October 2007 Archives

This photograph shows the Codorus Creek near Richland Avenue before flood-control efforts changed its look. A favorite swimming hole located downstream offered birthday-suit-clad bathers - and passengers on passing trains - a summertime thrill. Background post: What is the probability of another flood in York?

The Northwest Triangle project borders the Codorus Creek near an old turn-of-the-20th-century swimming hole.

Raymond Sechrist recalled in the 1991 book "Skinny Dipping in the Codorus" that the popular hole was centered in the creek between the Pennsylvania Railroad and West Maryland Railroad bridges. (The swimming stop was located between 11 and 12 o'clock on this Northwest Triangle map.)

The boys in the buff swimming there would give train passengers a jolt - but that's getting ahead of the story... .

The Smyser-Royer building on York's North Street will be restored under the Northwest Triangle plan. Other historic buildings slated for restoration include: the old post office building on Philadelphia and North Beaver streets and the Keystone Color Works building, Gas Avenue. Background post: York County's Connection to the French Quarter.

York's new baseball stadium acts as a kind of hinge between two budding Codorus Creek-front projects.

To the east, the site of the former Graybill building and nearby former York County prison are being eyed for redevelopment.

To the west, the $50 million Northwest Triangle project offers a range of possibilities: restored historic properties, townhomes, offices and retail space.

Interesting, part of the development site was explored as a location for the stadium.

A you-just-got-to-look-at-map explains the project area, and yorktownsquare.com posts exploring several of its noteworthy or historic features follow:

A cow at York Township's Perrydell farm recently had triplets, a rare feat. But the fertile cow was outdone by a goat with quints some years ago. Background posts: Other cow stories: Boys, she's a Confederate cow and The steer obeyed the traffic rules .

Tom Perry of York Township's Perrydell Farms said the mother of triplet calves is normally a laid-back cow. But her accomplishment landed in the 1 in 105,000 category.

Unfortunately, her production did not meet the output of a Craley goat in 1995.

Anthony "John" and Jockquin Eveler's Alpine goat, named Patches, delivered five healthy, non-identical kids, a feat considered "pretty unusual."

Those quints brought the Eveler family's total of goats to 36.

The Evelers expected to seek a license to sell milk from their goats.

"It makes great ice cream and good cheese," Jockquin Eveler said.

But back to Perrydell's triplets. To learn about an opportunity to visit them, see the following York Daily Record story, orginally headlined "A Cow Wow:" ...

This building in York scraped the sky higher than any other in the mid-1800s. Bottom, John Hartman built a six-story building on the square's southeast corner in 1850. Today, the Hartman Building stands, although three stories shorter. It's known as the Futer Bros. building and has recently been sold. At the bottom of this post, William C. Goodridge's five-story emporium was built on the northwest corner of York's square in 1847. There's some evidence that John Hartman made his building taller to outdo Goodridge, a former-slave-turned-businessman. Background posts: Buildings reveal a bit about York and 'I still have my memories ... of the bustling downtown York business district'. (Lewis Miller drawing courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

The Futer Bros. jewelry business reflects the decline of retailing in York's downtown.

The longtime Continental Square business operates a Springettsbury Township store. That suburban store's business has been doing most of the sales. It didn't make good business sense to keep operating two stores.

So the owners closed the downtown store about a year ago and recently sold the building.

As reflected in the following York Daily Record story, the new owners' plans are indefinite, but one goal is to restore the look of the building to its original appearance: ...

A fun part about blogging is reader reaction generated by the posts. A series of posts on this blog about White Oak Park, The Shady Dell and other hangouts attracted numerous comments on the blog and helped sponsors of a compilation album of bands playing at The Oaks to collect information on the now-defunct park. This photo shows the folks at the Dell at a York Fair. Background post: First post, Yorktownsquare.com., Sept. 18, 2005, Journalism goes back to the future.

My recent York Sunday News column York's rich history - in print and online traced the writing of history books in York County's history.

Near the end, it veered a new way of telling local history stories - via blogging. It introduced four Yorkbloggers on history topics - Scott Mingus, Scott Butcher, June Lloyd and myself.

Why blog on local history? ...

The Lions state convention took place at York's Valencia Ballroom in June 1938. This was typical of the scope of the gatherings taking place at the ballroom in those days. In addition to the dancing, the Valencia played host to industrial expositions, business shows and fashion shows. The ballroom continues to play host to dinners and meetings today. Background post about York's contributions to the national entertainment world: Cameron Mitchell, Craig Sheffer, Dixie Chick born here.

Some snippets from the book about the iconic South George Street ballroom:

This photograph ran in the York Sunday News right after New Year's Day in 2000, and its caption noted that the last of the Bury's 11 York-area restaurants closed in 1986. By that time, McDonald's had sprinkled its restaurants around the community. Background post: New McStore going up in highly trafficked spot.

Dover Township's Barbara Rudy, a longtime volunteer at the York County Heritage Trust library, has put forth a quick-and-delicious Bury's hamburger recipe.

You can go through all the work suggested in the secret Bury's recipe published in the York Sunday News in 2000. Or, according to Barbara, you can simply:

Lewis Miller captures Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew Curtin, left, standing in a carriage reviewing troops at York's Camp Scott early in the Civil War. The camp, located at the old York Fairgrounds, South Queen and East King streets, served as a site to give green troops a little seasoning before their movement to battlefields in the South. Local residents help feed and care for the tens of thousands of troops at Camp Scott. Background post: 'Flames Beyond Gettysburg' research brings forth fresh facts.

"And these invaders did fill graves. They blew off the head of a black soldier in the trenches at Wrightsville."

In my York Sunday New column Confederate flag wavers dishonor Union ancestors, I made this point and eight others to show the sacrifices of local soldiers and civilians for the North. This came in response to certain local high school students who think demonstrations of the Confederate flag are cool or a symbol to brag about or I really don't know what they think.

Anyway, the identity of the black militiaman who died in the trenches at Wrightsville in an attempt to thwart the Confederate capture of the important covered bridge across the Susquehanna remains an unsolved mystery... .

An underground passage connected buildings at the old West Side Sanitarium, an antecedent of Memorial Hospital. Food and patients were shuttled through this passageway. Ruth Kammer wrote in "Inside West Side" that the tunnel occasionally served as home to an "unfriendly, nocturnal inhabitant which caused some consternation to employees and patients." Background post: East side Memorial Hospital formerly on west side.

In his day, many people knew Dr. Edmund K. Meisenhelder, owner of West Side Sanitarium.

In fact, many still remember the surgeon who operated the private hospital, forerunner to Memorial Hospital, from 1913 until he retired and sold it in 1945... .

Carolyn Miller, right, and Eleanor Lawyer coat oysters with cracker meal Thursday night in preparation for a November 2006, hogmaw and oyster supper at Dover Township's Mount Royal United Methodist Church in Dover Township. Background post and hogmaw recipe: How about a little hog maw with your oyster stew?

A lot of fun and wonderful comments are floating around the blogs and The Exchange about oysters, that longtime favorite of York countians.

Take Yorker Nancy Shue's letter, "You know you're a Yorker, if ...", for example:

Construction equipment demolishes what was the AMC Entertainment movie theater in Springettsbury Township in 2004. Development on the site now includes a retirement home that celebrates the old drive-in also on that site. Background post: Stony Brook Drive-in: 'I saw 'Pulp Fiction' there ...'

The old drive-in east of York, whose land is now covered by a retirement village drew its name from the nearby village of Stony Brook.

Here are some details about that old Springettsbury village, mostly gleaned from the township centennial book (1991) and York Daily Record stories:

John Toomey, of East Manchester Township, puts finishing work on a mural-wallpaper installation and Ken Raffensberger, of Ken Raffensberger Quality Painting and Wallpaper in Dover Township, is in the foregrond at Stony Brook Gardens, a new retirement community built on the site of the Stony Brooke Drive-in Theater. Background posts: Drive-in site developer seeks memorabilia and Change flattens Stony Brook Drive-in.

Ten years ago, the AMC theater near the Stony Brook drive-in closed its doors.

Across town, AMC also was selling the 20-acre Lincolnway Drive-in site.

The theater and drive-ins are among York County icons that spark memories anytime they are mentioned.

But 10 years later, two attractions are growing in their stead....

West Side Sanitarium, forerunner to Memorial Hospital, is seen in this 1945 photograph published in Ruth Kammer's "Inside West Side." Background post: Elmwood Mansion book more than history of a house.

Forty-five years ago, twenty-four, 40-foot tractor trailers moved Memorial Hospital equipment from West York to its present South Belmont Street location.

Ambulances transport 27 patients and two newborn babies. Mrs. Gary Wise and her 3-day-old son, Mark Eric, are the first arrivals.

Now, hospital officials are working toward a new hospital at a yet-unspecified site.

Before it was known as Memorial Hospital, it was known as Edmund W. Meisenhelder's West Side Sanitarium and West Side Osteopathic Hospital... .

Henry's Seafood celebrated its 20th year of business by serving up an oyster feast for more than 1,000 people on Sunday.

That event was another moment in York countians' love affair with the very edible mollusk.

Among other things, Henry's supplied the oyster treats for the York County Heritage Trust's annual Oyster Festival.

So, that raised the question. What was the recipe for, say, the oyster stew in such demand on that October afternoon?

We posed that question to Susan Hosier from the York County-based Henry's, and she readily delivered the following recipe (no secrets here):

Flavored tooth cleaning pastes put forth for varied palates by York-based Dentsply. Do you prefer raspberry or traditional mint? Background post: Dentsply's original York factories stand near another orginal: the Cookes House.

The company has fended off decay.

Other old-time York companies have come and gone, but Dentsply remains a stalwart part of the city.

The company makes dental products - false teeth and cleaning materials, to name a few... .

Frank Shaffer works at the annual York County Heritage Trust oyster festival, a moment that places the spotlight on that seafood delicacy. A local church serves oysters regularly, but in combo with hog maw. Background post: Search Joan Concilio's Only in York blog for "hog maw."

Oysters are a York County delicacy, but some people think you have more of a good thing when served in combination with hog maw?

Two iconic county delicacies served side by side.

And add to that meat loaf.

That's what's on the table at regular Mount Royal United Methodist Church fund-raising dinners.

"Hog maw, oysters and meat loaf are the specialty meals and are prepared by cooks with years of experience," a history of the Dover Township church states. "The dinners constitute a unique Mt. Royal church dining experience topped off with homemade pies and cakes and a refreshing drink."

What is hog maw?

Members of the Central York Middle School Colonial Fife and Drum Corps played during the York County Heritage Trust's Oyster Festival.

York County, 50 miles from the Chesapeake Bay, has long been acquainted with oysters, the seafood treat still consumed in great numbers at an October Oyster Festival.

Oysters served as more than just good eating.

The shells also served as gravel... .

Two aging Civil War soldiers flank a Lincoln impersonator. The black veteran is thought to be John Aquilla Wilson, known as 'Quil,' of Fawn Township in southeastern York County. He enlisted in the United States Colored Troops, 32nd Regiment, in 1864. Wilson died at the age of 101. Background post: Black soldiers from York County served in 'Glory' unit and 'One of the shells found its mark.

Ever see the film "Glory" on the big screen?

A couple of years ago, York city brought the film starring Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick to the Strand-Capitol. The cinematography was beyond description and the audio coming from the Capitol Theater's renovated sound system made you feel like you were in battle.

I was there to introduce the film, the first feature-length treatment of the role of black soldiers in the Civil War, and to give some closing remarks.

At the end, people were so captivated by what they had just witness that they almost seemed in a daze. It wasn't the late hour, nor my usual monotone delivery that quieted people this time.

The film on the big screen literally left people speechless.

Anyway, here are some notes from that night, many of which might be in the "Gee, I didn't know that category." ...

Messiah College's bridge, the last covered bridge touching York County, straddles Yellow Breeches Creek. It connects Cumberland and York counties. The college's athletic fields are located on the York County side. The bridge, seen here in this Wikipedia photo, was moved upstream to the college from Bowmansdale. Background link: Photo collection adds to historical record.

Dallastown's John Fishel is concerned that the Minnesota bridge collapse will spell the end of local steel truss bridges - those big, picturesque, bridges with the overhead beams.

These impressive bridges will be replaced by blander, modern bridges in the name of safety. Perhaps some could be left standing, he wrote.

York County has lost all but one of its covered bridges in the course of modernization. Meanwhile, Lancaster managed to hang onto 29 of its covered structures... .

Four soldiers from York County served in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, highlighted in the 20th-century film "Glory."

George Ellender was wounded in the assault on Fort Wagner, S.C., that took the life of regiment commander Col. Robert Gould Shaw. He was wounded a second time in Olustee, Fla... .

The late Gary Collison penned this well-regard book, "Shadrach Minkins: From Fugitive Slave to Citizen."

The York County historical community has lost three thoughtful and authoritative writers in the past 15 months: ... .

Gen. Jubal Early, division commander of Confederate troops invading York in June 1863, stayed in this house in Big Mount, Paradise Township. After his night's stay in this still-standing, privately owned structure at the corner of Canal and Big Mount Road, Early headed to a surrendered York for a two-day occupation before Robert E. Lee recalled him to the vicinity a Gettysburg, where a battle was brewing. Background post: E-mailer queries about Confederate invasion.

Jubal Early's overnight stay at a York County home produced an amusing incident in the otherwise deadly serious Confederate invasion of York County.

When Early returned to the Big Mount home after visiting John B. Gordon in nearby Farmers, he found the widow Zinn had reserved supper for him.

Sitting with the woman and her teenage daughter, he enjoyed a fare of 15 to 20 Pennsylvania German dishes, particularly fresh summer vegetables.

The rest, from "East of Gettysburg":

J.W. Gitt plays a round at Hanover Country Club at age 88. Gitt helped found the country club. This photograph came from Mary Hamilton's recent biography on Gitt, "Rising from the Wilderness." Background post: J.W. Gitt: 'Just say it ... straight out'

Gordon Freireich, York Daily Record/Sunday News columnist, raised the question in a recent piece about why the Hanover Country Club is in Abbottstown, not Hanover.

Mary Hamilton devoted many pages to the club and its founding in her recently published biography of J.W. Gitt, "Rising from the Wilderness."... .

Anita Meyers, keystonealarm@comcast.net, is new owner of the Ten Mile House in the village of Farmers, west of the York Airport.

The 6817 Lincoln Highway address is sometimes referred to as Helen's Antiques, named for the former occupant.

Anita is seeking information about the house. Early on, she understood that the house might have been Gen. John B. Gordon's headquarters on June 27, 1863, the night before his brigade entered York along with three other similar units from Jubal Early's division.

The yorktownsquare.com post, Where did Gen. Gordon accept York's surrender? explains the actual location of the site where York's fathers surrendered to the rebels.

Anita provided some information that might jar memories:

This good-natured mock surrender ceremony in 1988 served as a symbolic point of change in York's official view of the town's surrender to the Confederates 125 years earlier. When confronted with the demand by Confederate Gen. Jubal Early, played here by Richard Knapp of Red Lion, center, York Mayor William Althaus, left, declined. 'We are no longer unprotected, having the finest police department in the country,' Althaus said. Background post: York finally coming to terms with its Civil War legacy.

Should York's leaders have abandoned ship upon the Confederate approach in the days before the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863?

That decision to surrender became controversial the moment it was made, and the debate continues to this day.

The following are excerpts from my article in the York Daily Record some years ago that address the question in pro/con format:

The 101 Ranch Boys stand outside the York Furniture Center, local sponsor of the nationally know country and western group. Background post: Story on famed 101 Ranch Boys spawns memories

People really remember the boys.

But the group is more than a memory for Joe Mirasola.

It help launch the career of the York musician and seller of instrument, as Mike Argento reports in a 2006 story.

Gen. John B. Gordon commanded a brigade of Confederate troops who marched across York County's heartland to the banks of the Susquehanna River in June 1863. Background post: Some hugged rebels, others hated captors during York raid .

The previous post, Where did Gen. Gordon accept York's surrender? touches on Gen. John B. Gordon's overnight stay at Jacob Altland's farmhouse in Farmers.

The farmhouse is intriguing because it was the location that housed a famous general, one of the Confederate Army's top ranked military commanders by war's end. But it's an important, albeit unsung, symbol locally as the site where York's surrender was consumated.

My introduction to "East of Gettysburg" explores the significance of the farmhouse as a symbol of York County's Civil War story that is just being told and the importance of the surrender in shaping the way York County sees itself:

The house where John B. Gordon accepted York's surrender in late-June 1863 stands today off Locust Lane near Farmers. This was a photograph which ran in The Gazette and Daily on the 100th anniversary of the Confederation occupation of York County. Background post: Archivist's finding sheds light on famous note among the roses.

A newcomer to Farmers wondered whether her home played host to Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon during the Confederation raid of York County before the Battle of Gettysburg.

I wrote her back that I've bet on another house as the Gordon headquarters on June 27-28, 1863. It's a still-standing house off Locust Lane, not visible from present-day Route 30. That was the location where a delegation from York consumated the town's surrender. The next day, Gordon's brigade and three others from Jubal Early's divsion invaded the undefended town.

My bet is based on three factors:

-- The records of Historic York, the county's architectural experts, say so.
-- That's the lore that goes with the house.
-- The house covers a cool spring.

I'll elaborate a bit more on the latter point:

The passenger pigeon monument at Codorus State Park, seen standing on a hill off Marina Road, was rededicated 25 years ago after the move from its original site in the hills north of Hanover. Background posts about a York County pigeons of different types: World War II homing pigeons served far from home and York's racing pigeons: 'This is like the Kentucky Derby'.

Some sources say those hills north of Hanover are the Pidgeon Hills. Others say they're the Pigeon Hills.

It's a difficult controversy to resolve.

Some believe those hills are named after the Pigeon family. Others back the Penn's surveyor of Paradise Township, Joseph Pidgeon.

The controversy is stoked by the fact that now-extinct passenger pigeons populated the area in the late 1880s. Indeed, there's even a monument at Codorus State Park to recognize their ubiquity in these parts... .

Art of Jimi Hendrix and the names of songs of the time cover the interior of a cell at the former York County Prison. The art comes with the thick walls if someone has a cool $3.9 million to purchase the former county lockup. Background posts: If Boston can turn prison into a hotel, York can ... , 'There were only so many cells in that old stone prison' and Prison listing brings back food loaf memories.

Eric Gerhart, listing agent for the old York County prison, has stepped up efforts to call attention to the old fortress-like building.

He has distributed posters around the county offering a $25,000 reward for capture of a buyer for the 1906-vintage prison. (Comment below or at The Exchange to weigh in on what should be done with the old structure.)

A York Sunday News story tells about a recent open house:

Four-foot-tall "Little Johnny" is shown with 250-pound Charles Chester Stine during a visit to York Corporation during World War II. York Corporation played role in Manhattan Project and All Johnson Controls/York Corporation posts from the start and York County sacrificed on homefront and war front to aid Allies in World War II.

Hedy Lamarr made a well-publicized visit to York Safe & Lock to promote war bond sales in 1942.

A lot of people remember that visit.

York Corporation, another giant defense contractor, also brought in a celebrity to raise morale and investment in war bonds.

That was "Little Johnny" of Philip Morris cigarette fame... .

Arthur Lewis' "Hex," the first book on the famous York County Hex Murder of 1928 and subsequent trail is said to be out of print. But Ross McGinnis' "Trials of Hex" are still available at York County booksellers. Both paint an intriguing picture of the practice of powwowing in York County. Background post: 'Powwowing was done for good'

The casting of spells and witchcraft are themes behind the story of York County's famous Hex murder of 1928.

The murder of witch Nelson Rehmeyer by three young assailants is a case where the related practice of powwowing - the use of witchcraft for healing purposes - went amok.

But how did the widespread practice of powwowing really work?

It seems like a story from the Middle Ages, but here's how powwow doctors worked in 20th-century York County, as described by Arthur Lewis in his 1969 book "Hex":

Ron Busser, 74, of Red Lion, and Robert Casbeer, 78, of Springettsbury Township, participate in a ceremony to honor Korean War veterans at the York Expo Center. See video: Korean War memories. Background post:York County Historical War Deaths top 1,000.

York County sent about 7,000 to serve in the Korean Conflict, and at least 63 made the ultimate sacrifice.

None of those returning paid a higher price than Lt. Leon Gilbert of York, a decorated World War II combat soldier.

Gilbert refused an order to lead an assault on a hill.

"Never to be Forgotten" tells the rest of the story:

This drawing of the "Hill" mansion, originally the home of two generations of Glatfelters of paper mill fame, is typical of the content of The Ripplet, publication of the Spring Grove Area Historical Preservation Society. St. Francis Prep started in the mansion in 1946, and declining enrollment caused it to close in 1989. A fire damaged the mansion in 1990, and The Western Hemisphere Cultural Society, a conservative think tank, has occupied it since 1993. Background post: Spring Grove Museum displays horse gas mask and more.

"Persons should not be too modest," The Spring Grove Ripplet noted in 1905. "Send in the little items that will apprise your friends of their comings and goings. They look for them, and we are happy to print them."

That came from the original Spring Grove Ripplet, which operated from 1897 to 1922. It was the only newspaper ever published in Spring Grove.

The present-day Historical Ripplet, newsletter of the Spring Grove Area Historical Preservation Society, was founded in 1987, and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Like its predecessor, it's full of happenings in the community, past and present.

For example, the 10th anniversary edition of the Historical Ripplet tells the story of John W. Senft, aka Johnny Ripplet. Notice how many points of York County history this piece crosses ... .

Melvin P. Livingston, a fourth great-grandson of Philip Livingston; and Elaine Livingston, a fifth great-granddaughter of Philip Livingston, read a short biography of the signer of the Declaration of Independence during the unveiling of a plaque in the Prospect Hill Cemetery in 2005. Declaration of Independence signer Philip Livingston died in York in 1778. Declaration signer's plaque mounted in obscurity

When Continental Congress delegate Philip Livingston died in office in York, he was laid to rest in the German Reformed Church Cemetery, later occupied by Woolworth's.

Years later, the New York delegate's body was moved to Prospect Hill Cemetery. Grandson Stephen Van Rensselaer erected a monument that stands today.

Although this once-prominent statesman's name has largedly been lost to history, he is still remembered by his family. Members of this still-prominent family - whose members include the Bush presidents and Eleanor Roosevelt - gather annually at his grave... .

Philip Livingston is one of two Declaration of Independence signers to be interred in York County. His marker stands in Prospect Hill Cemetery. The monument for the other signer, James Smith, rests in the First Presbyterian Church's Cemetery. This painting of Livingston, exhibited from time to time at the York County Heritage Trust, came as part of the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1927. It was posted outdoors, in Continental Square, with 15 other paintings. (Background post: Declaration signer James Smith gains moment of fame.

So we find that a plaque feting Declaration of Independence signer Philip Livingston is available for public view in York's Zion United Church of Christ. And his tombstone stands in Prospect Hill Cemetery.

But that's small recognition for a member of one of America's most powerful families - a venerable family perhaps with fame and fortune comparable to the Kennedys today.

The delegate from New York was not feeling well in the days before his departure to York in 1778. In fact, it was believed he would not return to his native soil.

Here's what happened in York, excerpted from "Nine Months in York Town":

This garden, planted in the 1990s, adds to ForSight Vision's Spahn Avenue campus. "All I was thinking of was a few tomato plants," the center's president, Bill Rhinesmith, joked at the garden's dedication.(See below for details.) Interesting information on the center's first 75 years has been collected into a booklet written by Luther Sowers and available at no cost at Forsight Vision, 1380 Spahn Ave., York, 845-3889, www.forsight.org. Background post: York County lawmaker fought to aid the blind.

Did you know?

- That the charter for ForSight Vision, formerly the York County Blind Center, was approved by Judge Ray P. Sherwood, who was blind in his later years?

- In a typical year - 1952 - workers at the blind center made 568 brooms and repaired 391 chairs.

- In 1967 - way early in the computer age - a blind worker in the center's workshop temporarily left to take a course in computer programming.

- The center started radio broadcasts in 1976 via a sub-channel of WGCB-FM. The center handed out special receivers, and volunteers read the local newspaper and books... .

Springettsbury's York Valley Inn is one of those landmarks that always spawns memories. Swimming lessons. Fine dining. Anniversary parties. The motel complex, as seen in this drawing from "Greater York in Action," kicked off in 1958 and closed in the 1990s. Background post: Forgotten York Valley Inn may be rediscovered.

Gordon Freireich's York Sunday News column (see below) points to the magnitude of the recently fire-damaged York Valley Inn in its day.

"The York Valley Inn was such a big deal because - well, it was big deal," he wrote.

The size of the resort and convention center went beyond it's 165-rooms.

According to "Greater York in Action," it sported: ...

For years, shoppers at Woolworths in York could observe this marble marker. But where did it go? (Recommended background post: John Adams: 'Yesterday the greatest question was decided'.

Zion United Church of Christ, the York church with the 'stealth' steeple, plays host to a once-popular York landmark that has blended into obscurity... .

Noted author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin will be in town in November to speak on "Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln." For ticket information, contact the York County Heritage Trust at 717-848-1587 or www.yorkheritage.org. The book wonderfully tells how Lincoln molded varying cabinet voices into a team that guided the North through the Civil War. (Recommended background post:York countians, newspaper no friend of Abraham Lincoln

Doris Kearns Goodwin accessed a York countian's eye-witness account of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in her acclaimed "Team of Rivals."

She writes briefly about Lincoln's passage through York County on his way to deliver his famous address in November 1863.

As Lincoln delivered his speech, 15-year-old Hanoverian George Gitt was beneath the platform.

Goodwin drew on Gitt's account to paint the scene that day. He wrote that the crowd stilled as soon as Lincoln got on his feet:

A steel and fiberglas cupola is guided onto its base at the top of the tower of Zion UCC in York in 2002. The reproduction of a cupola removed from the church in 1974 houses antennas for PCS One. The original cupola (see photograph below), taken down after a structural analysis, had open windows and a bell, which is now inside the church.

Did you know the tower of a venerable York church hides all kinds of high-tech gadgetry?

It's a bit of a story so read on.

A recent post featured four towers from the 1800s captured by artist Lewis Miller.

One of those steeples, that on the German Reformed church, went down wihen the church was demolished in the early 1900s. Its successor, Zion United Church of Christ, went up facing Penn Park. (Trinity United Church of Christ is the other direct successor to the German Reformed church's, but that's another story, actually a Civil War tale.)

A cupola sat atop the church's tower until it a lightning strike prompted its removal in 1974.

Move ahead 30 years. ...

Tom O’Handley, right, and Al Missinger of York County Parks helped renovate the New Freedom Train Station several years ago. A museum in the station includes a renovated caboose, former abode for a homeless family. To read about a potentially disastrous middle-of-the-night event that started at the New Freedom train station, see: The unsolved mystery of locomotive No. 1689

An old caboose with a new red coat of paint sits on tracks near the renovated New Freedom Train Station.

As part of a museum at the station, it's open for tourists to walk through and their kids, tired of riding on the nearby rail trail, to climb around in.

But there's an old sign that prohibited men working on the railroad from doing what any kid would do if given a chance: Climbing on the roof of the caboose... .

The New Freedom Train Station welcomed thousands of visitors as the first stop in Pennsylvania on the Northern Central Railroad. Now rehabbed with interesting exhibits and a caboose tour, the station welcomes scores of visitors each week of a different sort - riders along the York County rail trail. A small museum now occupies the right side of the station and the left side plays host to a snack bar for rail trail users.

The renovated New Freedom Train Station is a community treasure. But its interior bears something that is decidely not York County.

Its longtime safe was not made in York County by venerable York Safe & Lock... .

The southern York County hex murder house is shown as investigators were on site collecting evidence in the murder of Nelson Rehmeyer. That led to a trial of the attackers that gained international attention in 1929. For more photographs of the house, see Sparking interest in site.

I took a tour of Rehmeyer's Hollow and its famous Hex house, where three assailants killed witch Nelson Rehmeyer in 1928 in their quest to break a spell cast on one of them.

This was the first time I've seen the house since a member of the Rehmeyer family declared plans to turn it into a museum - a plan that has drawn the wrath of township officials.

As usual, the top of the tall house was visible first as you drove out of a dip after leaving Line Road. It hits you almost by surprise. Why would such an odd-looking structure stand in this bucolic area? ...

This Farm Security Administration photograph from 1942 shows a York Safe & Lock worker listening for defects during the grinding of a powder chamber for a thirty-seven-millimeter gun. "Site of this production is a former lock and safe company now converted to manufacture of weapons for victory," the photo's caption states.

The recent Floorola and past York Safe & Lock posts have drawn on a wonderful repository of Depression- and World War II-era photographs from the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information archives.

These are among the most famous documentary photographs produced. And FSA photogs covered York County and elsewhere in Central Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland ... .

George Trout has many signed baseballs from the York White Roses, prime occupants of Memorial Stadium in the 1950s and 1960. Trout was the public address announcer for the White Roses in 1955. When he couldn't confirm the Roses' newest player - a 'B. Robinson' - Trout announced 'Bob Robinson' as a substitution. Memorial Stadium will always be associated with Brooks Robinson's professional debut.

York city is planning a "Great Balls of Fire Car & Truck Cruise In" at Veterans Memorial Park later this month.

The event will take a step back into the '50s, when the city assumed ownership of the park.

When was the park built? ...

A Floorola Products employee, a former weaver and repairer of looms, assembled small parts for gun mounts.

Al Savard, sav4940@comcast.net, works for Motion Industries, owner of the old Floorola Building at 560 Maryland Avenue.

He read my York Sunday News column that touched on World War II's York Plan and is seeking information on Floorola.

The company is a good example of a local factory that effectively retooled for defense purposes and benefited from cooperative agreements with other York companies to score large defense contracts - the York Plan.

I included some information and photos on Floorola in my World War II history "In the thick of the fight" and Georg Sheets had a brief explanation about the company in his "Made in York:"

POW Johann Schleicher of Austria, shown in this photograph, made this wood carving during his imprisonment at Camp Stewartstown in York County during World War II. It was the discovery of this carving that fueled York County resident Margaret Shaub's search for the creator, culminating in the invitation to several POWs to return to Stewartstown in 1992.

Wrightsville's Robert L. Arnold remembers losing a job to the German POWs doing seasonal work in 1944 and 1945 in southern York County.

I was 11 years old, living in Jacobus, and along with three of My Brothers picked
string beans for the Hungerford Canning Factory," his note began, in response to a recent York Sunday News column.

A bus traveled along the trail from Violet Hill, south of York, picking up kids in the towns along the way.

The rest, in his words:

A recent post on this blog explored the coming of the first Cracker Barrel to York County - and Pennsylvania.

The opening of that store in 1994 recognized swelling population growth and proximity to a busy interstate. At that time, the York Township restaurant marked the arrival of a true Big Box store in that part of York County - a store that promised to vacuum up 200 jobs.

But Cracker Barrel's arrival came four years after another first for York County - and Pennsylvania.

The arrival of Wal-Mart.

The retail giant's first Pennsylvania store - 130,000 square feet in all - opened in the York Mall ... .

The southwest York County railroad community of Porters Sideling has made the news twice in recent days.

First, a recent Yorktownsquare.com post pointed readers to Scott Mingus' Cannonball blog post on the Confederate visit there in June 1863.

Then, a York Daily Record story indicated that Gwyneth Paltrow visited Porters in the 1980s.

The story stated:

Dale Danner, 90, of Penn Township, is a retired teacher from Spring Grove Area School District. He is Blythe Danner’s cousin. Dale’s wife, Mildred, said that when her father-in-law died in 1984, they had an auction of his farm in Porters Sideling, which Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow attended.

Actually, there was a third reference to Porters as well, and it involved Abe Lincoln. I toured the town and later wrote about it, as follows:

York native Jacob L. Devers, third from left, surveys Hitler's home in Berchtesgaden, Germany. Devers' men helped capture this hideaway, 'Eagle's Nest.' From left, Sgt. John Turnipseed, from Devers' staff; Gen. Wade H. Haislip, commanding general of the 6th Corps, and Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, 101st Airborne Division, join Devers. Ken Burns' is exploring heroes like these in "The War," broadcast at 8 p.m. today and Tuesday at 9 p.m. Wednesday on WITF-TV (Ch. 33) and WMPB-TV (Ch. 67).

The airing of Ken Burns' "The War" prompted me to write a primer on local World War II highlights in the York Sunday News.

I included my two favorite local stories as part of that piece, titled "York/Adams residents contributed to 'The War.'"

The first one brings together the type of contributions to the "Arsenal of Democracy" by farm and factory:

Factory space is so scarce in York that one small businessman, Charles Coffey, set up a machine shop in the end of City Market, where farmers still sold their wares. He crafted parts for York Safe & Lock machines that, in turn, made armor plates.

The City Market, now demolished, was the largest and most ornate of the five covered market houses in York.

This was, indeed, an example of farm and factory literally working together... .