didn’t have telephones. That wonderous invention was only 21 years old in 1897. As far as other media, Heinrich Hertz has only discovered radio waves ten years before and television was way in the future.

The way to keep up with news of your neighbors was to read the newspaper. Each small community had a stringer, and no event was too small to report, especially since those free-lance reporters were reportedly paid according to the length of their column. This practice continued well into the mid-twentieth century. I remember, when I was a child, reading in the Gazette & Daily that my parents, grandparents, and I were entertained by my aunt and uncle for Christmas dinner. (My aunt happened to be the stringer for the New Bridgeville area.)

In early December, 1897 the Special Correspondence of the Gazette “Jacobus Notes” column reported that:

Posted in 1890s Jacobus Springfield Twp. Universal York York County agriculture business churches cigars farming history medicine people schools

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We know York Countians have had a long love affair with the oyster. Start digging near the site of any old tavern, such as the Golden Plough, and you are likely to turn up remnants of long-ago oyster shells. Crushed oyster shells might be far under the streets you travel daily, since they were used as an early paving material.

With its proximity and trade orientation to Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay, oysters have always been popular here, especially in the months with an “R” in them. Why are oysters still mostly consumed in those months, September through April? There seems to be several reasons: Oysters reproduce during the summer months, keeping up a good supply of oysters; in the old days refrigeration wasn’t available, leading to spoilage in hot weather; and the quality is said to not be as good in the summer.

We just wish the prices were the same as those in the following Gazette ad for Bozman’s Oyster House on South George Street 110 years ago, in the fall of 1897:

Posted in 1890s Universal York York York County advertising commerce cooking food groceries history oysters prices retail stores shopping

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One hundred and ten years ago this week, the Gazette noted the semi-annual visit of hermit Joel Strong of Hellam township to see his friend, Al Boll, of Ebner's Cafe. It seems Mr. Strong walked the eight miles each way to stock up on his winter's supply of tobacco. The article notes that the "little hermit is away up in years, but his kindly blue eyes are as clear looking as the eyes of a boy."

Records at York County Heritage Trust indicate that Mr. Strong was born on

Posted in 1890s Delta Hellam Twp. Ma & Pa Railroad Universal York York City York County animals history hunting people railroads tobacco transportation

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