Monthly Archives: July 2006

York County agrarianism vs. industrialization, Part I

Posted on July 31, 2006 by Jim McClure

Stories abound from York County’s storied agricultural past. Many illustrate the conflict when an agricultural county evolves into a major industrial center. Here’s a machine vs. animal story from the Spring Grove Ripplet in 1918… .

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York County boasts of agricultural prowess

Posted on July 28, 2006 by Jim McClure

The burning of a York County barn scheduled to be part of an agricultural museum might slow down the heritage project. http://www.ydr.com/history/ But it gives good reason to ruminate a bit on the county’s vaunted agricultural past. Throughout York County’s … Continue reading →

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Freedman kisses earth as canalboat crossed Mason-Dixon Line

Posted on July 28, 2006 by Jim McClure

A favorite story linked to the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal involves Aquilla Howard, a leader in York’s black community in the late-19th and early-20th century. When Howard, a former slave, passed the Pennsylvania line he jumped off the canal boat … Continue reading →

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Placid canal harmed Susquehanna River

Posted on July 25, 2006 by Jim McClure

Codorus Navigation and the Conewago Canal might have come earlier, but the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal was the longest waterway and most successful. It ran along the Susquehanna River’s edge from Wrightsville to the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace. … Continue reading →

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Conewago Canal aided Susquehanna River navigation

Posted on July 24, 2006 by Jim McClure

Codorus Navigation, the system that made the Codorus navigable in the 1830s, was not York County’s first canal. (See previous post: “York County rail trail extension to follow canal towpath.”) In fact, York County boasted the first canal in Pennsylvania, … Continue reading →

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York County rail trail extension to follow canal towpath

Posted on July 23, 2006 by Jim McClure

Many York countians are eagerly looking forward to the opening of the rail trail from York to John Rudy Park. The land along the Codorus Creek that the trail will follow was graded in the early 1830s to accommodate a … Continue reading →

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Reader taken on intriguing trip down the Susquehanna

Posted on July 22, 2006 by Jim McClure

Just finished a great vacation read: Jack Brubaker’s “Down the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake.” (Penn State University Press, 2002.) Even if you’re not a river enthusiast, the Lancaster New Era journalist/historian brings in history about the communities up and down … Continue reading →

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Series on York, Pa.’s, Crispus Attucks Center posted online

Posted on July 14, 2006 by Jim McClure

It’s interesting the work you do on a snowy day can pay off when it’s hot months later. In December, the York Daily Record/Sunday News’ Ted Sickler and I went through tubs of material at Crispus Attucks Community Center telling … Continue reading →

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Who were these congressional visitors to York Town, anyway?

Posted on July 13, 2006 by Jim McClure

The new York Revolution minor league baseball team’s association with the county’s rich Revolutionary War past could pique interest in the delegates who fled to York from Philadelphia. Continental Congress came here in 1777-78 after the British pushed them out … Continue reading →

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York’s housing stock not that revolutionary

Posted on July 11, 2006 by Jim McClure

York’s association with the American Revolution has been so strong that it was inevitable that its minor league baseball team would be named the “Revolution.” Indeed, some even erroneously view its architecture as Colonial. A few buildings remain from Revolutionary … Continue reading →

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