About this blog
I've been editor of the York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News for 8 years and managing editor of the newspaper for 15 years before that. So, York Town Square explores the rapidly changing world of journalism. And I studied York/Adams' history in graduate school, have written six books about these fascinating southcentral Pennsylvania counties and serve on the York County (Pa.) Heritage Trust board. So, this blog deals with regional history. Often, journalism and history meet here. They're part of a continuum anyway. My hope is that this site intrigues readers on both accounts in giving a daily dose of journalism/history. Or history/journalism. Contact me at jem@ydr.com or become friends on Facebook or follower on Twitter, @JamesMcClure.
Monthly Archives: February 2006
Iron Mike guards The Picket
Iron Mike might be one of the smallest of York County’s overlooked landmarks. Mike’s a little statue — made of iron cast in York – standing guard over the monument of a mounted Union cavalryman in Hanover’s Center Square. A … Continue reading
Buildings reveal a bit about York
John Hartman’s skyscraper, home of Futer Bros. Jewelers for years, has caused revealing conversations in York since its completion in 1850. As outlined in the last post, Hartman built a six-story building about three years after former former slave William … Continue reading
Scraping the York sky in the 1800s
The news that Futer Bros. Jewelers is closing its downtown York store casts a spotlight on one of York’s most historic buildings. Futer Bros., at the southeast corner of Continental Square, has been located in what has been known as … Continue reading
Articles of Confederation don’t get no respect
A wire service story on Benjamin Franklin in the York Sunday News included a point of view that justifiably drew the ire of a student of York County history… . Luther B. Sowers took exception with the story from Jan. … Continue reading
USO column attracts WW II-era memories
I recently turned a York Town Square post on York’s World War II USO into a column in the York Sunday News. It drew several responses: Martha Frankenberry could recall the USO but thought it was across from the South … Continue reading
A Newspaper afraid …
The death of longtime York County Republican Party boss John W. Thompson brings to mind an early test of his leadership. J.W. Gitt, publisher of The Gazette and Daily in York, declared he would not run advertisements for Republican president … Continue reading
Of reading and writing
Still on the topic, raised in an earlier post, on the value of reading. I’ve run across two insightful pieces about reading. One study suggests that for every book a typical collegian has read, he or she has viewed 100 … Continue reading
Narrow Susquehanna River bridge caused wide woes
Jim McCarthy of York remembers inconveniences caused by the old iron bridge that crossed the Susquehanna River between Wrightsville and Columbia. This was the bridge completed in 1897 and scrapped starting in 1963. It was the fourth bridge crossing the … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, all posts, Events, Local landmarks, Mail bag, People
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From Manchester to St. Augustine
In preparing for a March address to our Teen Takeover staff on writing careers, I put in few minutes on the connection between our reading and writing lives. Reading good writing helps improve our own writing. I’m going to share … Continue reading
