If you are reading this, you are probably interested in York County history and know that York was the capital of the United States from the end of September 1777 through June 1778. The Revolutionary War was in full swing, and the British were occupying Philadelphia, which had been the capital of the new nation.

Congress moved west and settled in York for the duration, putting nearly a hundred miles, including the mile-wide Susquehanna River, between them and British General Howe and his troops.

It seems that many Americans of the time, when they heard Congress was meeting in York, said "York? Where's that?" John Adams wrote wife Abigail that he had to take a circuitous route of 180 miles to avoid the British on his way to York, which he estimated was not more than 88 miles from Philadelphia.

Abigail was confused and wrote James Lovell, friend of both Adamses who was also serving in Congress at York, for clarification. She said that John said they were 88 miles from Philadelphia, but she didn't know which way. Were they closer to Boston or further away? Lovell drew her a map.

Posted in 1770s Continental Congress Philadelphia Revolutionary War U.S. Capital Universal York York

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My recent York Sunday News column outlined York’s enthusiastic proposal to become the permanent capital of the United States.

Motions, debates, and votes for one location or another flew in 1789 during the first Congress under the United States Constitution. (The new Congress, which convened March 4, 1789, replaced the Continental Congress, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation.)

Thomas Hartley was one of the four Congressmen from Pennsylvania seated that first day, and he took a vigorous role in the discussions that followed on choosing the capital site.

Even though Hartley lived in York, he first made a push for Wright’s Ferry (Columbia).
Why?

Posted in 1780s Columbia, PA Congress Susquehanna River Thomas Hartley U.S. Capital Universal York Wright's Ferry York politics

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