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Sturdy old houses on Hope Ave. near Oak Lane.

The very detailed Atlas of the City of York by Frederick Roe (1903), as illustrated below, shows Baptist Alley stretching west, between Princess Street and College Avenue, from South Queen Street to the Codorus Creek. It picks up again just east of Penn Street and ends at Belvidere.

Look at a map today, and Hope Avenue follows much the same course, except for a break where William Penn Senior High School takes up the whole block between Beaver Street and Pershing Avenue.

What kind of relationship do you have with your children's teachers? How about your own school days? What did your parents and your teachers expect of each other, and of you? Do you expect too much or not enough from your children's teachers? The relationship between parents and teachers was a hot topic at the February 1908 meeting of the York Principals' Club.

The Gazette reports the "substance of the discussion" among Principals Fahs, Ebbert, Heilman, Lau, and Rauhouser:

Duke Street Methodist Church Shortly after Completion

1876 Map Showing Duke Street M.E. Opposite York Collegiate Institute

Anyone associated with a non-profit institution knows that fundraising is a continuing necessity. It was the same in the past. York County churches were very good at coming up with new ways to raise cash. In a previous post I wrote about the York Moravians charging ten cents in 1867 to see their illuminated Christmas tree.

Click here to read about the Moravian Christmas tree.

Giving a donation to have your name embroidered on a quilt was also popular. I’ll go into that in a later post.

I recently came across “jug breaking," a new one to me, but it was certainly a hit at the Duke Street Methodist Church in 1877. My recent York Sunday News column relates the details:

Lewis Miller Drawing of a York County Pennsylvania German Christmas Tree

In December 1867, the Gazette reported:

“FESTIVAL-- The Moravians are now holding a festival at Washington Hall for the benefit of their new church. They have the largest and finest assortment of fancy articles and toys ever offered at any similar enterprise in this place. Among the attractions is a large Christmas tree, illuminated by hundreds of jets of light, which is well worthy of a visit. A trifling fee only is charged admittance--ten cents, we believe. Give them a call.”

A related item reported progress on:

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:

One hundred years ago this week the children of the A.M.E. Zion church on East King Street threw a party to celebrate the 72nd birthday of their beloved superintendent of 29 years.

King Street school named for Aquilla Howard

According to the Gazette the children sang and Evelyn Voss, Nellie Page, Norine Berry, and Lacey Johnson all took part in the program.
Refreshments, including a large birthday cake, were served in the Sunday School room, which was decorated with "autumn leaves, chrysanthemums, and fruit."

Superintendent Howard responded with a five-stanza poem that started out: