York Town Square

Linked in with neat York County, Pa., history stuff - Feb. 9, 2010

2010-02-09T12:45:55Z

Bob Riese of Spring Garden Township submitted this photo, taken in 1982, to the York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News' Your Photos gallery. He wrote that this is a combined photo of the Codorus Creek area from the top of the GTE building on Pershing Avenue. He took them with regular prints and waited until a computer could combine them. He pointed to the detail of the area before it was developed. Also of interest: Another view of the Codorus Creek in York and Destructive flood of 1933 struck York County 75 years ago and Skinny dipping in the Codorus?

York countian James H. Stauch Jr. read about hog maw recipes first published on this blog and then in the York Daily Record/Sunday News.

He e-mailed that he has been eating hog maw and other Pennsylvania Dutch foods like scrapple, pudding, mush, tripe and pickled tongue and heart for more than 60 years.

He actually looks forward to eating the pig's stomach portion of hog maw.

Here are his sentiments:

]]> "My late mother-in-law (Mildred Mull) who passed away at the age of 88 years was still making her delicious hog maw up until almost the very end of her days. Her recipe was a mix of both Mrs. Baker's and Mrs. Bupp's. However, it isn't Hog Maw unless you eat the stomach skin. That's right up there with the best part. I'm fortunate in that when we have it my wife gives the stomach to me.

"I mentioned she made the stomach as we would call it up until the very end of her days because as she got older it became harder for her to finely dice the potatoes and onion. So one Sunday as we were taking her out to dinner she said she wanted to go to this particular restaurant to order a particular meal. As we pulled into the parking lot of Weiner World on Industrial Highway I asked why she wanted "Hot Weiners" for Sunday dinner. She said she didn't but wanted to come for Hog Maw. I said "right mother" how do you figure a restaurant owned by a Greek family can make a Pa. Dutch meal better that you. She said she could not make it any better then they do - she was right. Delicious. She never made Hog Stomach again. Each Sunday when we visit Weiner World my wife and I always get the Hog Maw. I get her golden brown stomach from her dinner and mine is with gravy. Thank you mother. I think of you every time."

When asked if I could share these sentiments, Jim e-mailed back: "I'm sure my Mother-in-law, ... I always called her mother, would be pleased."

Recommended events of the week:

- "African American Genealogy and Ancestry Research," presented by Rodney Barnett, Feb. 13, 2010, 10:30 a.m., York County Heritage Trust, 250 E. Market St., York. Free event.

- "Genealogical Curves: 21st Century African American Civic Engagement in the city of York," presented by Dr. Jeffrey Lynn Woodyard. South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society, York County Heritage Trust, 2:15 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 14.

Blog post of the day: Speaking of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes, Yorkblogger Joan Concilio's ABCs of York County focuses on fastnachts.

Forum of the day, The Exchange: What is hog maw?

York County residents passed through fire and water, or water and fire, in 1822

2010-02-08T11:44:14Z

Dover (Pa.) Township property owners moved their sheep from a pen near the Conewago Creek amid fears of the creek flooding, leaving only this barred rock hen, a rooster and a few other birds in the yard. These remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy in 2005 interrupted York County's dry spell by dumping 2.1 inches of rain on York County. In contrast, not far from this scene, in the drought of 1822, farmers raised turnips on the bed of the Conewago. Also of interest: York County's 'uncommon,' deadly snowfall of 1772: 'The poor animals struck through' and For years, York countians have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams and Tropical Storm Agnes savaged York County with more than 15 inches of rain.

Another in a short series of meteorological events, tied to this winter's big snows... .

No weather events had stumped York County more than the water and fire of 1822.

Simply, nature did an about face in the course of six months, as the following excerpt from "Never to be Forgotten," indicates:

]]> Mother Nature makes county residents pass through fire and water. Actually, it's water and then fire.

First comes the February snow. About 15 to 20 inches falls. Then comes a heavy rain, which melts the snow, causing some to think of the Codorus Creek as the Codorus River.

The only good thing about the flooding is that it claims no lives, tame compared to the flood of 1817.

The rain clouds spent themselves during that period because no rain of any consequence falls until September. The drought causes crop failure, and farmers with grain in their bins travel 20 miles to find a mill with enough water power to grind it.

One historian (John Gibson) later reported that the drought was so bad northwest of Dover that "not a drop of water (was) to be seen in the channel of the Big Conewago, at the place where the bridge is thrown across it on the Carlisle Road."

In August, showers fell in parts of Yorks County, but otherwise no rain was recorded until sometime in September. Most summer crops failed throughout the county, according to historian John Gibson.

This cjhallenging year of 1822 serves as a reminder that unpredictable, painful weather patterns have afflicted York County - and the nation - since its earliest years.

Posts on meteorological phenomena:

- Ice upon ice pic tells chilly tale of York County's 1996 blizzard.

- Tropical Storm Agnes savaged York County with more than 15 inches of rain.

- A list of traumatic, painful incidents that rocked York County.

Photo courtesy of York Daily Record/Sunday News.

Past meterological events in York County: Hailstorm broke 'fully 10,000 panes of glass'

2010-02-07T11:45:41Z

York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Jason Plotkins went high, atop the West King Street parking garage, to get this view of this weekend's Nor'easter. That's the old Central School and York City Hall is at right. Also of interest: The York/Adams day that birthed memories of falling stars and silkworms and Dense 'The Shrewsbury' meteorite named after York County town where it was found and In 1889, 'Bona Fide Earthquake' rattled York County.

The great snow of 1772 that caused the near extermination of York County's deer herd at the hands of greedy hunters was not the only unusual meterological event of years past.

Some of the events are well known:

The celebrated high water and ice jams of 1832 knocked out the first Columbia-Wrightsville bridge spanning the Susquehanna River. A windstorm - actually a cyclone - took out a successor bridge in 1896.

But less heralded acts of nature are found in the history books, specifically John Gibson's "History of York County," published in 1886.

]]> Hailstorms. Windstorms. Flooding.

Those who attach apocalyptic significance to 21st-century events involving the weather and climate consider the:

- 1797 hailstorm that cost farmers half of their harvest. The stones were described as large as pullets eggs and took the lives of many fowls and birds. "It is supposed that in York and Bottstown (west of the Codorus Creek), fully 10,000 panes of glass were broken," Gibson wrote.

- Hailstorm of 1821 destroyed most of the grain the York area. That event was marked by oppressive late-May heat near Hanover that caused violent thunder and lightning. Despite the heat, destructive hail hit within three miles of Hanover.

- Windstorm of 1830 was marked by the downing of a unknown species of wild ducks on a May flight to northern lakes. This windstorm occurred at night and citizens woke up the next morning to find these beautiful specimens of a "feathery tribe" on the ground.

- Flash flood on Beaver Creek in 1826, which marks part of York County's western boundary with Adams. A localized summer cloudburst in the mountains of Warrington Township caught onlookers along Beaver Creek enjoying the sunshine 1 1/2 miles away by surprise. The rushing water took out several stream-based operation, including William Ross' tannery.

Other meteorological phenomena of interest:

- Ice upon ice pic tells chilly tale of York County's 1996 blizzard.

- Tropical Storm Agnes savaged York County with more than 15 inches of rain.

- A list of traumatic, painful incidents that rocked York County.

York County's 'uncommon,' deadly snowfall of 1772: 'The poor animals struck through'

2010-02-06T12:39:19Z

This photograph, from York, Pa.'s, 225th anniversary book in 1966, serves as a reminder that York County has always had its share of big snows, like the current nor'easter. Also of interest: Readers tell about those blizzards of 1993, 1996 and For years, York countians have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams and Ice upon ice pic tells chilly tale of York County's 1996 blizzard.

York County's earliest history books highlight one particularly devastating snowfall.

The nature of the snow made it deadly for deer and no doubt other wildlife. But it also left a shortage of venison for decades - perhaps a century - thereafter.

John Gibson's 1880s history of York County tells about the "uncommon" fall of snow locally in January 1772 - 3 1/2 feet.

Then came a heavy rain which froze, forming a thick crust... .

]]> "Nearly every man and boy now turned out to chase deer, for while the hunter could run fleetly on the crust, the poor animals struck through; and were unable to proceed far," Gibson wrote.

Some deer in the higher elevations or in remote areas survived, but otherwise the deer herd was nearly "extirpated" by hunters taking a short-term view.

Families had full bellies of venison that winter. But their stomachs were still growling years later.

"Before that time deer were common throughout the county;" Gibson wrote, "since then but few have been found."

Those old brick, Victorian-era factories? Housing proposed for another big York-area complex

2010-02-04T13:20:41Z

Developers are eyeing the Martin-Parry Corporation complex in West York, Pa., later occupied by Keystone Weaving Mills, for revitalization projects. This photograph comes from former West York Mayor Charles A. Slenker's "Remembrances of West York Borough." (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: Did York Silk ever operate a silkmaking factory in West York? and How one spot in York County, Pa., tells much about what's going on around there and York factory's lines ranged from Moneybak black silk to boys pajamas and Is this a York County farm truck or is it just a wagon with a motor?.

The complex of brick buildings on West York's south side has shipped everything from trucks to textiles.

And now, like so many other former factory buildings in the York area, some of those buildings might be converted into apartment houses or condos.

The complex, orginally the Milton D. Martin Carriage Works along the York-Gettysburg Turnpike, made horse-drawn conveyances in the 1890s.

That name Martin might sound familiar. That's the same M.D. Martin of Martin Library fame... .

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This old carriage gets an overhaul at Martin-Parry. (Photograph courtesy of "Remembrances of West York."

The name of the road changed to the Lincoln Highway - now Route 462 or West Market Street - as motorized vehicles replaced horse-drawn carriages and carts. And Martin Carriage Works changed its product line accordingly as did other York County wagonmakers, eventually combining in 1919 with Parry Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis to become known as the Martin-Parry Corporation.

"Martin's most important model was the Atlas truck, a 1-ton stake body truck," Georg Sheets wrote in "Made in York." "Only two or three of these truck models have survived."

Martin-Parry made truck and other vehicle bodies through the 1930s in West York and other locations.

Later, Keystone Weaving Mills occupied the complex, Charles A. Slenker wrote in "Remembrances of West York Borough."

Now developers are interested in demolishing some buildings and rehabbing others into housing and commercial offices, similar to plans for the Codo complex on North George Street and the Northwest Triangle project. Community leaders are banking on many of these housing projects to bring people back to formerly blighted parts of the York area.

A York Daily Record/Sunday News story (1/28/2010) about the project began this way:

York County's planning commission has proposed to work with two developers to redevelop the old Keystone Weaving Mills manufacturing complex on West Market Street in West York, according to the commission.
The commission and the developers, The Ingerman Group and PFG Capital, plan to demolish all but four buildings on the site, said Chris Rafferty, the commission's administrator of housing and community development. They plan to redevelop one building into an 80-unit apartment building, Rafferty said, and the other buildings into commercial and office space.

The new buildings would revitalize West York and boost its tax revenue, said Brian Wilson, president of the borough's council.

"It is very good for West York," Wilson said. "It is something that we need."

For a detailed history of Martin-Parry Corporation with photos of advertisements showing the company's truck bodies and other products, click here.

Linked in with neat York County, Pa., history stuff - Feb. 4, 2010

2010-02-03T15:21:26Z

Carla Reinecker submitted this aerial view of the Cape Horn Road and East Prospect Road intersection in eastern York County. Longstown, that is, the intersection that can be located today as the crossroads between Heritage Hills Golf Resort and Wisehaven hall. She placed the photo at circa 1948. Viewers in increasing numbers are submitting historic photos to the Your Photos section of ydr.com. Other aerial photographs of interest: Just try to resist this memory-tugging photo of North York's White Oak Park and Just try to resist this memory-tugging aerial photograph of York Whitehull Airport and York Valley Inn and Playland and ... and So, can you find long-gone Springwood Park in this aerial photograph?

The York Daily Record/Sunday News' Buffy Andrews told about that special window with a special person behind it who would hand out warm candy at Manchester's Katharine Beecher Co.

It turns out Buffy wasn't the only youngster who knew about that special window.

York countian Ned Heikes sent this e-mail:

]]> "On Sunday a friend of mine walked up to me chuckling so loud that you would have thought he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. I asked him what was so funny and he handed me the article 'Stores should buy locally 1/31/2010'.

"The part that caught his funny bone the most was the inset 'Candy secret.' Over the years when I would reminisce ... I often told him the same story. I grew up in Manchester less than 2 blocks from Katharine Beecher Candies. I told him how in the early 1960's we would play in the empty sugar bags that were laying around outside and then use a old wooden pallet for a ladder to lean up against (the) wall so we could knock on the secret window and wait for a treat. He always thought I was making that story up until ... your article. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

"P.S. I thought I was the only one that knew where that secret window was."

And then Amy Goodling Schriver wrote Buffy:

"The Goodling girls would like to know how you found out about OUR window. Too funny, mom just read us the article in the paper and it brought back so many memories!! We used to go all the time, they had a box for us to stand on and the mint was always warm."

Blog post of the day: York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel has provided help fixing broken links to two wonderful video tours of the Hex murder house in East Hopewell Township. To see those videos, visit: Visiting the scene of (York County's hex) crime and Descendant of powwow doctor: 'Powwowing was done for good'.

Forum of the day: The photo of Santa climbing into York's Bon-Ton via a fire truck's ladder has spawned some insightful and nostalgic comments. Join in at or just browse at Ho, ho, ho - uh, Santa on that York Bon-Ton ladder, hold on.

For additional posts in this Linked In/Neat Stuff series, click here.

Other posts with aerial views:

- Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph

- Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging Sears photograph, Part II

- Camp Security area of Springettsbury Township from the air

- Columbia-Wrightsville Susquehanna River bridges from the air.

- Just try to resist this memory-tugging photograph of northwest York, Pa.

- Just try to resist this memory-tugging aerial photograph of York's Roosevelt Avenue Airport.

- Memorial Stadium, now Bob Hoffman Stadium, built to keep professional baseball in York.

- In York-area, famous Olmsted design firm left legacy in Wyndham Hills.

Catharine (or is it Catherine?) Meyer merits 'Mother of Red Lion' (or is it Red Line?) title

2010-02-03T12:30:54Z

Catherine Meyer, known as the "Mother of Red Lion," was a successful community leader whose contributions were recognized publicly before women generally achieved such. Also of interest: Ma & Pa rabbit trains passing through Red Lion: 'I hope they thoroughly hosed out the cars.' and Red Lion, then and now: 'Welcome to a popular page on our web site' and Every day, York County struts its diverse architectural stuff and Penn State student renovates Red Lion Victorian-era house.

Catharine Meyer was a late-19th century/early-20th century Red Lion business woman and landowner.

She was one of York County's most publicly successful women in those days before women could even vote.

Interestingly, she was not included in the American Association of University Women's "Legacies" project in the 1980s. That project profiled prominent 19th- and 20th-century York County women.

Not all deserving people could be included in the booklet, to be sure. And the book tended to be York centric.

There's even uncertainty about how to spell her name - whether her first name is "Catherine" or "Catharine... ."

]]>
Catharine Meyer's business card, noting she's from "Red Line." (Courtesy, York County Heritage Trust)

Red Lion history books go with Catherine.

Cemetery records at the York County Heritage Trust list "Catharine."

Her obituary in The York Dispatch used the "e."

And a business card, on file at the Heritage Trust and discovered recently by Yorkblogger June Lloyd, lists her with an "a." But that same business card says she lives in "Red Line."

Fortunately, Red Lion bestows the Meyer Award each year to a deserving person who displays the same interests of development and betterment of Red Lion as Catharine Meyer. That annual brings the Mother of Red Lion's contributions into the public sphere.

The borough's Web site, in describing the award, spells her name with an "e." (Betty Rhodes was the honored awardee in 2009.)

The York Daily Record/Sunday News keeps an updated local style book. In naming the award, the newspaper will go with "Catherine," the name on the award. In reporting on her name, it will go with "Catharine," which is closer to her original name.

Newspaper correspondent Lori Badders wrote this about "Katarina Denker," Catharine Meyer, on Jan. 11, 2010:

Born Katarina Denker in Oldenberg, Germany, in 1828, she became Catharine Meyer after marrying childhood schoolmate John Meyer upon his return from America.
In 1853, the couple purchased 55 acres north of the present Red Lion borough square and set about raising his three children from his first marriage as well as the children they had together.

In the years after his death in 1865, she became the borough's chief philanthropist, giving land for what became Fairmount Park and the Red Lion Cemetery. When she became postmistress in 1874, she erected a building on what later became the site of the Red Lion Train Station on North Main Street. There she conducted postal, rail, mercantile and barroom business.

She also built Meyer Hall, later named the Red Lion Hotel; donated land for the construction of Grace Lutheran Church, North Charles Street; and pushed for the borough's incorporation in 1880. She died in 1919 at age 91.

For other Yorktownsquare.com posts touching on Red Lion, in full or in part, click here.

Meyer photo courtesy of "Red Lion, The First One Hundred Years," published in 1980.

Old York Safe & Lock, now Harley-Davidson, plant: U.S. Army ordnance made there, too

2010-02-02T11:48:04Z

A Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information photographer captures 28-year-old Gerald Smith assembling 37 mm gun mounts at York Safe & Lock. The caption stated: "Assembling weapons for Victory to be used by the armed forces." Also of interest: Torpedo, bomb loader, made in York, Pa., turns up in Tennessee museum and York County's BAE links BMY and Bofors and battered vehicles in Bair and Jeep prototype has York County WWII roots.

York County's Harry Smith, Jr., is challenging the common association of the older part of Harley-Davidson plant solely with the Navy.

The photograph above, showing Gerald Smith making 37 mm anti-tank gun mounts, makes his point visually.

Many companies have occupied the western buildings on present-day Harley-Davidson's industrial campus, including York Safe & Lock, Blaw-Knox, Naval Ordnance Depot and AMF.

But that old plant is most commonly known for its manufacturing of Bofors anti-aircraft guns late in World War II.

Drawing on memory, Smith wrote that construction on the Springettsbury Township plant started in 1941 under the authority of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department... .

]]> Its main task initially was to machine armor plate pieces of ordnance.

He personally operated an edge plane. The armor pieces came from Bethlehem and were sent out after machining to Baldwin Locomotive Works near Philadelphia.

Those were the days before Pearl Harbor when America, not yet at war, supplied Britain and the Soviet Union with ordnance.

"When I started to work in this plant in 1941, there was no heat ... and the nights were cold. There was a heat system, but no boiler to heat things up," he wrote.

York Safe & Lock brought in an A.B. Farquhar steam tractor, he said, but that didn't work very well.

"At the north end of the plant were railroad tracks and doors big enough to accommodate freight cars. They then brought in a steam locomotive and hooked it up to the heat system," he wrote.

He machined pieces of armor plate used as shields for 37 mm guns.

"Coincidentally, when I went into the Army in October 1942, I was assigned to a 37MM Anti tank gun platoon to learn to be a gunner on this weapon. And here on the protective shield was a stamp - YS & L (York Safe and Lock)," he wrote

Later they also started to make an armor plated cab to put on jungle-clearing earth movers in the Pacific because the Japanese targeted that equipment.

York Safe & Lock changed dramatically after its owner, S. Forry Laucks, died in 1942.

I wrote in "In The Thick of the Fight" that poor labor relations, unsatisfactory management practices and other factors led to the U.S. Navy, and later Blaw-Knox Co.,
taking over the plant.

Those Bofors assembly lines were just too valuable to the Allies, and those ack-ack guns, so familiar in many a Hollywood movie, led to the strong association of the Navy with that present-day Harley site.

That site, by the way, is being prepared for sale because Harley is consolidating into the newer Softtail plant to the east.

Perhaps Army or Navy ordnance will be made in those old York Safe & Lock buildings once again.

Also of interest:

- All York Safe & Lock-related posts from the start.

- All Harley-Davidson posts from the start.

The 1950s, '60s: 'The greatest time to grow up in York, Pa.'

2010-02-01T12:00:16Z

Owner Tom Deroche is seen in the cafe of the Shady Dell in 2008. The South York hangout served generations of York County (Pa.) youth. One e-mailer characterized the Dell this way: 'And I saved the best for last because it was the one place in York that all parents feared.' York's Shady Dell for sale: 'People don't like to see their past vanish' and Memories about 'The Oaks' pile up - Part II and About Avalong Dairy and Melvin's Drive-In: 'I am some what familiar with the history of the area'

I try to choose posts for this Yorktownsquare.com blog that are designed to teach York County's history, to provide a bit of a common language about our past.

This is designed to maintain - or create - a sense of community in York County, badly needed in this time of community fragmentation and distractions that cause people to go 10 different ways, all at the same time. If strong community exists and the language spoken is in the same neighborhood, such relationships make problems solvable and hurdles surmountable.

But sometimes I put up a post, just for fun, to feed nostalgia... .

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A plate of pepper beef steak cost 65 cents at the Shady Dell. (York Daily Record/Sunday News photos.)

This came to mind when Tim Rearich, a native son living in Las Vegas, passed on memories from the late 1950s and early 1960s from another former York countian living out there. (In fact, Tim says he knows of three former Yorkers who lived out there.)

So, I've included excerpts from Tim's e-mail from the former-Yorker-now-a-Las Vegan, all of which suggests that what happened in York never stays in York:

We're going to start out this little trip down memory lane standing in front of Lehmeyer's Store, looking at those beautiful clothes. Behind us on the opposite side of the street is The Hotel Penn,Griffith Smith's Men's Store, and The Monkey Bar. As we stroll toward Continental Square, we pass the Golden Glow Restaurant and Gregory's Men's Store. Crossing the alley there is The Terminal Luggage Shop. Next is Bear's Shoe Department, remember the big box you stood on and looked down through to see your feet in your new shoes? Now we're in the Square and on the corner is Whelan's Pharmacy and the White Rose Restaurant. Heading around the Square there was Reed's Millinery, Lovett's, and Bear's Men's Store. There's the big Bear's Department Store on the corner.

Now we're heading West on Market St.. We pass Sullivan's Jewelers, Worth's, Thom McCann Shoes, and Kinney's Shoes. A little farther down the street was Walker's Men's Store, Kay Jewelers, and I'm sure all of the women remember The Deb Shop. Down at the corner of Market and Beaver Sts. were A.S. Beck Shoes, and Jack's.

On the other side of Beaver St. was a People's Drug Store. Heading West we see stores like White's Record Shop, The American Legion, Julius Music House, Sears and Roebuck and Mike's Nut Shop, with the peanuts roasting right out front of the store on the sidewalk,

Crossing the railroad tracks (Pershing Ave) there was York Paint and Hardware, Leinhart Bros. Furniture Store, and out on the corner of Market St. and Newberry St. was the original Maple Donuts. Speaking of donuts, if you make a U turn and head back toward the Square over the tracks, there was The Dixie Creme Donut Shop. Some stores along that stretch of Market St. were Shaffer's Flowers, York Fabrics, JC Penney (they would take your money and put them in a tube that shot up to somewhere, and then your change would magically reappear down a different tube), and on the corner was The Bon Ton. When you are on the corner, look to the right, can you see the WORK radio station sign on the second floor?

Cross the street and there is Joe Weinbrom Jewelers, Woolworth's, W.T. Grant's, Adlers, and Wiest's Department Store. Next is McCrory's.

Entering the Square once again we pass Ormond's, Eugene Jacobs, Western Union, and another People's Drug Store.

Now we are heading South on George St. We go by Colonial Hotel, The
Brooks Hotel, and Crane's Men's Store. Crossing King St. was The Hub, Famous Restaurant, Sol Kessler's where we could buy great records.

Coming back toward town there was Terry's Men's Wear on the corner, and you can look up King St. and see Joe Bury's Restaurant. On to Sunny's Surplus, Murray's Men's Wear, Reineberg Shoes, Hanover Shoes and Futer Bros. Jewelry Store on the corner of the Square.

We swing around toward Newswanger Shoe Store, but first we'll take a pit stop down in the Comfort Stations that were underground. Check the time on the big clock on Murphy's Store and head East on Market St. passing these stores: Morris Drug Store, Webb & Wolfe Sporting Goods, Fanny Farmer Candy, Thompson's Ladies Wear, Crider's Card Shop, and Stillmans.

If you are downtown and you are hungry, some places to eat that haven't been mentioned are: Bear's Cafeteria, The Tea Room On The Mezzanine At The Bon Ton, and The Ramona. And wasn't there a restaurant on N. George St. called the Town Tavern, or something like that? Had good soft shelled crabs on toast!

Places to go swimming in the York area were:Boy's Club, Pleasureville, Zimmy's (Spry), Valley Green (Weigelstown), Lincolnway (West York), Springwood Park, Glady's (Stewartstown), Playland, and Chick-Kwa-Tan at the river.

Next is a listing of move theaters in the area: Strand, Capitol, Highway, York-Holiday, Southern, Elmwood, Rialto (West Market), and The Ritz (South George). Drive In's were: Stony Brook, Lincoln, Trail, and Strinestown.

Choices for bowling are as follows: East York, Scotties, Lincolnway,Twentieth Century, Central, The YMCA, and The YWCA. Dances to go to? Oh Yeah, we had some great Dances to go to, here they are: Coed (YWCA), Reliance, York Catholic, Teen Canteen, Springetts Fire Hall, Seven Valleys Fire Hall, Alcazar Ball Room, and White Oaks Park.

We all have to stop for a snack now and then, so here are some places to get some vittles: Twin Kiss (Root Beer Floats), Tropical Treat, McCalls (Sherman and the Navel Ordinance Rd, now Rt. 30), Joe Bury's (15 cent hamburgers), Rutter's Dairy, Green's Dairy, Pennsupreme Dairy, Eisenhart's Dairy, Mack's Ice Cream, Gino's, Huntley's Avalon Drive In, Bob & Mim's, and Melvin's on East Market St., now Rt. 83 overpass. And for good ice cream, Beck's Dairy in West York on Adams St.

And now the last item on this list is the places we "hung out". I hope I hit most of them: The Delphia (Phila. St.), Lillian's Grill (Across Penn Park from York High), Sunshine Corner. The Sweet Shop in the western part of the City, Baylors on N. George St. in North York, The Cherry Top and Tommy's Snack Bar, both on S. Queen St., Jimmy's Subs in the East End, more notably known as "The Hole" because it was downstairs. And I saved the best for last because it was the one place in York that all parents feared.

Yes, I'm talking about The Shady Dell. A place you can go to all night long to eat, dance, and even pick a fight if you want.

If you hadn't gone to "The Dell", find some one that had, and I'm sure you will hear one story after another about the place.

I hope you enjoyed this trip back into time with me.

If you did, would you please pass it along to other Yorkers" that grew up back in the late 50's and early 60's so they to can reflect back on the greatest time to grow up in York, Pa.

Additional posts on White Oak Park or the Shady Dell:

-Just try to resist this memory-tugging photo of White Oak Park.
-Stadium will be site of The Oaks music reunion
-Wanted: Old photos of teen hangout.
-Memorabilia from 'the Oaks' hard to come by.
-Memories of The Oaks pile up.
-Memories of The Oaks pile up - Part II.
-The Dell: 'It was like family'.
-White Oak Park welcomed Blaw-Knox workers .

For scores of posts on York County nostalgia and memories, click here.

Linked in with neat York County, Pa., history stuff - Jan. 31, 2010

2010-01-31T11:01:03Z

The Avenues Neighborhood Association has re-published the 1984 "Northwest York" booklet. That publication, issued in 1984 to celebrate that York, Pa., neighborhood's 100th anniversary is packed with information on well-known York County people and instititutions that started in The Avenues, an area synonymous with Northwest York. For example, a forerunner to Memorial Hospital started there. This drawing on the cover is courtesy of historian/artist Jim Rudisill, who called that neighbhood home. It shows one of the two pavilions at Farquhar Park, part of Northwest York. This structure no longer stands. For details about the $10 booklet, contact: Mary Anne Bacas, ma@bacas.com. The Avenues Neighborhood Association snail mail address: 663 Madison Avenue, York, Pa. 17404. Also of interest: Industrialist Thomas Shipley's 'enduring monument' in York did not 'endure' and S. Morgan Smith and P.H. Glatfelter, with businesses on the edge of The Avenues, head list of York County industrial movers and shakers and Spring Garden Band: 'It's like being in the room with history' .

A mixed bag of neat stuff ... .

When the York Daily Record/Sunday News' Buffy Andrews edited my column on the availability of Katharine Beecher candy, a former York County-made delicacy, at the York Township Cracker Barrel, she related a story about her good experience with Beecher:

I wrote it up for the newspaper (1/31/09):

The factory where Katharine Beecher Co. made candy in Manchester for half of a century had a special window.

Or else special people working near that window.

For when Buffy and other youngsters knocked on the
pane, something special happened.... .

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Someone inside, working with a big stick of hot taffy,
would break off a piece and hand it out the window to Buffy.

Years later, Buffy Andrews, now a York Daily Record/Sunday News editor,
recalls that special window and that special treat, which she learned about from her
sister.

It was a bit of a secret, although other kids in the community learned of the window and the special person inside.

Story of the day: Larry Walker is a York Suburban grad. His photos about a Colorado soldier won top prize in Editor & Publisher's 2009 Photos of the Year competition. See his work here.

Blog post of the day: Yorkblogger June Lloyd writes about how a stubborn York City Market tower held on mightily against the wrecking ball before crashing down on Duke Street.

Forum of the day, The Exchange: The Iceman Cometh: Memories when ice was delivered to homes for ice box use.

- Additional posts in this Linked In/Neat Stuff series here.

York County minister/historian Elmer Q. Gleim, Part II: 'He continues to write as if his veins flowed with ink'

2010-01-30T12:04:07Z

York countian Elmer Q. Gleim: At 93, he continues his prolific writings. Also of interest: Mother Codorus has long served as leading light in obscure Dunkard Valley and People of varying religious groups founded York County - 13/31 iconic images and All God and York County posts from the start.

Dianne Bowders e-mailed a short biography on her father Elmer Q. Gleim, introduced to Yorktownsquare.com readers in a recent post. That post tied Dianne's precise captions of her photo work capturing historic scenes around York County, Pa., to her father's teaching of that rich history over the years.

Dianne's short bio, titled 'A Brethren Treasure,' is so insightful that I've included it below, with a partial list of Elmer Gleim's work.

It's fortunate that Dianne's has compiled such a history of her historian father's work:

]]> "Surrounded by a life-long collection of books, files, and extensive documents of Brethren historical significance, the work day begins before 6 AM for Elmer Q. Gleim. This minister, theologian, teacher, scholar, genealogist, and nonagerian (93) continues writing prolifically 6 to 8 hours per day, penning articles for the Southern District of Pennsylvania, as well as authoring numerous Brethren books and articles although he has long passed the age when most retire.

"His collection of genealogies, cemetery records, files of newspaper clippings and family records is large, filling the study that houses his extensive library and providing resources for his continued writings and research. Working at his computer, he continues to write as if his veins flowed with ink.

"Elmer, son of Quentin Albert and Mary Elizabeth Alverta Doner Gleim was the eldest in a family of thirteen children, born January 1917 in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania. He was nurtured by his loving Grandmother Doner who lived nearby. She taught him to read at an early age. This immeasurable blessing and love of learning from his Grandmother was a gift that he hoped to give others.

"He was the first to attend college in his family, and he chose Elizabethtown where he met Ruth Rishel. Elmer and Ruth's three children also attended Elizabethtown as well as a grandson and several nephews. He graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary, and later obtained a masters degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh.

"Besides his written work, embodied in more than 17 books and innumerable articles, Elmer has exerted a powerful influence through his teaching and 73 years in the ministry. He continued his thirst for knowledge and hoped to inspire others to continue a life-long quest for learning through his ministry in churches, teaching in colleges and universities, more than 30 years in public schools, and almost 25 years of Literary Roundtable studies at the Brethren Home in New Oxford.

"Ruth, his wife of 68 years, offers her assistance to the incredible amount of work which he has accomplished. Together they have worked for the goals of Church of the Brethren for more than 140 collective years. Their tireless works of humility, integrity and Christian love, are evident in many churches throughout the Southern District of Pennsylvania as well as throughout various schools.

"Ordained at 18, Elmer faithfully served seventy-three years in the ministry including churches in Philadelphia, Fayette and York Co., PA., as well as serving as interim minister in Adams, Franklin, and Cumberland Co. churches. He tirelessly served as moderator for many churches in York Co., as Southern District of Pennsylvania Historian, and on various committees and boards at the Southern District, Elizabethtown College, and Camp Eder.

"Those who have had the good fortune of knowing him recognize him as cultured as he is witty and as sympathetic as he is kind and warmhearted. Elmer has reached an age denied most men, in full possession of his mental gifts, in lively contact with the world, and as active as always in his fields of interest. Few have the energy to follow his lead. His life is a treasure to all who know him and a gift of immeasurable importance to the Church.

His books include:

- Change and Challenge; A History of the Church of the Brethren in Southern Pennsylvania, 1972.

- From These Roots; A History of the North Atlantic District of Pennsylvania, 1975.

- Foreword to Light in the Valley, 1976, written by William Gould, an old school friend.
- A Child in Their Midst, Children's Aid Society History, 1988.

- The History and Families of the Black Rock Church of the Brethren (Centennial Volume), 1988.

- The Brethren in the Upper Cumberland Valley (1800-1989), 1989.

- The Upper Conewago Church of the Brethren, "Brethren History Along the Big Conewago" (1741-1991).

- Madison Avenue Church of the Brethren, Anniversary Book (1926-1996), 1996.

- A Dunker Boy Becomes Ecumenical, Bernard N. King's Biography, 1996.

- A Church in Mission (Hanover Church of the Brethren Centennial Volume) 1902-2002.

- Antietam Antecedents, Vol. I, and Vol. 11, 2006.

- The Gleim Family History; The Gleims of Germany and America, 1976.

- Gleim Family History, personal volumes, 1999-2007.

- The Careers of Charles Wayne Hash (On Lofty Ground), biographical, 2002.

- This is My Story, Treva Snyder Story, 1999.

- The Faith of a Mother (a biographical account of Mary Hodges Strawbridge written for Helen Neal) 2001.

- The Brethren Home Centennial Volume, New Oxford , 2007.

- Born of a Dream, Fifty Year History of Camp Eder, Southern District of Pennsylvania, 2008.

Articles of Importance:

- Numerous articles for the Brethren Encyclopedia, more than 14 articles in volume I and II.

- "Confessional Christianity and the Church of the Brethren", District paper printed in Brethren Life and Thought, Spring 1983.

- Adult Studies in the Faith and Practices of the Church of the Brethren, membership study booklet, 1987.

- "The Ephrata Community and the Brethren", article in Brethren Life and Thought, Summer 1970.

- "Development of a Theology for Ecology", 2004.

- "The History of the Miller Meetinghouse", written for the transfer of the Meetinghouse to Camp Eder, 2005.

- Madison Avenue Church of the Brethren (Seventieth Anniversary booklet), 2006.

- A series of 5 to 6 page studies for the Literary Roundtable in a variety of topics from Abraham to Augustine, and from Moses to Maimonides, given at the New Oxford Brethren Home Community. Articles began October 1983, and continued monthly until November 2007.

- A series of outline materials written for the Old and New Testament books, including Ecclesiastes (Koheleth), Second Isaiah, Jeremiah, Epistle to the Ephesians, Galatians, etc.

18th-century York Valley Inn in Springettsbury Township: 'You can't be here forever'

2010-01-29T10:51:00Z

A post-World War II baby boom, the entry of Caterpillar and other industries in the early 1950s and the erection of Springettsbury Township's York County Shopping Center, seen across the middle part of this photo, in 1956 caused additional traffic on the old Lincoln Highway. That highway runs across the top of this photograph. A road-widening project in 1962 to accommodate all these new motorists spelled the end of the old York Valley Inn, seen at 11 o'clock here, across from the Playland pool. This 1700s stone building is not to be confused with a 20th-century restaurant/hotel complex farther east on the Lincoln Highway. (Photo courtesy of York Buchart Horn and J. David Allen.) Also of interest: Olde York Valley Inn confused with historic predecessor and Forgotten York Valley Inn may be rediscovered and Check out this drawing of the York Valley Inn at Susquehanna Memorial Gardens..

An upcoming road-widening project set for a stretch of the Lincoln Highway east of the Route 24 intersection in Springettsbury Township brings to mind a recent conversation with Mary Arcuri and her husband Buddy.

They remember a road construction project in that area, but workers that time plowed under the berm and close-by buildings west of that intersection.

Mary called to discuss the work artist Cliff Sattersthwaite undertook for their restaurant, The Carousel Room, in the 1960s.

That was their second restaurant in that era.

Before that, she and Buddy were the last innkeepers of the old York Valley Inn, the 1700s stone building that sat along a busy Lincoln Highway... .

]]> "Every time a truck would come by, I thought they were going to hit the building," she said.

The Arcuris enjoyed their two years as the inn's operators.

They lived in an apartment above the first-floor restaurant and bar. Hand-hewn timbers supported the roof, and wide boards formed the attic and upstairs floors.

In the cellar, a 2-foot-by-2-foot opening allowed visitors to peer into another room, adding to the legend that the stone house served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Cameron Mitchell, a York County native, visited the restaurant. So did actors Doug McClure and Nick Adams.

But there were all those vehicles rumbling by just outside.

"You thought they were coming into the building," Mary said.

Engineers looked at the problem. Either the road or the house had to move.

The road won, and the Arcuris, operating on a month-to-month lease with owner Pennsylvania Railroad, left the York Valley Inn in 1962 and to operate The Carousel Room, later Liborio's East, in the York County Shopping Center.

When people found out the old building was coming down, they stopped by for a piece of it as a souvenir.

"They even wanted the toilet," Buddy said.

The old building was dismantled and parts of it ended up as the cemetery office in Susquehanna Memorial Gardens.

Mary said she never has been the York Township Cemetery to see the replica.

"That's the way things are," she said of the old inn. "You can't be here forever."

To see a numbered key to other landmarks in the photo above, see: Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging Sears photograph.

To see the York Valley Inn from the air, see: Just try to resist this memory-tugging aerial photograph of York Whitehull Airport and York Valley Inn and Playland and ...

>em>To see a ground-level drawing of the old inn, click here.

York County readers report sightings of Cliff Satterthwaite's paintings, drawings

2010-01-28T11:54:19Z

Jean Fix of York, Pa., sent this Cliff Satterthwaite drawing to . It shows an art aution conducted by well-known York County artist William Falkler. Katie Falkler is holding the painting to his left and Ted Fitzkee is behind Katie holding a painting on an easel. Satterthwaite was well-known in the York County community in the 1950s-1970s for his impromptu sketching of everyday scenes. He now lives in Virginia. Also of interest: About long-time York County, Pa., documentary artist: 'Cliff was quite a character' and Linked in with neat York County, Pa., history stuff and Walt Partymiller's cartoons and catalogues.

After researcher Diane Palladino asked for info on former York County artist Cliff Satterthwaite, several local folks contacted us with stories about the Virginia resident and examples of his work still on display around the area.

Satterthwaite had a penchant for attending events and sketching those in attendance during his local drawing days of the 1950s through 1970s.

One caller pointed to a time when he attended the Glades Auction, and Satterthwaite sat in the back of the room sketching "caricatures of the characters" there. The caller and his wife were among the artist's subjects.

But here's the most interesting story about Cliff:

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Ever hear of an art exhibit in an alley? In June 1958, Cliff Satterthwaite capture this scene of an Art Carnival on East Clarke Alley. About 700 people attended the York Art Club event.

Mary Arcuri and her husband Buddy were the last innkeepers of the old York Valley Inn, the 1700s stone building that sat along Lincoln Highway until the early 1960s.

When a road-widening project forced its demolition, the Arcuris opened another restaurant, The Carousel Room, later Liborio's, in the old York County Shopping Center, the plaza where Springettsbury Township's Red Lobster and Lowe's operate today.

They sought a carnival scene for The Carousel Room, an outside-looking-in type of approach.

They asked Cliff Satterthwaite to draw the scene, and he did so over the course of about six months.

"He used to sit there and sketch, you know, like an artist does," she said.

The artist at work attracted onlookers.

Mary particularly remembers a pink pig that Satterthwaite apparently had problems with. He went back to that pig again and again, she said.

The restaurateur had never been to a circus before, but the artist took her there "right in the painting." (She noted that she later attended an actual circus.)

The painting was about four feet high and covered two panels of about 10 feet each. When Mary and Buddy closed the restaurant, she sold the painting to a person from Cherry Hill, N.J. It just peeled from the wall, intact.

Mary Jane has since lost track of it.

Another area restaurant still has large Satterthwaite works on display, giving a taste of the scene at The Carousel Room.

Promotional material for Abbottstown's Altland House on the Web tout the artist's work:

"Abbottstown is the oldest town in Adams County and by the mid-nineteenth century boasted several well established public eating and drinking establishments. The Altland House, like the town, has also undergone many changes since colonial times. The flavor of days gone by is captured in two murals by artist Cliff Satterthwaite depicting the early Altland House and surrounding streets and buildings... ."

Spring Grove Smith's Bluebird Bakery baseball team: A band of York County brothers

2010-01-26T12:03:34Z

The team at Spring Grove's E.C. Smith Enterprise Steam Bakery are shown at the turn the 20th century. Pictured in this photo along Main Street are, from left, R. Lloyd Senft, Edward C. Smith, Jacob Mathias, Wesley Shue and Edward Shue. (See photo of the bakery's baseball team below.) Spring Grove museum displays horse gas mask and more and A leading York County name: 'Keeping it in family is the Glatfelter way' and Is this a York County farm truck or is it just a wagon with a motor?

York's Ed Smith is seeking information on Smith's Bluebird Bakery baseball team that played in the Spring Grove area in the 1930s.

His hunt is a bit personal.

He has a photo (see below) of the team that shows five Smith brothers, all kinsmen of Ed. And one brother, Benton, wasn't there when the photograph was taken... .

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Smith's Bluebird Bakery baseball team, sponsored by the Spring Grove bakery, circa 1935, includes a lot of Smiths, including Donald Smith, the batboy, front row, center.

The team was sponsored by another kinsman of Ed Smith, another Ed Smith, E.C. Smith, sponsor of the team.

A photograph in the "The Spring Grove Years, 1882-1982," (above) shows the bakery at the turn of the 20th century. It joined other mainstay businesses in Spring Grove in those years, according to the book: the Spring Grove Canning Company, later Myers Canning Company, Jesse Zeigler and Sons plumbing business, and Pennsylvania Knitting Mill.

Ed Smith has search archives at the Spring Grove Area Historical Preservation Society, York County Heritage Trust and has consulted with local baseball expert and author John Coulson. When did the team play? When did it break up? Ed Smith wonders.

If you can shed any light on this local baseball team in those days, call Ed Smith at 848-6388 or 825-7898.

Linked in with neat York County, Pa., history stuff - Jan. 26, 2010

2010-01-25T17:48:09Z

When the York County Heritage Trust recently debuted its 'Then and Now' exhibit, the York, Pa., Daily Record/Sunday News, in keeping with this spirit, asked for old photos from readers to post on our 'Your Photos' section of www.ydr.com. Bob Keller of Springettsbury was among those who responded with 'Yorktowne Service Stores counter coffee dispenser.' Bob Keller's submission was relevant: That business was featured in the exhibit. (See additional image from 'Your photos' below. Also of interest: 'The Commons' plays host to wonderful vintage photos and Fed photogs captured wonderful WWII images and Bank adds murals to York County's walls

A mixed bag of neat stuff:

After reading his obituary story, I added a little more to my York Town Square post on indefatigable volunteer Bob Senft when I turned it into a recent York Sunday News column:

I had spent many hours with Bob Senft working his story into my book on York County and World War II, ("In the Thick of the Fight.")

I didn't really expect to learn everything about this everyman with an array of everyday interests.

Still, I paused in reading the York Daily Record/Sunday
News obituary story about Bob's life.

The story said he was a pool aficionado... .

]]> "Up until a couple weeks ago he was shooting pool," his niece, Beth Senft, said. "He was always in good spirits."

Always in good spirits.

Yes.

But a pool shark?

Bob, you were so busy volunteering.

When did you have time for pool?

Link of the day: News coverage, with photos and video, of York Mayor Kim Bracey's swearing in. York's first black mayor said: "The little girl who trembled in her Penn Street house as the National Guard tank rumbled by in 1969 stands before you as mayor of York. Our York. One York for all of our people." To view a transcript of the speech as well as other primary source documents, visit the York Daily Record/Sunday News' Open Records Reading Room.

Blog post of the day: Yorkblogger June Lloyd shows how some York County women captured some fugitive German POWS at Universal York.

Forum of the day: On The Exchange - What is hog maw?

-
Also from Your Photos, York County's Dianne Bowders shows members of the Isaac Rishel Family, Emigsville and included the following info: 'My great grandfather and his family pose for a photo on front of their Emigsville farmhouse. The house was built in 1830 by John and Elizabeth Rutter. During the Civil War, Louisiana Tigers raided the farm for horses and food." The house no longer stands.

For all the posts in this Linked In/Neat stuff series, click here.