July 2009 Archives

For some, the Woodstock album brings back clear memories about the vaunted festival and its famous mud. Others have no recollection about those days in August 1969, when an estimated 400,000 people attended the rock festival on a dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y. Background posts from 1969: Timeline of 1969 race riots, court cases and 'Remember' series recalls moon landing and rocket scientist who helped make it so and 40 years ago, men walked on moon and race riot victims wheeled into York emergency room.

The Daily Record/Sunday News is looking for area residents who remember Woodstock, soon to observe its 40th anniversary.

And did anyone with York/Adams links attend?

These memories will be part of the newspaper's "Remember" oral history series, a growing collection of memories accessible by clicking here. If you want to share your memories, call 771-2008 and follow the instructions.

Incidentally, the rock festival did not resonate locally, at least not with the local paper... .

In this York Daily Record/Sunday News file photo, Spring Garden (Pa.) Township's Stephen Sechrist sits near his 51st Strathmeyer Christmas tree. Strathmeyer has been selling trees to customers in York County - and beyond - for more than 75 years. Background posts: York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks and Interstate lined out Melvin's swan song and York artist Lewis Miller's depiction of a Christmas tree part of the York County Heritage Trust's collection.

In the recent post E-mailer links Roosevelt Avenue Airport, Downtown York's Bon-Ton - and Santa, JoAnne Everhart wrote about an annual rite of York County's past.

She and her father would welcome Santa at the Roosevelt Avenue Airport, watch as he was shuttled into York's downtown to climb a ladder into the Bon Ton, then pick up a Christmas Tree from a side yard of a home in The Avenues.

She believed that the yard was the home of the Strathmeyer family, operator today of the massive Dover-area-based Christmas Tree farm.

She compared notes with a friend and confirmed that The Avenues home was indeed that of the Strathmeyers.

She wrote: ... .

In 1931, York Cone Co. made, well, cones, as this invoice from York County Heritage Trust files indicates. But it later became widely known as maker of the York Peppermint Pattie. Background posts: 20 questions and answers to prove your York County smarts, Part II and Katharine Beecher of Beecher Candies fame: 'Legacies,' Part I and York, Pa.: 'It's a midsize city with an interesting history'.

E-mailer Allison W. Bitzer threw me for second.

She wondered about the location of the York Cone Company factories in York.

York Cone Company. York Cone Company.

Oh yes, the original makers of York Peppermint Pattie... .

Pennsylvania Furniture Co.'s Sumner Street factory in York, actually West York, was erected in the early 1900s and became the home for long-lasting bedroom and dining room suites. Background posts: Red Lion's Ebert Furniture: From bedroom suites to gunstocks and York-area woodcarver, furniture maker made life-size JFK statue. But where is it now? and Springetts collector attracts 'Antiques Roadshow's' Kenos and Of York antiquarian Joe Kindig III: 'He is generous with his knowledge'.

E-mailer David Degroot is looking for a few good facts about York, Pa.'s venerable Pennsylvania Furniture Co.

"My wife and I bought an antique bedroom set," he wrote. "One of the pieces has a small sticker on the back indicating that the furniture was manufactured by the Pennsylvania Furniture Co. in York, PA. My guess is that furniture was manufactured in the early 1900s."

Furniture-making was a big business in York County in those days, and Pennsylvania Furniture was one of the most successful. The county was home to plentiful hardwood trees, and its location on transportation routes spawned wagonmakers, riflemakers and manufacturers of other hand-made wood products.

The York County Heritage Trust's file on Pennsylvania Furniture contains several documents. (One bore the photo above.)

Here are some salient facts gleaned from those documents:

Industrialist A.B. Farquhar was at the top of his game as a man-about-town in 1909. Other posts with Gordon Freireich's columns: Washington Township, Jefferson Borough, Madison Avenue. How about an Obama Street in York County? and Vermont windmill: 'That turbine was built at the S. Morgan Smith company, right here in York' and York's Reservoir Hill: 'My 'reward' was to sit in the gazebo at the top of the hill'.

York Sunday News columnist Gordon Freireich provided an interesting glimpse of York County in 1909.

He tied this 100-year retrospective to what would have been his father's 100th birthday.

He found information via York Gazette microfilm at the York County Heritage Trust. Each Jan. 1, the newspaper recapped events from the previous year.

He found an article appropriate for today: York - and the nation - was still recovering from the recession of 1907:

In a March 10, 1995, story, The York Daily Record tells about the then-upcoming "The Brady Bunch Movie," written by former York countian Laurice Elehwany. Background posts: Cameron Mitchell, Craig Sheffer, Dixie Chick born here and Artist Jeff Koons came back to York for a show and Add another to list of entertainers with York links.

"Until she was 13, Laurice Elehwany lived a few miles outside Spring Grove. She swam in Lake Pahagaco. She ate cotton candy at the York Fair. She directed her neighborhood friends in skits she devised. And she watched 'The Brady Bunch' on TV. Today 30-year-old Elehwany lives in Hollywood and writes screenplays. She achieved her first success three years ago with 'My Girl.' Now she can also lay claim to the current hit 'The Brady Bunch Movie.' "

That's how a York Daily Record story in 1995 introduced local-girl-made-good Laurice Elehwany.

The recent Jefferson Carnival reminded me of Elehwany, successful in Hollywood but almost forgotten around York County.

She small-town setting in "My Girl" was based on her memories of Jefferson borough in southwestern York County, according to the Daily Record... .

Santa's annual visit to the Bon-Ton and downtown York, Pa., came after he landed first in the York Airport along Roosevelt Avenue and later its Thomasville location. Background posts: Ho, ho, ho - uh, Santa, hold on, The Grumbachers: 'Builders and Heroes,' Part III and What was famed architect John Dempwolf's own house like?

JoAnne Everhart, that astute observer of the York area with a keen memory, noticed recent York Town Square posts on the old Roosevelt Avenue Airport and tied that to another recollection - Santa's trip from the airport to the Bon-Ton to kick off the Christmas shopping season.

I include her e-mail here because it touches on so many parts of the York-area's past:

The first article reminded me of stories my late father, Hamilton B. Everhart Jr., told me of going to the airport as a young boy in the 1930's to see the airplanes, which were housed there... .

This monument is not readily available to the public because it stands near the Box Hill Club within the confines of the gated Regents' Glen community in Spring Garden Township. It's been there since the 1920s. Background posts: Glatfelter, Morgan Smith head industrial legacy list and The real big York County house that little false teeth built and Chocolate Bliss? Tooth shining flavors 'cooked up' in York.

The variety of tree known as the white oak has loaned its name to many things around York County.

White Oak Park, a hangout north of York, stood amid a stand of such trees. White Oak School was a one-roomer near Hametown in southern York County.

White Oak Plains was an area running from present-day Regents' Glen near the Country Club of York and extending toward Indian Rock Dam... .

A cleanup is set Saturday for the Dritt Cemetery in new Native Lands County Park. "Presently the cemetery is a tangle of weeds and mile-a-minute vines," a Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area release states. Background posts: 400 years ago, John Smith explored Chesapeake Bay and For years, York countians have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams and Petroglyphs, American Indian carvings, almost forgotten treasure.

Local Native Americans will be cleaning up a historic cemetery at the new Native Lands County Park, in York County, beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday, July 25.

According to a Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area release:

The park contains the site of last Susquehannock village and its associated cemeteries, and it also contains the Dritt family cemetery.

The Lancaster-York Native Heritage Advisory Council has organized the Dritt Cemetery clean up because it believes all of the burials deserve there need to be respected.

Members of the Dritt/Tritt family have experienced difficulties in maintaining the cemetery over the years... .

The York Airport can be seen running along Roosevelt Avenue in this 1957 photograph. The track at center is the York Fairgrounds. From that reference point, find Roosevelt Avenue and follow it out. Find where it bends. You'll see a runway at top center. (See additional links to aerial views of York County sites below.) Background posts: Museum exhibit brings back early days of high fliers and Map aficionados will love bird's-eye view of York County and Absorbing photo and overlay shows locations of six Susquehanna bridges

After seeing views of the old York airport in a previous post, eagle-eye Joe Stein found an aerial view of the York Airport in 1957, still there along Roosevelt Avenue a year after it closed.

I've always placed the sprawling airport near the Sylvania Plant along Roosevelt, which appears to be a relatively close landmark designating its northern part.

John F.M. Wolfe, in "Profile of Aviation," gives the following facts about the airport, which sported two grass runways, including one 3,000-foot strip:

A World War II B-17 bomber sits at the York Airport in Thomasville in October 2001. Andy Rusnack, seen here, a World War II veteran, flew in a B-17 exactly like this one shortly before he was sent overseas in 1942. "It sure takes you back," Rusnack said. Background posts: First York Airport's administration building stands today and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph and U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way, Part III: 'We would watch the dragsters on trailers head for Thomasville'.

A former York countian e-mailed after looking into a query from someone about an aircraft that wrecked near Winterstown or Red Lion some years ago.

"Didn't find that, but ran across this link about the old York Airport," he wrote. "I never knew we had an airport on Roosevelt Ave."

I had written in a past York Town Square post - Museum exhibit brings back early days of high fliers:

This iconic photo capturing the moment of the 1969 York race riots shows police seizing weapons from a North Newberry Street home. Newberry Street Boys were headquarted on their namesake street, which served as the site of shooting of Lillie Belle Allen on July 21, 1969. This photo originally appeared in The Gazette and Daily and now is part of York County Heritage Trust's archives. Background posts: Images capture hope for racial harmony, York Charrette or charade? and First pitch could break link with York race riots.

In an earlier post in this York race riots series, I wrote about prepping to background a visiting journalist about those disturbing moments in the 1960s.

As part of those preparations, I wrote the following slogan, common around York in the 1860s: "The Union as it was, the Constitution as it is and the Negroes where they are."

This was the majority view in York County. As I've written before, it was a border county in a border state in the Middle Atlantic region where North meets South.

The county developed the pragmatic view that slavery was not York County's problem, and it was not an issue that merited splitting the Union and fracturing the Constitution. Many believed it would disrupt commerce with the South, and the freedman would take scarce jobs or demand financial support.

Abraham Lincoln represented disunion, so we voted against him in the presidential elections of 1860 and 1864... .

A fun thread under way on The Exchange, a York Daily Record/Sunday News community bulletin board, is exploring topics relating to Springwood Park and Pool and Camp Betty Washington.

The conversation is exploring the old Springwood pool, which operated along Springwood Road between Chapel Church Road, and Yoe and the old Camp Betty Washington Pool. That complex was operated along the road of the same name, about a half mile south of the Mount Rose intersection in Spring Garden Township.

The camp was started and used by York's St. John the Baptist Episcopal congregation from the 1920s to 1940, which generally overlapped with the heyday of the Springwood Park... .

This is perhaps the photograph used most often to illustrate stories on the York race riots of 1968-69. The National Guard was called in to York to supplement local and state police forces that were seeking to quell rioting in 1969. The photo first appeared in The Gazette and Daily and is now part of the York County Heritage Trust's Archives. Background posts: Helping to sort it out in York: Timeline of 1969 race riots, Part I and Since 1887, York mayors have dealt with the serious - and the silly and York Charrette or charade?

A visiting journalist, a college professor, was due in our office to gather background on the race riots of the late 1960s and particularly the legal resolution of the trials in 2000 to 2002.

I contemplated concise ways to explain both tough, memorable moments and finally came upon the idea of putting forth the causes and effects in the form of chemical equations.

So, to explain the riots, I wrote:

Long racial oppression + neglect of services for low-income people + unfit mayor + boiling U.S. urban racial environment + K-9 Corps (as a catalyst) = York riots of 1968-69.

Walter Cronkite, who died last week speaks on April 21, 1998, in York. He appeared at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center as part of the Junior League's "In The Spotlight" series. Background posts: Hedy Lamarr's visit to York long remembered and Presidential visits to York listed and All famous visitors to York from the start.

Sure enough, he was, courtesy of the Junior League of York's "In the Spotlight" speaker's series.

That series drew Cronkite and a host of other luminaries here.

That list includes:

This AP photo from June 2001 shows the media besieging the then-York County Courthouse during the trial of defendants in the slaying of Lillie Belle Allen and Henry C. Schaad during race rioting 32 years before. Background posts: For years, York countians part of major court cases and Witman murder among York County's most notorious crimes and York County educator recounts machete attack on 'I Survived...' .

As rioting rocked the York area, Lillie Belle Allen died 40 years ago today.

The death of this black woman from the South, visiting family in York, came three days after white police officer Henry C. Schaad was shot while on patrol.

Two young people dead. Their slayers did not come to justice for another 30 years.

In some minds, these wrenching events all run together. What happened when?

The following chronology, published in the York Sunday News (7/19/09) is designed to help place events in order:

York Daily Record/Sunday News journalist Melissa Nann Burke captured former rocket scientist and now Hanover resident George Hubbard in writing - and on video. He worked on Apollo 11. Posts on other topics in the 'Remember' series: Tropical Storm Agnes savaged York County with more than 15 inches of rain and Great Depression work: 'It was the largest thesis in the history of the history department' and York County's cigarmaking days: 'I remember that people stripped tobacco in their pantries'.

The York Daily Record/Sunday News has profiled Hanover's George Hubbard who worked on the Apollo 11 project that landed men on the moon 40 years ago today.

In 1969, Hubbard, 24, was an aerospace engineer at the Houston's Johnson Space Center... .

York Township's Springwood Park and pool complex is seen in this undated York County Heritage Trust photo. Background: York Township's Springwood Park dance hall: 'We would pack the place' and York Town Square commenter asks about much-remembered Springwood Pool's ownership and Springwood Pool and its sloping sides: 'I remember so well how cold it was'.

A couple of callers have contributed information about the long-closed Springwood Park and pool that operated along Springwood Road in York Township.

John Fishel noticed on an 1876 atlas that the park was listed as the Ma & Pa Railroad's Springwood Picnic Station.

A York Township history indicates that the park operated from the 1920s to 1954, but that might have been the park when it was built out for large crowds... .

Scott Blanchard, Sunday editor at the York Daily Record/Sunday News, e-mailed me this week that someone was "tweeting" from a Civil War conference in Gettysburg.

(S)ome interesting stuff on there," he wrote.

Indeed.

I checked out the link he sent and found that Blue Ridge Country magazine editor Cara Ellen Modisett was posting on Twitter impressions from the "Panel discussion at the Journey Through Hallowed Ground's Annual Conference."

You can see her 'tweets' at http://twitter.com/BRCeditor (you might have to go to second or third page). She even provided a twitpic on the panelists at http://twitpic.com/ajqsm.

It's an example of how technology is helping disseminate neat stuff on the history front... .

In this 2004 York Daily Record file photo, Nellie Scott of York Township goes through a scrapbook from her service overseas as nurse in World War II. Background posts: Women's history posts from the start and World War II posts from the start and York County people posts from the start.

Diane Fessler, author of "No Time for Fear, Voice of American Military Nurses of World War II, noticed a York Town Square post about local nurse Nellie Scott, who died in 2008.

"I wish I'd been able to interview her along with the 200 nurses included in the oral histories in the book," she commented.

That comment served as a reminder how often nurses played a role in York County - and national - history... .

The July 21, 1969, edition of The Gazette and Daily told about man's walk on the moon and rioting in York, Pa., a pretty interesting news day. Background posts: Background posts: Meeting of riot victims brought racial accord, Mayor: 'We're going to clean up this site' and York Charrette or charade?

In the minds of some in York County, the moment of Neil Armstrong's and Buzz Aldrin's moonwalk in 1969 will always be aligned with the escalation of rioting in York.

Editors at the Gazette and Daily had to balance coverage of the moon walk with the march of shooting victims into the York Hospital emergency room. This was the product of what has become known as the race riots of 1968-69.

One of the shooting victims was 29-year-old Jacob W. Hose Jr., known today as former York County Sheriff Bill Hose... .

Springettsbury Township's Harley-Davidson plant is seen during shift change in January 2009. (See additional photos below.) Background posts: All Harley posts from the start and All York Safe & Lock posts from the start and All Made in York posts from the start.

It began during wartime and the old plant in Springettsbury Township has never really been at peace.

It's had a long series of owners since York Safe & Lock built it. Harley-Davidson occupies it now, but for how long?

It's had labor strikes. Celebrity visits. Presidential praise.

Just three years ago, George W. Bush was there, touting its great American qualities... .

Zheng Shi Ji survived the beaching of Golden Venture in New York Harbor and was released from York County (Pa.) Prison in February 1997. He stayed with Ann and Don Wolcott until he found a job. Background posts: 'York: A Key City in the Keystone State' and York's Chestnut Street fortress bad symbol of York's past and All famous York visitor posts from the start.

The term "snakehead" re-entered York County discourse in the past few weeks with the release of Patrick Radden Keefe's "The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream."

That book tells the story of the Golden Venture passengers who ran aground in New York Harbor in the 1990s. Some of these passengers from China stayed in York County Prison for months, attracting widespread community support about their plight.

The York Daily Record closely covered the story of the approximately 40 detainees in the prison, including their fear of snakeheads, who smuggled them out of China and then often fiercely demanded payment from their families.

A March 1, 1997, Daily Record story tells about one fortunate detainee, who escaped the Snakehead bite:

Spring Garden Township resident Thomas W. Clarke, seen here in his military days, has written his World War II memoir 'George S. Patton's Typical Soldier.' Background posts: York County sacrificed on homefront and war front and All WWII posts from the start and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County WWII smarts.

"Then we got into the rain of shells and had to hit the ground," Thomas W. Clarke wrote in his recently released memoir.

He continued:

"They would land on the right, then the left, or in front of us. What a helpless feeling it was, just to lie there and take it! It was then that I realized what an insignificant and unimportant bit of this universe that I was. What did it matter to the world, whether or not the next shell landed on my head and blew me to hell? But I lay there, pressing myself into the ground and praying that it wouldn't."

Wally Clarke wrote many things about his time in European combat in World War II... .

Former Oakland Raider teammates, Mo Collins, right, and Lincoln Kennedy, joke around between holes during the Celebrity Golf Classic in June. Background posts: Names of stars from York County with pro sports links just keep increasing and York County has produced star NFL players and Lineup full of sports stars with York County links.

Lincoln Kennedy was born and raised in York.

He starred at the University of Washington, attracted the Atlanta Falcon's first-round pick in 1993 and later played on three division champions with the Oakland Raiders.

Before retiring in 2003, he was viewed as a leader on and off the field.

And he's still leading.

He's a good example of a celebrity who has not forgotten his hometown, coming back frequently to lend his name to charity efforts... .

A group of Chinese immigrants - formerly aboard the Golden Venture freighter that ran aground in 1993 off New York carrying about 300 passengers - listen during a news conference in 2006. That New York press conference, seen in this Associated Press photo, coincided with the release of a documentary film about Golden Venture. Now, a book on the Golden Venture has been published. (See photo of Golden Venture below.) Background posts: 'York: A Key City in the Keystone State' and York's Chestnut Street fortress bad symbol of York's past and All famous York visitor posts from the start.

Some maintain that York County is not always the most welcoming place to outsiders.

This, despite the fact that the county has served as a crossroads since its earliest days, and has grown accustomed to people coming and going.

And this, despite the fact that the county became Ground Zero for a national immigration battle in the 1990s, with the community largely in support of the newcomers from China at the center of this fight.

About 40 detainees from the grounded freighter Golden Venture sat in the York County Prison for years, although not charged with any crime.

The detainees faced much adversity, particularly from the Snakeheads, a Chinese term for those who smuggle humans from China to the free world... .

An ATF agent and Spring Garden Fire officials investigate the ruins shortly after the explosion at York International on Feb. 2, 1998. The York Daily Record reported that four compressed air tanks, measuring about 25-feet long by 4-feet wide, exploded. One tank flew through the roof of the Grantley Road plant's Building 9 in Spring Garden Township. The tanks contained pressurized air and refrigerant. The mixture was used to test air conditioners at the plant. Dennis Stough, a 42-year-old welder, was killed. Twenty people were injured, including five police officers who suffered from chemical inhalation. (See aerial view of the damage below, also courtesy of York Daily Record/Sunday News.) Background posts: All York International/Johnson Controls posts from the start and Deadly York fire: 'There never was a more horrible one' and Hanover Civil War story stop: 'Mother Loses Two Sons to War'.

A fire that consumed 16 rowhouses and displaced 61 people in York City last week led to a York Town Square blog list that gave a sampling of the worst fires in York County history.

Arson is suspected.

That raises the question about peacetime examples of crime and trauma on York County soil, in addition to those wrenching fires.

Here are links to a sampling - just a few of many - of those painful moments:

This aerial view from 1937 gives a view of York Township's Ore Valley. Springwood Park is seen in the left, center part of the photograph. See description below to locate it. Background: York Township's Springwood Park dance hall: 'We would pack the place' and York Town Square commenter asks about much-remembered Springwood Pool's ownership and Springwood Pool and its sloping sides: 'I remember so well how cold it was'.

This is a post designed to be fun.

You can't see much of Springwood Park, an old recreational site off Springwood Road in York Township. But it's fun to look try to locate it:

- Locate that cluster of houses at 6 o'clock, just at the edge of the photo. That's Yoe.

- Follow the road, Springwood Road, running to about 9 o'clock out of Yoe until you come to an angled intersection. That's Chapel Church Road connecting Springwood and Cape Horn. (Still does.)

- Now backtrack just a short distance along Springwood toward Yoe until you see a bulge in the road. That's Springwood Park with the pool on one side and the dance hall on the other... .

York's Citizen's Committee to open the Municipal Swimming Pool placed an advertisement to draw attention to a meeting after the city closed the pool in the late 1940s rather than allow blacks entry there. Background posts: Cartoonist made York newspaper owner's views an art form and York Town Square reader: 'I never knew about the White Rose Amusement Park' and Reader searching for Boys Club Pool photo.

The Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission is investigating the case of a private club outside Philadelphia that allegedly revoked an agreement to allow minority campers from the Creative Steps Inc. group to swim in its pool.

About a week ago, young minority campers from Creative Steps went to a Philadelphia-area pool to swim.

Patrons of the Valley Club made racial remarks and removed their own children from the pool, the camp's executive director told USA Today.

That has created a controversy, and rightfully so... .

This 1995 photograph shows the burned out Thonet Industries complex two years after the fire, one of the largest in the past two decades in York County. Background: Colonial York, Pa.? No, try Victorian York, Pa. and York County ... 'A smorgasbord of architectural styles' and Fire-damaged Women's Club of York restored.

The question is going around. Was the Chestnut Street rowhouse fire this week the largest ever in York and York County?

It was a big one, displacing 61 people from 26 families who had lived in the 16 damaged rowhouses. The short answer is that a fire in 1856 took out an entire York city block including 17 buildings of mixed uses.

Undoubtedly, the largest fire in York County was the burning of the covered bridge across the Susquehanna River during the Civil War.

U.S. militia set the bridge on fire in 1863 to prevent the Confederates from crossing the river and taking Harrisburg from the east. Some might split hairs and note the bridge was part of Lancaster County, as is the river. But the blaze took out numerous buildings in Wrightsville, too.

But if we're talking about peacetime fires, there's a long lineup to consider.

Here is a sampling compiled from my "Never to be Forgotten," and York Daily Record/Sunday News files:

The York Gazette published invading Gen. Jubal Early's requisitions of York's residents in its June 30, 1863, edition. It was printed on or about the time that the last Confederates were leaving town after staying for a little less than two days. A local researcher has discovered what happened to some of the goods gained in the requisition. Background posts: Invaders put off by earthy Pennsylvania women, Owner seeks info on old toll house and York County Civil War, by the numbers.

For years, it's been known that part of the goods received from the Confederate requisition of York in late June 1863 wound up in the stomachs of the 6,000-plus invaders.

Some remained in or on the bodies of the rebels after roughly 30 percent of Gen. Jubal Early's division sustained casualties in the subsequent Battle of Gettysburg Civil War.

Now author and fellow blogger Scott Mingus has put forth a piece about what happened to part of the requisitioned goods... .

Scott Butcher's "Gettysburg Perspectives" is a 100-page paperback book with more than 100 photos. So it's packed with images. This is the York author's latest in a series of such books on Central Pennsylvania. Background posts: York-area picture book not your typical coffee table publication and Author: 'York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture' and The Four YorkBloggers write.

Fellow blogger Scott Butcher has two new books out and more coming.

His books are photo-intensive, which in itself makes a valuable contribution. The photos provide wonderful visual information. But the writer and architectural historian in Butcher means that his captions are packed with reliable information.

Without further delay, here is info on Butcher's latest work:

This mansion at Lauxmont Farms was built by the farm's founder and York Safe & Lock's owner S. Forry Laucks (see photo below), one of the most prominent of the Laucks family that will celebrate its 300th anniversary in America next year. Today, the mansion is owned by the Kohr family. Background posts: With hot controversy cooled, Highpoint offers Susquehanna River view for the ages and Bad economy turned York Safe & Lock toward lucrative defense work and And now starring actor ... Jakie Devers?.

Descendents of the Casper Glattfelter family have much to brag about as a successful York County family.

They meet every year at Glatfelter Station to renew acquaintances.

Now comes another prominent local family - the Laux family with a planned reunion next June in York. That reunion will celebrate the family's 300 years in America.

The family has set up a Web site, which bears interesting information. It addresses the Laux family and all variations of that name.

Did you know Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer has Loux blood? ... .

When the Confederates entered York, they would have been greeted by a scene similar to this with the Hartman building towering over York's Centre Square. The building, referred today as the Futer Bros. building, is being renovated. But the market sheds are long gone. Background posts: York's western gate: One image says so much, Farm vs. factory tension relieved by overnight raid and Late June has seen pivotal moments in York County history.

Since the year 2000, more than a dozen books have been written that address, in full or in part, York County's role in the Civil War.

Research was limited before that.

But one writer deserves credit for kicking off the current popular Civil War enthusiasm in York County, complete with stories of the Civil War hospital, the burning of the Wrightsville Bridge, the surrender of York, Jeb Stuart's ride through the countryside, among many other events.

His name is Gerald Austin Robison Jr., and he was writing about the Civil War in 1965 when it was not a popular local topic... .

This is one of only two photographs of old Springwood Park in York County Heritage Trust image files. (See second photo below). A York Township history places the park on the railroad bend north of Relay and Yoe. But see the existing house along Springwood Road, with the distinctive windows, in the post Springwood Pool and its sloping sides: 'I remember so well how cold it was' to gets its exact location. (But drive carefully because that stretch of road is wicked.) Background posts: 19th-century mines gave Ore Valley its name and Yo! More support for Yoe vs. Yohe and So, you want learn about your house's history?.

The post "York Town Square commenter asks about much-remembered Springwood Pool's ownership " brings forth more information about York Township's Springwood Park.

But there's not a lot on the official record about that now-abandoned spot.

The book "York Township celebrates 250 years of history" is the best resource.

It at least tells about the dance hall in the photo above:

Betty Bury Harmon, here at the York Fair, looks at herself in front of her family's hamburger stand in an old fair book. "They just developed it," Harmon said about her father and his brothers. "They came up with the sauce, and it hit." Each year, York Fair offers Bury's burgers at a stand where Harmon's recipe - still secret - is served as well as at a second unrelated stand. But versions of the secret Bury's recipe are available in homes across York County and will be deployed on scores of grills today. Background posts: Lighthouse marks site of landmark Dover Township soft pretzel stand and Interstate lined out Melvin's swan song and Just try to resist this memory-tugging photo of North York's White Oak Park .

Hits on York Town Square posts for Bury's Famous Hamburger recipes escalate this time of year.

People probably around the world are looking to see whether to try out their own Bury's recipe this holiday or experiment with one of the many variations in the public domain - some documented on this blog.

Joe Bury operated a chain of hamburger stands touting a secret recipe for the red sauce that covered his delicious burgers, firmly sealed into the memories of local residents.

So, to avoid all that searching, here are some leads to recipes which purport to be Bury's:

James Hayney, portraying President Abraham Lincoln, gives a speech at the Hanover Junction Train Station in 2008 as part of the remembrance of Lincoln's passing through on his way to and from Gettysburg. The station, located about 10 miles south of York, is open from 1-5 p.m. today - the Fourth of July. A complete schedule is available at York County parks site. Background posts: Jefferson borough's Center Square in the middle of history and Abe Lincoln stopped at Hanover station:"We want to preserve history ... so it doesn't disappear' and John Adams: 'Yesterday the greatest question was decided'.

I've labeled the post: "This working list details presidential visits to York and Adams counties" and you can get to it by clicking here.

Working list is right.

I keep finding times when U.S. presidents or candidates stopped or passed through York County. (And many of their visits were, well, eventful in a quirky way.)

So I've reworked the working list... .

York Township's Springwood Pool sustained considerable damage in the flood of 1933. The pool, reachable via the Ma & Pa Railroad, was located along Springwood Road, between Yoe and Chapel Church Road. Background posts: Old Ma & Pa Railroad trestle may again carry passengers - on bicyles - some day and 19th-century mines gave Ore Valley its name and One-room schools: 'That's when things were good'.

The post - Springwood Pool and its sloping sides: 'I remember so well how cold it was' - raised questions in reader Lynda Stoddard's mind about the old pool's ownership.

"... (W)e were told our grandparents at one time owned the park, 1920 or 1930 and there was a story passed around about a shooting, which we have never been able to find anything out about, could have been a rumor ...," she commented.

She has pictures of the park, along Springwood Road, provided by her grandparents.

A York Township history says this about the ownership:

This photo from Jim Hubley's "Off the Record" points out an unusual cellar door in the sidewalk outside Bear's Department Store between Market and George streets. "Frequently," Hubley wrote, "pedestrians would be started by the slowly opening cellar doors and the surprising emergence of the freight elevator." Hubley's book particularly focused on downtown life in York City. Background posts: Escaped bovine makes York newspaper headline and York's first mayor Daniel K. Noell named one of his sons and Longtime York sportswriter Jacque Tracy: 'He enjoyed writing features about athletes and coaches'.

When longtime York Daily Record/Sunday News columnist Jim Hubley died a little more than a year ago, people were asking around about how to get his book "Off The Record."

The book, available at local libraries, was out of print.

You couldn't buy a copy around town.

But now you can... .

York's Martin Library CEO Bill Schell dates Martin Library's old doors to 1935, the year the library first opened. Here, they rest on the floor inside Martin. Background posts: York County libraries offer serendipity - and have done so for decades and Colonial York, Pa.? No, try Victorian York, Pa and York County library site brings together links for local research.

For years, some people struggled to open those weighty mahogany doors leading into Martin Library.

Their replacement with lighter doors leads to the question of what to do with the older ones.

Library officials have put that out to community.

The best answer is: Keep them. Or at least make sure they're publicly displayed somewhere.

Those are not just any doors... .

York's Continental Square is shown in this undated photo from Jim Hubley's "Off the Record." This was the site that a World War II era cow toured early in World War II. Background posts: Perrydale's bovine: 'She's a wonderful, laid-back cow' and 'Boys, she's a Confederate cow' and When did York's square change from Centre to Continental?.

I've written about York's headline-grabbing cow before.

But the meat of the story is worth repeating.

Early in World War II, a runaway cow - termed a steer by a newspaper - rumbled around York's Continental Square, two men in a truck in tow.

"The steer," Police Chief C. P. Gerber told The York Dispatch, "obeyed the traffic rules."

It circled the square in the proper traffic lanes.

In that post, I drew this short conclusion to this short story: "That was post-Depression York County. Its people did their work simply, ably and followed the rules."

But there's more to the story. Where did the cow come from? ... .