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Lewis Miller drawing of a 600 pound York hog.

Shooting matches have been popular in York County for many years. The prizes have changed somewhat--I don't think anyone gives a live big fat pig like they did in the 1892 article below. That would be fun to haul home.

If you are interested in participating in an upcoming clay shoot, it's not too late. As a member of the Board of Directors of the Farm and Natural Lands Trust of York County, I am pleased that the Leadership York 2009 Class is holding a clay shoot fundraiser on April 3 to benefit FNLT. The Leadership York class has extended the registration deadline. Click here for registration information.

See below for the news from the February 13, 1892 York Gazette.

York Post Office Sculptures

A recent post on the sculptures inside the front doors of the downtown York Post Office dwelt on their artistic and historical value. I received an email from a friend pointing out their spiritual qualities. Click here for previous post.

She is absolutely right. In fact their qualities of praise and reverence may have helped their sculptors win the competition. See the quote below, from the August 29, 1941 press release from the Pennsylvania State College, announcing their selection:

After recently posting the article on the 20 horse power York-made Pullman’s win in a 1908 hill climb, I was curious to see what the car looked like.

Click here to read about the hill climb.

The newspaper article didn’t say if the winning auto was a 1907 or 1908 model. Since the race was in early 1908, I went to a 1907 Pullman catalog in the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives.

The factory turned out three 20 horse power models that year. I’m including illustrations below from the catalog of all three models, along with specs and price. Which do you think beat the competitors up the hill?

I guess it is human nature to want to have the biggest and the best. We are always impressed by the tallest buildings and the most gigantic pumpkins.

Our forebears were no different, as we can see by the Lewis Miller drawing above of a huge pumpkin. Miller captioned it: “1809. Christian Leaman, big and large pumpkin grown in his garden. It was as large as a barrel and more in circumference around. Old Dr. John Fisher bought it and sent it to Baltimore to let them see what old York can raise and examine it. No man could lift it from the ground.”

The citizens often made sure the local newspapers knew about their accomplishments. Short items from all over the county in the York Gazette in the autumn of 1877 list several examples:

That’s what the York County Shopping Center (now York Marketplace) on East Market Street was offering in celebration of its Second Anniversary fifty years ago.

Does anyone know who won the brand new 1958 rear-engine Renault Dauphine automobile? It was a 4-door, 4-passenger sedan and you could enter the giveaway every time you visited the shopping center that October. It was a reasonably priced car (around $1,650) and reportedly got over 39 mpg. But, who cared in those cheap-gas days?

You can get a good idea of the cost of living in 1957 by comparing the following specials offered by other York County Shopping Center merchants:

50 years ago this week, Judith Brown, a 17-year-old senior at Kennard-Dale High School, was declared the winner of York County's apple baking dessert contest. She competed against five other county high school students: Nancy Jones, Spring Grove, runner-up; Pauline Landis, Susquehannock; Harriett Shelley, Northeastern; Georgia Weigle, Central; and (remember--this is 1957) Donald Stambaugh, Northern. Even though he didn't win, Donald should be commended for entering a cooking contest in those more gender-rigid times.