Attractive white roses adorning the Leader Heights overpass abutments greet motorists driving north on Interstate 83.
There can be no mistaking it. Drivers are approaching the vicinity of York, Pa., the White Rose City, and the roses mark the start of the new and improved Dead Man's Curve.
Such highway enhancements are rare along the interstate in York County and might leave some wondering how York ever garnered such a symbol, a symbol fortunately discarded as the name of the city's new minor league baseball team. (The York White Roses, the longtime name of the now defunct York team, did not win the day in the 21st century. The York Revolution won that battle.)
Anyway, the following from Never to be Forgotten explains the origins of York, the White Rose City... .
York, the White Rose City, and Lancaster, its Red Rose counterpart, take their nicknames from 15th-century England. The War of the Roses, a lengthy series of bloody battles between the houses of Lancaster and York, ended in 1485. That year, Henry VII of the House of Lancaster defeated Richard III of York and united the royal family by marrying Elizabeth of York. (The move stabilized England, but produced a terrifying offspring -- King Henry VIII.) Located in an English proprietorship, many early York County settlements gain their names from English towns and royal families, despite the large number of Germans inhabiting them.
Leave a comment