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: May 2007
Time almost forgot Welsh miner’s hamlet of Coulsontown
Don Robinson of Delta’s Old Line Museum is seen near one of four remaining cottages built by Welsh quarrymen. (For additional photographs, see below.) The YDR’s Melissa Burke and Paul Kuehnel recently wrote about and photographed the rebirth of the … Continue reading
First woman concert sax player had links to York troupe
Louisa and Anna Berger, shown in this York County Heritage Trust photograph, were members of a widely known family musical troupe in the 1800s. June Lloyd’s Sunday column “The musical young Bergers” told the story of a then-prominent, but now-little-known … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, all posts, Civil War, People, York celebrities
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Baltimore screamed for York County ice cream
A typical Seven Valleys-area ice cream plant, complete with factory store. Also of interest: Seven Valleys – From rail to rail trail Every time I read Armand Glatfelter’s history of Seven Valleys, I peruse the section covering the burgeoning ice … Continue reading
In late June, things happen in York County
A previous York Town Square post detailed several monumental historical York County events occurring in late June. Congress’ departure from York County in 1778 was one. The Confederate Army’s invasion in 1863 was another. Now, we’ve discovered two more… .
York County, Pa., people always in news
John Fetterman is mayor of the western Pennsylvania steel town of Braddock. He’s also a Harvard-trained lawyer. And he’s captured the notice of The Atlantic as a “Brace Thinker.” He’s also a York County native. York countians are everywhere. We … Continue reading
Headless statue in York’s Salem Square regains its noggin
Neighborhood kids play in the Salem Square park as the renovated statue of a Civil War soldier looms in the background. For a photograph of the headless statue after it was damaged by high winds, see below. The restoration of … Continue reading
Holtwood Dam thrust into the news once again
Searchers look for the body of 16-year-old Nicole Barlow among rocks exposed by the lowering of the Susquehanna River. Her body was later found under the Norman Wood Bridge. Efforts to recover the body of a teen who drowned after … Continue reading
York, Pa.’s, Spanish Council organized in 1974
Edwin and Delma Rivera The York Daily Record/Sunday News is running a four-day series on Latinos in York/Adams and surrounding counties. It is focusing on the second generation of Latinos to live here, a fast-growing segment of the American population. … Continue reading
Facts don’t support notion of wide Pennsylvania Dutch house doors to admit coffins
Historic York’s Barb Raid has put forth some more details in response to a reader’s question about why some old Pennsylvania German houses have two doors. She pointed to her agency’s National Register of Historic Places nomination of McCalls Ferry … Continue reading
Reader seeks info on York’s coach-building past
Carol Ann Wald is researching a line of her Althoff ancestors, believing they came to Hanover from Maryland between 1830 and 1840. “Samuel and Joseph Althoff established thriving coach-building shops. Joseph Althoff and his family lived and built coaches on … Continue reading
