Recently in Famous York visitors Category

A York (Pa.) Daily Record photographer captured the late actor Eddie Albert - Oliver Wendell Douglas in the 1960s sitcom 'Green Acres' - in East Berlin, Pa., in 1997. Albert received a Bronze Star in that eastern Adams County town for his heroics in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Also of interest: Nazis murdered downed WWII airman from York and York County sacrificed on homefront and war front to aid Allies in World War II and War memorials stand proudly in towns throughout York County.

York Daily Record/Sunday News writer Jeff Frantz has told a touching story about York's Robert Kressler, who was killed in France in combat in World War II.

For years, his sister, Jeanne Stefanowicz, 82, of York, did not know how he was killed.

He wrote how the Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New York answered that question. (Please read this excellent story The death of Pfc. Kressler: A call, and an answer to find out the details.)

This post, looking ahead to Veterans Day, is about another hero - a high-profile hero - who fought in the Pacific Theater. He held a local link in East Berlin.

That hero was the late Eddie Albert, aka Oliver Wendell Douglas, TV husband of Eva Gabor and foil of Arnold the Pig... .

Ed Kowalczyk, York, Pa., native and member of the rock band Live, performed last night at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York. That same night, author Jonah Lehrer talked at York's Martin Library about themes from his best-selling "How We Decide." Also of interest: You maybe didn't know it but ... they're from York County and Jonah Lehrer, author with York County ties, writes 'precocious and engaging' book and Cameron Mitchell, Craig Sheffer, Dixie Chick born here.

Two celebrities with local ties delighted audiences in York County last night.

Ed Kowalczyk, of Live, gave a well-received acoustic performance to a near-capacity audience at the Strand.

A couple of blocks away, New York Times best-selling author Jonah Lehrer engaged an enthusiastic audience in the Quiet Reading Room at Martin Library.

Now in his late 30s and pursuing a solo career, Kowalczyk grew up in York County, as did other members of Live. In the 1990s, the group gained international renown for the album "Throwing Copper" and made it to the cover of Rolling Stone... .

This portrait of Gifford Pinchot hangs in his namesake state park in northern York County. A recent York Daily Record/Sunday News story - Pinchot was Teddy Roosevelt's 'conscience' on conservation - on a new book about Pinchot helps explain the conservationist's place in history. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: First Pinchot Road in York County example of Great Depression-era stimulus project and York native, Pa. Gov. George Leader cleared dam plan and Local county and state parks: York County's best idea?

From the mailbag and Web: A mixed bag of links to a bit of everything around York County:

An recent e-mailer bought a feedback marked Hespenheide & Thompson Feed Mill at an antique mall in Maryland.

Virginia Selak's efforts to learn more about the mill on the Web was not particularly successful, other than the fact it operated at Beaver and North Streets in York, Pa.

"I always thought it was the former owners of the Ohio Blenders Company," she wrote.

In light of the ongoing demolition of the silos to make way for the Northwest Triangle, Virginia wanted to check her accuracy.

Was Ohio Blenders formerly Hespenheide & Thompson? she asked.

And then she added:

"I hung the feed bag on my wall in my kitchen."

Comment below if you can help this e-mailer.

- More neat stuff below. -

The Spring Grove (Pa.) Public School, left, was dedicated in 1898 and enlarged in 1921, right, as seen in this photo from "The Spring Grove Years." Who are the two luminaries in those round fixtures, photo at right, on this Dempwolf building's side, on either side of the arched entryway? Background posts: John Luther Long: Miss Saigon's York County connection and Each month, three free history presentations offered to York countians and York countians major makers of Kentucky, make that Pennsylvania, long rifles.

Recent posts have reviewed various sung and unsung sites in the Spring Grove-Hanover- McSherrytown area. (See Mining a rich vein of southwestern York County's religious history, Part 1 and Part 2.)

But the tour of southwestern York County that spawned those posts touched on non-religious questions as well.

Here are three: ... .

U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy arrived in York, Pa., on April 20, 2008, to meet local Democrats. He died early today. (See additional photos, video of that visit below.) Background posts: Bobby Kennedy spoke to Foremen's Club in York about labor racketeering and York, Pa.'s Loretta Claiborne about friend Eunice Shriver: 'She could have gone anywhere, but she wanted to help humanity' and JFK's visit to York County a long-remembered event.

Ted Kennedy came to York on a rainy Sunday in April 2008 during the height of the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

He visited Obama headquarters, his choice of the pair. He later walked across West Market Street to the York County Democratic Party's campaign office.

"Not only the eyes of Pennsylvania, but the eyes of the country, of the world, are going to be on what you do in Pennsylvania," Kennedy told a gathering at Obama's headquarters.

Here is the York Daily Record/Sunday News story on that visit (04/21/08):

A rescuer holds a Chinese passenger by his pants as he tries to transfer to a small boat from the grounded freighter Golden Venture June 6, 1993, off New York City. About 40 passengers were detained in York County Prison for more than three years awaiting disposition of their cases (Associated Press photo). A dozen years after their release, a book discusses their plight. 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 and .

Reviewer Alex Kotlowitz got it right in assessing Patrick Radden Keefe's "The Snakehead, An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream:"

He notes that Keefe writes that America has suffered a kind of bipolarity when it comes to immigration throughout history... .

York, Pa.'s Loretta Claiborne joins other Special Olympians and Eunice Kennedy Shriver in this portrait hanging in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. From left are Airika Straka, Katie Meade, Andy Leonard, Claiborne, Shriver and Marty Sheets. According to the York Daily Record/Sunday News, this was the first portrait commissioned by the museum that was not of a person who had served as president or first lady. (See additional photo below.) Background posts: William Penn Senior High School Hall of Fame honors a host of York County achievers and Loretta Claiborne's achievements bring spotlight her way and Who were most prominent 20th-century sports heroes in York and Adams counties?.

Special Olympian Loretta Claiborne first met Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1972 and crossed paths with her again in 1980. The two kept in touch after that.

In an interview at the time of Shriver's death, Claiborne told the York Daily Record/Sunday News: "She was a woman of wealth. She could have gone anywhere, but she wanted to help humanity."

But how did York's celebrity Special Olympian get involved with those games to begin with? ... .

"The Picket" stood in the center of Hanover's Center Square for years. It has since been moved to a corner of that intersection. This image comes from Scott Mingus' blog "Cannonball." Mingus will give tours tailored to specific areas of York County, with proceeds going to the York County Heritage Trust. (See additional photo below.) Background posts: Stack of books on York County's Civil War past getting higher and The Four Bloggers write and 'One of the shells found its mark'.

Civil War author, lecturer and blogger Scott L. Mingus, Sr. will lead personalized guided tours of various sites in York County linked to the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania in 1863.

For a free-will donation to the York County Heritage Trust, Mingus will present customized tours... .

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... .

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:

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... .

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... .

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... .

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... .

This newspaper advertisement touts Gen. John B. Gordon's return to York to deliver a speech. The friendly, enthusiastic crowd welcomed the general-turned-politician. (See photo of Gordon below.) Background posts: York County Civil War hero grandmom of Gore Vidal and Civil War affected women in York County - and vice versa and Years after Civil War, (a) Longstreet steps onto York County soil .

The head of this hypothetical invading force was gentlemanly, but this did not keep his men from stealing the cars and other property from many York countians. Further, he damaged other property - catalyzing the destruction of an expensive Susquehanna River bridge and trampling valuable crops in fields. He killed at least two defenders of the county and shaped the way York viewed itself for years.

Would we welcome him back as a hero? ... .

Have you driven on Taxville Road in West Manchester Township and been startled by the figure of a Civil War soldier carved out of what used to be an oak tree?

Wonder what's going on there?

Fellow blogger Scott Mingus explains that wooden soldier and his dog stand outside the Civil War-era home of Dr. Jacob Eisenhart... .

Sgt. Major Robert Myers was the director for the regimental band of the 46th Pennsylvania, which performed in 2006 in York. Patriot Days in York will feature such living historians again this year. Background posts: Books probing York County in the Civil War come in strong, sudden onslaught and History-making evening on rebel occupation of York could turn into daylong symposium and Rebs' short York visit creates long memories .

The forum on the Civil War in York County last year might have been the first such get-together to discuss that controversial story.

That 2008 symposium was not designed to focus on the town fathers' surrender of York to the Confederates.

But questions from the audience, in particular, took it that way.

Better to discuss such controverted events than to ignore them, as York has done with its Civil War story until the past 10 years.

Speakers at this year's forum - set for 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, June 25 - will explore impressions from the North and South as the Confederates marched across York County June 28-30, 1863... .

This Hanover wayside marker is among such recent additions to the state's Civil War Trails program. It observes the contributions of women in treating casualties from fighting on the streets of the town on June 30,1863 - the Battle of Hanover. (See text for that marker here.) Background posts: Signs point to York, 'Prize of the Confederacy,' and other York/Adams Civil War wonders and Living historians bring spotlight to York's Civil War story and Civil War nurse: 'Dogs of war in our midst'.

A little-known statistic about the Civil War's Battle of Hanover is that Union and Confederate forces suffered more than 300 casualties - dead, wounded and missing.

That is the worst carnage ever sustained on York County soil.

The 300-casualty number is a stat that may fail to resonate. But how about this from a new wayside marker in Hanover? ...

This graphic from the "Recapture the Riverfront" booklet shows Martin Luther King Jr. Park. The Cookes House, where Thomas Paine reportedly stayed, sits to the left of Penn Street in the west corner of the park. It's now in private hands. Background posts: Helen Reeves Thackston's name lives on and Worker saved key historical surveys from Glatfelter pulping machine and York's housing stock not that revolutionary.

Carl Huber's recent e-mail raises a good question.

The 200th anniversary of pamphleteer Thomas Paine's death is coming up.

Are there any historical markers in the York area observing his time here during the American Revolution?

The short answer is that there are none... .

John G. Coulson's "Hanover Raiders, Minor League Baseball in Hanover, Pennsylvania" tells about the life and times and players in the Blue Ridge League. His work nicely adds to the repository of the names of major league players who hailed from or played in York and Adams counties. Background posts: Before the York Revs came the Hanover Raiders and Big league baseball fans from everywhere remember Gene Crumling and York County sports a miniature Cooperstown.

At the moment of the Atlantic League York Revolution's home opener for season No. 3, it's a good time to review former major leaguers with York roots as well as those who were here for a cup of coffee.

Atlanta Braves superscout Paul Snyder is from York County. So is Greg Gross. And Jim Spencer. And Gene Cumling. And Ken Raffensberger.

Robert Rohrbaugh might be the region's next major leaguer.

York Town Square just profiled Eddie Plank, the great southpaw 300-game winner.

Just when you think you exhausted the pool of York/Adams countians with Major League Baseball ties (click here for another long and impressive list) who were born here or lived here, you run across another batch... .

Cassandra Small, daughter of leading York County mechant P.A. Small, left behind the most complete and revealing first-person account of the Confederate occupation of York. (See photo below of a Small played by a living historian.) Attorney James Latimer (see photo below) also wrote letters about the rebel invasion in late-June 1863. Their writings appear on virtual exhibit. Background posts: Panel explores the Confederates' pre-Gettysburg occupation of York and Rebs' short York visit creates long memories and Burial site reportedly found for rebel officer who occupied York.

As the York County Heritage Trust prepared to construct a Civil War exhibit about five years ago at its 250 E. Market St. museum, some folks at the York Daily Record/Sunday News were working to put that exhibit on the Web.

The idea was that museum patrons could view the exhibit in person, and virtual patrons could benefit from it online.

Today, both exhibits remain intact and contain some hard-to-get content... .

Eddie Plank, a Gettysburg native, won more than 300 games in his Major League Baseball career, the first lefthander to do so. Plank ended his career with 327 victories. He entered the majors in 1901 and retired in 1917. He became a hall-of-famer in 1946. Background posts: Story answers much about great athlete Hinkey Haines, including origin of his nickname and Southpaw could be next York/Adams major leaguer and Baseball's Methuselah played for White Roses.

A Gettysburg restaurant recently has themed native son and baseball Hall-of-Famer Eddie Plank.

"Gettysburg is a town that lives on the dead, their legends, speeches and actions.
Most restaurants, gift shops and museums have themes that deal with the borough's famous battlefield and presidential history," blogger Pat Abdalla wrote under the headline, Finding a niche with Eddie Plank.

"Restaurant owner Bill Wills, however, has found a different niche in Gettysburg's history: Eddie Plank, a legendary baseball player who was born and lived in the town."

This attention on Plank brings to mind a review of an article in "National Pastime" on Plank.

That York Sunday News article (7/25/04) debunked some myths about Plank, the first southpaw to win more than 300 games in the majors... .

This clip, from the York Gazette on Sept. 17, 1901, tells about how President William McKinley's funeral train passed through York without stopping, which was the original plan. Background posts: McKinley, Nixon, Johnson, Obama family trees have York County roots and Trivia quiz: Test your U.S. presidential smarts quiz and All posts on presidential visits.

The York County Courthouse bell tapped out a signal to the church bells.

President William McKinley's funeral train was on its way from Buffalo, where the assassin's bullet took his life, to a state funeral in Washington, D.C. It would be yet another presidential event touching York County's soil.

The church bells received the cue and began pealing mournfully, and that signaled the stopping of factory wheels and the closing of stores.

The whole town could now go witness the train - and they did.

And they expected the train to stop.

Only the train did not... .

Workers construct a platform under the Susquehanna River's Norman Wood Bridge in the summer of 2008. The platform aided painters working on the bridge, a dizzying height above the river bed. Background posts: How many Amish have crossed the bridge from Lancaster to York County? and Bridge painters stalled: 'Everybody's looking for the eagles ... nobody has seen any' and For years, folks have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams.

Scott Mingus made a quick aside that said much during a speech to the York County Civil War Roundtable in March.

John B. Gordon's Confederates marched in late June 1863 to the bridge spanning the Susquehanna River between Wrightsville and Columbia.

That bridge was the only one standing between Harrisburg and the Maryland Line.

Just a few years earlier - in 1857 - wind and ice had knocked down a bridge at York Furnace in southeastern York County... .

John Wilkes Booth attended school in York years before he gamed infamy for assassinating Abraham Lincoln. Background posts: James A. Garfield: 'York was the capital of the United States when congress was on wheels' and Piece of John Wilkes Booth's body to be shown in Philly and Abraham Lincoln was here.

Those attending the recent Treasures of the Trust were treated to two photographs that served as a reminder of an infamous former resident here.

The photographs at this York County Heritage Trust-sponsored event captured John Wilkes Booth (a cropped version is shown above) and the school he attended in York for a short spell in 1853.

An exhibit booklet said this of Booth and his school: ...

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The decorative white rose from the facade of the White Rose Bar & Grill came down recently, to be replanted at nearby Sovereign Bank Stadium. Background posts: Revs will easily pass 1969's full-season attendance stats and Baseball's Methuselah played for White Roses and 'That's a stupid question;' Brooksie played second base.

The 12-foot-long white rose that hung above the main entrance of the White Rose Bar & Grill in York is no more.

It will be moved to a prominent place at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

The ongoing presence of a giant white rose somewhere in the White Rose City makes sense.

But how many people know the story of why York, Pa., is named the White Rose City? ...

This illustration, from the York Daily Record/Sunday News and drawing from the title of the popular Civil War book, shows in broad brush the Confederate advance across York County in late June 1863. Wrightsville became the east-most point of the Confederate thrust. Scott Mingus' "Flames Beyond Gettysburg" explores Gen. John B. Gordon's Confederate raid to the Susquehanna River. He will address the Confederate advances through the county at 7 p.m. today at the York County Civil War Roundtable and at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Greater Dover Historical Society. Background posts: Signs point to York, 'Prize of the Confederacy,' and other York/Adams Civil War wonders and Poster highlights the life of a Civil War soldier and Pro/Con: Should York's leaders have surrendered to the rebels?.

Scott Mingus is on the speaking trail telling the story of the Confederate invasion of York County as detailed in his recently released "Flames Beyond Gettysburg."

And he's doing some neat stuff on his blog, Cannonball, part of Yorkblog's suite of history bloggers.

For example, it fuels one's sense of discovery when you learn of a new place to explore or are reminded of something you've long wanted to check out... .

The colorful Valencia, seen here in this circa 1937 postcard, played host to dozens of national acts. Background posts: The bad, and yes, the good of the Great Depression in York County and Valencia Ballroom became cool place during Depression and Spring Garden Band: 'It's like being in the room with history'.

Dave Gladfelder was a regular at Big Band events at the Valencia in the heyday of the Swing era in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

It cost between a quarter and 85 cents to get into the York venue, depending on the prominence of the act. If the name was big enough, admission rose to $1.

Paying a little extra, Gladfelter acquired photos of the stars and stuck around long enough to get their autographs.

He collected about 60 photographs, many of them signed.

The collection of the late David Gladfelter will be up for silent auction during the York Book and Paper Fair on Saturday, April 4, in the York Expo Center.

Photos of the Dorsey brothers, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Woody Herman are included in the collection... .

John Grisham, seen in this 2006 Associated Press file photo, wrote York, Pa., into the narrative of his most recent bestseller 'The Associate.' Background posts: York author's works adapted to the big screen: 'Legacies,' and Worker saved key historical surveys from Glatfelter pulping machine and York's contribution to 'The Four Chaplains' still gains attention and Author with local ties writes 'precocious and engaging' book .

There's just something about York County that gets it into the news.

Many of its residents have gone on to fame.

Or fame finds York.

The late author John Updike, for example, referred to York several times in his 1971 book "Rabbit Redux," part of his famed "Rabbit" series. He placed his lead character, Harold C. "Rabbit" Angstrom, in a fictional town near the non-fictional Reading and put him in situations that tested his ability to relate to people of other races.

In that connection, he wrote in the actual race riots that had just taken place in York.

"Nex day, Friday," he wrote, " the papers and television ware full of the colored riots in York, snipers wounding innocent firemen, simple men on the street, what is the world coming to?"

Sometimes, fame comes to York.

John Grisham has written about York before.

But in "The Associate," York is the hometown of the main character. And, as it turns out, Grisham has been to York... .

Candidate Barack Obama took a tour of the Voith Siemens Hydro Power Plant in York in September 2008. In visiting York County, Obama stepped on soil familiar to his family. Background posts: Exhibit features artifacts detailing presidential visits to York County and In 2008, 8 top candidates or their families campaigned in York County and When York County rolled up its red carpet to people of color.

President William McKinley and Richard Nixon have family links to York County. That information has been out there for years.

But "Trust Talk," newsletter of the York County Heritage Trust, broke new ground in exploring local links to the family of Barack Obama - and former president Lyndon Johnson.

According to the newsletter, Both Obama and Johnson descend from Philip Ament, a York County native... .

Former U.S. President William Howard Taft spent some time with Thomas Shipley in his home in "the Avenues" part of York during his 1915 visit to York. Background posts: During York visit, former President Taft glad to be in 'this great hive of industry' and Washington Township, Jefferson Borough, Madison Avenue. How about an Obama Street in York County? and Teddy Roosevelt in York: 'I know York county farmers are prosperous. Their barns are bigger than their houses'

Fellow blogger June Lloyd provides a wonderful postcard view of a William Howard Taft visit to York in her post: President Taft Addresses York Crowd from Back of Train.

Information with the post card suggests he made his address in 1909. It must have been the stop Taft referred to in his 1915 visit when he said in a speech to the York Manufacturers' Association that he had previously given a short speech from the back of a train to a local audience.

But the 1915 visit was of longer duration, and it included time at Thomas Shipley's house at Linden and West York (now Roosevelt) avenues... .

The Shipley home was fit for an ex-president... .

Union engineer Herman Haupt quickly rebuilt this bridge near Hanover Junction after invading Confederates burned it in late June 1863. This Library of Congress photo appears in the just-released "Flames Beyond Gettysburg," which tells about the Confederate raid. Background posts: Stack of books on York County's Civil War past getting higher and The Four Bloggers write and 'One of the shells found its mark'.

OK, those seeking copies of Scott Mingus' "Flames Beyond Gettysburg," the comprehensive look at Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon's raid to the Susquehanna, can pick one up at the York Emporium. The York County Heritage Trust and other booksellers now have supplies of the book, too.

That's the first public sales point for the book, although they can be ordered directly from Mingus at scottmingus@yahoo.com... .

The York (Pa.) Dispatch reported on a celebrity train passing through York in September 1941. Background posts: From York, Pa. to inside the beltway, politicos, celebrities got no friend and What did Tiny Tim and Richard Nixon have in common? and Sidney Poitier visits Valencia.

York's location on the Northern Central Railroad, later Pennsylvania Railroad, meant many presidents and other celebrities passed through the city.

In the age of steam locomotives, trains often stopped for water. And York's position as the largest town between Baltimore and Harrisburg increased the likelihood of visits.

In 1941, one such celebrity train did not stop.

It carried the controversial celebrities, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor... .

Several years ago, artist Lindsey Keeney gave this view of American Revolution prisoner-of-war Camp Security in present-day Springettsbury (Pa.) Township. British prisoners were detained inside the 15-foot stockade, and some would have lived in huts on the hillside. Background posts: Camp Security: 'The camp consisted of log huts and a large stockade' and POW Camp Security site: 'There's a lot of history waiting to be discovered' and Old house boasts all kinds of historic hooks.

Developer Tim Pasch has introduced a housing plan for land once covered by POW Camp Security called "The Plantation."

So the debate over the hallowed ground - reportedly the last American Revolution POW site not yet developed - boils down to this:

- The developer has located the Camp Security site and won't build on it.

- Preservationists say the camp site has not been identified, and 30-plus acres of open space simply won't cover it... .

These images linked to the 1988 presidential campaign were among the first - or were perhaps the first - photographs to appear on the front page of the The York Dispatch since Theodore Roosevelt's visit in 1906. Such trivia involving our presidents continue to fascinate. Background posts: Washington Township, Jefferson Borough, Madison Avenue. How about an Obama Street in York County? and Vets at Gettysburg's 75th: 'Some wore their military caps and medals on their tunics' and York-based historian shakes hands with 8 U.S. presidents.

A. Who was the second man to ascend to the presidency without being elected?

B. Who was the first president to have been divorced?

C. Which president served under Rutherford B. Hayes in the Civil War?

These are a few of the questions that are part of our "Test Your Presidential Smarts" quiz... .

Flames shoot from a grill atop a pier from the bridge that the Union Army burned in 1863 to stop the Confederate advance. Two subsequent bridges used those same now-empty piers. In recent years, re-enactors have simulated the burning of the bridge as an observance of this milestone in local history. Scott Mingus has penned a history, 'Flames Beyond Gettysburg' that tells about that moment when Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon's raid reached the west bank of the Susquehanna. Background posts: New Lincoln blog category introduced to honor Abe's 200th birthday and History-making evening on rebel occupation of York could turn into daylong symposium and Mayor of York, Pa.: 'We are no longer unprotected'.

Scott Mingus writes many memorable stories in his new book on the Confederate occupation of York County.

But he provides one quote that creates an image that will never leave your mind.

Here's what one Union cavalryman later observed about the rebels' charge at the bridge linking Wrightsville and Columbia in late June 1863:

"One old negro to whom was entrusted the duty of igniting the fuse sat very coolly on the edge of the pier, smoking a cigar."

Is the tall man with the stovepipe hat, center background, President Abraham Lincoln at Hanover Junction? That's been long debated. But hundreds will gather at the Junction station from 1-7 p.m. today. Check out www.yorkcountyparks.org or call 840-7440.

About a year ago, it ocurred to me that I was blogging a lot on Abraham Lincoln's links to York County.

His influence in York County was - and is - great... .

The (York, Pa.) Gazette and Daily gave prime play to the stop of President Warren G. Harding's funeral train in York. The president was popular then. After his death, the considerable shortcomings of his administration emerged. Background posts: Nixon's 1960 visit to York, No. 2: Dick's stop eventful, newsy and York historian on William Henry Harrison: a 'great and good man' and James A. Garfield: 'York was the capital of the United States when congress was on wheels'.

E.A. Wise flagged the fact that a train bearing Warren G. Harding's body passed through York in 1923.

"I was below the College Ave bridge to avoid the crowded train station," he wrote.

Newspaper coverage indicates York came out in mass to witness the funeral train on Aug. 8, 1923... .

This scene showing the burning of the Wrightsville Bridge in 1863 is the focal point of the cover of Scott Mingus' newest book. Background posts: Unsung York County asset: Actual, virtual historical community with hustle and Books probing York County in the Civil War come in strong, sudden onslaught and Signs point to York, 'Prize of the Confederacy,' and other York/Adams Civil War wonders.

Fellow blogger Scott Mingus' new book is the most thorough micro-study yet of the Confederate expedition to the banks of the Susquehanna River in late June 1863.

That raid included the controversial surrender of York, which Mingus covers in detail... .

The Gazette and Daily reports on Vice-President Richard Nixon's short visit to York in the buildup to the 1960 president election against John F. Kennedy. For a working list of past presidential visits, click here. Background posts: Richard Nixon in York, No. 1 and Richard Nixon, No. 2 and Richard Nixon's visits seared into York countians' minds.

When Richard Nixon campaigned in York County in the final days of the election season in 1960, some in the crowd of 5,000 had met him before.

In fact, a former Menges Mills neighbor who couldn't make it to the York train station rally received a staged phone call from Nixon's wife, Pat, to say hello... .

Practically every president who has visited York County leaves some memorable mark. That includes Richard M. Nixon's October 1960 whistle stop visit. Notice the headline telling about the mass suspension of Dallastown students. For a working list of past presidential visits, click here. Background posts: Why did JFK lose to Nixon in York County? and JFK's visit to York County a long-remembered event and York Gazette: President Zachary Taylor lost sense of propriety during visit.

Richard Nixon made York part of history in including it along his desperate and well-chronicled 11th-hour quest for the White House in 1960.

His stop has largedly faded from York County's memory, overshadowed by JFK's York Fair visit weeks earlier.

His visit, like most presidential visits to York County, spawned lots of side stories. His confusion of two local candidates, George Goodling and Stanley Gross, is one of them.

His visit also reportedly attracted a cadre of Dallastown Area High School students, which led to their suspension... .

The Gazette and Daily, no fan of Richard Nixon, reported on a gaffe during the vice-presidents 1960 visit to York County. Background posts: Washington Township, Jefferson Borough, Madison Avenue. How about an Obama Street in York County? and Exhibit features artifacts detailing presidential visits to York County and In 2008, 8 top candidates or their families campaigned in York County.

Richard Nixon was on the last stages of a last-ditch American campaign tour in October 1960 when brought his campaign against Democratic challenger John F. Kennedy to York.

On the platform at a York railroad station rally, someone asked him to plug GOP congressional candidate George Goodling.

The vice-president slapped legislative candidate Stanley H. Gross on the back and said, "Here he is, George M. Goodling." ...

People leave Harley-Davidson's Springettsbury Township, Pa.'s, plant on the day that workers learned that 300 would be cut from the work force. (See additional photos below.) Background posts: Presidential visit No. 3: Bush makes like Bono, AMF-Harley in York, by the numbers and AMP's and AMF's alphabet soup spilled in same small town.

Since 1942, news has flowed from the Springettsbury Township plant that has housed York Safe & Lock, Blaw-Knox, Naval Ordnance Depot, AMF and Harley-Davidson.

Three strikes (1969, 1991, 2007). Three presidential visits (1987, 1999, 2006). Now 300 to be trimmed from Harley's ranks.

There's more.. .

Joe Paterno and President George H.W. Bush stumped at a Northern York County fundraiser for U.S. Senator Arlen Specter in June 1992. This shows part of the York Daily Record's coverage of the event. Background posts: Presidents visit York, alive and via funeral trains and York native to captain new carrier USS Bush and Bill Goodling: Jerry Ford might have been the most important president he served with.

Joe Paterno regularly visits York County for recruiting trips, fundraisers or political appearances.

Not political appearances for himself, of course.

But primarily for two former presidents named Bush... .

George H.W. Bush visited York County in Sept. 1988 in his bid for election against Michael Dukakis. In 1992, President Bush visited northern York County for a political fundraiser in Monaghan Township. His efforts brought $800,000 to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's campaign. The president endorsed Specter, commenting: "This is not a normal kind of endorsement. I really mean it." (For a list of past presidential visits, click here. Background posts: Battle of New Orleans hero slides into York and
Coin designer signs his D.E. on all his handiwork and Hillary Clinton's rally site in York a little odd.

On the campaign trail in 1988, Bush visited York, and his wife, Barbara, split off to visit Crispus Attucks Community Center's Day Care Center.

The Republican candidate gave a 20-minute speech before 4,500 assembled at the Colonial Courthouse.

It was a fairly standard visit by a presidential candidate.

One of the most interesting parts involved meticulous prep work for the visit.

According to the York Daily Record:

This story from The (York, Pa.) Gazette and Daily in 1925 tells about unpopular President Andrew Johnson's visit to York County, but focuses on the Civil War hero U.S. Grant. The general was part of President Johnson's entourage. (For a post detailing other presidential visits, click here. Background posts: Local man tells about goofy encounter with Gerald Ford and York-based historian shakes hands with 8 U.S. presidents and Visit with former president James Buchanan: Talk did not touch on matters of state.

Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln's successor, made York part of his "Swing Around The World" tour, designed to promote his policies.

His reception in York in September 1866 was akin to that received elsewhere.

"There was not very much enthusiasm when the trained stopped, and the presidential party began to emerge from private coaches which formed the train," The Gazette and Daily reported years later... .

Babe Ruth's autograph is shown on a piece of Hotel Penn stationary owned by West Manchester Township resident Jason Showvaker in 2006. Showvaker obtained the stationery from another collector. Background posts: Story answers much about great athlete Hinkey Haines, including origin of his nickname and York turned its eyes to Joe DiMaggio and Adding to York baseball timeline: Revs ready for 'second helping'.

His late grandfather saw them play there.

"I saw your article which included a picture of the park from July of 1945. Was any baseball ever played there? Whatever info you could provide would be appreciated,"
he wrote.

We'll turn the question of the Babe's appearance at the White Oak Park ballfield, north of York, to any fans out there to respond.

Here's some help.

York Daily Record columnist Jim Hubley wrote an account in 1995 of the Babe's visit to Eagles Park for the game that Jim Fickes' grandfather probably recalled:

Noted 19th-century York, Pa., artist Lewis Miller captures George Washington in this drawing that is part of the York County Heritage Trust's collection. The trust is displaying presidential artifacts in connection with the inauguration of President Barack Obama at its 250 E. Market St., York, museum. Background posts: Additional posts on presidential visits and Where was Thomas Jefferson when Congress met in York? and President of Congress Henry Laurens kept Congress together in Valley Forge winter.

For example, post-Civil War presidents often visited the battlefield in Gettysburg, and most got there by rail before the days of air travel. They sometimes would travel unannounced on the Northern Central Railroad, later the Pennsylvania Railroad, to Hanover Junction and then head along the line from there to Gettysburg.

Hanover's Mother Smith -- Mrs. M.O. Smith -- joined presidents Abraham Lincoln, Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge and Franklin D. Roosevelt on the rostrum during presidential speeches in Gettysburg.

"I would not compare the men or their remarks," she told a newspaper after other media had pestered her for such. "I feel it my patriotic duty to refrain from comparing any one president with another."

Indeed, the Northern Central Railroad probably carried many chief executives through York County in the dead of night, unknown to local residents.

Here is a sampling of visits to York and Adams counties from those who occupied the White House (search on this blog for additional information):

This newspaper account tells about candidate Herbert Hoover's campaign stop at the Pennsylvania Railroad's South Duke Street station in York, Pa. Unlike other presidents who stopped in York, Hoover did not give a speech. Background posts: U.S. Grant dines at Mick E. Dee's and About Gettysburg and its famous speech and Where was Thomas Jefferson when Congress met in York?

Republican presidential candidate Herbert Hoover's train made a whistle stop in York in July 1928.

The president issued a lot of smiles and bows. But in a move unusual for a presidential candidate visiting York, the future president made no speech during his brief stop attended by 2,000 people at the Duke Street railroad station, according to a newspaper report.

At one point, he seemed worried about the safety of the crowd when the train backed up and moved forward several times... .

The (York, Pa.) Gazette and Daily reports on Warren G. Harding's visit to York in 1920. The pending visit was relatively low key, spread by word of mouth just hours before the stop. Background posts: During York visit, former President Taft glad to be in 'this great hive of industry' and In 1934, FDR made rolling visit to York and Teddy Roosevelt in York: 'I know York county farmers are prosperous. Their barns are bigger than their houses'.

Presidential candidate Warren G. Harding gave a brief speech during a stop at York's railroad station in September 1920.

He opened his speech by introducing his "boss" - his wife Florence - to the cheering crowd of 1,000... .

This drawing captures the scene of a Buchanan stop at York's Railroad Station. That station is the predecessor of the current rail station, known for years as the home of Blattner's photo studio. (To see a list of other visits by presidents or presidental candidates, click here.) Background posts: Giving York news, sports junkies their fix, Part II and In York County and beyond, presidential races have produced rages through the ages and Wheatland Mansion tour: 'We don't know if President Buchanan used the tub'.

James Buchanan's Wheatland Home in Lancaster County meant that he was a frequent rail passenger through York County before, during and after his presidency.

His Democratic politics lined up with York County's - he formerly represented the county in the U.S. Congress - and he would often stop to call on his allies.

He made such a visit the day after his presidential term ended on March 4, 1861, in the days before the onset of the Civil War.

Georg Sheets' 'York County: To the Setting of the Sun' includes this Bill Schintz photograph of Jimmy Carter's visit to Lewisberry in 1974. (To see a list of other visits by presidents or presidental candidates, click here.) Background post: Former York countian has hand on Lincoln dollar, too and Abe Lincoln stopped at Hanover station:"We want to preserve history ... so it doesn't disappear' and York-area woodcarver made life-size JFK statue. But where is it now?.

Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter visited Lewisberry in northern York County in 1974.

York photographer Bill Schintz recalls Carter attended a rally at a barn... .

The York (Pa.) Gazette reported about Zachary Taylor's visit in a miffed tone after the president turned a bi-partisan occasion into one of partisanship, in the newspaper's view. (To see a list of other visits by presidents or presidental candidates, click here.) Background posts: Isabel Small led procession of women who made wreath for Abe Lincoln's coffin and Bill Goodling: Jerry Ford might have been the most important president he served with and York-based historian shakes hands with 8 U.S. presidents.

A bi-partisan group played host to President Zachary Taylor's visit to York County in August 1849.

The famous general and Whig president, on a tour of western Pennsylvania and other eastern states, arrived via railroad and stayed at the Washington House.

In its report of the visit, the York Gazette stressed that both Democrats and Whigs escorted him to the hotel and were to join him for a "sumptuous" dinner... .

Nancy Smith, to the left of the president, delivered red roses on behalf of the Girl Scouts to Harry S. Truman during a York, Pa., campaign stop in 1948. Truman made sure that the 11-year-old girl stood near him so she would appear in photographs. This photo is among many that are part of the York County Heritage Trust's collection documenting presidential stops in York. (See additional photo below.) Background posts: Harry S. Truman's first York visit: 'A statesman is only a dead politician' and Crowd to Truman on second York visit: 'Give 'em h---, Harry' and Harry Truman to York countians: 'And you got exactly what you deserved' and Other presidential visits listed.

The York County Heritage Trust, 250 E. Market St., is presenting a case exhibit displaying artifacts linked to presidential visits to York County.

The exhibit, to be unveiled on Saturday, is tied to next week's inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama.

The library at the trust has a large collection of presidential-related artifacts, including newspaper clippings, photographs and campaign posters... .

This is the York Gazette's report about Andrew Jackson's February 1819 visit to the borough. (To see a list of other visits by presidents or presidental candidates, click here.) Background posts: Barbara Bush at Crispus Attucks: 'It's something they will remember the rest of their lives' and Isabel Small led procession of women who made wreath for Abe Lincoln's coffin and Bill Goodling: Jerry Ford might have been the most important president he served with.

Many U.S. presidents or hopefuls came to York via train.

But Andrew Jackson arrived in a sleigh.

In 1819, before his presidential years, the noted general made a hurried visit to York before landing in Lancaster.

But while in York, he complained about an overcharge sustained on his way to that borough... .

The York Gazette's front page on Dec. 4, 1915, shows William Howard Taft and the principals behind the former president's visit to York the previous day. He spent time in the West York Avenue, later Roosevelt Avenue, home of Thomas Shipley of York Manufacturing Co. (To see a list of other visits by presidents or presidental candidates, click here.) Background posts: Ted Kennedy's visit to York comes almost 50 years after JFK's and Local man tells about goofy encounter with Gerald Ford and Carnegie to Farquhar: '... I am ready to go out and enjoy myself' .

William Howard Taft outlined his previous contacts with York County during a December 1915 visit to York as guest of the York Manufacturers Association at the York Country Club.

He had passed through by train several times, and in fact, spoke to a York audience for a few minutes from the back of a train on one occasion... .

William Henry Harrison is one of number of presidents whose funeral train stopped in York. (To see a list of other visits by presidents or presidental candidates, click here.) Background posts: Barbara Bush at Crispus Attucks: 'It's something they will remember the rest of their lives' and Isabel Small led procession of women who made wreath for Abe Lincoln's coffin and Bill Goodling: Jerry Ford might have been the most important president he served with.

Gen. William Henry Harrison, candidate for the U.S. presidency, visited York in 1836 and received a welcome befitting the "Hero of Tippecanoe."

In 1841, a train carrying Harrison's body - President Harrison's body - stopped in York, where a solemn audience honored the memory of the man who died in office... .

The Gazette and Daily, a supporter of one of Harry S. Truman's opponents in the 1948 presidential election, played the story of the president's visit at the bottom of its front page. Background posts: Harry S. Truman's first York visit: 'A statesman is only a dead politician' and Crowd to Truman on second York visit: 'Give 'em h---, Harry' and Other presidential visits listed.

Harry S. Truman's June 1948 appearance was the first by a president in York since Franklin Delano Roosevelt's train passed through in 1934 and 1938.

Truman's train stopped at the West Market Street crossing, and he spoke from its platform to a crowd estimated at 5,000.

"Only about a third of you turned out to vote for this Congress," Truman, candidate for election to the chief executive's seat he had assumed upon Roosevelt's death, said.

"And you got exactly what you deserved." ...

It's not clear about the date and which York newspaper this story ran in, but it provides an account of James Garfield's visit to York before his presidency. The full article is available at the York County Heritage Trust archives. (To see a list of other presidential visits, click here.) Background posts: Piece of John Wilkes Booth's body to be shown in Philly and Presidents visit York, alive and via funeral trains and A Civil War Black Republican: 'He robs birds' nests ... sucks hens' eggs'.

A large crowd observed the funeral train of assassinated president James A. Garfield pass through York on Sept. 23, 1881.

"Lest the gesture of standing in silence with bared heads should seem too meagre in its expression of bereavement such as this, billows of flowers had been strewn between the tracks and floral wreaths were brought to be tossed aboard the coaches," a newspaper reported.

Before his presidency, Garfield visited his friend, former James Buchanan cabinet member Jeremiah S. Black, in York... .

This page from The Gazette and Daily tells about President Franklin D. Roosevelt's appearance on his train's platform on its way through York in late May 1934. (To see a list of other presidential visits, click here.) Background posts: York-area woodcarver made life-size JFK statue. But where is it now? and Teddy Roosevelt in York: 'I know York county farmers are prosperous. Their barns are bigger than their houses' and Headline: 'Beards on Parade at Gettysburg (Battle) Field' .

President Franklin D. Roosevelt traveled through York County by train at least two times in the 1930s.

He waved from his private car but did not appear on the platform as he headed through Hanover to give his own Gettysburg Address at the Adams County battlefield on May 30, 1934. Crowds also lined the tracks in Menges Mills and Spring Grove to catch a glimpse of the president.

But on his way back through York, he stood on his train car's platform, waving to a crowd estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 people. The train did not stop... .

George Bergdoll, 8, eagerly putted when asked to do so by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the former president's visit to the Country Club of York on June 21, 1961. Lavern Brenneman, a director of the Manufacturers Association of York, is pictured at left. (See additional photo below.) This is another in a series of blog posts about visits by presidents, prospective presidents and past presidents to York County. Background posts: Presidential visits listed and LBJ's, Lady Bird's visit a high point in Dallastown's history and Crowd to Truman on second York visit: 'Give 'em h---, Harry'.

Former president Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke to 300 York County industrial leaders at a Manufacturers Association of York's dinner at the County Club of York on June 20, 1961.

He received documents relating to his Gettysburg farm, dated 1762 and under the signature of William Penn's agent James Hamilton.

At that time, the Eisenhower farm was in York County... .

First Lady Barbara Bush gives high-fives outside Crispus Attucks Community Center. She visited in 1988 and 1992. 'These youngsters have had an experience that a lot of kids in this country wish they had ...,' CA Executive Director Bobby Simpson said, 'It's something they will remember the rest of their lives.' Background posts: In 2008, 8 top candidates or their families campaigned in York County and A short test of your women's history knowledge and Hillary Clinton apparently closer to middle than Obama in minds of York County Dems.

Many U.S. presidents or candidates for the presidency have appeared in York County since the 1790s.

But what about the First Ladies?

Just for starters, Hillary Clinton made it twice. First, as a prospective First Lady and then as a candidate herself.

Barbara Bush visited as prospective First Lady and then as actual First Lady.

Both times, she visited Crispus Attucks Community Center.

Both times, she visited CA's day care center.

In her 1988 visit, she viewed CA's many programs as a pilot that the rest of the country should emulate.

In 1992, she urged those in day care to set realistic goals and "never, ever, drop out."

Here's the York Daily Record's (10/6/08) account of that visit:

Theodore Roosevelt's1906 visit made York County news when The York Dispatch published a rare front-page photo. This marked one of the last times - if not the last time - the Dispatch would depart from a gray, eight-column front page without photos for the next 82 years. The image of another U.S. president, George Bush, prompted a front-page photo in 1988. Roosevelt, just back from dedicating the new capitol building in Harrisburg, rode in an open carriage from York's Centre Square to the fairgrounds where he touted York's growing prosperity. Background posts: Presidential visits listed, York-based historian shakes hands with 8 U.S. presidents and Presidents visit York, alive and via funeral trains

In the buildup to the inauguration of new U.S. President Barack Obama, I'll post numerous entries here about presidential links to York County.

We'll start with the well-attended visit by popular U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt... .

Dem presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign chose an improbable York site for a campaign stop in York in 2008. But hundreds jostled to see her. Background posts: Unsung York County asset: Actual, virtual historical community with hustle, Best of yorktownsquare.com, 2007 and In 2008, 8 top candidates or their families campaigned in York County.

About 100 years ago, a French writer told the year's news in short snippets for a French newspaper.

The York Daily Record/Sunday News did a spinoff of Felix Feneon's "Novellas in three lines" in recapping selected news items for 2008.

For example, as an entry for May 1, the staff wrote:

This painting of Baron Steuben is one of 16 commissioned as part of the 1927 observance of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in York. That placed him in the pantheon of luminaries honored in York, site of the Continental Congress during its nine-month visit in 1777-78. (See photo below.) Background posts: Famed Anglican William White ministered to Continental Congress in York, Declaration signer's marker mounted in obscurity and Lawmakers shared in American Revolution's adversity.

Baron von Steuben has long been a major figure in York County history.

The drillmaster largely credited with turning around the moribund Continental Army shivering at Valley Forge received his commission in early 1778 from Continental Congress, then meeting in York Town.

A new biography of Steuben is at the bookstores with York mentioned prominently in several places.

Paul Lockhart's "The Drillmaster of Valley Forge" confirms many points commonly accepted by local writers, including myself in "Nine Months in York Town."

Henry Laurens, president of Continental Congress, was one of a handful of candidates to serve in that body for the entire nine-month period it spent in York County. That service exacted a heavy toll on the South Carolinian. Background posts: Where was Thomas Jefferson when Congress met in York?, Laurens believed to be the first American to be cremated, Who were these congressional visitors to York Town, anyway?

I've written about the sacrifices of Continental Congress president Henry Laurens before.

But for some reason, they seem particularly acute this time of year when his bout with gout during Congress' visit in York was particularly intense.

So I made them part of today's Christmas Day editorial appearing in the York Daily Record/Sunday News:

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... .

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:

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... .

Anglican William White (1748-1836), rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia, and Presbyterian George Duffield served as chaplains to Congress during that body's stay in York Town. Here, William White is seen in a panel painted in connection with the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1927. He stayed with a Lutheran pastor named Kurtz in York. Background posts: Research topic: 18th-century helicopter could have aided pastor, Declaration signer's marker mounted in obscurity and York church gained new cupola by 'stealth' .

Anne Eckert Johnson was born in Gettysburg but lives in Richmond, Va.

She is seeking information on the Kurtz family that goes back generations in York County.

Here's a recent request: ...

This panel of Mad Anthony Wayne celebrates his visit to York County during the Continental Congress' visit in 1777-78. This colorful portrait, owned by the York County Heritage Trust, was posted outside (see below) during the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1927. A program to celebrate the anniversary of the Articles is set for 2-4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 16, at the Colonial Courthouse replica, 157 W. Market St. Details: 848-1587. Background posts: Don't know much about York County history? Part I, 'The Commons' plays host to wonderful vintage photos and When did York's square change from Centre to Continental?

Sixteen colorful paintings, measuring about 3.5 feet by 6 feet, decorated downtown York during the 150th anniversary of the Articles of Confederation in 1927.

They were very much forerunners of the 18 Murals of York that today sprawl across the sides of buildings around York... .

This building at East Main Street and Railroad Avenue in New Freedom will soon house a museum detailing this southern York County borough's past. Among other things, the borough, founded in 1873, can boast of resting at the highest point on the old Northern Central Railroad between Baltimore and York. Background posts: Spring Grove museum displays horse gas mask and more, Birthday borough Dillsburg: 'Seems to be York County's wild child' and The American hobo comes to York Springs.

At the current rate, every borough in York County will have a museum or an active historical group some day.

That's a good thing.

Earlier this year, Dallastown opened its museum joining Wrightsville, Red Lion, Glen Rock and many other towns that publicly display their history.

Now New Freedom, right over the Mason-Dixon Line from Maryland, is opening a place to show off its historical artifacts... .

Sarah Palin was the last candidate to set foot on a York County stage in the election 2008 season. Here, she speaks to a crowd on Oct. 31 at the York Expo Center. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is seen at right. (See photo of Barack Obama's visit to York below.) Background posts: Hillary Clinton apparently closer to middle than Obama in minds of York County Dems, York-area woodcarver made life-size JFK statue. But where is it now? and Bobby Kennedy spoke to Foremen's Club in York about labor racketeering.

The canon is sealed on candidate visits to York for Election 2008.

Chelsea Clinton was the first dignitary to stump way back in April when her mother was still a candidate.

Veep candidate Sarah Palin was the last, appearing Friday, Oct. 31. Joe Biden was the only candidate among the four presidential and vice presidential entries not to show.

Here's the complete list of visits by candidates or their families:

President Reagan received a Harley-Davidson jacket during his visit to York County in 1987. Three years earlier, he also received the York Daily Record's endorsement for the presidency. Background posts: Solomon Meyer 'forsook the publishing business and betook himself elsewhere',McCarthy probe could not corral J.W. Gitt and Criticism of Geno's leads to 'commie' claim.

From the late 1700s to well into the 20th century, York County played host to idealogically driven newspapers.

In fact, journalism history reveals that the reason many newspapers - including the predecessors to the York Daily Record and York Sunday News - were created was to promote certain political parties.

Historically, The Gazette and Daily was the Democratic newspaper and The York Dispatch was Republican... .

Sovereign Bank Stadium rises from "the Swamp" in May 2007. That's the former York railroad station in the foreground and Small Field at top. Background posts: Film weaves threads of York, baseball, stadium and neighborhood change, POW Camp Security site: 'There's a lot of history waiting to be discovered' and Small Field missed a shining moment but could again claim a ray of York County's spotlight.

Writers, including this one, have noted the irony of a baseball team named Revolution playing in a ballpark Sovereign Bank Stadium that touts a monarchy. Such a stadium name in York, proud of its role in aiding and abetting American revolutionaries, adds to the fun.

And one could argue, perhaps loosely, that patriots fought the Revolution to prevent Britains imposition of eminent domain on the Colonies. Sovereign Bank Stadium backers used eminent domain to secure land for the ballpark... .

This promotional poster shows the types of events at the top of the York Fair's promotional list in 1928. Background posts: 'The lower she sank in the chair', Old-time York bike shop: 'It's like a store that time forgot' and Can anyone locate this ballpark?.

All's Fair, a blog made up of York Daily Record/Sunday News staff postings, is an example of local blogging tied to York County and international events.

The O-Zone was another blog where staffers explored the Olympics.

York Town Square readers will find - an enjoy - a number of York Fair-history related posts, with links back to this blog: ... .

President Lyndon B. Johnson visit to Dallastown in 1966 was a high point in Dallastown's history. Here, Lady Bird Johnson greets some of those who turned out for the Dallastown centennial. A museum honoring the borough's past is set to open Monday. Details: 244-8217. Background posts: LBJ: In small towns, girls are fonder; dinner pails fuller, Bomb group seeks Cameron Mitchell's WWII info and Speeding trolley cars drew criticism.

Dallastown is known for Lyndon B. Johnson's visit in 1966. It was boyhood home of famed actor Cameron Mitchell.

That's where noted sculptor Lorann Jacobs has her studio.

And it was a stop along road from York to Peach Bottom, accommodated rumbling trolley cars and received a spur of the Ma & Pa Railroad.

And it was founded, in part, on the strong hands of basket weavers. But more on that in a second... .

A large crowd listens to big band music over the weekend at Dills Tavern, part of Dillsburg's175th anniversary festivities. The tavern serviced the plentiful passengers on the Harrisburg and Baltimore Turnpike, as they passed through the notch in the mountains. Background posts: Franklintown second cousin to neighboring Dillsburg, Flag expert: 'I was interested in my nation's heritage', Dillsburg's Jane Alexander pioneering county woman in state politics

The York Daily Record/Sunday News story (8/23/08) called Dillsburg York County's
"wild child."

The 175th-anniversary celebration over the weekend was, indeed, a bright moment in the northwest York County borough.

The wild child comment brings to mind the most celebrated wedding of a townsman - or townswoman.

Anne Dill, 24 years old and the beautiful widow of a descendant of the town's founder, married the distinguished clergyman and Declaration of Independence signer John Witherspoon... .

The restored cyclorama and a copy of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address will be the focus of the official grand opening of the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, Sept. 26-28. Background posts: Q&A on new Gettysburg visitor center, old Electric Map, Gettysburg National Battlefield produces steady supply of news, Part II Gettysburg Cyclorama, with new shape, ready for September opening.

The majority of York countians in the 1860s did not like Abe Lincoln's politics.

That's evidenced by their support of his opponents in 1860 and 1864.

And most did not like his famous speech... .

The 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg brought back vets from both sides to Adams County in 1938. Many York/Adams residents remember the event 70 years later. This Associated Press photo from an unidentified newspaper shows, from left, Cyrus Stamets, 95, a Union veteran from Richmond Ohio, John W. Turnbough, 94, a Confederate vet from Eldorado, Okla. and Confederate Gen. M.D. Vance. Background posts: Late-19th century Gettysburg photos ready for public, Red Lion doctor treated both Revolutionary War soldier and people alive today and Signs point to York, 'Prize of the Confederacy,' and other York/Adams Civil War wonders.

Sometimes, it seems that everyone in York/Adams visited Gettysburg to observe the 75th anniversary of the battle.

Memories of those grizzled Civil War vets who visited the battlefield in 1938 have firmly settled into the minds of many York/Adams residents living today. You hear about them often... .

This mile-long covered bridge replaced the bridged burned by the Union army to stop the Confederates from crossing the Susquehanna River. A cyclone blew down this bridge in 1896, and it was replaced by an iron structure. The bridge would have been akin to the covered bridge Charles Dickens used to cross the river some 25 miles upstream. But by 1896, slits to allow light into the dark interior had been added. Background posts: Susquehanna River helped mold part of York County's southern tier, Photo collection adds to York County's historic record and When the bridge over the Codorus moved.

Charles Dickens' account of his crossing the long covered bridge from the Susquehanna's west shore into Harrisburg raises a point few would consider today.

In a bridge nearing a mile long, how would you see? ...

Tubers take a leisurely ride recently near the covered bridge spanning the Yellow Breeches on Messiah College's campus. The beauty of the countryside is similar to that witnessed by Charles Dickens in his visit to northern York County in 1842. Dickens' coach would have crossed the Yellow Breeches downstream close to the point that it spills into the Susquehanna River. Background posts: Big Conewago serves as divider, York County: 'It's shaped like a horse's... ' and Scenic Yellow Breeches snakes along York County's northern boundary.

Charles Dickens and 11 others filled a large coach that traveled along York County's eastern edge in his visit to America in 1842.

He arrived in York via railroad. He traveled to Harrisburg via coach. And traveled to Pittsburgh from Harrisburg via canal.

Dickens noted the uncomfortable coach ride and took time to observe - and later write about - the foiables of York countians. But he also Dickens noticed the beauty of the county's northern end, as he describes in his "American Notes:"

The White Hall Hotel, West Market and North Beaver streets, played host to Charles Dickens during the noted author's 1842 visit to America. The artist of this painting of York pulled from several eras. Bottom right, the York County Court House is seen without its neighbor, the State House, placing the drawing before 1793. But the White Hall or National House (follow Market Street west), as its known today, was not constructed until 1828. Today, the large painting, drawn in the mid- to late-1970s, serves as an unsung backdrop on a stage in Stein Hall at Trinity United Church of Christ, York. It was part of a sight-and-sound show used to orient new members and tourists. Background posts: Big Conewago serves as cultural divide, Author: York's streetscape diverse and Hillary Clinton's York site a little weird.

Several months ago, York's Roy Flinchbaugh e-mailed that a recent column on all the achievers from Dover reminded him, for some reason, of Charles Dickens' visit to York County in 1842.

The English author, a celebrity in his day, was touring America and on his way from Baltimore to Harrisburg and then via canal to Pittsburgh.

He arrived in York aboard the Baltimore-York railroad that had opened only four years before. He was forced to take a coach to Harrisburg, for the railroad ended at York.

Later, he wrote about his experiences in American Notes and he gives a glimpse into the character and color of York countians of the day:

When some people think about the southwestern York County borough of Jefferson, they think Jefferson Hillclimb. Codorus Valley Area Historical Society is seeking a historical marker to tout that region's history, too. Here, a cycle tries to scale the 300-foot hill just outside Jefferson in Codorus Township. Background posts: War memorial stand proudly in towns throughout York County, Driver invades Jefferson's quiet square and Tragedy hits York County family - again

Elijah White's Comanches rode through Jefferson's square in June 1863. This mounted force was bound for the communication and rail center of Hanover Junction.

Then came Jeb Stuart's 4,500 horsemen, with a 125-wagon train in tow, in quest of their commander Robert E. Lee.

Some time after they had cleared the square, Union General David M. Gregg's blue cavalrymen came through, headed toward Gettysburg.

In November of that year, Abraham Lincoln rode via Hanover Branch Railroad train through town, just north of the square. He was on his way to and from Gettysburg where he delivered his celebrated address... .

Camp Security, in present-day Springettsbury Township, probably resembled this British prisoner-of-war encampment in Charlottesville, Va. Some prisoners from this camp moved to Camp Security in 1781 when Cornwallis' redcoats moved northward into Virginia. Later, other prisoners from Cornwallis' surrendered command at Yorktown, Va., were detained there. Background posts: York County has done its share in playing host to POWs, Camp Security offers beauty, history and First history trail stop: Camp Security.

Even as a jury awarded Peter Alecxih $17.25 million for Highpoint, another prime piece on the preservationists' list made the news.

That's the Springettsbury Township acreage that was site of Camp Security, a British prisoner of war camp in the American Revolution. It's been placed on another high-level list of most-endangered historic sites... .

Don 'Big Daddy' Garlits, right, was the big star at Musclecar Madness in 2006 at the York Expo Center. He also was the star driver at the old U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way when it operated from in the 1960s and 1970s at York Airport. Background posts: First York Airport's administration building stands today, Vehicle crash ends life of former Indy driver, Museum exhibit brings back early days of high fliers and U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way, Part II: 'The traction at York U.S. 30 has never been better' and U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way, Part III: 'We would watch the dragsters on trailers head for Thomasville'.

The seventh Musclecar Madness, a nod to the old Route 30 Drag-O-Way, concluded this weekend.

That dragway operated for about 20 years - from the late 1950s to 1979 - at the York Airport.

When the dragway was operating, the airport was shut down to air traffic and the dragsters took over. The events often drew crowds of 10,000 spectators or more.

The legendary "Big Daddy" Garlits and other drivers liked it... .

Joe Florenenski of Columbus, Ohio, centersquare@paullyndestory.com, is looking for information on the Kenley Players - "America's most exciting summer theatre."

The group performed in summer stock theater in York in the 1950s.

"Mae West, Angela Lansbury, and a very young Alan Alda were some of the notables who traveled to York to work for John Kenley," Florenenski wrote in an e-mail... .

East King Street's Aquilla Howard School, named after the early black leader of York, was one of two segregated elementary schools opened in 1931 to educate Southern black people who had come north for jobs in industrial York. Smallwood School was the other. It was sold in 1962 and later demolished. Background posts: A short test of your black history knowledge, Freedman Aquilla Howard kisses earth as canal boat passed Mason-Dixon Line and York, Pa.'s Crispus Attucks Center scores intriguing start.

Shirley Proctor Poindexter, SPPoind1171@aol.com, wrote with questions about Aquilla Howard, the freedman, honored as York's representative to place flowers on the bier of Abraham Lincoln's funeral train, and a longtime superintendent of York's A.M.E. Zion Church.

He came to York in about 1856 and died at the age of 87 in 1923.

Davy Crockett and other luminaries visited Charles Barnitz's Springdale Mansion after its opening in 1828. Crockett did not impress certain members of the Barnitz household. Background posts: Exploring ornate Springdale Mansion, Imagine: 70-foot boat navigated York County's Codorus Creek and Who were York County's most influential citizens, Part I.

Maureen Beattie of Longmeadow, Mass., found an old letter - and part of a York County legend - at a garage sale.

She e-mailed with these details:

It is addressed to Mary M. Barnitz, c/o Herman Cope Esq., Cincinnatti, Ohio. Handwritten above the addressee is 'free C.A. Barnitz". The body of the letter is in tatters, but there is one whole area that says: ...

This photo shows the York County Academy, a forerunner to York College of Pennsylvania, in 1922. A recent book about York College is recommended summer reading. (See additional photo of academy's gym below.) Background posts: Two 'connectors' would make list of York County's most influential, Striking architecture lined York's South Duke Street, Cuban expert Jim Higgins: 'He was just another journalist ... with opinions', From Manchester to St. Augustine .

My York Sunday News column dealt with the importance of reading, including reading books that help explain the area in which we live.

I put forth the following titles as possibilities for your summer reading list. See what you think. ...

A slow-moving tractor tows bales of hay along Grandview Road in Jackson Township in 2007. The township has long been agricultural in nature. "The land of Jackson Township is fertile and productive, and its owners are industrious and prosperous," historian George Prowell wrote in 1907. But the township's location along the turnpike - later the Lincoln Highway and Route 30 - and the Western Maryland Railroad also meant it has played host to its share of industry. Soon, an Arm & Hammer plant is expected to operate there. Background posts: Part of York County's past goes on the auction block, York County railroading: 'Something that gets in your blood' and Old Lincoln Highway pulled 'Americans out of the mud'.

Jackson Township, carved from Paradise Township in 1857, is slated to be home to a new Arm & Hammer laundry detergent plant and distribution center.

Though a longtime farming township with a productive limestone and red shale soil, its position along the former York-Gettysburg Turnpike and the presence of the Western Maryland Railroad meant that businesses have long been operated there... .

During a visit to the area last week, David Whelchel stopped at the monument to his great-grandfather Lt. Gen. James Longstreet at the battlefield in Gettysburg. Whelchel is married to a York County native. Background links: Local Civil War Roundtable gets new digs, Noted writer to blog on local Civil War scene and Unsung farmhouse loud symbol of a shaping moment for York.

Jubal A. Early commanded the 6,000-plus Confederates who overran the York area and reached the banks of the Susquehanna River in Wrightsville in late June 1863.

He was part of Richard Ewell's corps.

James Longstreet was another of Robert E. Lee's corps commanders (A.P. Hill was the third.)

Longstreet's men never made it farther east than Cemetery Ridge during Pickett's charge, also known as Longstreet's assault, during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Had Longstreet's men broken through and won the battle, they might have kept going east to York County on their way to capture Harrisburg, the prized Northern state capital... .

Riders on York County's rail trail glide past the venerable Glen Rock Mill Inn. The mill greeted numerous luminaries passing through the southern York County town when the Northern Central Railroad operated. That included Abraham Lincoln on his way to and from Gettysburg and Lincoln's funeral train. Background posts: Parade Music Prince Roland Seitz: From Shrewsbury Township to Friday Night Lights, Is mystery railroad the old Shrewsbury narrow gauge?, 'Rocks in the Glen' turns into town where things happen

Glen Rock was a mill town from its earliest days and later diversified into furniture making, cigarmaking and a host of other manufacturing pursuits. AMP, the electronic connector manufacturer, opened its first Pennsylvania plant there.

But still, Glen Rock was a mill town... .

The Confederate raid on Chambersburg on July 30, 1864, resulted in the fiery destruction of more than 500 buildings. It was a retaliation, the Confederates argued, for similar Union action on Virginia soil. To celebrate its Civil War heritage, Chambersburg sponsors an annual series of Civil War lectures, including an annual Lincoln Symposium May 16-17. Background posts: Mayor of York, Pa.: 'We are no longer unprotected' , Was York's surrender justified? and Rebel invaders put off by earthy Pennsylvania women.

People sometimes think the Confederate burning of Chambersburg and the rebels' occupation of York happened in the summer of 1863.

The rebels actually torched Chambersburg in the summer of 1864, something they threatened to do in York during their Gettysburg campaign the previous summer.

The same general extorted threatened to burn York and consummated the act in Chambersburg... .

Dallastown artist Lorann Jacobs' newest sculpture in York shows Brooks Robinson signing autographs on the plaza outside York, Pa.'s, Sovereign Bank Stadium. York is ahead of Baltimore in honoring Brooks. Background posts: Sculptor molds York, Pa.'s past for posterity, Old York, Pa., lefty remembers young Brooks Robinson, and York County sports museum a miniature Cooperstown.

About 8,000 fans have walked across Brooks Robinson Plaza and passed the statue of the O's legend on their way to the two York Revs games this season.

The statue, sculpted by the prolific Lorann Jacobs, reminds fans that Brooks started his professional career in York.

But no such reminder stands in Baltimore, where Brooks spent his entire major league career... .

Democrat Hillary Clinton won Pennsylvania and York County by about the same 55-45 percent margin in last week's primary. Her York, Pa., headquarters, seen here, were bustling prior to the primary. How she or Barack Obama would fare against John McCain in York County will be a matter of much discussion in upcoming months. Background posts:People still remember Hillary Clinton's visit to York County, Historians, journalists draw on work of forebears and York County historical community to miss Carl Hatch.

A critic of my York Sunday News column "York County: A model of moderation" wrote, "Dig a little deeper, and enough of the Rah, Rah York crap already!" ... .

Hundreds crowded the intersection of Beaver and West Market streets to see Hillary Clinton the Saturday before the primary. Background posts: Why did JFK lose to Richard Nixon, Historians, journalists benefit from work of their forebears and People still remember Hillary Clinton's first York visit.

What does Democrat Hillary Clinton's win in York County primary voting say about county voters?

If you believe the conclusions of York County researchers, one could contend that Clinton did a better job of seizing the middle in the minds of local voters... .

Ron Busser, commander of Korean War Veterans Post 178, unveils York, Pa.'s, Korean War Memorial in 2005. The war wore on President Harry S. Truman and his ratings, and he opted not to seek a second full term in 1952. That election, York County shifted its allegiance to a Republican presidential candidate, Dwight D. Eisenhower, after backing the Dems during Roosevelt's terms and Truman's first full term. York College researchers G.A. Mellander and Carl E. Hatch believed the federal intervention of the New Deal had run its course with York County voters, who were looking for less government under Eisenhower. Background posts: Why did JFK lose to Nixon in York County?, York County's historical war deaths topped 1,000 and Harry S. Truman's first York visit: 'A statesman is only a dead politician'.

Spring Garden Township's C. Earl Witmer remembers a sitting president's visit not listed in a sampling of stops in my recent York Sunday News column: Many visits by U.S. presidents.

Here's how Earl recounted it: ... .

York County's David Hibbs, aboard the destroyer escort USS Bunch in World War II, still has the ship's logbooks, including a few exciting entries about suicide aircraft and boats during his time in the Pacific. This entry was posted a few days before Harry S. Truman was sworn in as U.S. president after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. A year earlier, Truman had visited York. Background posts: Neglect, racism undid all-black 24th in Korean War, Former York County CCC camp now on map and Criticism of Geno's leads to 'commie' claim.

Senator Harry S. Truman came to York in early 1944, criticizing defense industry "chiselers" who were using the war to their advantage.

His indictment of defense industry abuse was his main claim to fame in those days.

He commended the York County for its support of the war... .

Retired Gettysburg residents President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, were patrons of Thomas Bros. Country Store and Museum in Biglerville, Pa. Photos of the Eisenhowers are placed around the store. Background posts: Gettysburg's Ike and Manchester's Henry, Book gives positive view of forgotten Gen. Jacob Devers and Little-known facts about Hex murder trial emerge.

As a Gettysburg resident, Dwight D. Eisenhower was often seen in and around York and Adams counties during post-presidential years.

He played local golf courses and was known to use the York Airport.

He and his wife, Mamie, regularly visited Marion Harbaugh's Thomas Bros. Country Store in Biglerville in northern Adams County... .

This poster helped draw people to the York Fair to hear Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy speak in 1960. But Republican Richard Nixon drew more votes from York countians than Kennedy. Background posts: Ted Kennedy's visit to York comes almost 50 years after JFK's, Richard Nixon's visit to his namesake park sparks memories and Richard Nixon's visits seared into York countians' minds.

York County solidly backed Republican Richard M. Nixon over John F. Kennedy in 1960, with the tally coming in at 55,109 to 38,710.

That came after Kennedy made a hit with his York Fair visit just before the election. JFK won the nationally televised debate, the debate some say was decided by Nixon's 5 o'clock shadow and choice of a gray suit on black and white TV.

So why the Nixon win in York County? ...

Walter S. Langhine of Weigelstown, Pa., spent four months carving this wooden statue of John F. Kennedy in 1964. Jacqueline Kennedy's staff supplied him with JFK's dimensions. Background posts: JFK's visit to York a long-remembered event, Bob Yost: 'King of real estate in York County' and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County smarts, Part II

York countian Walter S. Langhine sought to memoralize slain U.S. president John F. Kennedy.

He planned to do this in the way he knew best.

The employee of Red Lion's Bethlehem Furniture Co. was a professional woodcarver. His off-work specialties included cigar store Indians and and full-size horses.

Now, in the year after the chief executive's death in 1963, Langhine would make an image of the late president out of wood... .

Robert F. Kennedy, signing autographs at an unspecified location on the campaign trail in 1964, was following in his assassinated brother's footsteps. Lyndon Johnson received received his party's nod that year and eventually served a full term as president. Bobby Kennedy, assassinated while campaigning in 1968, gave a speech in York in 1959. Background posts: Lady Bird Johnson visits York, LBJ: In small towns, girls are fonder; dinner pails fuller and 'Poor Phil Livingston ... so Honest a Man'.

Robert Kennedy told a large gathering of the Foreman's Club in September 1959 that new legislation in Congress would slow down alleged racketeering by Teamsters head Jimmy Hoffa.

Kennedy was speaking from the vantage point as counsel for the Senate Labor Rackets Committee... .

York Fairgoers give presidential candidate John F. Kennedy a warmer reception than York County, Pa., voters in 1960. Richard M. Nixon outpolled Kennedy in the county by 16,000 votes. His younger brother, Ted, is scheduled to appears in York today on behalf of Dem presidential candidate Barack Obama. Background posts: Ted Kennedy's visit to York comes almost 50 years after JFK's, U.S. Army Field Band: Live at Farquhar Park and Hillary Clinton's rally site in York a little odd.

Confronted with an opportunity to buy a brick for the York Salvation Army's new building, John F. Kennedy reached for his wallet.

As nearby newsmen covering the presidential candidate at the York Fair looked on, the multi-millionaire Kennedy searched his wallet for a $10 bill.

But he found it empty, a common occurrence, according to his aides... .

John F. Kennedy meets fans during his 1960 presidential campaign visit to York County. His younger brother, Ted, will be in York today to stump for Barack Obama. Background posts: Doris Kearns Goodwin gives tips to analyze presidential hopefuls, York-based historian shakes hands with 8 U.S. presidents and Hillary Clinton's rally site a little odd.

When Ted Kennedy arrives in York, Pa., today, he will not be the first of that clan to make a campaign stop in York, Pa.

Ted Kennedy will be here stumping for Barack Obama, but his older brother John F. stopped at the York Fair campaigning for himself in 1960.

Dem presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will hold a rally at the intersection of West Market and Beaver on Saturday in York, Pa., seen at the 9 o'clock position in this drawing. (See more about this drawing below.) Background posts: Downtown thrived in post-WW II York - 9/20 iconic images, 'It's something you can't experience at a store in the mall' and President Buchanan's fall reflected his presidency.

The Hillary Clinton campaign's pick of intersection for its York rally is a little weird.

That's not a particularly distinguished city intersection, at least in 2008... .

This drawing gives an idea of the size and scope of Camp Stewartstown, the World War II German prisoner of war camp in southeastern York County, Pa. Now, the former camp is a park and baseball field next to the Presbyterian Church in Stewartstown. Background posts: 'Yesteryears' chock-full of southern York County, Pa., sites, York County has done its share of playing host to POWs and German prisoners from two wars came to York County.

The late Eugene Blevins, of Blevins Orchards, once recalled picking apples on his family's farm with a dozen German POWs from Stewartstown.

"They were ordinary guys," he said. "I liked them. But some of them cut swastikas in the apples. We just threw them away. No point in making a big deal about it."

That one story shows the ambivalence of those living in the area the POW camp filled with German prisoners in the summer of 1944-45.

Mike Argento told this story and others in capturing the Stewartstown scene those summers, in a well-written piece running in the York Sunday News April 14:

The two presidential candidates meet at Messiah College, only a few hundred feet from York County. At least two bridges connect York and Cumberland counties on the Messiah campus, a relocated covered bridge (the last of its kind in York County) and a pedestrian bridge, successor to a swinging bridge. Background posts: Picturesque steel bridges going way of covered predecessors and When the bridge over the Codorus moved.

When Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spoke at Messiah College Sunday night, I wondered if they would unwittingly bring their campaigns to York County.

All it would have taken was for either candidate to walk across the covered bridge connecting the Cumberland County part of the campus to the York County part... .

Re-enactors re-create the surrender of York, Pa., in 1988, the 125th anniversary of the town's occupation to the invading rebels in late June 1863. Background posts: Invaders put off by earthy Pennsylvania women, Owner seeks info on old toll house and York County Civil War, by the numbers.

Continuing the series of telling York County, Pa.'s, history through images: ... .

President Reagan visited Springettsbury Township's Harley-Davidson plant in 1987, the first of a series of chief executives to mug at the York County, Pa., plant. That's Harley employee Eric Myers on the bike. Presidential visit No. 1: Mr. Reagan goes to Harley, Presidential visit No. 2: Clinton hugs Harley and Presidential visit No. 3: Bush makes like Bono.

Continuing the series of telling York County, Pa.'s, history through images: ... .

Northern troops drilled at the York (Pa.) Fairgrounds early in the Civil War. And Confederates camped there when they occupied York in 1863. But the current fairgrounds in the West York area was just a field then. The Civil War-era York Expo Center will be the topic of a mystery talk on Saturday. Background posts: Gettysburg 'Human Interest Stories' scores sequel and Rebels, Yanks to again journey along York's West Market Street.

The whereabouts of the York Fairgrounds will be one of my topics in a talk on Saturday, April 5, at the York Emporium's A Day of Mystery.

I'll cover 10 mysteries or questions rising from York County's involvement in the Civil War in a slideshow starting at 12:30 p.m.

Jim Lewin, the owner, lists me as a pundit, writer and historian. I had to look up what a pundit is, and it sounds OK... .

Confederate soldiers lower the large American flag in York's Centre Square on June 30, 1863, after the town's fathers had surrendered the day before. The rebels marched uncontested into the undefended Pennsylvania town. Immediately after settling in, Gen. Jubal Early's rebels requisitioned food, supplies and money. The town complied with everything but the $100,000 requisition, delivering only about $28,000. Background posts: Carnegie to Farquhar: '... I am ready to go out and enjoy myself' , Pro/Con: Should York's leaders have surrendered to the rebels? and Unsung farmhouse loud symbol of a shaping moment for York.

Another in a series of images that point to events or moments that help define York County... .

In summer 1776, James Smith signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Pennsylvania Constitution. The York, Pa., lawyer also served in the Continental Congress during that body's visit to York County after British troops forced members from Philadelphia. Background posts: 400 years ago, John Smith explored Chesapeake Bay - 1 of 20 iconic images, Where was Thomas Jefferson when Congress met in York?, and Who will lead York in the future?

This painting of James Smith is another in a series of iconic images of York County, Pa. Smith lived and died in York County, joining New York's Philip Livingston as the two signers of the Declaration buried in York County soil... .

John Smith was an artist as well as an explorer. He drew this Susquehannock Indian after his visit to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in 1608. Background posts: John Smith gave Susquehannocks their name, American Indians' carvings almost forgotten treasure and Project uncovers hidden American Indian mural.

In the past two "Connections" editions, we have assembled multi-page displays showing the Murals of York and paintings of key figures with York connections in the American Revolution.

For this year's special publication, our spread will show 20 images that help define York County... .

Bill Clinton speaks in front of the Yorktowne Hotel, with security guards holding the ladder and Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore in the background. Bill Clinton and Al Gore visited York as the first overnight stop on a 1,000-mile bus trip after winning their party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention in New York. Background posts: Presidential visit No. 2: Clinton hugs Harley, Hillary Clinton's rally site in York, Pa. a bit odd and What did Tiny Tim and Richard Nixon have in common?.

If Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton comes to York County, she'll revive local memories of her first visit to the county.

Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore accompanied their husbands, Dem nominees Bill Clinton and Al Gore, on a 1,000-mile bus trip after winning their party's nod in July 1992.

Their stay at the Yorktowne Hotel was their first overnighter in their planned campaign journey from New York to St. Louis.

Reaching the Yorktowne, the entourage was welcomed by 3,000 people... .

People mistook Philip Eppley, posing circa 1974, for former President Gerald Ford during the Ford presidency. (To see how Philip looked in early 2007, see below). For an even stranger story about Gerald Ford, see York resident Bill Walters' meeting with Ford below: Background posts: York-based historian shakes hands with 8 U.S. presidents and Clock museum prepares presidential timepiece exhibit.

Interest in presidents and politics are high this election season - even those light hearted moments that sometimes are the most memorable.

In a previous post, we wote about Democrat James Buchanan's fall in walking across the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge.

We'll even it out - party-wise - and tell about Bill Walters' encounter with former GOP President Gerald Ford in 1979 - in a restroom at York College ... .

Tommy Kono was America's best weight lifter in the 1950s. He won eight world titles and went undefeated from 1952-59. Kono lifted for York Barbell, the answer to a quiz question below. Background posts: 20 questions and answers to prove your York County smarts, Part I, A short test of your women's history knowledge , A short test of your York black history knowledge, Part I, Black history quiz, Part II.

The York Daily Record used this quiz in the mid-1990s to orient new employees. The questions and answers, some tongue in check and often tied into then-recent news stories, will continue to pique interest.

Some may seem easy to veteran York Town Square readers. Consider this a review. Others will seem arcane.

See how you do:

This photo shows Bob Rebert, embroiled in a fight against a proposed sewage pipe that would cross his farm, walking on an old railroad embankment in 2007.
That railroad embankment has particular significance. Background posts: Abe, Gwyneth passed through Porters Sideling and Pamadeva. Get it? Pennsylvania. Maryland. Delaware. Virginia..

Outside forces are looking to lay sewer and gas lines under Bob Rebert's North Codorus Farm.

He's fighting the sewer line in court believing an ag security program he's under prevents such sewer line construction.

The sewer line, at least, would go under a railroad embankment crossing his farm.

That's not just another railroad embankment that lived a long existence bearing trains carrying farm products to market... .

Carrie Nation visited York County for a week-long campaign against drinking and smoking in 1907. She addressed a large gathering at Highland Park in West York. Her address might have taken place in the park theater, pictured above. The park, located at the south end of Highland Avenue, was demolished early in the 20th century. Background posts: Growing off-peak trolley ridership: Build a park and Church's story links up with U.S. religious history.

York resident F.H. Hartley recalled years after Carrie Nation's visit to West Manchester Township's Highland Park in 1907 that a young man stoutly stood in front of her puffing on a cigarette.

He blew smoke directly at the reformer.

At one point, she turned to him and said: "Young fellow, if you keep on smoking those things, you'll have as little brains in your head as you have moisture now."

Perhaps the young man's hard-headed presence that day at Highland Park was appropriate.

The park is gone, covered by rock quarry... .

Taken from microfilm, this is the first edition of The Pennsylvania Gazette published in York Town - York County's first newspaper. The weekly newspaper published from December 1777 to June 1778 before packing up and moving back east when the British evacuated Philadelphia. After the press left York Town, nine years passed before another newspaper was printed in the county. Bartgis and Roberts began publishing The Pennsylvania Chronicle and York Weekly Advertising in 1787. Solomon Meyer began publishing Die York Gazette in 1796, the first German-language newspaper in York and the first time two newspapers were published at the same time. The Pennsylvania Gazette was circulated to information-hungry readers throughout the 13 states. Background posts: Newspaper's founding date h ard to pin down and Journalism goes back to the future.

A request from a local student for information on the York Daily Record/Sunday News and its predecessors reminds me of favorite quotes attached to newspaper patriarch Solomon Meyer.

Meyer, started Die York Gazette in 1796, a German-language newspaper that the Daily Record lists as its earliest ancester.

Meyer had a weakness that undermined many great men - a love for power and politics. His anti-Federalist views gained him a military patronage post... .

This is the text of the message carried by a union soldier who killed by a farmer near Green Ridge in Codorus Township around midnight on June 29, 1863. This comes from the book "War of the Rebellion" and appeared recently in a Codorus Valley Area Historical Society newsletter. The society is seeking to identify the messenger. Background posts: Archivist's finding sheds light on famous note among the roses and Unsung farmhouse shaping moment for York.

The east-bound courier came to a fork in the road near Green Ridge, in a remote area of Codorus Township in southern York County. He headed toward a farmhouse to gain directions and perhaps some grain for his horse.

George Bair became frightened when the mounted courier called on him.

Bair, a German who did not understand English, thought the horseman was one of the Confederates, raiding the county in these days before the Battle of Gettysburg.

One confusing thing led to another, and George Bair loaded his gun, aimed it at the stranger and squeezed the trigger... .

Red Lion resident Barbara Krout is seen with her cousin Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the 35th chief of staff of the U.S. Army. Peter and his Army surgeon general brother, Eric, have spent many days in York County. Background posts: York has produced its share of high-ranking naval officers and York/Adams residents contributed to 'The War'.

Some links between York County and national achievers are strong. See the previous post on New York Giants' offensive line coach Pat Flaherty, for example.

Others are a bit more tenuous. Still, when two brothers of high military rank have strong family connections to York County, it's worth noting... .

This U.S. postage stamp, issued in 1977, commemorates the Articles of Confederation, adopted in York in 1777. President George Bush referenced the Articles in his recent State of the Union address. Background post: Articles of Confederation don't get no respect, Part I, Events in 1777 helped tip Revolution toward patriots, Batter up, pass the hot dog: York relishes the Revolution and Where was Thomas Jefferson when Congress was in York?

Last time, it was an Associated Press story that disrespected the Articles of Confederation by leaving it out of a list of foundational U.S. documents.

This time, it was the President of the United States who slighted the Articles - in his State of the Union Address, no less... .

Gladys Rawlins demonstrates the Green Circle Program. It is used in some York County schools. She is buried in Lebanon Cemetery in North York. Background posts: Mildred and Russell Chapman, Part I and Roy Borom, Part II

Gladys Rawlins is internationally known as the founder of Green Circle, the educational program that promotes racial understanding.

But it's not as widely known that she stayed in York County for extensive periods and is buried here... .

Dover native and internationally known artist Jeff Koons presented a lecture of his work at York College in 2002. That talk accompanied a display of some of his famed work. Background posts: Jeff Koons' sculpture brings record for a living artist's work and Dover's/Packers' John Kuhn: 'He is able to grasp things very quickly'.

Some celebs with York County roots leave and never return to perform or display the fruits of their talents in their hometown.

So, it's refreshing to see Sam Freed and David Masenheimer agreeing to perform here as part of the York Little Theatre and York Symphony Orchestra's rendition of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" on March 8.

Dover's Jeff Koons came back, too... .

This 1927 Wurlitzer theater organ, upper left, can rise from a lower level to of the Capitol Theatre to stage level, just as in the old days. It is still used to provide music and dramatic sounds for silent movies. Movie theaters like the Captol operated in many towns in York County in the 20th century including Hanover, Stewartstown, New Freedom. Small theaters in Glen Rock and Dallastown still operate. Related posts: Black soldiers from York County served in 'Glory' unit - Part II, Little-known facts about Hex murder trial emerge and Miss Saigon's York County connection.

The Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its most recent renovation this year.

That $17.3 million rehab project included a remake of both theaters that make up the complex, an addition of a balcony in the Strand and installation of a chandelier from a Hanover theater at the cost of $30,000.

This anniversary brings back memories of event marking the previous grand renovation of the complex - in April 1980... .

With a dramatic leap over a small stream, Jeb Stuart escapes a Union patrol during the Battle of Hanover. His cavalrymen later rode through the heart of York County in an attempt to link up with Gen. Robert E. Lee before the Battle of Gettysburg. Scott Mingus has written a detailed account of Stuart's raid through York County in the current issue of Gettysburg Magazine. E-mailer queries about Confederate invasion and Jubal Early heard the booming of the Battle of Hanover's guns.

Cannonball blogger Scott Mingus has again revealed York County's Civil War history to a national audience.

In the recently published issue (No. 38) of "The Gettysburg Magazine," his "J.E.B. Stuart Rides Through Dover, Pennsylvania" explores the Confederate cavalry chief's raid through York County's heartland before the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

Mingus is at the top of the pack in explaining York County's rich Civil War involvement to the rest of the world, an effort that's long overdue.

See if Mingus' lead, beginning with the Battle of Hanover, doesn't pull you into the drama of a miles-long column of thundering horsemen riding through the county in the middle of the night:

P. Joseph Raab presents a fruit basket to Richard Nixon during the former president's visit to his namesake park. Voni B. Grimes is seen next to Raab, and John Hope Anderson is pictured at left in background. York County parks seeking mementos and President Buchanan's fall reflected his presidency.

Voni B. Grimes remembers Richard Nixon's late-1980s visit to the Jacobus county park that bears his name.

He recalls seeing strange men among the trees of the park's trails - Secret Service agents - during the former president's 45-minute stay... .

Someone mentioned to Nixon that Grimes' own name appears on a building - the Voni B. Grimes Gym in York... .

John Adams was in York in that crucial winter of 1777-78. But where was Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and George Washington? Background posts: John Adams changed mind about York, Who were those congressional visitors to York, anyway? and Declaration signer's marker mounted in obscurity.

A Philadelphia Inquirer story on the fact that only half of Thomas Jefferson's 20,000 letters have been published prompted a good question.

A York Daily Record/Sunday News staff member wondered: Did Thomas Jefferson write any letters from York as part of Continental Congress in the winter of 1777-78?

The short answer is: Thomas Jefferson wasn't one of the 64 members of congress meeting in York from Sept. 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778... .

John Burke Jovich meets former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey in 1972. Background posts: President Buchanan's fall reflected his presidency, LBJ: In small towns, girls are fonder; dinner pails fuller and Presidential visit No. 1: Mr. Reagan goes to Harley.

John Burke Jovich has met eight American presidents so far.

And that's not all.

Here is another feat listed by this student of the presidency who lectures, writes and consults on the presidency and who calls York home: ...

The Menges Mills Market is a throwback to old York County. There, customers can still buy fresh, custom-cut meat. The market has also played host to a famous customer - Richard Nixon. York County parks seeking mementos (see a picture of Nixon at the park) and What did Richard M. Nixon and Tiny Tim have in common?.

York countians long remember Richard M. Nixon's visits here... .

The caption for this newspaper photograph tells the story. Penn Grove Camp at Smith Station in southwestern York County attracted Billy Sunday and other popular evangelists to audiences numbering in the thousands. (See photograph below of the road, now abandoned, as it appears today.) Since 1999, the restored campground has played host to day campers and retreats for church and community groups. Background posts: Billy Graham: 'I do remember him being here and what a thrill it was', Retiring pastor: 'I'll miss the people' and Tomb of unknown soldier in York, too.

Penn Grove Camp, host of hordes of campers in its heyday, sits somewhat forgotten in southwestern York County.

Parts of the camp have been restored (see story below), and it still operates as a day camp... .

The York Gospel Center, which brought Billy Graham to York in 1940, operated Penn Grove Camp for years. There, evangelists preached in the open air, and families took an annual vacation. In this photo, campers talk outside a cabin in the early 1900s. Background posts: Retiring pastor: 'I'll miss the people' and German vs. English ... York churches disputed language.

The York Gospel Center was the York-area's best known non-denominational church from about 1940 to the early 1990s.

Non-denominational meant that it was not affiliated with the predominant Protestant churches mostly with German backgrounds so apparent for decades in towns throughout York County - Methodists, Lutherans and United Churches of Christ.

As such, the Gospel Center drew attention and developed a large congregation... .

Doris Kearns Goodwin was in York in November about her book, 'Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.' At the end of her speech, she gave tips to assess presidential candidates. Background posts: Goodwin cites York countian's story to tell about Gettysburg Address, Follow the leader... George Leader and Presidents and presidential candidates have visited York for decades .

Doris Kearns Goodwin counseled a York County audience recently on qualities to look for in a presidential candidate.

Her well-received visit raised the question about who would follow her in an annual or bi-annual fundraiser for the York County Heritage Trust... .

This was the first graphic or photograph to appear with a York Town Square post, accompanying York Market House No. 5 - Carlisle Avenue Market, revisited in April 2006. Incidentally, that the present-day Dreamwrights building was built as a farmers market still surprises folks. Background posts: There were 5, count 'em, 5 York markets and Don't know much about (York market) history?.

The year 2007 saw visitors to this blog increase exponentially over the previous two years we've been posting.

We hope you are enjoying each day's history lesson. The numbers, increased commenting and e-mails suggest you are.

A list of best, first and most popular posts at this blog follows:

With a one-arm wave as the other firmly grasps the ladder, Santa greets the crowd before his entry into York's Bon-Ton in his annual visit to York.
Background posts: The Grumbachers, Builders and Heroes and York scores another first: Wal-Mart's entry into Pa.

This photo captures post-World War II York, the day of the Big Three - Bon-Ton and its competitors, Wiest's and Bear's. (People often say, don't forget Sears and Jack's and Gregory's and McLean's and ... )

Santa parked his sleigh outside York County in those years. He flew into the area by plane and, later, by helicopter. He was ushered by fire truck to the Bon-Ton where he entered the store's third-floor window... .

Sidney Poitier smiles while making his way to the podium at the Valencia Ballroom in 2002. Poitier was the guest speaker of The Junior League of York's "In The Spotlight" Speaker Series. For more on the Valencia, see below. Background posts: Original WSBA station hands mic to demolition team and Valencia Ballroom became cool place during Depression.
You're sitting in the living room surrounded by visiting loved ones.

And the talk perhaps turns to York County, its strengths, weakness and befuddling quirks.

And you want to show your smarts about this complex, often perplexing county, which boasts of a bottomless fund of history.

So began my most recent York Sunday News column:

So to help you strut your intelligence, we continue what we started last Christmas and come up with another 20 questions for you to pose (search on this blog for additional details) ... .

Entertainer Nick Lachey, center, is flanked by his mother, Cate, and then-wife, singer Jessica Simpson in this Associated Press photograph. Bruce Reinert, the manager of Dover's Central League baseball team, married Cate in 2003. Background post: Mom of Lachey brothers makes home in York County and Add another to list of entertainers with York links.
Unless one of you readers comes forth with other achievers/celebs with Dover ties, this could be last post until someone else from that York County community takes the stage.

The Dover area is home to the mother of entertainers Nick and Drew Lachey.

We'll get back to that in a moment.

A second Dover-area resident also made national news the other day... .

Hattie Dickson, facing, hugs Sharon Howe, while Sonja Gilmore, right, looks on during a meeting at the African-American Love Feast in early 2002. Dickson was a sister of Lillie Belle Allen, killed in the 1969 race riots. Gilmore was the wife of York Police Officer Henry C. Schaad, the second riot victim. Howe is Schaad's and Gilmore's daughter. This was the first public meeting of the families, who had met privately a month earlier. Background posts: School violence struck York County in 1970 and First pitch could break link with York race riots.

In a recent York Sunday News column, I applauded efforts to arrive at a community consensus over a "Healing York" memorial.

I contrasted that to a moment in 1970, a time of community coming together called the York Charrette, in which York's elected officials belated and reluctantly participated... .

In a 2004 political event outside York's Colonial Courthouse replica, guest speakers and the crowd joined Carole King in a song dedicated to the John Kerry campaign - King's "You've Got a Friend." From left are City Councilwoman Toni Smith, actor/director Rob Reiner, King, actress Valerie Harper, County Commissioner Doug Kilgore and Mayor John Brenner. Background posts: Laurens kept Continental Congress together during Valley Forge winter and Events in 1777 helped tip American Revolution toward patriots.

The traveling band of celebrities in the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign unwittingly made a relevant choice of the Colonial Courthouse as a backdrop.

When Continental Congress met in the actual York County Court House in 1777-78, politics held sway.

But then, delegates were not troubled by Democratic and Republic ideologies but were often split according to whether they represented Northern or Southern colonies.

And just as today, this legislative body wasn't always effective... .

This is is a replica of the York County Court House, where Congress met in 1777-78 and adopted the Articles of Confederation. This action has led to the claim that York is the first capital of the United States. Background posts: Articles of Confederation's 230th birthday celebrated and Events in 1777 helped tip Revolution toward patriots.

I get queries dealing with the claim that York was the first capital of the United States fairly often.

For example, an e-mailer recently wondered:

"I'm curious as to whether you consider York to truly be the first capital of the United States, or simply the place where the nation was in essence birthed through the drafting of the Articles of Confederation."

It connects with discussion in a previous post about our fascination with "firsts."

Here's what I've written on the topic in the York Daily Record and in my "Nine Months in York Town" with my own views at the end:

Ben Chen, who was smuggled to America aboard the freighter Golden Venture, later became owner of a Springettsbury Township restaurant. He was among a group of Golden Venture passengers, detained for about four years in York County Prison, who remains in the region. The Golden Venture detainees are part of a series of immigrant groups who have called York County home over the years or who stayed in York "for a while" then moved on. Background post: Tips for genealogical research and York's Chestnut Street fortress bad symbol of York's past.

Sue Chehrenegar was born in York County and later moved from the area.

She has relatives here still and retains a strong interest in her native county.

She is a writer and has penned stories on York County, including a recent short history of York for www.lifeintheusa.com ... .

This map from 'East of Gettysburg' shows the location of various units in Jubal Early's division as his Confederates invaded York in the days before the Battle of Gettysburg. One of his commanders, Isaac E. Avery, directed a brigade that lodged in York for nearly two days. Avery was later mortally wounded in fighting at Gettysburg, and his burial site has reportedly been identified. Background post: Civil War in York County, by the numbers.

The Associated Press has reported that the burial site of Col. Isaac E. Avery probably has been identified in Hagerstown.

The Civil War colonel, temporary head of North Carolina brigade, was mortally wounded in fighting on Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg.

Before Gettysburg, Avery was in York... .

The Rev. Rene Kinard gives his final prayer after an outdoor baptism ceremony in the stream at the Dover Area Community Park during a Civil War re-enactment church service in 2005. The Dover area loves its history and has made some, too. Background post: York, Cumberland counties longtime companions.

In previous posts, we've seen that Dover borough in York County is more than the hometime of internationally acclaimed artist Jeffrey Koons.

And it's more than home to the celebrated Dover intelligent design trial, brought to public view again recently via "Nova."

I'll get to another noteworthy part of Dover in a minute... .

A recent post here, 3-D image might show Lincoln at Gettysburg, tells about the finding of a coveted stereoscope showing Abe Lincoln just before he delivered his famous address.

And a previous post, York County will long remember Abe's visit here, shows a photo with a similar discussion on whether that's Lincoln at Hanover Junction, where he changed trains to head west to deliver his speech.

Read and see what you think.

For those who want more on York countian John Richter's recent finding, here is a York Daily Record background story, published on Nov. 18, 2007:

Don Lehman rings the bicentennial bell and announces events for the York community's Nine Months in York Town celebration in front of the Colonial Courthouse in 2002. Background post: Who were these congressional visitors to York Town, anyway?

This year marks the 230th anniversary of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation.

Every year, the community gathers at the York County Court House replica - the Colonial Court House - on West Market Street to observe the anniversary of the approval of America's first framework of government.

This year, the York County Heritage Trust-sponsored event is set for 2-4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 18 and it will be marked by:

WSBA's Ruth O'Brien (right) joins Carly Simon on a couch in the radio station's lobby after singing with Simon in singer's visit to the WSBA/WARM station 2000. Background post: Memories of the Oaks pile up.

Today, old-timers remember the original, now-demolished
WSBA building as the place that 101 Ranch Boys and other stars performed lived the early days of radio.

When WSBA/WARM's station has run its course probably scores of years from now, Carly Simon's visit there in 2000 will likely come to mind... .

The Lions state convention took place at York's Valencia Ballroom in June 1938. This was typical of the scope of the gatherings taking place at the ballroom in those days. In addition to the dancing, the Valencia played host to industrial expositions, business shows and fashion shows. The ballroom continues to play host to dinners and meetings today. Background post about York's contributions to the national entertainment world: Cameron Mitchell, Craig Sheffer, Dixie Chick born here.

Some snippets from the book about the iconic South George Street ballroom:

Gen. Jubal Early, division commander of Confederate troops invading York in June 1863, stayed in this house in Big Mount, Paradise Township. After his night's stay in this still-standing, privately owned structure at the corner of Canal and Big Mount Road, Early headed to a surrendered York for a two-day occupation before Robert E. Lee recalled him to the vicinity a Gettysburg, where a battle was brewing. Background post: E-mailer queries about Confederate invasion.

Jubal Early's overnight stay at a York County home produced an amusing incident in the otherwise deadly serious Confederate invasion of York County.

When Early returned to the Big Mount home after visiting John B. Gordon in nearby Farmers, he found the widow Zinn had reserved supper for him.

Sitting with the woman and her teenage daughter, he enjoyed a fare of 15 to 20 Pennsylvania German dishes, particularly fresh summer vegetables.

The rest, from "East of Gettysburg":

Anita Meyers, keystonealarm@comcast.net, is new owner of the Ten Mile House in the village of Farmers, west of the York Airport.

The 6817 Lincoln Highway address is sometimes referred to as Helen's Antiques, named for the former occupant.

Anita is seeking information about the house. Early on, she understood that the house might have been Gen. John B. Gordon's headquarters on June 27, 1863, the night before his brigade entered York along with three other similar units from Jubal Early's division.

The yorktownsquare.com post, Where did Gen. Gordon accept York's surrender? explains the actual location of the site where York's fathers surrendered to the rebels.

Anita provided some information that might jar memories:

This good-natured mock surrender ceremony in 1988 served as a symbolic point of change in York's official view of the town's surrender to the Confederates 125 years earlier. When confronted with the demand by Confederate Gen. Jubal Early, played here by Richard Knapp of Red Lion, center, York Mayor William Althaus, left, declined. 'We are no longer unprotected, having the finest police department in the country,' Althaus said. Background posts: York finally coming to terms with its Civil War legacy and All Civil War posts from the start.

Should York's leaders have abandoned ship upon the Confederate approach in the days before the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863?

That decision to surrender became controversial the moment it was made, and the debate continues to this day.

The following are excerpts from my article in the York Daily Record some years ago that address the question in pro/con format:

Gen. John B. Gordon commanded a brigade of Confederate troops who marched across York County's heartland to the banks of the Susquehanna River in June 1863. Background post: Some hugged rebels, others hated captors during York raid .

The previous post, Where did Gen. Gordon accept York's surrender? touches on Gen. John B. Gordon's overnight stay at Jacob Altland's farmhouse in Farmers.

The farmhouse is intriguing because it was the location that housed a famous general, one of the Confederate Army's top ranked military commanders by war's end. But it's an important, albeit unsung, symbol locally as the site where York's surrender was consumated.

My introduction to "East of Gettysburg" explores the significance of the farmhouse as a symbol of York County's Civil War story that is just being told and the importance of the surrender in shaping the way York County sees itself:

The house where John B. Gordon accepted York's surrender in late-June 1863 stands today off Locust Lane near Farmers. This was a photograph which ran in The Gazette and Daily on the 100th anniversary of the Confederation occupation of York County. Background post: Archivist's finding sheds light on famous note among the roses.

I wrote her back that I've bet on another house as the Gordon headquarters on June 27-28, 1863. It's a still-standing house off Locust Lane, not visible from present-day Route 30. That was the location where a delegation from York consumated the town's surrender. The next day, Gordon's brigade and three others from Jubal Early's divsion invaded the undefended town.

My bet is based on three factors:

-- The records of Historic York, the county's architectural experts, say so.
-- That's the lore that goes with the house.
-- The house covers a cool spring.

I'll elaborate a bit more on the latter point:

Four-foot-tall "Little Johnny" is shown with 250-pound Charles Chester Stine during a visit to York Corporation during World War II. York Corporation played role in Manhattan Project and All Johnson Controls/York Corporation posts from the start and York County sacrificed on homefront and war front to aid Allies in World War II.

Hedy Lamarr made a well-publicized visit to York Safe & Lock to promote war bond sales in 1942.

A lot of people remember that visit.

York Corporation, another giant defense contractor, also brought in a celebrity to raise morale and investment in war bonds.

That was "Little Johnny" of Philip Morris cigarette fame... .

Melvin P. Livingston, a fourth great-grandson of Philip Livingston; and Elaine Livingston, a fifth great-granddaughter of Philip Livingston, read a short biography of the signer of the Declaration of Independence during the unveiling of a plaque in the Prospect Hill Cemetery in 2005. Declaration of Independence signer Philip Livingston died in York in 1778. Declaration signer's plaque mounted in obscurity

When Continental Congress delegate Philip Livingston died in office in York, he was laid to rest in the German Reformed Church Cemetery, later occupied by Woolworth's.

Years later, the New York delegate's body was moved to Prospect Hill Cemetery. Grandson Stephen Van Rensselaer erected a monument that stands today.

Although this once-prominent statesman's name has largedly been lost to history, he is still remembered by his family. Members of this still-prominent family - whose members include the Bush presidents and Eleanor Roosevelt - gather annually at his grave... .

Philip Livingston is one of two Declaration of Independence signers to be interred in York County. His marker stands in Prospect Hill Cemetery. The monument for the other signer, James Smith, rests in the First Presbyterian Church's Cemetery. This painting of Livingston, exhibited from time to time at the York County Heritage Trust, came as part of the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1927. It was posted outdoors, in Continental Square, with 15 other paintings. Background post: Declaration signer James Smith gains moment of fame.

So we find that a plaque feting Declaration of Independence signer Philip Livingston is available for public view in York's Zion United Church of Christ. And his tombstone stands in Prospect Hill Cemetery.

But that's small recognition for a member of one of America's most powerful families - a venerable family perhaps with fame and fortune comparable to the Kennedys today.

The delegate from New York was not feeling well in the days before his departure to York in 1778. In fact, it was believed he would not return to his native soil.

Here's what happened in York, excerpted from "Nine Months in York Town":

For years, shoppers at Woolworths in York could observe this marble marker. But where did it go? (Recommended background post: John Adams: 'Yesterday the greatest question was decided'.

Zion United Church of Christ, the York church with the 'stealth' steeple, plays host to a once-popular York landmark that has blended into obscurity... .

Noted author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin will be in town in November to speak on "Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln." For ticket information, contact the York County Heritage Trust at 717-848-1587 or www.yorkheritage.org. The book wonderfully tells how Lincoln molded varying cabinet voices into a team that guided the North through the Civil War. Background post: York countians, newspaper no friend of Abraham Lincoln

Doris Kearns Goodwin accessed a York countian's eye-witness account of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in her acclaimed "Team of Rivals."

She writes briefly about Lincoln's passage through York County on his way to deliver his famous address in November 1863.

As Lincoln delivered his speech, 15-year-old Hanoverian George Gitt was beneath the platform.

Goodwin drew on Gitt's account to paint the scene that day. He wrote that the crowd stilled as soon as Lincoln got on his feet:

POW Johann Schleicher of Austria, shown in this photograph, made this wood carving during his imprisonment at Camp Stewartstown in York County during World War II. It was the discovery of this carving that fueled York County resident Margaret Shaub's search for the creator, culminating in the invitation to several POWs to return to Stewartstown in 1992.

Wrightsville's Robert L. Arnold remembers losing a job to the German POWs doing seasonal work in 1944 and 1945 in southern York County.

"I was 11 years old, living in Jacobus, and along with three of My Brothers picked
string beans for the Hungerford Canning Factory," his note began, in response to a recent York Sunday News column.

A bus traveled along the trail from Violet Hill, south of York, picking up kids in the towns along the way.

The rest, in his words:

The southwest York County railroad community of Porters Sideling has made the news twice in recent days.

First, a recent Yorktownsquare.com post pointed readers to Scott Mingus' Cannonball blog post on the Confederate visit there in June 1863.

Then, a York Daily Record story indicated that Gwyneth Paltrow visited Porters in the 1980s.

The story stated:

Dale Danner, 90, of Penn Township, is a retired teacher from Spring Grove Area School District. He is Blythe Danner's cousin. Dale's wife, Mildred, said that when her father-in-law died in 1984, they had an auction of his farm in Porters Sideling, which Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow attended.

Actually, there was a third reference to Porters as well, and it involved Abe Lincoln. I toured the town and later wrote about it, as follows:

Leonard Zinn holds a photo of the group from 1949 during a recent Zinn family reunion near Hanover. Band members, from left are, George Long, Smokey Roberts, Cliff Brown, Leonard Zinn and Andy Reynolds.

Randy Shaffer of Manchester learned something from a recent York Daily Record story on the nationally known country and western group, the 101 Ranch Boys.

"I never knew that there were local members in the group. Especially people such as Smokey Roberts, mostly known for his underwater filming. I use to work next door to Smokey's film business and would have loved to pick his brain about the group."

Randy went on to explain how his grandfather, a meter reader for Edison Light and Power, would become distracted when doing readings at WSBA radio. The radio station then was located along the Susquehanna Trail, just north of York. WSBA's towers and transmitters are still located in the field beside the old station.

Randy's grandfather always seemed to be there on live performance days.

"One day when the 101 Ranch Boys were
performing, I guess he was watching a little longer than normal. He was really embarrassed when the
announcer said, 'If the Edison Power Company is missing a Meter Reader, you can find him here in
the studio watching the performance.' The announcer was most likely Wayne Trout."

Randy also had a question that readers might be able to answer:

John Smith drew this Susquehannock Indian after his visit to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in 1608. He described them as giants and claimed one warrior's calf measures 27 inches around.

Many in York County are relieved that a developer did not win the bid for the Oscar Leibhart property in Long Level near the Susquehanna River.

Researchers believe Susquehannock Indians built a village on the site around 1665.

Who were the Susquehannocks?

For several entries of early York County history, see entries from "Never to be Forgotten". But here's a sneak preview:

The first York County (Pa.) Jail, seen here in a Lewis Miller drawing, came under fire from a group of prisoners of war in May 1778. British prisoners in the American Revolution complained about conditions. The jail was located at South George and East King Streets. (Courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

The York community is pondering uses for the former York County prison on Chestnut Street now that it's up for sale.

Makes one think. Where was York County's first prison?

The answer is at the corner of South George and East King Street in York, just down the street from York County's Centre Square Court House.

Many people are aware that British prisoners were detained at Camp Security, but this first county lockup housed its share, too.

In fact, allegedly poor conditions there attracted the attention of Continental Congress, then meeting in York. "Nine Months in York Town" describes the Brits' complaints this way:

John Wilkes Booth ... 'Jack had a yellow streak in him.'

John Wilkes Booth didn't have a very good reputation as a schoolboy in York.

And before he later committed his dastardly assassination of Abraham Lincoln, he dragged a friend and former York County resident into his troubles... .

Clarence Cobb was a schoolmate during Jack Booth's few weeks in a private boy's school in York.

"Jack had a yellow streak in him," that schoolmate, Clarence F. Cobb, later said.

Scott Mingus writes about the Confederate occupation of York County in the most recent edition of Gettysburg magazine.

Public reaction to the Confederate invasion of York was all over the map because emotions and political views of the citizenry were all over the map.

People were in disagreement over the surrender of the largely undefended town to the 6,000-plus invading Confederates in late-June 1863, in the first place.

And when the grimy, often shoeless soldiers marched into town, their entry was met with markedly different reactions.

Some people cried as the enemy camped throughout the town. Others openly socialized with their captors. Some hid behind closed shutters. Some reluctantly complied to the rebel requests, particularly their requisition of large quantities of food, clothing and money. Some complied out of expediency.

In an article in the most recent edition of Gettysburg Magazine on the occupation of York, Scott Mingus uncovers reactions not published up to this point:

E-mailer Jack Stuckey has raised several good questions about the Confederate occupation of York in late-June of 1863.

I'll put up some of the questions with answers: ...

Lige White's Comanches were in the vanguard of the Confederate invasion of York County in late June 1863. Here, the mounted unit rides in the vicinity of Hanover. In his new blog Cannonball, Scott Mingus will draw on his research about the rebel movement across the southern tier of Pennsylvania to the Susquehanna River. That research will result in book "Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition," due out later this year. (Courtesy, Hanover Public Library.)

In a recent post , I touted Scott Mingus' new regional Civil War blog, Cannonball.

I wanted to give some for insight into his insight local Civil War matters: ...

Cassandra Morris Small witnessed the Confederate invasion of York in late-June 1863. Letters she wrote about the occupation to a cousin remain valuable primary sources detailing the rebel occupation in the wake of the borough's surrender. (Courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

A group of living historians have been making the rounds in York and Adams counties recently.

As an example, The PA Past Players will be at Brown's Orchards & Farm Market, Loganville, from noon to 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17.

As part of the Pennsylvania Civil War Trails Program, these historical interpreters have been trained to educate others about this region and the Civil War.

The presence of these characters has special meaning in York County. For years, York's surrender to the Confederates has clouded discussion about the York's area's Civil War past.

In the past 20 years, recognition of Civil War achievements, long overshadowed by the questionable surrender and humilitating Confederate occupation, have been increasingly part of community discourse. These living historians are further evidence of this trend.

Supplied by the PA Past Players, the following are brief bios of people from history portrayed by the group:

Workers dig trenches near Wrightsville to provide defenders leverage against an anticipated Confederate offense to capture the bridge spanning the Susquehanna River between York and Lancaster counties. But the ditches did little good as the outmanned soldiers in blue folded to the Confederate assault of Wrightsville in late June 1863. Scott Mingus, author of a soon-to-be-published book on the Confederate raid, has begun blogging on Civil War topics at http://www.yorkblog.com/cannonball/ .

Yorkblog.com's newest blog, Cannonball, will feature posts from Scott Mingus on the Civil War.

Scott has written two books on the Civil War already, and he has written a soon-to-be published major work on Gordon's Expedition through Chambersburg, Gettysburg and York on to the Wrightsville bridge in late June 1863.

His day job is in research and development for Glatfelter paper, and he brings those investigative skills and a lively writing style to his history work.

As an example of his thoroughness and precision, this was his response to my query about the strength of John B. Gordon's force as it fronted Wrightsville and its coveted bridge on June 28, 1863:

Ruthe Craley, right, presents Lady Bird Johnson with a memento from the York Symphony Orchestra. This photograph appeared in the YSO's 75th anniversary book.

A York Sunday News editorial pointed out all of the Great Depression-spawned organizations that add so much to the York community today.

We also note in the editorial that at least four other great organizations grew up in another difficult time: the post-Civil War era. The York Benevolent Association, York Collegiate Institute (forerunner of York College), Children's Home of York and York Hospital highlight that list.

Indeed, one man's name has been linked to all four - Samuel Small, the "S." of P.A. and S. Small, the great merchants of York in the 1800s... .

Is the tall man with the stovepipe hat, center background, President Abraham Lincoln at Hanover Junction? The world might never know. But a stone Abe (see below) will soon adorn a garden near the station.

For years, people have pondered the old black-and-white photograph.

Is that Abraham Lincoln standing there with the stovepipe hat at the Hanover Junction train station?

No, some say, that was A.W. Eichelberger, president of the Hanover Branch Railroad.

Well, Abe was there, no doubt... .

Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson visited Dallastown in 1966 to help observe that borough's 100th anniversary.

Some York countians took special note of Lady Bird Johnson's recent death.

They met her when she and her husband, President Lyndon Johnson, visited Dallastown as part of that borough's 100th anniversary.

Neiman Craley, York's sole Democratic congressman in the past 50 or so years, corralled him for the ceremony... .

Well, Johnson's speech delivered that day can be accessed.

The Texan liked to visit Pennsylvania:

"We look forward to your hospitality, your friendship, and your beautiful countryside," he told Dallastownians.

And he gave those assembled a little history lesson:

A Life magazine artist captured the York White Roses in this 1941 painting. This scene is probably at York's Martin-Parry field. After World War II, the York White Roses played its games at Memorial Stadium, constructed to honor those who died and served in the war. It was at Memorial Stadium that Brooks Robinson made his major league debut on June 3, 1955.

I took a swing in a York Sunday News column about the night that Brooks Robinson broke into professional baseball. That was the night that P.A. announcer George Trout got his name wrong and the newspapers had him as second baseman "Bob" Robinson for the next two weeks.

But I particularly like the anecdote from shortstop Curly Holtzapple, the other half of the double play duo with Brooks, that I included with my column:

In the late 1980s, Richard M. Nixon walked a trail in the county park near Jacobus named in his honor. York Barbell founder Bob Hoffman donated land for the park in 1968. After the visit, Nixon donated $5,000 to the park and regularly contributed until his death in 1994. Richard Nixon had roots in York County. His parents moved to a Menges Mills farm in 1946 and stayed there eight years. Richard visited his parents several times in that interval.

In preparation for its 40th anniversary in 2008, York County parks, set to celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, is seeking submissions in the creation of a "History of York County Parks" book.

That means any memorabilia, pictures, documents, stories or artifacts linked to the parks from their beginning... .

"Doctors say Lincoln had severe smallpox when he delivered Gettysburg Address," the headline on the AP story read.

That seemed like old news.

I checked and it was.

Gettysburg physician Bradley R. Hoch explored Lincoln's illness in his "The Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania", published in 2001. And he involved York County's Hanover Junction in his explanation.

As Lincoln was returning to Washington, D.C., via Hanover Junction, he waited for a connecting train. Hoch wrote:

York officials produced this broadside to awaken the citizenry when Confederate forces approached the Mason-Dixon Line in August and September 1862. (Courtesy, York County Heritage Trust)

The Battle of Antietam raged near Sharpburg, Md., but its impact was felt --and heard -- about 75 miles way in York.

Here are some of the connections between Antietam and York, adapted from my "East of Gettysburg":

Larry and Constance Clowers, of Gettysburg, portray Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia. They do hundreds of programs each year, including a recent appearance in Hanover. Here, they play their roles during lunch at a McDonald's in York.

When U.S. Grant visited York County recently Channeling the Grants, it wasn't the first time he graced its borders.

Just as did his 21st-century re-enacting counterpart, the real U.S. Grant, the newly elected U.S. president, stopped in Hanover on his way to his first Gettysburg visit.

A defective locomotive caused the unscheduled stop.

(Grant was following the same path as Abraham Lincoln did five years before, moving along the Hanover Branch Railroad between Hanover Junction and Gettysburg. When one views the bucolic York/Adams farmland where the railroad ran, it's hard to imagine that the world's most famous people passed through there.)

We pick up the account about Grant's Hanover visit from "Never to be Forgotten" local history book here:

Leonard Pitts Jr., whose column appears regularly in the York Daily Record/Sunday News, speaks before a full house at Crispus Attucks.

Syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts proved to be as thought-provoking as a speaker as he is as a writer in a recent speech in York. See Pitts gets them talking.

His comments drew a standing ovation at York County Community Against Racism's annual meeting. See YCCAR.

I've broken out a couple of main points below, followed by an edited text of his speech.

Provocative point: I was 19 years old and I liked my anger. If we are honest with ourselves, most of us will admit that there is something empowering about being angry, about being the righteous person who has been done wrong. Being the victim feels good. I also liked the guilt I saw in Dave. Because when you’re angry, seeing guilt in those you’re angry at validates you, confirms you in your sense of being the injured party, the victim.

As I say, I was a teenager and so, a little shortsighted. I didn’t understand that anger is a corrosive thing... . But ultimately guilt is as much a corrosive as anger. After all, anything that makes you feel guilty you will eventually resent.

Incisive excerpt: You know what? Sometimes, history hurts. We need to understand that truth and make peace with it. We all want to partake of history when it makes us feel good, when it flatters our national pride. We have no problem bearing witness for the D-Day invasion and believing this says something about us as a nation. Bearing witness for Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill and believing this says something about us as a nation, bearing witness for the Marshall Plan, the moon landing, and the First Amendment and believing these things say something about us as a nation.

We are less inclined to bear witness for slave catchers and men in white hoods, for voting rights violations and restrictive housing covenants, less likely to want to believe that these things, too, say something about us as a nation. But they do.

Provocative conclusion: If you are an American, can you stare into that picture and know that you are heir to a history that is pain and promise, trauma and triumph and you can’t choose the one and ignore the other. You are not heir to part of the story. You are heir to the whole story.

James Cameron told me that once, in Israel he saw an inscription that said, “To remember is salvation. To forget is exile.”

“An oppressed people,” he told me, “find their strength and identity in remembering their passages.”

Will you help me bear witness for that?

His speech follows:

President Bush sought - and gained - permission from Joel Toner, left, to start a Harley. Bush observed that Toner had a cool job. Toner said: "I agreed and said, ‘Yeah, I think I got one of the greatest jobs in the world.’”

Unlike his predecessors Reagan and Clinton, President George Bush got on the hawg during a visit on Aug. 16, 2006 to Harley-Davidson's York plant.

Some bullet points about his visit:

Scene setter from York Daily Record: "At Harley-Davidson’s Springettsbury Township plant, George W. Bush might as well have been a rock star. Donning sunglasses similar to ones worn by U2 front man Bono, President Bush strutted into the motorcycle maker’s Softail plant Wednesday afternoon for a two-hour foray. He stopped to sign an autograph, frequently shook hands with workers and later straddled a shiny blue-and-white Softail Deluxe, revving the engine to workers’ screams and hollers." ...

In 1987, Ronald Reagan visited the Harley-Davidson motorcycle plant in Springettsbury Township. Plant employee Eric Myers, right, is sitting on the motorcycle. Employees remember Reagan's charisma during the visit.

Harley-Davidson workers in York have struck the company three times since 1969.

Still, three U.S. presidents have visited York's Harley plant in the past 20 years to, among other things, seek a political advantage by linking up with the venerable American cycle company.

Some bullet points from the first of these presidential pilgrimages:

Re-enactor portrays Lafayette
under Washington's gaze.

Shivers from a chilled audience at the unveiling of a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette in York last week might have overshadowed insightful comments from France's consul general.

Jean-Pierre Allex spoke of the generations-long interplay between France and America building on a foundation between best friends Lafayette and George Washington.

That relationship included French support in the American Revolution and delivery of the Statue of Liberty. America reciprocated by sacrificing thousands of lives on French soil during two world wars. (This included the deaths of maybe 200 fighting men from York County.)

But, almost in passing, the diplomat made a powerful point... .

The statue of Marquis de Lafayette is York's newest.

The city’s unveiling of the Marquis de Lafayette’s statue raises the question about what historic figure York should recognize next? http://www.ydr.com/search/ci_5105091

The city, using the artistic talents of sculptor Lorann Jacobs, is embarking on a program to build cultural history and tourism via the erection of statues and monuments.

Who’s next? ...

John F. Kennedy campaigns in 1960 for the presidency in York. (See list of known presidential visits below.) Background post: Ted Kennedy's visit to York comes almost 50 years after JFK's and Hillary Clinton's rally site in York, Pa., a little odd.

There is a telling story about President James Buchanan, who regularly passed through York County on his way to his home, Wheatland, in Lancaster County.

His practice was to leave his conveyance and walk across the mile-long covered bridge connecting York County and Lancaster. One trip in 1859, he slipped, fell, got up and, unfazed, continued his walk.

Some would say there was a certain poetic justice in his fall. His inability as president, and as a particularly weak president to boot, to hold the union together ultimately resulted in the Civil War and the rebel army's visit to York County in late June 1863. The very bridge itself slipped into the Susquehanna River after Union troops torched it to stop the Confederates from crossing.

After his fall, Buchanan returned through York "in excellent health and fine spirits," a newspaper reported. Too bad, many Americans then believed, that he didn't depart from office with his country in similar circumstances.

Buchanan's links to York made his excursions through the region public, even down to coverage of his slips. But it's impossible to pin down a complete list of prospective, actual or former presidents who visited York and Adams counties.

Here is a sampling of visits to York and Adams counties from those who occupied the White House:

The massive fire at Adhesives Research was one of the top York County stories in 2006.

The York Sunday News ran this list, compiled from the newspaper staff, of the top stories of 2006.

Take a gander at the following and see what you think:

This turn-of-the-20th-century building was originally used to burn refuse from York city and York Hospital. It's been converted into a crematorium.

Last post told the story of Revolutionary War patriot Henry Laurens, apparently the first American to be officially cremated in the 1790s.

Two hundred years later, the practice is gaining visibility around York, where Laurens dwelt for nine months as president of Continental Congress in 1777-78.

In 2000, a small brick building with a large smokestack on Kings Mill Road became a crematorium.

For years, it had been rumored that the then-spooky building was originally used for burning bodies.

A 1955 newspaper article gives a glimpse at how that legend grew. As the story goes, a south-side neighborhood gang lurked around the building on Halloween night. Some gang members who peeked in a window reportedly saw a "job" under way.

Thus ended their sleep for a month... .

Unsung Revolutionary War hero Henry Laurens was reportedly the first American to be cremated.

Southern Carolinian Henry Laurens was not one of the younger men to serve in the Continental Congress during its nine-month stay in York County.

(See discussion of ages of American Revolution's heroes at American Revolution was a young man's fight..)

By the end of 1777, he was 53.

But few of the nation's founders, young or hold, suffered more in the war than Henry Laurens... .

Construction workers recently uncovered this stone arch. York's 1890s-vintage train station is seen in the background.

The stone arched vault uncovered in construction of York’s baseball stadium has drawn lots of interest. http://www.ydr.com/search/ci_4683299

Research is under way on the 3-foot-high arch. Conjecture about uses for the vault or tunnel have ranged from ice storage to a tunnel to deliver coal. (Click on Yahoo group at http://www.trainweb.org/rrofyork.)

One email conjectured that the arch was part of the old railroad station, the predecessor to the 1890s station that has housed Blattner photo business for years... .

Interesting points flew like sharpshooter bullets during an afternoon of activities surrounding the 143rd anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, Sunday, Nov. 19.

Consider:

1. The Battle of Gettysburg was the greatest man-made disaster in American history.

2. Immediately after the battle, 31 surgeons faced a caseload of wounded soldiers numbering 21,000.

3. Abraham Lincoln wrote half of the Gettysburg Address before leaving Washington, D.C., and half at the Wills House, where he stayed in Gettysburg. He likely didn't write it on the train to Gettysburg. (His train passed through southern York County and, after a train change at Hanover Junction, through western York.) He probably wrote a second draft -- the copy he used for his address -- the morning of the speech at the Wills House.

4. Lincoln had a mild case of smallpox during his Gettysburg stay and probably spread it around via scores of handshakes.

5. Only a handful of newspapers immediately recognized the greatness of the speech, and that was still the case two years later as he was eulogized.

6. Edward Everett did his normal captivating job in delivering his two-plus hour speech. In those days, long, eloquent speeches drew large crowds.

7. The aged Everett's bladder problems prompted the pitching of a tent near where he delivered his long speech. It provided him privacy to take care of his needs... .

Look mom, only one hand. Legendary bodybuilder John Grimek lifts a York Barbell. Grimek scored a ninth-place finish in heavyweight competition in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Everytime you go into John D. Fair's "Muscletown USA" (Penn State Press), you come out with fascinating stuff about York county weightlifting history.

It's one of those books that keeps providing tidbits, even after you've read it. The book focuses around the life and times of weightlifting and bodybuilding guru Bob Hoffman and his legacy company, York Barbell.

For example:

It's probably the most unsung of the unsung historic buildings in York County.

The York Valley Inn, longtime York-area landmark, stands today.

But it's forgotten, tucked into Susquehanna Memorial Gardens cemetery in York Township.

But its overlooked status might change.

Back to that in a moment... .

North Carolinian John Mason is looking for information on an ancestor who might have witnessed the Confederate raid on Hanover Junction in June 1863.

Mason’s great grandfather, John S. Henry, began his career as an apprentice telegrapher at the Hanover Junction station in 1863.

John Trone was the best-known York County telegrapher who fled the Confederate raid or at least the one who left behind the most words about his adventures when the gray-clad troops invaded York County before the Battle of Gettysburg... .

This bungalow was reportedly a leftover building from Camp Security.

J.W. Richley’s memoirs, “Obstacles No Barrier," offers a full tank of information about the advent of the automobile in York County.

But the early-20th-century auto dealer included a wonderful nugget of information in his 1951 autobiography about Camp Security, a Revolutionary War POW compound http://www.yorkblog.com/archives/2006/08/post_50.html ... .

On the York County history trail ...

In a visit near the Springettsbury Township site earlier this year, the green field with a rise to its rear just sparkled.

But the site features another point of interest. I stood near the Schultz house, a multi-story structure that is one of the oldest in York County and certain to be part of any park if preservationists prevail versus the developer.

Its history ran through my mind: ...

If a newspaper had tried to cover York in the 30-day period in the fall of 1777, its staff would have gone nuts.

Consultant and author David Rusk provided a slew of stats during a speech this week.

They supported his overarching point: The abilities of classmates are a prime factor behind a particular student's achievement in the classroom. If those of low income or abilities are segregated by zoning laws and other such public policies, then achievement is difficult. If low-income students are spread out into more diverse classes, they'll perform as well as other students.

Rusk gave one possible exception: