January 2006 Archives

A lot of people have passed through York County over the years.

In the 1700s, it was a crossroads community, serving as a major artery for immigrants - many from Europe - who were heading west and south.

This century, descendants of these settlers find archives in York County valuable resources for understanding their family’s past.

Today, The York Daily Record/Sunday News ran a primer from the Dallas Morning News on genealogical research:

"Buggies. Milkmen. Now mailboxes?"

The head on a recent York Daily Record/Sunday News' story gave a good summary about the U.S Postal Service's survey of which big blue mailboxes around York to eliminate.

E-mail and use of the Web to pay bills has cut into snail mail traffic.

Some might wonder when the last the last bottle of milk was eliminated in the York area.

The answer is 1994, perhaps.

The following from "Never to be Forgotten" tells the story:

Mary Ann Furnace, an early York County iron furnace, operated in West Manheim Township starting in 1762. Among other things, the furnace produced grape shot and cannon balls for the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

The furnace is long gone, but its site will become part of Codorus State Park. The York County Farm and Natural Lands Trust paid $1.75 million for the land, and the state will pay back the loan by March.

All this will shield the historic site from the developer’s bulldozer.

What is the 1762 furnace’s place in county history?

The following from “Never to be Forgotten" gives a glimpse:

The explosive Adhesives Research fire a couple of weeks ago near Potosi brings a question about how the Springfield Township crossroads got its name.

Fifty years ago, John D. Kilbourne, Historical Society of York County director, put forth an answer.

He had received an inquiry from a Wisconsin resident, who was trying to link mining with other towns in the Americas called Potosi. Kilbourne wrote back that iron ore mining occurred in the 1880s in the township, and the Potosi Post Office was established there in 1901.

I'm always intrigued to read or hear about how other writers work.

One common denominator is that writing is, indeed, work.

So when I run across a piece about how others struggle to write, I usually dive right in.

Such was the case with University of Texas Journalism professor Marvin Olasky’s recent column “DQ country: in World Magazine. http://www.worldmag.com/marvinolasky/olasky.cfm?id=18673

He wrote about a new attribute for humans — Determination Quotient — and he tied it to writing.

His column contained quotes from folks with an idea about how hard writing is:

Tom Clancy: “Writing is most of all an exercise in determination."

Michael Crichton: “Books aren’t written. They are rewritten."

James Michener: “I’m not a very good writer, but an excellent rewriter."

Alex Kotlowitz, after his first draft: "I go back and rewrite, scene by scene, detail by detail."

To these, I’ll add my own favorites:

Red Smith: "There is nothing to writing. All you have to do is sit down at the typewriter and just open a vein."

But my all-time favorite is attributed to playwright/screenwriter Michael Kanin: "I don't like to write, but I love to have written."

That last part is what keeps the next writing project coming.

The major Adhesives Research fire last week leads to the question of how the nearby crossroads of Potosi got its name.

John D. Kilbourne, Historical Society of York County director, weighed in about 50 years ago after receiving an inquiry from a Wisconsin resident.

The inquirer was trying to link mining with other towns in the Americas called Potosi.

Kilbourne wrote back that Iron ore mining occurred in the 1880s in Springfield Township. The Potosi Post Office was established there in 1901.

"Circumstances seem to indicate a tie-in with the mining activities," Kilbourne wrote.

This information came from a York Daily Record article in 1995.

The newspaper further reported that in 1540, Spanish colonists discovered silver in the Potosi state of southern Bolivia. Cerro Potosi mountain was "honeycombed with thousands of mines," according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. "Legend attributes its name to "potojchi,' a Quechua Indian word meaning 'to explode,' because of rumblings inside the mountain."

The capital city of Potosi became famous for its wealth from silver mining in the 1650s.

For more on Potosi, Pa., see a York Daily Record story on the community below:

Some people believe all journalists care about is controversy and bad news.

I can tell you that we are pleased with the opportunity to expand our community news effort by re-energizing two weeklies and adding two more.

We’re introducing a new zone weekly to the Central/Eastern York County this week and another one in the the West York/Dover area in March. All four will be called Weekly Record and will cover different areas of the county.

To give a glimpse of staff enthusiasm, here is Weekly Record editor Joan Concilio’s comment after editing my Sunday column on new zones:

“Good example you picked, too. I can think of several that would have worked, but hers really stands out."

The column appearing in the York Sunday News on Jan. 15 follows:

A boiler malfunction caused the cancellation of the York-area annual steam whistle concert in 2005.

But all is not lost. More on that in a moment.

New York Wire Co.'s boiler lost pressure right before the December 2005 show. Steam from the boiler, regulated with an unusual slide on the whistle, enables whistlemasters to play Christmas carols every year.

Some residents are going through withdrawal, but help is on the way. A CD titled "Factory Steam Whistle, New York Wire Co." is available at York's Borders Books.

The CD jacket claims the whistle plays the world's loudest music without amplification from a non-musical instrument. Its sounds can be heard as far away as 10-12 miles when the weather is right.

The CD, dedidated to longtime whistlemaster Marlin L. Ryan, contains Christmas standards: "Silent Night," "The First Noel," "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," and "O Come All Ye Faithful."

Another historical note not found on the CD jacket: The whistle was used as part of the civilian defense alert system during World War II. In those days, any whistle that was loud and could play different notes -- such qualities were scarce in whistles of the day -- proved valuable in alerting the public.

The whistle returned in 2006. For photo and story, see whistle workers.

And, there's more... .

If you’re doing research on York County’s past, it’s important to have a date.

That’s what I wrote a recent e-mailer, who was seeking information on a deadly barn fire on or about 1910 in York County. That barn fire killed five children... .

The other day, I received an interesting query from a descendant of Samuel Bacon, a prominent York County attorney from the early 1800s.

Actually, she's a descendant of Samuel's brother, Ephraim, and had run across a drawing of Samuel on the local history section of the York Daily Record/Sunday News Web site. I directed her to the York County Heritage Trust's archives, which has quite a bit of information on Samuel.

Samuel was more than an attorney, as the following entry from my "Never to be Forgotten" attests:

I've been studying the lives of York County's captains of industries -- both past and present -- for years. Same with everyday men and women. So I pulled together some key points from all the generations for a York Sunday News column. At the same time, I pushed public service.

The writing process caused me to reflect on my own public service. Much of my discretionary time is spent alone, researching and writing. I hope it shows that public service can come in many ways -- in a crowded room or in a corner of the York County Heritage Trust.

The column follows: