Recently in Explanations/controversy Category

With fewer jobs and companies pinching, labor unrest erupted around York County during the Great Depression. When a dispute struck a town, everyone was affected including spinoffs to the cigar-making industries, the Consumers Cigar Box Co. (seen here in this York County Heritate Trust photo). Background posts: York County cigars: 'They contained a vast amount of nicotine', Windsor: Home of 'stately old houses that may appear to be miniature castles' and Red Lion's Ebert Furniture: From bedroom suites to gunstocks.

The recent Black Friday trampling of a young employee at a New York Wal-Mart store by rushing shoppers makes one wonder how that could ever happen.

Well, it happened it York County in 1934 under different circumstances.

And it wasn't deadly.

But it hurt, and it was women who were trampled... .

Eugene Ludwig, former comptroller of the treasury in the Clinton Administration, is one of three Rhodes scholars in York County's past. The most recent recipient, Gregory Lippiatt (see photo below), is also a York Suburban High School grad. Background posts: One-room school reunions preserve educational culture of thousands of York countians , PS Harrisburg grad school: 'Set my feet even more firmly on the path into the world of Fraktur' and York community leader: 'We didn't have equal opportunity to achieve'.

Gregory Lippiatt is York County's most recent Rhodes Scholar.

He was the first since fellow York Suburban grad Eugene Ludwig scored this prestigious honor in the late 1960s.

But the third Rhodes scholar from York County might be forgotten by many... .

For years, this marker designated the site where Jonathan Jessop developed the York Imperial Apple. With construction of Apple Hill Medical Center on that site, the state Horticultural Association-sponsored marker has been moved inside the medical complex. It sits in obscurity today in the area, quite naturally, of the center's coffee shop. Background posts: Who were York County's most influential citizens?, Research needed to unearth Underground Railroad in York County and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County smarts.

The 1968 book "Greater York In Action" tells the oft-repeated story about how the York Imperial Apple came into being.

In the 1820s, Quaker orchardist/clockmaker Jonathan Jessop received a seedling from a Hallam-area tree that had produced apples that kept all winter on the ground under a blanket of snow.

Jessop grafted a stem from this seedling onto another tree on his Springwood Farm in York Township.

He carried the tree to the Friends' Yearly Meeting in Baltimore and from there members brought the tree to Virginia.

The apple original was known as Jonathan's Fine Winter and later was changed to "Imperial of Keepers" and "York Imperial."

So Jessop became largely known for his role in development of Imperial apples.

That's where this story, which no doubt needs verification and corroboration, has stood for years... .

Laura Carroll Beveridge is Central's all-time greatest athlete, according to the York Daily Record/Sunday News. She's also credited with breaking the racial barrier at Central. Background posts: Civil rights heroes stand out at Bradley exhibit, 1967 William Penn senior class scored firsts and Scores in York mourn death of former Cat chief.

Jonathan R. Stayer graduated from Central York High School in 1978, the same year as Laura Carroll Beveridge.

The York Daily Record/Sunday News recently selected Beveridge as that school's all-time top athlete.

But Stayer, now head of the reference section at the Pennsylvania State Archives, remembers Beveridge as a trailblazer on the racial front.

Here's his assessment in his own words from a recent e-mail:

Dave Herman of the Kinsley Education Center shows the old trolley kiosk that sat for years in York's Continental Square. Kinsley is renovating the kiosk and found that its copper roof could not be saved. The cost of a new roof will be $8,000. The door, windows, glass and some of the framework at all originals. (See video by the York Daily Record/Sunday News' Paul Kuehnel below.) Background posts: Hanover trolley bed work seen as 'springboard to accelerate future phases of the trail', Research offers insights about York County's trolleys and From war bonds to pets and people .

Last time we looked into the old trolley kiosk, Teapot Dome, it was in the shop.

Well, it's still in the shop awaiting funding to replace an $8,000 copper roof.

A recent York Daily Record/Sunday News story on its status brought comments typical of those who look at such costs either as a waste of money or an investment in our heritage... .

An errant motorist ran into this steel bridge on Ridge Road at Bentz Mill Road in Washington Township in the northwestern tip of York County, causing the bridge to collapse. York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel captured this unusual photo. Background posts: PennDOT not selling the Brooklyn Bridge but lesser structures on market , York County photo collection adds to historical record and Once popular Ganoga Bridge now lightly used York County landmark.

Take another of the picturesque steel bridge off of the books in York County.

A driver who allegedly had too much to drink struck a half truss bridge over the North Branch of the Bermudian Creek near the Adams County line recently.

Truss bridges are the Tinkertoy type with overhead steel beams... .

This First Thanksgiving marker is a bit off the street in downtown York unlike the other dozen markers that relate to the Continental Congress' visit to York in 1777-78. It's located in a park that offers a bit of sanctuary to the lunchtime sandwich crowd, located between M&T Bank and the East Market Street Parking Garage. Background posts: Where was Thomas Jefferson when Congress met in York?, American Revolution was a young man's fight and York Town Square's American Revolution category .

York County has put forth many interesting claims to fame over the years, some of which are hard to prove: York Fair is the nation's oldest. York was the Detroit of the East. York was the nation's first capital.

Another one of these is that the first national Thanksgiving was spawned from York. There's something to the nuanced claim, but not enough to make it a consensus outside York County... .

These distinguished gentlemen served as the board of directors of Delta's Peoples National Bank in 1930. The Depression was hard on banks in York County, too, as several rural banks failed. Charles Arthur Bloomfield gave this scorecard for bank failures in York County during the Depression: eight failures and nine reorganizations. Background posts: Events in 1777 helped tip Revolution toward patriots, Easter stories of sacrifice & selflessness and Bad economy turned York Safe and Lock toward lucrative defense work.

Tough economic times are taking some of the excitement away from today's Thanksgiving festivities.

Some of those facing the tough end of the economy might feel that there's no way out.

History helps show us that we've faced gloomy times before as a nation and have come out the other end generally for the better.

Consider the points made in this Thanksgiving Day editorial (11/26/08) in which I reflected on a moment when the world seemed to be piling on:

This is the cover art for blogger Scott Mingus' forthcoming "Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition." Here, artist Bradley Schmehl captures the burning of the Wrightsville Bridge in late June 1863. Mingus is one of many productive members of the York County historical community. Background posts: Solomon Meyer 'forsook the publishing business and betook himself elsewhere', Best of yorktownsquare.com, 2007 and Resources for York/Adams history junkies increasingly posted on Web.

'Local history scene is a busy one' said the headline on my recent York Sunday News column providing a sample of good work going on in York County's historical community.

The column went beyond all the books and publications that people are putting out... .

Yet another book is out on York County in the Civil War. This is the second book in recent years specifically on the battle, that ended in more than 300 blue and gray casualties. Background posts: The Four Bloggers write, Signs point to York, 'Prize of the Confederacy,' and other York/Adams Civil War wonders and George Armstrong Custer - and his horse - left legacy in York County.

Scott Mingus reviews John T. Krepps' new book on the Battle of Hanover at his Cannonball blog.

"A Strong and Sudden Onslaught" is the latest in about a dozen books exploring York County and the Civil War published since the turn of the millenium.

Such York Town Square posts as The Four Bloggers speak attempt to explain this Civil War book surge.

Here's an updated list of recent publications that touch, in full or in part, on York County in the Civil War:

West York's Brandon Real looks for running room against Littlestown this season.The senior holds several YAIAA rushing records. Background posts: Who is rightful owner of area boys' basketball scoring record?, York County Tech sports: 'If they took something like that away it really would destroy the school' and 'When people are looking back into Pa. basketball history ... it's great'.

Has West York's Brandon Real scored the best season ever for a YAIAA running back?

York Daily Record Sean McLernon has posed that question in a Line Up Card blog post.

Here's a quick look at Real's stats, according to McLernon and newspaper reports:

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Cyrus Griest, an agent in the Underground Railroad and his wife are buried with other abolitionist Quakers in the Menallen Friends Meetinghouse, Adams County. Quakers in Adams and York counties were known to aid fugitives traveling along the Underground Railroad. Background posts: York's Goodridge House listed as site on Underground Railroad network, Research needed to unearth Underground Railroad in York County, Part II and Amanda Berry Smith: 'God's image carved in ebony'.

Debra Sandoe McCauslin is doing much to put facts behind Underground Railroad legends.

Her most recent efforts have produced a book exploring Yellow Hill, a black community in Adams County that served as a destination point for fugitives who had crossed the Mason-Dixon Line in an attempt to gain their freedom... .

Re-enactor Byron Wildasin was among members of the 16th Pennsylvania, Co. G, to support renovations to Hanover's Lincoln monument. The markers tells about the president's stop in that southwestern York County town on his way to deliver the Gettysburg Address. Background posts: York newspaper about Gettysburg Address: 'Mr. Lincoln made a joke or two ...', Historical marker may soon point to Jefferson square's famous visitors and Abandoned Codorus railroad not just any abandoned railroad.

Abraham Lincoln's links to York County are many and too often overlooked.

His train, sans Lincoln, passed through here on his way to the White House after his election. (He had taken another train to D.C. because for security reasons.)

Four years later, his funeral train, with Lincoln, stopped in York on its nation-wide tour.

In between, he changed trains at Hanover Junction, south of York, on his way too and from Gettysburg to deliver his famous address.

And along his way to and from Gettysburg, he passed through York County's countryside, steaming through Jefferson, Smith Station before pausing in Hanover... .

Welsh miners from the southeastern York County village of Coulsontown worshipped at the nearby Slate Ridge Presbyterian Church. Clearly, some of the slate they mined found its way into the church's cemetery as headstones (the darker markers), rather than the primary use for the stone - roofing shingles. (See additional photos below.) Background posts: Delta-Peach Bottom slate shingles: 'Nothing works as good as this' , Southeastern York County made for Sunday drive and Site filled with wealth of York County geological info.

When settlers legally moved into York County after 1730, they often constructed their homes out of the most-readily available building product.

Mostly, that was wood, and many of the log homes still standing around the county have long been covered with protective siding. But of course, most 1700s and 1800s log structures are long gone or are disappearing even today.

This strange site greeted motorists and other observers recently in southeastern York County. Background posts: Black soldiers from York County served in 'Glory' unit , Pentagram, 666 markings desecrate church and Stewartstown's historic rail station: 'Hopefully, we get things going soon' .

New Park's Jim Marsteller, has provided another visual treat.

Using his trusty Nikon, he captured a old prop plan on a flatbed truck.

"Not real sure where this plane is going, but have a good idea," Marsteller wrote in an e-mail... .

U.S. Mint sculptor-engraver Don Everhart created this design for the new Lincoln dollar. Background posts: Engraver's work keeps his name in circulation, Is Civil War-era cash buried around Hanover? and Engraver's image: Going to market a longtime York County pastime

Last time Don Everhart made the news, the former York countian had designed a John Quincy Adams presidential coin.

This time, he helped make the new Abraham Lincoln dollar, as the following AP/York Daily Record/Sunday News story attests:

In 2007, a truck crashed into a wall behind where the York County Heritage Trust's Linda Neylon is standing, forcing the landmark to close for repairs. The repaired historical site opened a couple of weeks later. Background posts: York's housing stock not that revolutionary , Hillary Clinton's rally site in York a little odd and Proposed 'Creation of a Nation' museum name glib, but lacks grounding.

Shortly after a driver motored into the 200-plus-year-old wall of the Golden Plough Tavern in 2007, York County Heritage Trust workers gathered shattered logs and scraps of wood with an eye toward restoration.

The landmark's side was badly damaged, but the truck's driver missed not only the statue of Marquis de Lafayette on his way from the street but also significant artifacts inside the building.

Simply put, it was a clean break... .

Jim Marsteller took this photo of Centre Presbyterian Church in New Park. Fawn Township residents believe that the church is an accurate gauge of life in the town. 'Things are going on all the time, every night of the week,' he was quoted in a caption for this photo appearing in the Weekly Record in 2007. 'Always something to do at church to spend time with others in our town and praise the Lord at the same time, together as a group, as a community.' Background posts: Stewartstown Railroad: 'Truly a unique entity in the state, and possibly, the nation' , Old Shrewsbury house disappearing hand-hewn log, square nail at a time and 'Yesteryears' southern York County sites - Part II.

Local architectural expert Scott Butcher knew for some time about the wonderful style of Centre Presbyterian Church, within a literal stone throw from the Maryland Line in New Park.

So he made the long trip from York to see the Dempwolf-designed, 1880s-era rural church building and received a treat... .

The woman in this photo, courtesy York County Heritage Trust, is believed to be Isabel Cassat Small. She was the wife of businessman Samuel Small and a philanthropist in her own right. Background posts: Reader doesn't understand some things about York County, Old P.A. and S. Small building fit better than successors and Freedman kisses earth as canalboat crossed Mason-Dixon Line.

Samuel Small, 19th-century York businessman, is at the top of the community contributor's philanthropy list.

I pointed this out in a York Sunday News column (11/17/08), as I've done on elsewhere on this blog.

But Isabel Small, Samuel's wife, was an overlooked and integral part of the Small philanthropy machine, as outlined in the following gleaned from my "East of Gettysburg" and George Prowell's "History of York County:"

Vilma Garcia- Jones, working with U.S. Census in 2000, tosses goodies to school children outside the York Post Office as part of activities to raise public awareness about the census. Background posts: Delma Rivera, 'Legacies,' Part II, York Spanish Council organized 33 years ago and A short test of your York black history knowledge - Part II.

The e-mailer was blunt.

On your list of firsts, why have you skipped over the name of Vilma Garcia-Jones, the first Latina to serve and be elected to the York City School Board?

First off, Vilma Garcia-Jones, who died in February 2002, was the major proponent in York County for the Latino community in the 1990s.

That was a time of great growth in the Spanish-speaking population in York, particularly those coming from Puerto Rico. And as the forceful exec at the Spanish American Center, Vilma Garcia-Jones was in the right position to serve as community spokeswoman for that community... .