William Wagner Drawing of 1830 York County Courthouse.

I'm certainly not advocating crime, but when you think of it, salaries for all those policemen, jailers, judges, and attorneys do add to the economy. Building and upkeep of the prisons and courthouses, feeding the prisoners, and all the other fees associated with the justice system also supply work for a lot of people.

I haven't checked the probably astronomical costs today, but take a look at the crime and court related expenditures below from the 1825-1826 York County budget report, as published in the York Recorder. They make up quite a chunk of the costs for that year.

Posted in 1820s Universal York York County courthouse courts crime lawyers local government police prisons

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Every April our thoughts, mostly bad, turn to taxes. Back in 1833, Peter Bott got really upset when he was passed over for tax collector of West Manchester Township.

Posted in 1830s Universal York W. Manchester Twp. York County local government taxation

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Every now and then some people get all bent out of shape because they think there should be no accommodation for anyone that doesn't speak or read English. Perhaps they should stop and think that their own ancestors might have been out of luck if that was the case in York County in the 1700s and 1800s.

A few weeks ago I quoted some expenditures from the 1837 York County Budget, as it was printed in the York Gazette. Click here to read about Commissioners salaries and fox scalps.

Which language did your family read and speak in 1837?

Posted in 1830s German language Universal York York County local government newspapers

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1830 William Wagner watercolor of the York County Almshouse.

Most of you probably cringe along with me when you see some of the figures we spend as a county today. I’m sure the reaction was the same in 1838 when York Countians read the published report for the year before.

By Pennsylvania Law each county had to publish their budget for the year just completed in the local newspapers. Let's look at a few figures from 1837.

Posted in 1830s Carroll Twp. W. Manchester Twp. York County almshouse foxes hunting local government prices

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Lewis Miller drawing of the new courthouse, 1839.

I recently wrote about a thief stealing the copper spouting off the York County courthouse in 1874. That was the York County’s second courthouse, completed in 1840.

Click here to read about the spouting heist.

York County residents, as always, had plenty of opinions where that new courthouse should be and kept a keen eye on the cost. The first courthouse, the one in which Continental Congress met, had to go, they said, because it sat in the middle of Center Square, and traffic was picking up.

I'll tell you more about the cost of the 1840 building itself in a future post, but for now, I’ll quote the Gazette editorial of February 13, 1838 when, after much wrangling, a site was finally chosen:

Posted in 1830s 1870s Lewis Miller Universal York York City York County buildings courthouse local government prices real estate

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Ninety years ago York Mayor Hugentugler presided over a frequently lively police court: One case involved a “near murder” with a hatchet on the 500 block of Vander Avenue. The York Gazette reported the husband

Posted in 1910s Republicans Universal York York York City courts crime history local government mayors men police women

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One hundred and fifty years ago this week the following letter appeared in the York Gazette under the heading “Borough Police and Watchmen.”

Posted in 1850s Universal York York City crime history local government police

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50 years ago, in 1957, Lawrence B. Sheppard, President of Hanover Shoe Company, opposed a Hanover council proposal to limit parking on Carlisle Street from Park Avenue to Library Place to three-hours. Mr. Sheppard warned that such an ordinance “... would force the factory owners to move from the community.” The regulation, which had been proposed to provide more parking for shoppers, was then tabled. However the parking regulations played out, the shoe company continued to prosper in Hanover.

Sheppard was the son of Harper D. Sheppard, who, with his partner Clinton N. Myers, built a struggling shoe factory into a nationally-known maker of quality shoes. The web site of the Sheppard Mansion, an inn and fine dining establishment opened in 1998 by Sheppard descendants, states that Sheppard and Myers built their shoe empire on selling the best possible shoes for one price ($2.50 in 1899) and by selling directly to the public.

Posted in 1950s Hanover Universal York commerce history industry local government manufacturing politics roads shoes

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