Recently in Universal York Category

Princess Street Chapel from Atlas of the City of York by Frederick Roe, 1903

A recent post told how the Ladies' Aid Society of the Princess Street Evangelical Chapel successfully carpeted their church by raising the funds with an autograph quilt in 1909.

Click here to read that post.

I was curious as to what happened to that congregation and to their building. I found a trail that illustrates how many religious groups and sites change. New congregations are formed; some disappear or merge with others. One church body outgrows a building and another moves in.

The Princess Street Chapel story fits in with all of the above.

Dallastown to Red Lion, 1876 and 1928

A recent post related the troubles motorists had traveling from Dallastown to Red Lion in the fall of 1928 because of road construction and deep mud on the detour. I was asked exactly where those roads were.

Click here to read that post.

The state road that was being reconstructed was probably the short stretch of Route 74 that runs between Red Lion and Dallastown today. I don't think the path of that road changed much over the years, so it still pretty much follows the red line on the map.

As for the detour and the alternate route mentioned in the newspaper--I tried to reconstruct them using the 1876 Pomeroy, Whitman and Co. Atlas of York County, a present-day ADC atlas and the advice of a friend who knows the area.

The daily papers in York County used to have a stringer in just about every small town or village. They were paid by the column inch, so a lot of very local social news made the papers. My aunt covered the New Bridgeville (Chanceford Township) area, and I remember that she sometimes reported the occasion of my family having Sunday dinner at her house.

Those small tidbits did keep the neighbors up on community happenings. As time goes on they can be quite useful to anyone researching family or local history, as illustrated by the Dillsburg tidbits below from the October 19, 1928 York Gazette and Daily.

You think road construction causes problems for motorists now? The following news article, from the October 19, 1928 York Gazette, might make you appreciate modern techniques.

It's the season of the year for fund-raisers to really ramp up. Even though worthy organizations raise money for their causes throughout the year, it seems like the coming holiday season really brings them out. Church bazaars, craft shows, musicals, plays, basket bingos--the community newspapers are full of them.

Finding novel ways to raise funds has a long history. The York Daily newspaper of October 30, 1909 reports on how the ladies of Princess Street Evangelical Church successfully carpeted their church.

The York Gazette reported that when a favorite teacher was let go, seemingly as a cost-cutting measure, Codorus Township High School students took matters into their own hands.

The teacher didn't let matters rest either, and the case ended up on court. Even then the Codorus Township school board didn't exactly rush to follow the court order.

The article reads:

We would probably be surprised at how murky city skies were a hundred or so years ago. Manufacturing was booming, and that meant a lot of smoke and steam.

The York Gazette of December 31, 1867 reports on a major fire that took a while to get noticed because of those conditions.

Lewis Miller Drawing of "Some Wicked Boys at the Market House, 1804"

Folk artist and chronicler Lewis Miller doesn't say if the prank illustrated above occurred on Halloween or not, but it certainly would have been a fitting one for the tricky holiday.

Some young Yorkers had some time on their hands in 1804 and put themselves to work taking apart and reconstructing a wagon in its new location.

Miller's caption reads:

Henry Fortenbaugh didn't figure he would be elected Sherriff of York County in 1877. Besides, he didn't want to run anyway.

The York Gazette ran excerpts from a "long letter" to the York Press concerning his extreme displeasure with the York Republican and his not-good chances in the upcoming election.

The Gazette article of October 30, 1877 reads:

What did young people do for fun on Halloween week 99 years ago?

According to the York Daily of October 30, 1909, there was some giggling going on. The article reads: