About this blog
I've been editor of the York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News for 8 years and managing editor of the newspaper for 15 years before that. So, York Town Square explores the rapidly changing world of journalism. And I studied York/Adams' history in graduate school, have written six books about these fascinating southcentral Pennsylvania counties and serve on the York County (Pa.) Heritage Trust board. So, this blog deals with regional history. Often, journalism and history meet here. They're part of a continuum anyway. My hope is that this site intrigues readers on both accounts in giving a daily dose of journalism/history. Or history/journalism. Contact me at jem@ydr.com or become friends on Facebook or follower on Twitter, @JamesMcClure.
Category Archives: Cops & courts
York County, Pa.’s, old Chestnut Street jail: ‘York has a treasure in it’
The old York County, Pa., jail on Chestnut Street appears fortress-like on the outside, but the elements are at work on the inside, which probably never was that spiffy. The York, Pa., Daily Record/Sunday News photo shows artwork from prisoners … Continue reading
Part II: York, Pa.: ‘It’s a midsize city with an interesting history’
In a case that has captured national attention, York, Pa., City Police said Sinhue Johnson and Luann E. Bowers lived at 734 S. Duke St., with their five children in the end home pictured here. Law enforcement officials said the … Continue reading
About slain Game Commission officer David L. Grove: A local law-enforcement hero
Pennsylvania Game Commission Officer David L. Grove teaches a nature class in McSherrystown, Adams County, Pa., earlier this year. The officer was killed this week while performing his duties in Freedom Township, Adams County. State police Sgt. Jonathan Mays, commander … Continue reading
Researcher of Hex Murder victim: ‘Why such things must happen to good people is the real horror’
The house where powwow practitioner Nelson Rehmeyer was killed in Rehmeyer’s Hollow in southern York County, Pa. A group of Rehmeyer relatives and a researcher recently visited the site, scene of the Hex murder case in 1928-1929, Also of interest: … Continue reading
Hellfire, of a different sort: Linked in with neat York County, Pa., history stuff – Aug. 21, 2010
About every other year, York County has a terrible church fire. Fawn Grove’s United Methodist Church, above) burned in 2005. Then came Shenberger’s Chapel, another United Methodist congregation in 2009. And now, just a few weeks ago, Christ Lutheran Church … Continue reading
1995 Podlucky murder, with similarities to recent York Foundry Park slaying, ‘snake-bitten’ case
Su-Shan Podlucky talks to York, Pa., Mayor Robertson at the dedication of a tree planted in 2000, in memory of her son Joseph Podlucky. The tree was planted at the site of his murder near Foundry Park, off West Philadelphia … Continue reading
Yeggmen hit old-time York County bank. But what are yeggmen?
The Gazette and Daily reports on a bank robbery in 1920s Mount Wolf. As residents slept, the robbers did their work and made a clean getaway. Also of interest: Conewago Creek from the air and Caeserville, named after ex-slave, flourished … Continue reading
Linked in with neat York County, Pa., history stuff: York skyscrapers – June 1, 2010
An e-mailer sent in this illustration of York, Pa’s, Christ Lutheran Church and Zion German Reformed Church steeples from the 1800s. Christ Lutheran Church’s tower stands today, but Zion church was demolished in the early 1900s. One of its successors … Continue reading
York County murder largely forgotten, but not by victim’s daughter who witnessed it
York County, Pa., slaying, manhunt This graphic tells the terrible story of Theodore Gotwalt’s murder of his girlfriend Marian Flaharty in her York, Pa., apartment in April 1971. See the York Daily Record/Sunday News video below story about the deceased … Continue reading
Before Darisabel Baez’s brutal death, Aleta Bailey’s slaying wrenched York County community
Cameron Bailey feeds his infant daughter, Aleta Bailey, a bottle. In 1982, when Cameron was away for military training, his wife’s boyfriend beat the 5-year-old to death. Aleta Bailey’s name is remembered as the York County, Pa., community wrestles with … Continue reading
