Category Archives: The Pennsylvania Dutch

This York County witch doctor schooled scientists about powwowing in early 1930s

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Jim McClure

York countian Jacob Zellers spoke to an American University class about ‘charms, cures and curses’ circa 1931. He made a distinction between powwowing and other ‘good influences’ and witchcraft and hexing, both ‘bad influences.’ A reporter sat in on the class, and this story appeared in The Philadelphia Record and other newspapers after the Hex Murder and its subsequent trials in 1928-29.

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York County, Pa. and its New Year’s recipes: Sauerkraut & pork, hog maw – and oysters

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Jim McClure

Post by York Daily Record/Sunday News. York countians love to eat. Any it’s not just Pennsylvania Dutch Food. Our love for seafood signals our proximity to the Cheasapeake Bay at the Atlantic Ocean. So this mammoth oyster was added in … Continue reading →

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Hex Murder painting effectively captures terrible York County moment

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Jim McClure

York County’s Brett Greiman painted this scene of the Hex Murder of 1928 – a terrible moment in which a trio attacked and killed a farmer, a suspected witch, in an attempt to break a spell they believe he had … Continue reading →

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25 years after it closed, will York’s old Zion Lutheran Church building gain new life?

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Jim McClure

The cornerstone of York, Pa.’s, Zion Lutheran Church was laid in 1850. The reason for building the church? English was fast becoming the language for services in Lutheran churches in York County. St. Paul’s had separated from the mother church, Christ Lutheran, in 1836 over that issue. Zion formed as an English-speaking part of Christ Church’s congregation in 1847. The congregation worshipped at this site behind the York County Courthouse until 1989, when the congregation moved to Manchester Township and closed its longtime home. Here, a group looks at Zion Lutheran’s former sanctuary for possible Christian ministries use.

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New word here: spionnetje. And they were once all around York, Pa.

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Jim McClure

York County’s Tom Gibson recalls this spionnetje or spying mirrors was mounted on the south side of York’s East Market Street, maybe the 300 or 400 block. He captured this scene about three or four years ago and doesn’t know if it’s still there.

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7 stories about Fastnachts and other York County delicacies

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Jim McClure

What do raw Fastnachts look like? Todd Kister, at Manchester Union Fire Company, gives a demo. He was there as part of preparations for a Manchester Christ Lutheran/Zion View Quickel Church annual Shrove Tuesday Fastnacht sale.

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If you stood in this York Township field today: ‘You’d be under water’

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Jim McClure

This is how Lake Redman looked before it was Lake Redman. Lureen Brown provided these photos of that snowy York Township countryside as it looked in 1961. This photo looks across the hill as it comes down from Jacobus. Five years later, lake waters flooded this land. The boat landing at Lake Redman is roughly where the big hill meets the ridge, left center. Lureen Brown said if you’d stand in that field today: ‘You’d be under water.’

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A shipping trunk and a search for Pa. Dutch woman Emma Schafer’s relatives

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Jim McClure

Tracy Foster bought this shipping trunk at an sale. Now she’s trying to find the family of Emma Schafer, named on the trunk. Also of interest: When ‘Sauer Kraut’ loaned its name to this Pennsylvania Dutch neighborhood in York. Tracy … Continue reading →

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When ‘Sauer Kraut’ loaned its name to this Pennsylvania Dutch neighborhood in York

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Jim McClure

This view, looking north on South George Street shows York, Pa.’s, ‘Sauer Kraut Hill’ today. Edwin Greiman gave the boundaries of the largely German neighborhood in the late 1800s as running on South George Street between Maple and South streets. The district is hardly a hill but is part of the elevation as George Street rises from its Codorus Creek crossing. St. Mary’s Church is slightly north of Greiman’s boundaries. But this church, popular with German Catholics, attests to the German concentration in that part of York. Greiman’s ‘Memoirs’ show how Penn Park served as a playground for youngsters in the neighborhood.

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Here’s a 1944 view of ‘Yorkites.’ A sample of York County, Pa., today would look different

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Jim McClure

This photograph of a cross-section of York County, Pa., residents appears in Life magazine in June 1944 with an article: ‘These Are the People Who Answer the Gallup Poll Questions.’ Yorkblogger June Lloyd found the article in York County Heritage Trust library files.

Posted in All politics is local, Archives, all posts, Black history, Books & reading, Explanations/controversy, For photo fans, Genealogy/research, Local journalism & Web, Notable images, People, The Pennsylvania Dutch, War, Women's history, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments