Recently in Unsung/obscure sites Category

York Township's Springwood Pool sustained considerable damage in the flood of 1933. The pool, reachable via the Ma & Pa Railroad, was located along Springwood Road, between Yoe and Chapel Church Road. Background posts: Old Ma & Pa Railroad trestle may again carry passengers - on bicyles - some day and 19th-century mines gave Ore Valley its name and One-room schools: 'That's when things were good'.

The post - Springwood Pool and its sloping sides: 'I remember so well how cold it was' - raised questions in reader Lynda Stoddard's mind about the old pool's ownership.

"... (W)e were told our grandparents at one time owned the park, 1920 or 1930 and there was a story passed around about a shooting, which we have never been able to find anything out about, could have been a rumor ...," she commented.

She has pictures of the park, along Springwood Road, provided by her grandparents.

A York Township history says this about the ownership:

York's Martin Library CEO Bill Schell dates Martin Library's old doors to 1935, the year the library first opened. Here, they rest on the floor inside Martin. Background posts: York County libraries offer serendipity - and have done so for decades and Colonial York, Pa.? No, try Victorian York, Pa and York County library site brings together links for local research.

For years, some people struggled to open those weighty mahogany doors leading into Martin Library.

Their replacement with lighter doors leads to the question of what to do with the older ones.

Library officials have put that out to community.

The best answer is: Keep them. Or at least make sure they're publicly displayed somewhere.

Those are not just any doors... .

Downtown York, as it looked during the heyday of the southside Shady Dell - and counterpart White Oak Park on the northside - in the 1960s. (See photo from site below.) York's Shady Dell for sale: 'People don't like to see their past vanish' and York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks and Interstate lined out Melvin's swan song

Tom Anderson, aka Shady Del Knight, e-mailed to note that his Web site "Shady Dell Music & Memories" is packed with stories and information about the southside York teen hangout.

And it will celebrate its first birthday next month.

This site lead-in summarizes how Anderson, who grew up in York County, is populating the site:

Jefferson's newsy Center Square, as it appeared in the early 1900s. Interestingly, roads around the southwestern York County square were first paved only about 80 years ago at a time when many roads around the county were getting their first asphalt coat. Politically active townsman Jenkins Carothers made good use of this square. Background posts: Washington Township, Jefferson Borough, Madison Avenue. How about an Obama Street in York County? and Historical marker to soon point to Jefferson square's famous visitors and Accidental death hits York County family - again and Laurice Elehwany wrote with Jefferson in mind.

Charles H.Glatfelter is one of those prominent Glatfelters featured in last post: A leading York County name: 'Keeping it in family is the Glatfelter way'.

The retired Gettysburg College history professor's work on any topic is invariably the most reliable reference a historian can use.

So when he writes a controversial politico from Jefferson in his 1966 history of that borough, you know it's something to build from.

That's what I did in writing about the colorfully named Jenkins Carothers and his actions in and around Jefferson's historic square, actions that provide lessons for today.

My York Sunday News column (6/14/09), written to tell about an upcoming Civil War market dedication, focused on the mad hatter Carothers... .

The grassy Center Square in Jefferson has been a gathering place for years. That monument in the background is a rare statue in York County devoted to those who served in World War I. A historical marker will be dedicated at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 27. The Codorus Valley Area Historical Society is sponsoring the dedication that will observe this Civil War event, set for Center Square. Scott Mingus will be the guest speaker. Background posts: Washington Township, Jefferson Borough, Madison Avenue. How about an Obama Street in York County? and Abe Lincoln stopped at Hanover station:"We want to preserve history ... so it doesn't disappear' and Abandoned Codorus railroad not just any abandoned railroad.

When a new Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker observing Confederate and Union troop movement through Jefferson is dedicated later this month, it will mark just one of many times the southwestern York County borough and its square have made history.

Squares, by definition, are places where townspeople gather and do good things or dumb things - or places where outside forces do things to a community.

But not all town squares are equal.

And Jefferson's Center Square is more than equal, among many in York/Adams.

For example: ... .

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... .

The former Hudson building on York's South George Street is now home to Junior Achievement's Exchange City, a program that teaches students about American enterprise and entrepreneurism. The former car dealership housed many things, including a farmers market, before it was restored to its original appearance earlier this decade. Background posts: York's Crispus Attucks Center had intriguing start and Stetler Dodge transition indicative of other York-area changes and Dempwolf's Old Man Winter in York: 'It should last another hundred years'.

Take your pick of the memories linked to the old Hudson car dealership in the 600 block of York's South George Street.

It has been used for so many things, including a replacement for the demolished York City Market in the 1960s.

We'll provide two views in this post.

E-mailer JoAnne Everhart (jeverhart1@comcast.net), a sharp observer of the city, brings us back to the building in the decade following the late 1950s. And then York Daily Record account tells about events surrounding its re-opening as Junior Achievement's Exchange City.

First from JoAnne: ... .

Earlier this decade, work on the old Hudson building at 610 S. George St. had progressed so that the newly stained brick on the building's right, or north side, stood out compared to its yet-to-be-completed front. At one time, the former car dealership also served as a farm market, specifically a replacement for the old York City Market after it was demolished. Background posts: 'I still have my memories ... of the bustling downtown York business district' and Often forgotten: Achievements of people named on building facades and Susan Byrnes: Putting a health passion into action.

E-mailer JoAnne Everhart (jeverhart1@comcast.net) was in elementary school when the York City Market house was demolished in the 1960s.

But she remembers it well to this day.

Here is her excerpted story about the grand market building with its enormous tower: ... .

Spring Garden's Hess School is seen after it was renovated into a private residence in the 1950s. The family of Col. William Beckner, prominent local Civil Defense coordinator during World War II, occupied the former Rathton Road schoolhouse at that time. (See additional photo below.) Background posts: Plaques offer historic insight into 'The Swamp,' before Sovereign Bank Stadium drained it and How one York County school district emerged from 1950s merger and One-room school reunions preserve educational culture of thousands of York countians.

York Town Square reader JoAnne Everhart appears to have answered the question of why the former Hess School in the 400 block of Rathton Road ceased to operate as a school.

Martin Beckner, who lived in the school after it became a private residence, had wondered what happened to the school between 1926 and 1936, the year it was renovated.

The short answer, according to Joanne Everhart: When the Springdale area was consolidated into York City, Hess School students started attending Jackson Elementary.

Here's Joanne's excerpted response, which includes wonderful insight about the lives of students in those days:

The face of 'Old Man Winter' on the side of famed York, Pa., architect John Augustus Dempwolf's own house was so deteriorated that it could not be saved. So, Mark Derrig, sculptor, and Ken Oatman, mason, created a replica. Dempwolf windmill graced north bank of York's Codorus Creek in 1870s and Fawn Township's magnificent Centre Presbyterian Church worthy of a looksee and Dempwolf architects built York's skyline, history.

John Augustus Dempwolf designed his own home on South George Street in York in 1886.

Historian and fellow blogger Scott Butcher wrote in "York, America's Historic Crossroads" the he also designed several other homes occupied by neighbors.

"Designed in the Queen Anne Style, one of the most notable features of the building is the ornamental facade featuring 'Old Man Winter,' he wrote.

Well, "Old Man Winter" has suffered frostbite on many occasion since, and he was very long of tooth... .

Mindi's Place at Market & Penn Street Farmers Market is the primary eatery in York, Pa.'s, west end markethouse. The market is the oldest of five covered markethouses that operated in York. Background posts: There were 5, count 'em, 5 York markets and The ornate, but now-demolished York City Market House in living color and Don't know much about York County history? Part III

They had a growing population and no market to service those folks plus farmers in that end of York, west of the Codorus Creek.

So they created what is today called the Market and Penn Street Farmers Market.

And today, the market is again trying to solve a problem... .

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? ...

The log-and-mortar George Heiss House, near Railroad, Pa., was built about 1830. It was disassembled in 1993 with the hope it would be restored nearby along the York County Heritage Rail Trail. Background posts: Hames made in Shrewsbury Township's Hametown fueled early American horsepower and Old Shrewsbury house disappearing hand-hewn log, square nail at a time and Is mystery railroad the old Shrewsbury narrow gauge?

The Shrewsbury Area Preservation Society disassembled the log George Heiss House in 1993 with the idea to rebuild it as an attraction.

Whatever happened to the restoration efforts?

The "Codorus Valley Chronicles" provided the answer in its May edition:

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... .

Event-goers examine hand grenades mounted in a 1941 Willys Overland General Purpose Vehicle. The Jeep was among the military and police vehicles on display outside the York Police Museum on the first block of West Market Street in 2004. Police Heritage Museum Director John Stine told the York Daily Record/Sunday News that the event was created "To bring attention to the downtown and the museum." Background posts: Conewago crossing near Manchester a hot spot, literally, for years and Nazis murdered downed WWII airman from York, Part V and Longtime district justice: 'You can wait for my book' and Errant pickup driver knocked on-duty fire policeman out of his shoes.

Last week, former York countian Brian Joseph Buss died when his air tanker plane crashed into a Utah mountain range en route to fight a wildfire.

And Dallastown graduate and Navy Airman Gatlin Scott Green died while working on a ship near Singapore.

These heroes who died in the line of duty may soon be forgotten by the general public... .

The Gazette and Daily reported a raid of a bawdy house in the Conewago Heights area between Manchester and York Haven in 1918. Preparing for the raid was the easy part. Bringing the proprietors into custody proved to be much more difficult and dangerous. Background posts: Conewago crossing near Manchester hot spot for years - Part I and Conewago crossing - Part II and Conewago crossing - Part III.

The Conewago crossing near Manchester has seen Confederate raiders and contented sunbathers.

Conewago Inn-goers have long sipped prized turtle soup. A 750-pound snapping turtle, carved with a chainsaw, posing in that area can evoke a thought about how many bowls of soup his real-life counterpart would have produced.

For years, children licked ice cream cones from Elm Beach's concession stand. Cold Springs Park played host to picnickers by the thousands.

Trolleys ran near there. Trains too.

And the crossing has long served as the symbolic boundary between York-oriented folks and Harrisburg-leaning commuters.

It's an example how so much has happened at a single point in York County. Multiply that point by thousands and you have a rich history.

And as the following story shows, crime is not just a city problem. For years, newspaper headlines have related rural misdeeds - often with dangerous implications - even in recreational areas such as the Conewago crossing.

The crossing was abuzz after a police raid on a house of ill repute - the "Liberty Bell" - in the spring of 1919... .

Bowman's Hill (New Hope, Pa.) Wildflower Preserve reps enjoy Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve in Lancaster County recently. Backgrounds posts: York County still home to unvarnished beauty, On York County parks, Susquehannocks and carved river rocks and With hot controversy cooled, Highpoint offers Susquehanna River view for the ages.

Man has converged on the Shenk's Ferry glen that houses an impressive wildflower preserve for four or more centuries.

American Indians built lodges near this southern Lancaster County site, and their European successors built a plant to make charcoal, consuming trees by the thousands. They mined iron ore and built a dynamite factory, site of a blast that killed 11 men in 1906.

Today, Grubb Run flows through a culvert under railroad tracks at its west end.

A larger culvert allows the creek to run through another railroad embankment in its east end. That tunnel is known locally as "The Culvert." ...

The Orange Car's name, seller of fresh fruit, has been on the former Western Maryland railroad station, since 1938. Background posts: Collector searching for Western Maryland Railroad memorabilia and Jackson Township, Arm & Hammer's proposed new home, again in the middle of things and York County railroading: 'Something that gets into your blood'.

Dick Boyd writes in his memoir "The Bridge" about an oft-repeated experience growing up in York County.

"Christmas festivities were held at my grandparents Glen Rock farm and were always very special. One aunt was single and lived there. Each Christmas, she brough us candy, oranges, tangerines, and nuts. ... One year, I counted a hundred differents kinds of fruits, nuts and candy."

The source of such wintertime fruit and other delicacies for years and years around York County was the Orange Car on York's Roosevelt Avenue... .

Glenn Grove of Delta is a member the Welsh choir Cor Rehoboth and a tour guide of Welsh burial markers made of slate. Here, he walks through the Slateville Presbyterian Church cemetery. 'Er Cof' is Welsh for 'In Memory.' Background posts: Stone structures tell York countians how their ancestors lived and Delta-Peach Bottom slate shingles: 'Nothing works as good as this' and Old York County town jails: 'They're kind of hidden history'.

Those intrigued by the Welsh in southeastern York County will have a chance this weekend - May 2-3 - to worship and sing with these actual and spiritual sons and daughters of slateworkers.

Homecoming this weekend will be centered in and around the Rehoboth Welsh Chapel.

"Twice a year a Gymanfa Ganu, or Welsh singing festival, is held - on the first Sunday in May and the second Sunday in October," the Delta Welsh Heritage Web site states.

"Visitors come from all over North America." ...

These ornate iron pieces atop the York Elks porch are the type of fine metal work adorning the organization's 233 N. George St. building. (See related image below.) Background posts: York County ... 'A smorgasbord of architectural styles' and York County's connection to the French Quarter and Collector searching for Western Maryland Railroad memorabilia and When the bridge over the Codorus moved

My recent post - Plaques offer historic insight into 'The Swamp,' before Sovereign Bank Stadium drained it - provides a historic look at York's Arch Street area.

But for those parking at Small's Field, north of Codorus Creek, or in the downtown area, south of the creek, their stroll to the park affords many landmarks scrutinize.

My York Sunday News column for July 1, 2007, covers interesting sites as one moves into or out of The Swamp... .

Students at the Second Arch Street Public School are ready to celebrate May Day in 1952. The old one-room school, then used as a church, was torn down to make way for the children's play area of Sovereign Bank Stadium. Background posts: Season 2 of York's long comeback campaign, York has Brooks Robinson statue. Where's Baltimore's? and Sovereign Bank Stadium posts from the start.

This walking tour highlights some of the rail-related and other historic sites that marked the stadium area.

For example, the outer stadium fence that parallels the outfield fence tells about: ... .

The demolished building in foreground is the bath house for Springwood Park near Yoe in the aftermath of the Flood of 1933. According to the booklet 'Picture Memories, York Flood 1933,' Mill Creek's waters carried the structure 100 feet off its foundation, and it broke into two sections when it struck a telephone pole. Half of it is in the swimming pole, at left. Nothing is left of Springwood Park, but the still-standing house, right, helps locate it. The house is identifiable today by its distinctive second-story windows. Background posts: Old Ma & Pa Railroad trestle may again carry passengers - on bicyles - some day and 19th-century mines gave Ore Valley its name and One-room schools: 'That's when things were good'.

The pool's sloping sides and cold, cold water make it memorable.

That was the 125-foot by 75-foot Springwood Pool along the road by the same name in York Township, between Chapel Church Road and Yoe.

It operated from the 1920s until 1954... .

Tom Fadely of Fadely's Auto Masters on West Market Street in West Manchester Township, is seen near a mural of the former Lincoln Highway Garage in 2004. Fadely was an admirer of the landmark garage, demolished to make way for a convenience store. York County artist Gary Gladfelter painted the mural, which reflects the cross-town Springettsbury Township garage in the 1930s. (See pictures of the garage from 1939 and 1950 below.) Background posts: Photo of trolley on Lincoln Highway passing through York's Continental Square and U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way, Part III: 'We would watch the dragsters on trailers head for Thomasville' and All Lincoln Highway posts from the start.

Check out a Lincoln Highway Web site, destined to be a repository for photos and postcards of the old coast-to-coast highway that passed through the heart of York County.

The road today in York County is known as Route 462 or Market Street or Route 30 or even sometimes the Lincoln Highway.

There's some York County material in there including a nifty map of the highway between Lancaster and Gettysburg... .

The original Outdoor Country Club stands in The Avenues in this photo from the publication, "Northwest York, 1884-1984." Background posts: On Eisenhower's Country Club of York golf round: He turned in a 'commendable score' and Exploring ornate Springdale, sunken ballroom, golf course and all and Why is Hanover Country Club in Abbottstown? and 'Lady Linden', of York's Avenues neighborhood, gets full makeover

Many people know that the Country Club of York grew on fertile land now covered by York College of Pennsylvania.

But where did the York-area's other major country club - the Outdoor Country Club begin? Some might think its was birthed when it took over the Country Club of York's property when that group moved to its current location.

Actually, the Outdoor Country Club began in 1892 in the trolley suburbs now called The Avenues, according to the booklet "Northwest York" ... .

Visitors to the York County SPCA view this portrait outside the human society's meeting room. Why is Esther Yeagley's so honored? Pre-World War II Thanksgiving holds lessons for York countians today and Loretta Claiborne's achievements bring spotlight her way and York County historical war deaths top 1,000.

Another in an occasional series of the people behind the names on the building facades and portraits hanging in public places... .

Dr. John Yeagley passed away years ago but people still remember him around York. Among other things, he was the chief of public health during the terrible polio outbreak of 1941. He received a bio in the 1999 publication "Heroes and Builders."

But reminder of Esther Yeagley's community contributions is possibly more visible than any her husband left behind. Her portrait hangs in the very public SPCA shelter in Manchester Township.

The SPCA's "Pet Gazette" gives background about the woman on the painting: ...

Only a bridge pier remains today of the trolley line from York to York Haven, cut back to North York on June 1, 1932. The pier sits near the once bustling Cold Springs Park and Elm Beach. Background posts: Conewago crossing near Manchester hot spot for years and Conewago crossing, Part II and Big Conewago serves as physical, symbolic divider of York County culture.

Sue Shiflett of East Berlin is looking for photographs of Elm Beach, the popular swimming spot on the Conewago Creek near Manchester.

The beach - actually a concrete deck extending from the bank - operated on the north side of the Conewago across from Cold Springs Park, destination for trolley excursions.

"My great grandfather, Fred Spiese, operated a swim suit rental and restaurant at Elm Beach," she wrotes.

Today, Elm Beach is abandoned and Cold Springs Park developed. A silent pier from a long-one trolley bridge stands guard... .

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... .

Longtime Cross Mill operator Harry Cross is seen in this file photo in the York Daily Record/Sunday News archives. Cross transferred ownership of the mill to York County in 1979. (See photo of the mill-turned-museum below.) Background posts: Philip King house jewel of old York paper mill site and Felton landmark: 'The mill at one time was gossip central' and Glen Rock Mill Inn: 'They are happy to see it open again'.

York County history enthusiasts Ray Kinard and Terry Koller have embarked on the project of visiting York County grist mills.

So far, they've visited dozens.

The gold standard for studying York County mills is the massive work of Grant Voaden, an inventory of 300 mills found in the York County Heritage Trust archives.

Kinard has a copy of a Voaden inventory, but the document does not have the precise location of the mills.

That would aid the K-Team's tramping... .

Bill Fissel looks over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial sculpture at artist Lorann Jacob's Dallastown studio. The finished work will be displayed at the York Expo Center. Background posts: War memorials stand proudly in towns throughout York County and Sculptor molds York's past for posterity and Who's your candidate for the next York statue?.

Vets promoting a monument to commemorate the sacrifice of 101 or more York countians in the Vietnam War are within $50,000 of their goal.

The statue will greet the thousands who attend functions at the York Expo Center, the old York Fairgrounds, each years.

In that respect, it will be separated from counterpart statues in downtown York observing World War II and Korean War vets.

But the Vietnam statue will have a major asset in common with its counterparts... .

Camp Ganoga hasn't operated since 1945, but the old Strinestown-area Boy Scout camp continues to evoke memories. Here, a group of Scouts sits on the Camp Ganoga waterfront - Conewago Creek. Background posts: Old Ganoga Bridge: 'It is a highly unusual sight in York County' and Once popular Ganoga Bridge now lightly used York County landmark and Big Conewago serves as physical, symbolic divider of York County culture.

Mixed-race gatherings weren't an everyday sight in York County in the first half of the 20th century.

In collecting photos for my black history book "Almost Forgotten" at the York County Heritage Trust, I was a bit surprised to see photos of white and black campers at old Camp Ganoga on the Conewago Creek.

I asked around about that... .

A caboose made its way from Lancaster to the yard of Markey Trucking near Dallastown, Pa., in January. Eventually, it will be moved to the Red Lion Train Station Museum. Background posts: Old Baltimore tunnel an intriguing reminder of the 'Ma' in Ma & Pa Railroad and Ma & Pa rabbit trains: 'I hope they thoroughly hosed out the cars.' and York County railroading: 'Something that gets into your blood'.

Red Lion is named after a tavern - a tavern that still stands but has morphed into a private residence.

So things tilt toward red there - the high school team colors, for example.

When a blue caboose destined for the restored Ma & Pa Railroad Station in Red Lion arrived in the area, it was natural for a news reporter to ask about any future paint job... .

Two statues at the York Post Office play on a Thanksgiving theme. Here, sculptor George Kratina of Brooklyn, N.Y., shows a father and daughter 'Singing Thanksgiving.' (See photo of second statue below.) Background posts: Of dinosaurs and big blue mailboxes and Railroad Borough: 'Probably no other town in America has a horse heaven' and Could York bus drivers also point out historic sites?

The York Post Office continues to reduce operations in the downtown.

It has a new facility in the York County Industrial Park, way away from the downtown. (Add that to the nearby unemployment office, and it's interesting how the federal government is one of the major supporters of sprawl.)

No doubt the South George Street post office eventually will be emptied out. Some articles in the York Daily Record have speculated on future uses for the landmark building - as a new city hall or for a restaurant... .

The Dempwolf-designed City Market, with its 140-foot tower, stands sometime before its 1960s demolition in the block bordered on two sides by York, Pa.'s South Duke Street and East College Avenue. Background posts: Striking architecture lined York's South Duke Street and York Market House No. 2 - The architecturally striking City Market and There were 5, count 'em, 5 York markets.

Fellow blogger Scott Butcher has posted a wonderful color drawing of the landmark City Market that does the best job I've seen of communicating the beauty of this markethouse... .

The once-beautiful Ganoga Bridge, the span that divided Boy Scout Camp Ganoga into two parts, may be coming down.

And at least one area preservationist is not happy about it.

Barb Raid of Historic York wants PennDOT to leave the old structure standing when its replacement eventually opens to traffic.

And the owner of the old campgrounds says its replacement will be unremarkable architecturally.

The old bridge bears many interesting features including the remains of 12 lamp posts in honor of the Scout Laws... .

A rusting fence surrounds the empty Smurfit and Stone building on Kings Mill Road in 2005. York College of Pennsylvania is acquiring the site, so those weeds are set for extermination some day. Background posts: Author: 'York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture' and York-area picture book not your typical coffee table publication and Fourth-generation member of Glatfelter paper family dies.

A historic house - the Philip King house - stands on the Smurfit-Stone Container site that York College of Pennsylvania is acquiring.

Fellow blogger Scott Butcher writes about the 427 Kings Mill Road house in his "York's Historic Architecture."

According to Butcher, the mill was constructed near the confluence of Tyler Run and Codorus Creek... .

This photograph showing Sen. Harry S. Truman during his 1944 visit to York County, Pa., came from longtime York Daily Record columnist Jim Hubley's "Off the Record." Truman was in York for a political speech. As for street-level memories of this respected president, he left none behind. But many other presidents have, as recounted below. Background posts: Richard Nixon's visit to his namesake park sparks memories and York-area woodcarver made life-size JFK statue. But where is it now? and This working list details presidential visits to York and Adams counties.

York Sunday News columnist Gordon Freireich (1/23/08) has issued a challenge for York countians.

We have places named after many of the 44 U.S. presidents.

Maybe York County should be the first county in the nation name a street after President Barack Obama.

He brought back research from a 1996 column that showed streets and places with presidential names taken from our nation's chief executives.

It will reinforce with viewers here how much this county draws on its past:

Several years ago, the Smurfit-Stone site was cleaned up in preparation for the minor league ballpark that later became Sovereign Bank Stadium on a cross-town York, Pa., site. Here, demolition work is taking palce along Grantley Road in Spring Garden Township. Background posts: New York College book provides insight into school, community and Researcher leaves detailed files on more than 300 York and Adams mills and American pastime vs. American dream playing out in York, Pa. and Worker saved key historical surveys from Glatfelter pulping machine.

A commenter on a recent York Daily Record/Sunday News story about the former King's Mill site put its history into perspective:

"That mill had been making paper since John Adams was our second president. And some of the equipment in there, a few of the steam dryers, were actually original or close to it."

That's about right.

York College is buying that site - known today at the Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. - that loaned its name to King's Mill Road... .

Workers are dismantling the Felton Mill after it was discovered to be unstable and concerned many in that southeastern York County borough as a fire hazard. (See additional photos below.) Background posts: Glen Rock Mill Inn: 'They are happy to see it open again' and Part of York County's past, Biesecker Mill, goes on the auction block and Pioneering sisters operated York County grist mill near Cross Roads.

The Felton Mill draws draws attention to the heyday of those water-powered buildings on nearly every stream of size in this region.

Thanks to the efforts of researcher Grant Voaden, more than 270 York County mills and 50 in Adams County are documented.

His work rests in a four-draw filing cabinet at the York County Heritage Trust archives, 250 E. Market St., York... .

This windmill, seen here in this photo from the York County Heritage Trust, operated in the 1870s in the Jefferson Avenue area, north of the Codorus Creek in York. Background posts: Dempwolf architects built York's skyline, history and What was famed architect John Dempwolf's own house like? and Fairmount fit for Roger, Anita and Pongo, Perdita.

But an early attempt in York County to harness the wind came with construction of a windmill of the type normally associated with Holland.

That structure went up near present-day Jefferson Avenue between Beaver and North George streets... .

York artist J. Horace Rudy's stained glass window oversees Easter flowers at York's First Moravian Church in 2006. Background posts:York Moravian's Putz is an unsung, well-sung annual attraction, New York Wire factory whistle concert: 'We'd stand out on our driveway to hear it' and St. Mary's Church product of 19th-century York County language wars.

If someone wanted to, he or she could visit a local museum, attend a lecture or cultural event or take a tour virtually every day in York County.

I make that point in a York Sunday News column, in which I point out a recent Saturday that First Moravian's Putz was open for viewing and whistemaster Don Ryan gave a lecture on his New York Wire Cloth factory whistle prowess.

What are some pieces of historical information one brings away from such visits? ...

The lights of the Christmas Putz at York's First Moravian Church are lit one by one as church members narrate the annual show. The entire Putz is illuminated here in 2004. Background posts: How come few in York know about S. Morgan Smith anymore?, John Adams: 'Yesterday the greatest question was decided' and Henry Laurens in York Town: 'I will not quit my post, although I ... fear that I may perish on it'.

In modern American, the word putz brings to mind many things.

But for centuries in Europe, the word Putz meant decoration, a specific Christmastime decoration.

As York's First Moravian shows its Putz, it's the largest manger or nativity scene, or creche, that you've probably ever seen.

The local display includes 15 different scenes telling about the birth of Jesus, highlighted by beautiful choral music, varied narrative voices and lights that walk viewers through the story.

In addition to its size, three other points about the Putz stand out... .

For years, the Ma & Pa's Taylor's Trestle has been forgotten between Red Lion and Yoe. Now a budding Eagle Scout wants to help restore it. Background posts: Ma & Pa rabbit trains: 'I hope they thoroughly hosed out the cars.', Ma & Pa Railroad, Muddy Creek Forks draw fans and Yo! More support for Yoe vs. Yohe.

The summary on the back cover of George W. Hilton's "The Ma & Pa" nicely describes the winding railroad:

"Connecting Baltimore and York, the line had everything needed to endear itself to local residents and rail enthusiasts: picturesque equipment, marvelous scenary, antique passenger trains, handsome small-scale locomotives, and enough curves - 476 - for a railroad many times longer than its 77 miles."

The writer could also have added in "curving trestles... ."

Jim Miller runs The Miller Carriage and Wagon Museum at his Codorus Township home. Its collection includes long years of collecting wagons, carriages and buggies. Background posts: Is mystery railroad the old Shrewsbury narrow gauge?, Vermont promotes Podunk, but York County has its Sticks and The Acme Tongue Carrier of Hanover, Pa.: Are there any around today?.

York County has long had a love affair with wheels.

As the first county in Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna River, its borders would naturally contain roads pointing to all compass points, crossing and veering off by themselves.

With the roads, came wagons. Farm wagons. Conestoga Wagons.

With increasing affluence, came buggies. And carriages. And coaches

And to produce all these wheeled conveyances, came wagon makers - large and small.

And then automakers.

Jim Miller who name is given to Codorus Township's The Miller Carriage and Wagon Museum has been collecting wagons and buggies and carriages for years... .

The Dallas Theatre is equipped with antique movie memorabilia, a pipe organ and heavy lush curtain shrouding the screen. It is one of the few small-town theaters still operating in York County. (See additional photo below.) Background posts: Miata, pool suggest changes in small-town Stewartstown, LBJ's, Lady Bird's visit a high point in Dallastown's history and Ella Fitzgerald's show was 'memorable, not Memorex' .

Dallastown's Dallas Theatre is one of the few functioning movie houses out of several that once dotted York County's small towns. The Glen Theatre in Glen Rock is another.

John Fishburne noticed another of those old small-town theaters in Stewartstown that is deteriorating.

"It is really in bad shape," he wrote... .

This post card view shows the "The Little Courthouse" sitting in its longtime home in Farquhar Park. It's sometimes called the "Statehouse," but that name is misplaced. The original Statehouse sat next to the Colonial Courthouse in York's Centre Square for about 50 years. Background posts: Display marks how York County courthouses evolved, Going to market a longtime York County pastime and Charles Dickens' coach from York to Harrisburg: 'A kind of barge on wheels'.

The trolley kiosk, affectionately called Teapot Dome, that sat in York's Continental Square for years has drawn plenty of attention recently as it is undergoing renovations.

It's involved in a similar journey taken about a decade ago by its longtime Continental Square partner, the Little Courthouse... .

Ben Shank, a timber framer from Orrtanna in Adams County, stopped at York's Golden Plough Tavern in the summer of 2008 to study the building's framing. The window at waist height is a soul or spirit window. Background posts: Truck driver delivered broadside to Golden Plough, but left scarcely a scratch, Proposed 'Creation of a Nation' museum name glib, but lacks grounding and Stone structures tell York countians how their ancestors lived.

A small window is cut into the wall of a small room behind the old bar area of York's Golden Plough Tavern.

If tour guides didn't point it out, this so-called soul window would scarcely be noticeable.
Indeed, its function as an outlet for the spirit of sick or dying people to escape to heaven may be mythical.

The York County Heritage Trust's Linda Neylon said visitors to the Golden Plough from Germany have heard of these soul windows:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This gazebo on Reservoir Hill overlooking York has been the scene of many events, including wedding parties and folks with jacknifes who deface this historic structure by carving in initials. Background posts:
This Smoketown now rests on York County lake floor, Mile-a-minute weed's York County origin questioned and Rainmaker's visit indicated much awry in York.

The gazebo atop York's Reservoir Hill is an obscure landmark that deserves to be discovered.

It just stands there day after day, a local reminder of the internationally acclaimed 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia... .

This is a creekside view of Ganoga Bridge over the Conewago Creek, near Strinestown. The once-stately bridge connects Newberry and Conewago townships and carries the old Susquehanna Trail over the creek. The name Ganoga, according to local history book, comes from the Indian words "By the water." Background posts: Big Conewago serves as physical, symbolic divider of York County culture, York County still home to unvarnished beauty and Wago Club prez: 'You've gotta respect the (snapping) turtles'.

The worn, lightly traveled Ganoga Bridge today is far from the crisp cement structure of the 1920s to 1950s that carried thousands of vehicles daily over the Conewago Creek.

In fact, sometimes the bridge failed to carry Susquehanna Trail traffic all the way across. Its approaches are oddly banked leading to accidents those living near the Strinestown-area structure remember years later. One resident remembers a crash on or near the bridge involved a large Greyhound Bus.

A Greyhoud Bus out there in the middle of nowhere?... .

The Indian Steps Museum, seen here in 2006, sits near the Susquehanna River in Lower Chanceford Township. The York County Conservation Society-run museum houses York County's most comprehensive exhibits about the American Indians. For details, call the museum at 717-862-3948. Background posts: 400 years ago, John Smith explored Chesapeake Bay, White Woman of the Genessee captured 250 years ago in York County and John Smith gave Susquehannocks their name.

Controversy over Lauxmont and Highpoint land brings York County's rich American Indian heritage into the spotlight.

Part of the Lauxmont land now in public hands covers the site of a Susquehannock Indian village.

A museum or some other interpretive center near the village would add to the scant offerings in York County devoted to Indian history... .

Donald Robinson demonstrates how to split slate near two stone cottages under renovation in Coulsontown. The cottage in the background is one of two private cottages. These four of the Welsh miners cottages stand near Slate Ridge, outside Delta. Background posts: 100 years later, Delta clock keeps on ticking, Wanted: One slate-roofed privy from Delta, Pa. and All posts related to Coulsontown.

Don Robinson eats and sleeps the history of the Welsh, the group of slate miners from the British Isles who settled in the Delta area in the 1850s.

He and his wife Ruth Ann often can be found at the cottages giving tours or looking in on archaeological digs... .

The outside dance floor of the Shady Dell has been turned into a basketball court. The main Dell building is in background. (See four additional photos below). Background posts: 'Dell rat' blogs about southside York hangout where owners put out welcome mat, All posts on Shady Dell, All posts on White Oak Park.

Last post on the Shady Dell, its owners revealed that the now-closed southside York teen hangout is for sale.

So York Daily Record writer Mike Argento and photographer Paul Kuehnel visited the old site on the side of the hill off Starcross Road in Violet Hill.

Here is what they found:

John McDonald opens the old lockup in Seven Valleys, a holding pen for overnight detention, typical of man that dotted towns around Yok County. 'This is really a neat structure,' said Police Heritage Museum's John Stine told the York Daily Record/Sunday News. 'It's plain. But this is what they were, they were plain.' Background posts: Police museum, Web site packed with York County law enforcement info, 'There were only so many cells in that old stone prison', First county prison housed irksome Brits

The Police Heritage Museum, based in York, remains on the huntfor information about the old lockups that decades ago operated in towns throughout York County.

The museum Web site contains capsules of information about some of the lockups.

The most intriguing is an all-slate box in Delta... .

This is a clear shot of one of the four remaining original Welsh cottages just north of the Mason-Dixon Line in the Delta/Peach Bottom Township area. The Old Line Museum has begun to restore two of these cottages, built for workers of the slate quarries in the 1850s. Background posts: Coulsontown's Welsh miners' cottages: 'Once they're gone, there's nothing else like them', Digging Coulsontown: 'This is not Indiana Jones' and Time almost forgot Welsh miner's hamlet of Coulsontown.

Ruth Ann Robinson, Old Line Museum, has given a heads up about public tours of Welsh cottages in the Delta area in southeastern York County Saturday.

The tours are set for 2-4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11.

The day before, a class of anthropology students from Harford Community College will gain training on the ins and outs of professional digs... .

Ron Trout was just a kid when Camp Stewartstown, next to the Presbyterian Church in that southeastern York County community, operated in the summers of 1944 and 1945. The camp formerly stood in and around the park's ballfield, in background. Background posts: Jamaican fruit pickers worked York County orchards in World War II , Story revives memories of oft-forgotten York County POW camp and German POWs: 'They worked cheaper than We did'.

Clifton Kehr (clkehr@juno.com) persisted through my World War II talk at York's Lutheran Village/Sprenkle recently.

He then via e-mail shared some insight about German prisoners of war, housed in Camp Stewartstown to pick fruit for two summers... .

This 1840s zinc tub is a memorable part of the tour of Wheatland, James Buchanan's Lancaster County home. It's not known if the president ever used the tub. (See additional photo below). These photos will appear in an upcoming edition of Spaces magazine. Background posts: Columbia's clock museum set presidential timepiece exhibit opening, President Buchanan's fall reflected his presidency; other chief exec visits and York's Jeremiah Black, former U.S. attorney general, among Democrats resorting to racism.

James Buchanan's Wheatland home falls several bricks short of modern presidential libraries.

The predecessor to Abraham Lincoln in the White House is often rated in the lower tier of U.S. presidents. And the nation mostly fell apart under his watch. And he served before presidential libraries were bestowed to even undistiguished presidents.

Despite these shortcomings, a visit to Wheatland is an interesting and informative way to spend a Saturday morning... .

Mary Allienne Hamilton spent many hours in J.W. Gitt's library, pictured here, in researching her Gitt biography "Rising from the Wilderness," published by the York County Heritage Trust (see additional photo below). Background posts: Cuban expert Jim Higgins: 'He was just another journalist ... with opinions', York newspaperman J.W. Gitt rejected Barry Goldwater's ad money and McCarthy probe could not corral York County's Gitt.

Mary Hamilton's "J.W. Gitt and His Legendary Newspaper: 'The Gazette and Daily' of York, Pa." has captured a major national award.

Her biography of this maverick newspaper owner won "Best Book in Media History" in

American Journalism Historians Association judging.

It was up against Harry Reasoner's biography, the press and the early abolition movement and the origins of mass culture, among other entries.

Judges comments follow:

This 1969 photo shows York Mayor John L. Snyder walking his German Shepard. York police's continued use of K-9 Corps over protests from many in the minority community helped catalyze racial tension in York. Background posts: Images capture hope for racial harmony, School violence struck York County in 1970 and First York City Latino councilman temporarily state's top appointed Dem.

Ironies emerged in the recent opening of the York Spanish community's new center at 221 E. Princess St.

The José E. Hernandez Centro Hispano is located in the former office of York Mayor John L. Snyder.

He's best known for incompetently overseeing York in the racially charged 1960s. Indeed, his administration's policies helped keep the heater of hate plugged in... .

Rickey Cox shows a model of a planned memorial to honor Vietnam War veterans at a York Revolution game in 2007. Dallastown sculptor Lorann Jacobs designed the model and is shaping the monument. Background posts: Of local Jewish WW II group: 'It's a skeleton post. I'm it.', War memorials stand proudly in towns throughout York County, and Wrightville's overlooked attractions.

York County's Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee is looking for a few good men - and women.

While fund raising for a Vietnam Memorial at the York Expo Center continues, the committee is putting forth plans to unveil the statue.

Committee members are looking for vets from the Vietnam War-era - circa 1962-1975 - to extend invitations to the unveiling ceremony... .

The Shady Dell, longtime teen hangout in Spring Garden Township, was known throughout York County including an annual visit to the fair. The Dell has been closed for more than a decade and its buildings are deteriorating. Background posts: Shady Dell was home away from home for many York County teens in '60s, 'Dell rat' blogs about southside York hangout where owners put out welcome mat and Nostalgia and memories blog category.

Anyone want to own a York County icon?

Toni Deroche is owner of the house and barn that once housed the Shady Dell.

She has put the hillside site up for sale... .

This image, appearing on the Class of '66 White Oaks Reunion site, comes from an earlier era but shows the variety of ways that Manchester Township's White Oak Park was used in its heyday. The building here is playing host to a Blaw-Knox picnic. In the 1960s, rock groups played music for hundreds of teen dancers. Background posts: 'Dell rat' blogs about southside York hangout where owners put out welcome mat, York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks, Memories of 'The Oaks' pile - Part I and Other memories and nostalgia posts.

For whatever reason, photos of White Oak Park are rare.

Phil Schwartz found that out when trying to find photos of bands playing at this north York teen hangout in the 1960s. He is producing a compilation album.

Now Homewood Suites on Masonic Drive, whose new footprint covers part of the former Oaks grounds, is collecting photos and other information from the park during its heyday from the 1940s to 1960s. Hotel spokesmen are asking folks with such memories or memorabilia to call 717-434-1800.

In discussing this dearth of photos, some former Oakers mused that perhaps photos were rare because White Oak Park on band nights was a place where (unfortunately)boys were boys and documentation of certain activities might not have been preferable.

Betty Bury Harmon,right, continues to sell her family's namesake burger at the York Fair, one of two stands to do so. York County food-related posts: Before Geno's made news in Philly, Gino's headlined in York, From top dog and hot dogs to dogfight and dog days in York County, Pa. and Interstate lined out Melvin's swan song.

"Does the recipe come with the price?" I asked the woman behind the counter at Johnnie Eagle's stand at the York Fair.

I was continuing my probe for the secret recipe behind that red sauce covering the Bury's burger in my hand.

She declined with a smile.

"You won't get that recipe," a customer behind me in line said.

I might already have it... .

This 750-pound snapping turtle dwafs Mike Clancy, president of The Wago Club in East Manchester Township. Chainsaw artist Brad Heilman carved the 7-foot mascot from a white pine. Background posts: Big Conewago serves as physical, symbolic divider of York County culture, Church's landmark: 'A man named Beech carving a beech tree, it seemed too perfect' and York-area woodcarver made life-size JFK statue. But where is it now?

The Wago Club brings together two popular parts of York County's culture: The penchant for chainsaw-carved wooden statues and turtle soup.

Those tree-trunks-turned-into monuments are popping up around York County, as people and groups of people can't part completely with their favorite enormous trees. Rutters has those carvings at the dairy's Manchester Township headquarters. York Township's Aldersgate United Methodist Church turned its copper beech into a carving and that wooden figure was later replaced with one made from cement.

Now the Wago Club might have the biggest one of all - celebrating its taste for snapping turtle soup... .

Publicity associated with York's East Market Street Parking Garage upon its opening in 1969 pointed to its modern amenities. An often overlooked feature of the garage is its lobby fountain. Here, Linda Oatman and Brad Smith examine the fountain after it was vandalized in 2004. Today, the fountain is dry. Background posts: Don't know much about York County history? - Part II, Stetler Dodge transition indicative of other York-area changes and For decades, York's underground comfort stations spelled relief.

Downtown York boasts of an artifact of history that points to another artifact.

A reader of my recent York Sunday News column (It's not striking, but blocky parking garage tells a story of York) added to the discussion on York's East Market Street Parking Garage.

He noted that an interesting sign is on the building located across from the parking garage on the northeast corner of Duke and Market streets... .

This mansion and its neighborhood share the name Elmwood. This area is known for its diverse architecture. Scott Butcher writes about the mansion, the Spring Garden neighborhood and the Hobbit House in his recently published "York's Historic Architecture." (See interior view of mansion below.) Background posts: '... A shadowy figure of a hoop-skirted woman...',
Elmwood Mansion book more than history of a house and When mules moved a York County mansion.

A photograph and information about Elmwood's Hobbit House in my recent York Sunday News column drew a response from a former resident. (See Hobbit House photo at Author: 'York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture'.)

Ohioans Kate and Damian Kotecki lived in the architectually unique house, profiled in Scott Butcher's "York's Historic Architecture," from 1974 to 1989... .

When builders dug the Howard Tunnel through a southern York County ridge in 1840, they left room for two tracks. The second track was added after the Civil War.This is one of many interesting facts collected by Scott Butcher and included in captions in "York's Historic Architecture." (Butcher is signing his new book at 2 p.m. Sunday, at the York Emporium.) Because of the tunnel builders' foresight, the rail trail is able to follow the path of one of the old tracks today. The other track is still there for rail use. Background posts: Thousands discover formerly unheralded York County rail trail's Howard Tunnel , No light at the end of this (abandoned) Pa.Turnpike tunnel and York County ... 'A smorgasbord of architectural styles'.

Scott Butcher's new book "York's Historic Architecture" is packed with photos.

But it's also loaded with dates, details and architectural information, including many interesting tidbits about many buildings, well known and not.

Here are five points that are certain to pique your interest:

Did you know ? ...

This is a rare photograph of White Oak Park courtesy of J. David Allen & Son Photography. This photo shows vehicles navigating the road to Emigsville near the Oaks' buildings. The traffic islands are there today, placing the Oaks at about the location of the present-day rental units lot where vehicles are stored. Background posts: 'Dell rat' blogs about southside hangout , The Oaks: 'I often look up there ... and think about how nice it was', and Memories about 'The Oaks' pile up.

John Allen is part of the generation that lived during the heyday of White Oak Park, a northside hangout where many local rock groups cut their teeth.

He graduated in York Catholic, class of 1966.

That's the year highlighted in an upcoming reunion at Sovereign Bank Stadium based on a White Oak Park theme.

For whatever reason, photographs of The Oaks are rare... .

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:

Local architectural expert and blogger Scott Butcher chose Gethsemane Hall as the cover image of his new book, "York's Historic Architecture." Butcher writes that Freemasons constructed the 111 N. Beaver St. building in 1912. It was built after the Masons acquired the next-door, former York Post Office. Background posts: When did York's square turn from Centre to Continental?, The Four Bloggers write and Virtual York offers colorful tour of York's past.

Scott Butcher's newest book will serve as a resource for countless people interested in York County's architectural significant buildings.

The 157-page book is packed with photos and descriptions of private residences, houses of worship, commercial buildings and some structures that have seen many uses.

"From early Colonial taverns and ornate Victorian homes to the postmodern office towers of today, York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture," Scott wrote in a news release.

Here's how I'll use the book: ...

Before York's Centre Square market sheds were pulled down in 1887, someone checked to ensure that no prisoners were in the underground city lockup that was dug out under one of the sheds. York's Police Heritage Museum is collecting information on other lockups around the county. Background posts: Late June marks pivotal moments in York County history, First York County prison irked British prisoners, Prison listing brings back food loaf memories.

Many towns around York County in the 19th and 20th centuries had lockups for temporary detention of prisoners. And sometimes they served as overnight lodging for transients.

York's Police Heritage Musuem has posted photos of several demolished and existing buildings from around the county on its Web site and is looking for more... .

Camp Ganoga athletic director Don Roehm leads Boy Scouts in exercises in 1921. Scouts trooped about three miles into the isolated camp on the bank of the Big Conewago Creek near Strinestown after disembarking from the trolley in Manchester. This York County Heritage Trust photo was published in the book "On My Honor, 70 Years of Scouting in York & Adams Counties." The Big Conewago is the symbolic divide between northern York County and the other two-thirds of the county. Background posts: Monica Goodling proves that all roads lead to York, Part of Elm Beech still visible and Northern York area strawberry part of Neapolitan county.

Monica Goodling, in the news recently for her practices in hiring federal prosecutors, lived in a region where northern York County met southern York County.

In a forthcoming York Sunday News column, I tell about the Conewago Creek region where she lived and how at least intra-county cultures met on its banks.

The column follows:

Concert organizer Chris Huber attributes the success of the 1960s northside teen hangout White Oak Park to The Del-Chords. The first night the band played at The Oaks the line never ended. The Del-Chords are associated with southside hangout Shady Dell as well, playing on the jukebox there, according to a new Web site specializing in The Dell. Background posts: Shady Dell was home away from home , Shady Dell: 'It was like family' and The Oaks: 'I would often look up there ...'

Tom Anderson is a native of York County and an avowed Shady Dell enthusiast.

The mention of that teen hangout in Violet Hill, located just south of York Hospital before it closed in the early 1990s, stokes memories, and Anderson has captured those years on his new Web site Shady Dell Music & Memories.

Tom views the site as part personal diary and part tribute, honoring the memory of its owners, the late John and Helen Ettline... .

Perched above the Susquehanna River bed on the Norman Wood Bridge, High over the Susquehanna River under the Norman Wood Bridge, a worker constructs a platform for painters. York Daily Record/Sunday News photogapher (and blogger) Bil Bowden capture this photo and the one below. Background posts: Pennsylvania: Rivers run through it (see neat picture of an Eagle), Photographer tramps to far reaches of York County and York County still home to unvarnished beauty.

Many people are familiar with the two bridges that cross the Susquehana River between Wrightsville and Columbia.

Many people know that the Conowingo Dam carries U.S. Route 1 over the river in Maryland.

But the remote Norman Wood Bridge, the third bridge over the river between Harrisburg and the Chesapeake Bay gets less respect.

The eagles that nest below its deck have even deserted it. ...

This ticket to the nation's Centennial celebration of 1876 is part of Robert Shaub's collection. It was recently printed in the Codorus Valley Chronicles, a monthly publication of the Codorus Valley Area Historical Society. The newsletter wraps up the society's activities each month and reports on events of other historical groups. Background posts: Good stuff found in Codorus Valley Chronicles, Who was that slain Yankee messenger at Green Ridge? and Abandoned Codorus Railroad not just any railroad.

The Codorus Valley Area Historical Society does something that other local historic groups miss.

The Jefferson-area group (Codorus is the name of Jefferson's post office) gives other historical societies an opportunity to report on their activities - Northern Maryland and West Manchester are two of those groups.

They do so in the business part of their meetings.

And in their newsletter... .

About 2,500 German POWs spent their days in orchards and canneries and their nights in Camp Stewartstown, seen here in this Stewartstown Historical Society photo, in the World War II summers of 1944 and 1945. These tents are located on the present-day ballfield at the community park occupying the site. The Germans had non-prisoner counterparts in the orchards. Jamaicans came north to pick fruit. Background posts: Story revives memories of oft-forgotten POW camp, Good stuff found in 'Codorus Valley Chronicles' and 'Yesteryears' chock-full of Southern York County sites.

The fact that Jamaican fruit workers worked orchards in southern York County in World War II came as no surprise to members of the Codorus Valley Area Historical Society.

During a recent speech to the group, I covered the Jamaican presence in York County.

Members of the historical group remembered them well, saying they worked from camps in Brodbecks and Fawn Grove... .

Volunteer Tom Sadler repoints the walls of Welsh quarry worker cottages in Peach Bottom Township. 'It's good for them to be preserving this history for the future generation,' he said. By them, he means two-year owner Old Line Museum in Delta. (See additional photos below.) Background posts: Digging Coulsontown: 'This is not Indiana Jones', Time almost forgotten Coulsontown and Wanted: One slate-roofed privy from Delta.

Those old Welsh miners' cottages in the southeastern tip of York County, in Peach Bottom Township?

It's hard to get too much of their story. And those photos capture the eye.

Spokesmen at the Old Line Museum in Delta, which bought the cottages two years ago, believe the structures serve as the only examples of Welsh construction in the country... .

A member of the Red Lion-Felton Band shows a Roland Seitz composition, part of the group's playlist, in 2006. Background posts: Parade Music Prince Roland Seitz: From Shrewsbury to Friday Night Lights, Spring Garden Band: 'It's like being in a room with history', Glen Rock Mill Inn: 'They are happy to see it open again'.

The small community museum is just inside the building housing the library in Glen Rock.

But an easily overlooked treasure stands outside as well... .

York County trolley car No. 163 served as a summer home along the Conewago Creek near Strinestown from 1939 until the 1972 flood. It was acquired by the Rockhill Trolley Museum and restored during a 17-year period. It's in operation today. Farther east from Strinestown on the Conewago Creek, trolley cars crossed the bridge near Manchester. Background posts: Conewago Crossing near Manchester busy spot for years, Part I, Part II, and
Hanover trolley bed work seen as 'springboard to accelerate future phases of the trail'

Ed Beck of the Manchester area is helping us explore the the area on both sides of the Conewago Creek where the trolleys crossed on their way to and from the line terminus in York Haven.

He conjectured last time that the concrete slab that represented Elm Beach on the York Haven side might still be there. That was a major swimming locale for trolley riders coming to Cold Springs Park, on the Manchester side.

Here's an edited version of Ed's report:... .

The Yellow Breeches Creek is an appealing recreational waterway. But there are dangers on even the most scenic streams. Background posts: 'The Edison of the Cumberland Valley', When the bridge over the Codorus moved and Picturesque bridges going way of covered predecessors.

The scenic Yellow Breeches, scene of a drowning death this week, is an often-overlooked part of York County.

The presence of the low-head dam where the drowning occurred suggests its water power was harnessed to run a mill.

For years, covered bridges have crossed it and then their metal replacements.

For years, it has served as York County's northern boundary, giving the top angle of the triangular-shaped county a snakelike border... .

Ed Beck of the Manchester area saw recent York Town Square photos of a trolley car crossing the Conewago Creek, submitted by kinsman Ed Beck of York Township. He put forth this drawing, part of an old flier designed to sell a home on Conewago Summit, near trolley destination Cold Springs Park. Conewago crossing near Manchester hot spot for years, Starbucks roasting plant tucked into corner of York County and Wolf Man. Wolfchester. No, the village of Mount Wolf.

Old Cold Springs Park near Manchester has long been known as a trolley or electric park, built to enhance trolley traffic during off peak times.

For Ed Beck, who has lived near the former park for years, it was known as Atlantic City... .

The comfort stations under York's Continental Square have historical origins. Background posts: Foustown now a ghost town: Raid there once netted 300 barrels of quality firewater, Brewery profits produced landmark West York mansion, 'Good grief, how long has that pool been here?'

Tourists looking at downtown York's many sites may wistfully view winding steps leading to the closed-down Continental Square comfort stations.

Up to 1978, these underground restrooms, nearing their 80th birthday, were consistently open.

Since then, they've been closed, opened and then mostly closed, depending, in part, on the financial condition of the city.

But these restrooms are grounded in history... .

'All in One Room,' a 100-page book on one-room schools in York County and beyond, is back from the printers. To order the $34.95 book, call 717-767-6397, stop by 1891 Loucks Road or York Borders or check on the Web at http://www.inyork.com/schoolhouses. Background posts: Can you name this mystery school?<, No church-state separation here and One-room schools fascinate readers.

York Weekly Record editor Joan Concilio noticed the stirring of intense interest when handling print and Web stories involving one-room schools.

She created a one-room school Web section that just served to generate even more interest.

Then she floated an idea: Why don't we do a one-room school book.

That concept became reality, and the York Daily Record/Sunday News' "All in One Room" returned from the printers today.

And it contained the following introduction by Joan Concilio with a poignant story about John O'Keefe, who was in a one-room school most of his long life:

A trolley car crosses the Conewago Creek bridge near Manchester in this undated photo appearing in the York Sunday News years ago. To see how the scene look sans trolley and bridge, see below. Ed Beck of York Township provided these photos. Background posts: Building off-peak trolley ridership: Build a park, Research offers insight into York County's trolleys and Transportation of workers fueled York County's trolley system.

The point where trolleys crossed the Conewago Creek has been the scene of many events over the years. Today, it's a quiet river crossing area... .

This image, used as a basis for a large-scale panel in the York County Heritage Trust's Murals of York series, shows Dr. George Holtzapple deploying oxygen to treat a Loganville pneumonia patient. This image appeared in York Hospital's history 'That Sovereign Knowledge.' Tradition has it that this pioneering treatment took place in the house's basement. Background posts: Looking for a local history research project? and Of surgical saws, bloodletting and Brown's in Loganville: 'I didn't know a peach tree from an apple tree, but we learned quickly.'

Lois Stoner, a nurse in York, e-mailed recently wondering why the Loganville house where Dr. George Holtzapple saved young pneumonia sufferer Frederick Gable's life is not marked with a historical monument.

She raises a good point ... .

This scene could come from the Smoky Mountains. But York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Bil Bowden captured this near old Lock 12 on the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. Background posts: A far different view of York County, Pennsylvania and water: The river runs through it, Readers can view best of Bil Bowden's photos on new blog and Photographer tramps to the far reaches of York County.

Another photo in York Town Square's series of iconic images - images that tell a story about York County and its history:

This image, from Aldersgate United Methodist Church's Web site shows the concrete image of Jesus, standing at the location of the congregation's longtime prized copper beech tree. Holocaust statue a must-see, Memorial honoring DUI victims should be visited and AIDS memorial at York's Albemarle Park .

While attending the viewing of longtime York Daily Record columist Jim Hubley at York Township's Aldersgate United Methodist Church, I saw the landmark cement monument depicting Jesus.

It reminded me of the church's copper beech tree.

Or rather, it reminded me of Mike Argento's story on the tree, later carved into a wooden rendition of Jesus and later a cement image.

Well, we'll let Mike tell the story (11/29/01), published in the York Daily Record before the cement image went up:

The Red Lion (Pa.) Grange Hall, background, stood at Cape Horn Road and Lombard Street for years, but lost its battle to surrounding sprawl about five years ago. It still serves as a bell weather of change in York County. Background posts: Mother Goose teaches York County, Pa., lessons, Property rights foundational factor in Lauxmont dispute - 19/20 iconic photos and Horn Farm: 'A very special living history memorial to those hardy ancestors'.

The now-demolished Red Lion Grange Hall has fascinated me for years as a symbol of change in York County.

It was a case of the county's long-held agrarianism battling unchecked development. Its demise five years ago signaled which side is winning... .

The sparkling, renovated war memorial in Hallam reflects George Eyler, past commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 390, dedication services on Monday. Such monuments dot small towns across York County. Background posts: York County Vietnam marker funding at half-way mark; looking for more, Lorann Jacobs sculpts York County legacy and York on its knees as men hit the beach.

A favorite pastime of mine when I drive through York County towns is to search for the war memorial.

Most towns have them. Some have more than one.

Here are some leads on several such memorials and monuments:

Prospect Hill Cemetery display flags honoring members of the U.S. military killed in Iraq. The York County Heritage Trust has information on that Manchester Township cemetery and a host of other burial sites throughout York County. Background posts: Two York County, Pa., union churches vestiges of bygone era, Not all rebel wounded suffered at Gettysburg and Footballer Lenny Moore has strong roots in York and White Roses mark interstate's entry into York.

Someone posting on York Town Square's sister site The Exchange asked about a cemetery in the Shrewsbury area.

Speaking off the top of her head, Lila Fourhman-Shaull, the area's foremost cemetery sleuth and archivist at the York County Heritage Trust, believed the cemetery might be the Keeney burial ground.

But on the larger question of how you go about identifying such cemeteries, here's Lila's assessment: ...

The Cottage Hill College, north of the Codorus Creek in York, Pa., served as a woman's school for about 30 years starting in 1849. The building is believed to have been leveled about 1900. But a vestige of the ornate structure remains - Cottage Hill Road. Jim Rudisill writes in "York, Since 1741" that tuition cost $25 in 1856 and five months of board cost $55. Background posts: Little Jimmy's someday might draw big crowd, Girls touched down in York, Pa., to touch up and Fairmount fit for Roger, Anita and Pongo, Perdita.

The north side of the Codorus Creek has always fascinated me.

Officials continue to peck away at improving that area, overlooking the Northwest Triangle project.

Little Jimmy's Park is being renovated. The Fairmount area of North Beaver looks a lot better. Habitat for Humanity has rehabbed houses near the Jefferson School... .

This old log house sits prominently at the Dover Area Community Park in Dover Township. Not all houses of original log construction are as obvious today. Log houses were a topic of discussion at a recent Osher Lifelong Leaning Institutute class at Penn State York. Background posts: Opportunities in York County to feed your sense of discovery, OLLI's theme song: 'Don't stop thinking about learning' and 'The riddle of two front doors'.

My York Sunday News column titled "For lifelong learners, county is a classroom" led with a OLLI classroom discussion about how many log houses stand today in York County.

I checked with Historic York on that question, and no one has ever gone through inventories of vintage houses to count those made of log.

But if anyone had the time and inclination, they could possibly come up with a rough number... .

Marley Boyd helped in a dig area in the of Coulsontown, Peach Bottom Township, Pa. The Coulsontown miners' cottages are in the background. Excavators are looking for answers about how Welsh residents lived in the mid-1800s. (See additional photo and video by Paul Kuehnel below.) Background posts: Wanted: One slate-roofed privy from Delta, Pa., Time almost forgot Welsh miner's hamlet of Coulsontown and 100 years later, Delta clock keeps on ticking.

"Sonic Pixie," a Web commenter on a York Daily Record/Sunday News story on an archaeological dig near the old Welsh miners' cottages in Coulsontown, had it right:

"It is really amazing to see individuals in the community who are passionate about preservation and gaining a greater sense of understanding of who we are and where we came from."

This slate mining village in the southeast tip of York County has to be on a top 10 list of intriguing, obscure sites around here.

The story (4/17/08) titled "Digging local history," follows:

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 Red Lion Grange Hall, the gray building in the background, is surrounded by development in this mid-1990s photograph of the Cape Horn area. Background posts about the Red Lion area: Red Lion's towering Fairmont Park off the beaten track , York County cigars: 'They contained a vast amount of nicotine', Cigarmaking Red Lion on top of York County and Red Lion's Ebert Furniture: From bedroom suites to gunstocks.

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

In honor of this presidential election year, and adorned with red, white, and blue swags, banners, and flags, the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pa., is presenting "Time in Office: An Exhibit of Presidential Timepieces" opening Friday, April 18. (Updated from an earlier post). Pictured here is George Washington’s pocket watch. Background posts: Upcoming events should attract York/Adams history buffs and Local man tells about goofy encounter with Gerald Ford

Columbia's National Watch and Clock Museum is again looking to be timely.

Ahem, the Lancaster County, Pa., museum cast a net to find presidential watches and clocks to tie into the presidential election year in 2008.

The museum has obtained James Monroe’s pocket watch and clock and the timepiece that sat on Gerald Ford’s Oval Office desk... .

Hikers explore the area around the former York Iron Co. Mine in North Codorus Township, now P. Joseph Raab County Park. Guides give occasional tours of this newest county park. One of the guides, Jeri Jones, has published a book on regional geology. (See below). Background posts: What was that Eastern York County pit before it filled with water? and Eighteenth-century brownfield now parkland

Some people attach mining to the soft coal regional of western Pennsylvania or the anthracite area of northeastern Pennsylvania.

It's easy to overlook York County's mines. No piles of slag dominate local towns.

But the county has seen slate mining in its southeastern region. Active limestone mining - dolomite for fire bricks - spans areas of West Manchester. Quarrying for rock to build houses or to form road foundations has taken bites out of mountainsides.

And the excavation of iron ore was one of the most prevalent forms of mining, largely in the 19th-century.

A post-World War II baby boom caused families to spill from York city to form suburbs. The entry of Caterpillar and other industries in the early 1950s also attracted families to that part of Springettsbury Township. These new factories brought in families from out of town, too. And then came the York County Shopping Center in 1956, at 3 o'clock position, to serve families who later lived in Haines Acres, which grew up in the fields, upper right, and beyond. (Photo courtesy of York Buchart Horn and J. David Allen.) Background posts: New book offers astute look into heart of York, York County ... 'A smorgasbord of architectural styles', Coca-Cola out in Springetts... self-storage space is real thing and Before Geno's made news in Philly, Gino's headlined in York.

Gene Schenck of Buchart-Horn Inc./BASCO Associates lent us this irresistible photograph (see enlarged version below).

He was even kind enough to provide a description. I've taken the liberty of adding context to the information (in parenthesis), used as part of a company exhibit at the Business Expo in 2005:

Here's a hint to answer part of York County Smarts quiz, Part III: This York County native starred with Brad Pitt in "A River Runs Through It," a 1992 film about two brothers who grow up in Montana. Background posts: Cameron Mitchell, Craig Sheffer, Dixie Chick born here, Prominent actor Craig Sheffer hails from overlooked Windsor Park,
That's Windsor Park, not Windsor ..., and York City's Eberts Lane actually winsome country road.

OK, another part of a York County Smarts quiz (see Part II) taken from a 1990s orientation exercise used by the York Daily Record to bring new employees up to speed.

See how you do:

Plans are moving ahead for an October reunion of 1960s bands that played at White Oak Park. Meanwhile, memories of the park continue to flow to York Town Square. Background posts: Stadium will be site of The Oaks music reunion, York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks and White Oak Park welcomed Blaw-Knox workers .

For many years, Jane Heller's grandfather, Oliver Lease, ran White Oak Park, that nostalgia-inducing recreational center located in the area where the Masonic Lodge now sits, along the Susquehanna Trail, north of York.

Jane shared memories of "The Oaks" via an e-mail conversation: ...

The Quakers were a large group settling York County's northern tier from York County's earliest days. The original part of this Friends' meeting house in Warrington Township (seen here) was erected in 1769. The congregation doubled the building's size in 1782. It's one of three such Quaker-built structures standing today across York County's northern tier. Background posts: Gladys Rawlins, 'Black History Profiles,' Part III and Thousands discover formerly unheralded Howard Tunnel.

After seeing several recent posts on railroading, Joe Stein (jstein3@comcast.net), a York Town Square reader, wondered why so many lines ran in the southern and central parts of York County.

"What about the northern portion?" he asked.

York and Baltimore were rail destinations in the South, but surely Harrisburg was attractive in the North.

Here are some thoughts in response ... .

This sign points to the presence of a railroad that started near Glen Rock in the village of Centerville. But little is known about what could have been an old logging railroad. Background posts: Railroading: 'It's something that gets into your blood', New Freedom station houses alien safe and York's rail stations scored moments in history.

York Town Square reader Paul G. www.ironequine.com has tramped along a mystery railroad line that he believes is the Shrewsbury Railroad.

But he lacks hard evidence to support that... .

Model builder Paul Schiding talks about the former York airport that was along Haines Road, as former airport flight instructor Jack Hespenheide, listens in this 2006 file photo. The model of the airport remains on display at the York County Heritage Trust's Agricultural and Industrial Museum. Notice the red-brick administration building, barely visible, in the background. Background posts: Museum exhibit brings back early days of high fliers and It's a bird. It's a plane. It's cigars with wings.

A model of York's first airport, started in 1930 on level land in the present-day Fayfield area near Misericordia Nursing Home, presents an intriguing exhibit at the Agricultural and Industrial Museum in York.

My eyes always go to the administration building, a low brick structure.

The building has fascinated me since I read about it and this early airport in John F. M. Wolfe's "Profile of Aviation, York County, Pennsylvania, 1925-1998."

The large hangar (see photo by clicking on background post above) was dismantled after the airport closed later in the 1930s.

But, Wolfe wrote, the administration building is now a private residence, located at 7th Avenue and Haines Road... .

The Stewartstown Railroad, operational in 1885, helped businesses in villages along its path get their products to market in the way that an interstate helps grow businesses around its interchanges. Hungerford, south of Shrewsbury, was one such town. The railroad, operating as an excursion line, closed in 2004.Background posts: Often forgotten: Achievements of people named on building facades and Amanda Berry Smith: 'God's image carved in ebony'.

But it could have enjoyed a connection with the Northern Central Railway in its downtown... .

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... .

The first piece of pottery was produced by a Susquehanna-Pfaltzgraff forebear in the early 1800s. Here, Rick Heiner of North Codorus Township works on the last job fired in 2005 in the 200-foot tunnel kiln behind him. According to the York Daily Record/Sunday News, The kiln fired the vast majority of Pfaltzgraff products in recent decades. Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff sold the Pfaltzgraff brand name, intellectual property and retail stores to Lifetime Brands of New York in 2005. The new owner would outsource its pottery-making, and the Thomasville plant closed as a pottery-making operation. Background posts: Original WSBA station hands mic to demolition team and Hidden Loucks School reflects past way of York County life.

The recent York Town Square post Foustown now a ghost town: Raid there once netted 300 barrels of quality firewater told of a hamlet near Glen Rock that grew up around a distillery.

That settlement should not be confused with Foustown in Manchester Township that grew up around pottery... .

Work is under way on the roof and dome of the old Helb Mansion carriage house, now occupied by Pace Resources, parent of engineering and architectural firm Buchart Horn-/BASCO Associates. The carriage house, 40 S. Richland Ave., has remained standing despite demolition of its accompanying mansion long ago. (Additional picture from the York Daily Record/Sunday News below.) Background posts (involving Buchart-Horn): Yo, Yoe never was Yohe and
Original WSBA station hands mic to demolition team.

Pace Resources is involved in a high-profile rehab project on its unsung headquarters, built in the old Helb Mansion carriage house.

The company occupies another often-overlooked historic structure in the west part of York. In the mid-1990s, the company consolidated its engineering and architectural offices in the old York Corporation-Borg-Warner manufacturing site on West Philadelphia Street and Roosevelt Avenue... .

The William Foust distillery outside Glen Rock was a village in itself. Only a smokestack, deteriorating superstructure and houses remain of this once-bustling company town in an undulating part of York County that serves as a reminder of one of the county's chief cash crops. Background posts: With all those stills, the York County hillbillies?, York County rail trail extension to follow canal towpath and 'You cannot stay stressed here for long'.

William Helb of Railroad was a patriarch in a family that operated the best-known brewery in York County.

Not far away from Railroad in a valley outside Glen Rock, William Foust went for a harder drink. He operated a whiskey distillery in a village that is now a ghost town... .

Gordon Mack worked as a clerk at voting precinct located in the Railroad Borough Municipal Building in this 2005 photograph. Railroad is perhaps York County's most unsung municipality. Background posts: Brewery profits produced landmark West York mansion and 'Rocks in the Glen' turns into town where things happen.

Some York County boroughs always have been defined by their bigger brothers. Yoe's relationship to Dallastown is one combo. Windsor's link with Red Lion is another.

But none are as closely associated as Railroad and Shrewsbury... .

Sal Ferrante, collector and seller of vintage Italian furniture, and son, Disma, are seen in the storage area of his Springettsbury Township business in this York Daily Record/Sunday News photo. Ferrante said the chandeliers (background) and other lighting fixtures are in particular demand. Background posts: Flag expert: 'I was interested in my nation's heritage' and Upcoming events should attract York/Adams history buffs .

York countians are proud of their antiques.

In fact, close a big building in any town around the county nowadays, and an antique mall will move in. Look, for example, at what happened after Leader's Furniture closed in Jacobus and Geiple's in Glen Rock.

Those antique malls are good things, kind of unsung tourist promotion sites drawing bargain-hunters from all directions.

But 'Antiques Roadshow' recently bypassed these ubiquitous sites and set up tent in Springettsbury Township. There, they explored the vintage Italian collections of Salvatore Ferrante... .

This 1979 photo of Three Mile Island shows steam rising from the unit that was damaged two weeks later by a near meltdown. Today, the steam plumes are reversed. The damaged unit's stacks sit silent. This iconic picture was taken by veteran photographer ( but new blogger) Bil Bowden soon after he started at the York Daily Record/Sunday News. For a warmup, see Bowden photos on this blog, York Town Square: A far different view of York County, Simple photograph helps frame York County and No light at the end of this (abandoned) turnpike tunnel.

For years, York Daily Record/Sunday News readers have enjoyed Bil Bowden's photographs.

Now, his blog Bil's Eye-View, part of the yorkblog.com suite of bloggers, will feature some of his best hit photos from almost three decades of shooting in York County and beyond.. .

This eagle sits on a stump in the Susquehanna River along Long Level Road in Lower Windsor Township in June 2007. Photographer Bil Bowden, who captured this picture, wrote that at least three nests were within a few miles of the area, and eagles - along with the sometimes confused osprey - can be seen here. (See additional photo below.) The river makes Pennsylvania one of the nation's top water-rich states. Background posts: Susquehanna bridge makeover flowing along, Photographer tramps to far reaches of York County and American Indians' carvings almost forgotten treasure.

Pennsylvania has more stream miles than any other state, except perhaps Alaska.

And no one knows how many miles are in Alaska, because they're frozen... .

'Soon here in this country a three hundred year old building will be as scarce as a dinosaur,' 'The Codorus Valley Chronicles.' Most pioneer mills are gone and Swiss-style bank barns are giving way to pole barns. The newsletter pointed to three old structures that should be standing today: York Collegiate Institute on South Duke Street and College Avenue, the neighboring York City Market and the old York Valley Inn, seen above, near where Springettsbury Township's Wal-Mart stands today. Actually, part of the York Valley Inn stands today as the cemetery office for Susuquehanna Memorial Gardens in York Township. Background posts: Who was that slain Yankee messenger at Green Ridge? and Forgotten York Valley Inn may be rediscovered.

First came glass milk bottles. Then came cardboard milk cartons that paralleled their glass counterparts for years before replacing them.

Plastic bottles and jugs replaced the cardboard carton.

But somewhere in this lineage, the Brown family of Railroad, in southern York County, invented and produced a paper milk carton, the Mono milk container... .

This undated postcard view, from a recent Codorus Valley Area Historical Society newsletter, shows a busy block of York's South Duke Street. The City Market's tower is central in this photograph and York Collegiate Institute's is at right, background. Background post: York Market House No. 2 - The architecturally striking City Market and Samuel Small tops community contributor list.

The postcard view above shows a bustling block where South Duke Street met College Avenue.

That block played host to the City Market house, the largest and most ornate of York's five market houses, and York Collegiate Institute, forerunner along with the York County Academy, of York College.

Imagine today how that neighborhood could be different if those two buildings, gone for decades, remained.

Don Miller, St. Jacob's Church historian, walks through the cemetery where members of the union church, Lutheran and Reformed (United Church of Christ), are buried. The cemetery, a beautiful church building, a nearby picnic grove and bandstand and scenic setting encourage a Sunday afternoon stroll, a longtime York County custom. St Jacob's, also known as Stone Church, is one of two remaining union churches in York County. Background posts: York County's own Civil War - Part IV and The things you learn from reading local history.

The union church arrangement in York County was not a case of congregations banding together for collective bargaining with God or anyone else.

But the movement gave a nod to York County and Central Pennsylvania congregations developing a practical solution to a thorny problem.

The movement, stemming back to the 1700s, saw German churches - usually Lutherans and German Reformed congregations - sharing buildings and maintenance of those structures... .

It would have been interesting to see this batter slide in his business suit in this photograph taken at a Blaw-Knox Special Ordnance Division picnic on July 29, 1945, at White Oak Park, north of York. Blaw-Knox succeeded York Safe & Lock near the Codorus narrows, east of the park site. AMF and Harley-Davidson followed Blaw-Knox at the plant. The park also accommodated dances with live bands in the 1960s. Background posts: Memories about 'The Oaks' pile up, Wanted: Old photos of teen hangout White Oaks Park and The Dell: 'It was like family'.

The promoters of a compilation CD of bands that played at White Oak Park Dances in the 1960s has a release date.

Oct. 18, 2008.

In an e-mail, Phil Schwartz wrote:

"The release of the CD is being timed to coincide with an even bigger event: a White Oak reunion... ."

A single, heavy beam supports roof joists inside a Welsh quarrymen's cottage in Coulsontown, near Delta. Welsh immigrants brought this construction technique to the region when they arrived to work in southeastern York County's slate quarries. If anyone is aware of an outhouse in the Delta area with a slate roof, please comment below. Background posts: Time almost forgot Welsh miner's hamlet of Coulsontown, 100 years later, Delta clock keeps on ticking and Gettysburg fighting heard about 60 miles away.

Seattle's David Williams, wingate@seanet.com, is a natural history writer working on a book about building stone.

He's writing a chapter on slate and its many uses - roofing, billiard tables, gravestones and blackboards.

And on outhouses... .

The library in noted architect J.A. Dempwolf's former South George Street residence is filled with detail. Wooden shutters for the inside of the windows retract out of sight
when not in use, hiding the craftsmanship in the body of the window itself, just as one example. Background posts: Market House No. 4 - Central Market, York's most popular
and City directory first step in finding history of a house.

Brothers John A. and Reinhardt Dempwolf's architectural work included York's Central Market House, Penn Park Victory Monument, Fluhrer Building and the former Bon-Ton Department Store.

They have different looks but came from the same design benches at the Dempwolf firm in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Simply put, the two brothers singlehandedly gave York's skyline a varied look.

Which makes one wonder what about the touches John Dempwolf gave to his own residence at 701 S. George Street in York... .

A plaque now tells the story of Marine Sgt. Pal, cannonized in this statue on West King Street near the rail trail in York. Background posts: Marine and his dog meet after 60 years and Rail trail ribbons criss crossing York County.

A plaque installed last year near the statue of Pal, a member of World War II's Dogs for Defense, answers a key question: Did the local German shepherd survive the war?

Kendra McChalicher of Windsor Township's Commerce Bank answers calls in front of the mural at the bank branch. The mural is a colorized photo of the Red Lion Ma & Pa train station taken in 1917. It shows people saying goodbye to men leaving to fight in World War I. (See additional mural below). Background posts: Civil rights heroes stand out at Bradley exhibit and Murals of York, revisited.

Commerce Bank's murals of meaningful York County scenes are well-known to customers.

And now others know about the colorized photographs on the walls of the banks that are tied to the part of the county where each branch is located... .

York City Firefighters work to save the art deco facade of the AAA building on East Market Street in York. Fire was confined to the overhang of the structure in this 2000 fire. The bright neon facade and rotating sign is a York landmark. Most recently, Peoples Bank occupied this now vacant architecturally significant building. (See view of full facade below.) Background posts: Coca-Cola out in Springetts... self-storage space is real thing and York's housing stock not that revolutionary.

York Sunday News columnist Gordon Freireich provided a reminder in a recent piece about the many art deco buildings dot York-area streetscapes.

He pegged his column on the announced renovation of the Coca-Cola building along East Market Street. The uncovered entrance area gives away its art deco design under its siding... .

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 bunkhouse 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... .

The lobby of the Arthur Hufnagel Public Library of Glen Rock plays host to an unsung, off-the-beaten-path museum. Local collectors John 'Otts' Hufnagel, Terry McFatridge and Roger Butz and historian Don Swartz created an exhibit that displays letters, bills of sale, calendars and items from former businesses. 'I really like these old pictures of Glen Rock. I grew up in New Freedom so I don't remember a lot of these buildings, but I think it's neat to look at them and figure out where they were,' Lee Cook said. Cook, at left, and Jay Miller look at the display in 2005. Background posts: Former York County CCC camp now on map and The unsolved mystery of locomotive No. 1689.

Everyone in Glen Rock knew Willis Rohrbaugh.

The handyman at the Glen Rock post office carried bags from the train station to the post office starting in 1955.

Sometimes the train didn't even stop but slowed enough for someone to throw the mailbags in Willis' direction. And occasionally, two trains would stop at once, giving Willis double the work.

When the Sears & Roebuck catalog came in, he would haul up to 12 bags at once.

All this for $15 a week... .

The memorial at Kain Park dedicated to victims of alcohol-related accidents was rededicated in 2003, after the original memorial ran out of space to display the names of victims. The post marks a new category on York Town Square: Unsung/obscure county sites.' Posts on other memorials: Holocaust sculpture a York County must-see, Images capture hope for racial harmony and American War Mothers' gesture overlooked.

As excited visitors head to the paddleboats at Kain County Park, the memorial marking victims of alcohol-related accidents can be easily overlooked.

It shouldn't be. If all 54 names inscribed since 1980 were to die in one disaster, it would make international news. These victims mostly dying in vehicular accidents spread out over 28 years unfortunately create barely a stir... .

The Smyser-Royer building on York's North Street will be restored under the Northwest Triangle plan. Other historic buildings slated for restoration include: the old post office building on Philadelphia and North Beaver streets and the Keystone Color Works building, Gas Avenue. Background post: York County's Connection to the French Quarter.

York's new baseball stadium acts as a kind of hinge between two budding Codorus Creek-front projects.

To the east, the site of the former Graybill building and nearby former York County prison are being eyed for redevelopment.

To the west, the $50 million Northwest Triangle project offers a range of possibilities: restored historic properties, townhomes, offices and retail space.

Interesting, part of the development site was explored as a location for the stadium.

A you-just-got-to-look-at-map explains the project area, and yorktownsquare.com posts exploring several of its noteworthy or historic features follow:

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 passenger pigeon monument at Codorus State Park, seen standing on a hill off Marina Road, was rededicated 25 years ago after the move from its original site in the hills north of Hanover. Background posts about a York County pigeons of different types: World War II homing pigeons served far from home and York's racing pigeons: 'This is like the Kentucky Derby'.

Some sources say those hills north of Hanover are the Pidgeon Hills. Others say they're the Pigeon Hills.

It's a difficult controversy to resolve.

Some believe those hills are named after the Pigeon family. Others back the Penn's surveyor of Paradise Township, Joseph Pidgeon.

The controversy is stoked by the fact that now-extinct passenger pigeons populated the area in the late 1880s. Indeed, there's even a monument at Codorus State Park to recognize their ubiquity in these parts... .

Bob Kinsley rides Mexican Wave through the Howard Tunnel on the Rail Trail. The tunnel is one of the oldest in the United States.

No matter which direction York County rail trails run, users probably won't see any artifact or remnant of the past more imposing or memorable than the Howard Tunnel on the mother trail from the Maryland Line to York.

The tunnel was constructed in 1836-1837 through a hillside between Glatfelter's and Brillhart station. Trains used the hole in the hill to reach York for the first time in 1838. After trains reached York, that started a flow of raw materials to the port of Baltimore and other destinations in the South... .

Paul Nevin traces a thunderbird carving with a wet sponge to make it show up better in the midday sunlight. He told the York Daily Record/Sunday News that the best time to see the Native American-carved prehistoric rock art is in the fall and in the early morning or evening, when the sun is lower in the sky.

We'll let Bil Bowden's photographs wet your interest in the petroglyphs carved centuries ago in rocks in the Susquehanna River.

And read Jennifer Vogelsong's story about the efforts by Paul Nevin, a Hellam Township man to tell others about the carvings and their connection to Native American cultures.

Here are some bullet points about the carvings, unsung York County-area landmarks (for additional such little-known landmarks, search this blog for "unsung."):

Charles Rudisill’s service station in Spring Garden Township opened 50 years ago. He continues a tradition of independently owned service stations.

He's been at it for 50 years.

So Charles K. Rudisill, one of the area's last independent service station owners, was featured in a York Daily Record story this week.

Now, his story is part of the historical record.

It begins like this: ... .

Baron de Beelen travels to church in York. Years later, the Belgium businessman was buried in Adams County's Conewago Chapel. (Lewis Miller drawing courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

Conewago Chapel surely would be near the top of any list of unsung or underrated sites in York and Adams counties.

It's in the middle of nowhere, but that makes its wonderful paintings, frescoes and architecture all the more captivating. One simply wouldn't expect to run into such artifacts in such a quiet place.

Which brings to mind a favorite story about the chapel and York history, as outlined in my York Sunday News column, a tour of York County's historic southwest (and Adams' southeast):

This one-room school stood at the corner of Springwood and Camp Betty Washington roads until it was demolished to make way for a highway improvement project this week. At one time, York County played host to about 300 one-room schools, tops in Pennsylvania. See photograph of demolished school below..

Sixteen one-room schools operated in York Township before post-World War II consolidation spelled their demise.

Many became private residences or businesses after that. Now, one such former private residence is no more.

The Ore Valley School, forerunner to the mammoth Ore Valley Elementary School, was torn down this week to make way for improvements to a treacherous intersection.

A York Daily Record story quotes former student Karl Schaefer: ...

Workers put up the walls of the model blacksmith shop in Dover's Ketterman Park.

Call it a recycling project.

The Greater Dover Historical Society has salvaged stuff from an old blacksmith shop in Dover and assembled it in a reconstructed model at Ketterman Park.

The park is located on Butter Road behind Dover Elementary School.

To get a view of how the project evolved, see the slide show at www.ydr.com/history.

The shop is yet another example of history coming alive. For a listing of other unknown or little-known treasures posted on this blog, search for the following in this blog's archives: ...

The American War Mothers monument in York, right, rear, honors those who served, died and achieved in World War II. It is an overlooked York County landmark.

A photograph published with my column on Sunday, 'A Memorial Day tour of, well, memorials,' brought a nostalgic response from a reader.

Linda Just wrote about my tour of York's military statues, particularly Penn Park's American War Mothers marker: ...

This is a view not commonly seen by those visiting the Electric Map - its underbelly. For a topside view, see below. Some map stats: The map is a 30-foot square. It was built in 1938 and installed in its own 554-seat auditorium in 1963. Number of light bulbs? 625. Background posts: Q&A on new Gettysburg visitor center, old Electric Map and Gettysburg's vaunted Electric Map to soon stop blinking. For numerous additional Civil War-related posts on this blog, see this category.

Gettysburg's Electric Map is for sale.

Soon, the low-tech map that for decades has oriented visitors to the Gettysburg Battlefield will not be part of the National Park Service's offerings.

Two observations:

The most memorable part of the presentation is the announcer's comment that Southern forces arrived at the battlefield from the north and Northern troops entered the field from the south. Those who have followed York County and the Civil War know that a whole division of Southern troops -- 6,000-plus men -- who, indeed, entered the field from the north -- had just arrived from the east.

Got that?

Those were Jubal Early's men, who had countermarched to Heidlersburg in Adams County, northeast of the field, after reaching York and the west bank of the Susquehanna in Wrightsville.

Also, park service stats place Electric Map visitors in 2006 at 228,792 people. At an average price of $3.50 a ticket, sounds like a pretty good business opportunity for someone who wants to preserve the Gettysburg icon. (To see how the park service will handle the map, view the post shrinkwrapping ).

The York Sunday News story follows: ....

Don Robinson of Delta's Old Line Museum is seen near one of four remaining cottages built by Welsh quarrymen. (For additional photographs, see below.)

The YDR's Melissa Burke and Paul Kuehnel recently wrote about and photographed the rebirth of the nearly dead southeastern York County village of Coulsontown.

Fourteen years ago, the YDR's Marianne Clay painted the town, near Delta, before this "renaissance." So, here goes the story of another of York County's unsung landmarks (search for "unsung" on this blog and you'll discover the others):

This scene could come from the Smoky Mountains. But York Daily Record photographer Bil Bowden captured this near old Lock 12 on the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. Lock 12 Recreation Park lies north of the Norman Wood Bridge, spanning the Susquehanna River. Background post: Photographer tramps to far reaches of York County.

Earlier this week, Bil Bowden treated readers of this blog to a view of the old York County Courthouse, framed by the new baseball stadium.

Today, he shows a far different view of York County. Those who don't get out to see the three corners of York County (yes, it's triangular in shape, loosely speaking) are missing scenes such as these... .

"The Six Million" memorial, in the background, welcomes visitors to York's Jewish Community Center.

A haunting, memorable visit on any Sunday afternoon drive (tour route) is to see "The Six Million" memorial at the Jewish Community Center.

Internationally recognized sculptor Don Briddell produced the 20-foot by 9-foot Holocaust memorial.

The sculpture, unveiled in May 1997, was molded in clay, cast in resin and then painted.

A brochure Six Million accompanying the sculpture is right on in saying the work portrays an endless sea of men, women and children as they step forward from the darkness of the past into the light of today's world.

Their faces seem real, taken from photographs of those who died in the Holocaust... .

Barbara Forgas discovered what is believed to be American Indian artwork behind the walls of a bathroom in a Lewisberry, York County, home. See another view below.

Did you catch the story about the Lewisberry woman who found four, 8-foot panels bearing images of American Indians inside a bathroom she was remodeling? (See video at art in action).

Frank Littlebear, a York County resident and member of the Cree Nation, believes the panels might be ledger art - paintings designed to tell a story or mark an event... .

The old Jamison school.

Dolores Krick recognizes the photo above, queried by a reader.

It's the old Jamison School, and it's on her property.

She supplied information on the school, responding to an earlier post mystery building:

York County's unknown Union soldier rests in Prospect Hill Cemetery. See soldier in blue.

But his gray counterpart lies in a remote spote near the Susquehanna River. At least that's the story.

Here's what I found in "East of Gettysburg" about the rebel soldier buried on the York County side of the Susquehanna, in the Accomac area:

Myrtle Legotte, left, and Mary Sims use the key to identify community achievers during the unveiling of the 'Civil Rights Heroes of York' mural in 2005.

An unsung mural of York does not appear on the side of a building, as do the 18 panels in the Murals of York. program.

"Civil Rights Heroes of York" is a three-panel, life-size mural that is often on display at events around town.

Through March 3, it's part of Bradley Academy's exhibit: "A Rich History of Black Artistry in York County.

I worked with Bradley Academy officials to identify art by black artists or depicting black people in York's past.

The exhibit impressively brings together works from collections at Crispus Attucks Community Center, York City Human Relations Commission, York County Heritage Trust, private collections and current artists... .

"Workers of York" welcomes visitors to York's Agricultural and Industrial Museum.

Dick Boyd's autobiography, like other such works, is useful in supplying stories and behind-the-scenes glimpses not found elsewhere.

"The Bridge tells the story of the "Workers of York" statue at York's Agricultural and Industrial Museum.

As he relates it:

The York County Heritage Trust museum did not tell the story of worker contributions to York's industrial might.

He asked why not, and no one knew or seemed to care... .

York Water Company's then-uncovered reservoirs overlook York in this turn-of-the-century photo. The fountain also is no longer there.

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. http://lancaster.citysearch.com/profile/8780439/york_pa/susquehanna_memorial_gardens.html

But its overlooked status might change.

Back to that in a moment... .

Past operators of the Wallace-Cross Mill scored some interesting roles for their resumes.

Alexander Wallace’s two daughters took over operation of their father's grist mill near Cross Roads a couple of years after his death in 1861. (See York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel's video on the mill at http://w2.ydr.com/mmedia/flv/839.)

Alexander Wallace had operated the southeastern York County mill for about two decades, and his daughters carried on his legacy until 1895. The Wallace sisters are unusual. Women typically are not involved in the hard labor of milling in these days.

But one of them gained another distinction.

A York Daily Record story on an errant driver's crash into Jefferson's peaceful town square last week indicated that the main monument was untouched.

The square's big monument, topped by a World War I soldier, celebrates the two Jefferson men who died in the war -- Horatio Smith and Edward Swartzbaugh. It also observes the 22 other men who fought.

The grassy square also contains a World War I field piece, similar to the gun melted down in Spring Grove for scrap during World War II. It's unusual to find a World War I memorial in York County, much less one in or near a town's center.

But the damaged monument, now resting on its back in the square, had meaning, too... .

In one well-researched book, Ron Hershner helped Round Hill Presbyterian Church celebrate its 250th anniversary this year and made a real contribution toward helping others understand the county.

Hershner, a York attorney who has authoritatively written on his native southeastern York County, worked through the Cross Roads church's long history in his 125-plus-page "Round Hill Presbyterian Church, 250 Years of Faith." He thereby raised the profile of church's architecturally significant building. (To order, see http://www.yorkheritage.org).

If there’s a better done community-level museum in York County than Spring Grove’s, it would be interesting to see it. (This doesn't count the county-wide York County Heritage Trust.)

Museum curators display all sorts of things, even have a gas mask for a horse, circa World War II.

The Spring Grove Area Historical Preservation Society has divided its 7,300 artifacts into three rooms with schools, community and heritage themes.

Here are several items on display in this 3,000-square-foot, all volunteer museum: ...

Southeastern York County has bred a 7-foot-2-inch player that has been at it for 100 years.

And no, this player didn't toil for the championship Kennard-Dale High School basketball team in the mid-1990s... .

The Ma & Pa Railroad wound 77 miles through 476 curves between York and Baltimore for about 90 years.

The first part of the Maryland and Pennsylvania line was chartered in 1867 and freight and passenger service ended in the 1950s. Rolling stock chugs along parts of the old line.

The Ma & Pa took a back seat in notoriety to the better known, straighter Northern Central Railroad. In fact, it still does with the rail trail following the old Northern Central line through the county's heart. That is not true of model railroaders. The railroad is said to be the most popular among this group than any other in the eastern United States.

And the Ma and Pa Railroad Preservation Society is doing its best to keep memories of the Ma and Pa alive, with activities focusing on Muddy Creek Forks.

Let’s call it a marker marked by a marker.

Hanover’s Wirt Park, a public park, is home of a Ten Commandments marker sitting on a chunk of privately owned land.

The non-profit Gitt-Moul Historic Properties’ purchase of the land has ended a multi-year controversy. Now the monument has a nearby marker of its own... .

The turn-of-the-century Carlisle Avenue Market represents the last of the great indoor market houses to be built.

And it's the most recent one to make the news, as the soon-to-be-renovated home of Dreamwrights, a local theater group.

So, the scorecard for the five market houses: two still in use, one demolished, and two used for different purposes.

One wonders about the future of the two still in operation: Central Market and Penn Street Farmers Market... .

In 1866, farmers routinely took their goods to market in York -- York County's primary market center.

That's how they gained liquidity and disposed of excess produce, fruit and meat.

In those post-Civil War Days, the most popular places in York were two open-air sheds in the town's Centre Square. Farmers also sold their wares from makeshift stands on sidewalks and from the backs of wagons around the square.

With population growth on the west side of the Codorus, sufficient buyers were available for farmers coming to town on Penn Street, present-day Roosevelt Avenue and Bull Road to save some steps... .

A former York market house is hidden in plain view.

Dreamwrights, a local theater group, is quite correctly touting rehab plans for their large brick playhouse on Carlisle Avenue.

For years, I've wondered about the original use of that beautiful building... .

Fairmont Park in Red Lion owes its existence to Highland Park in West Manchester Township, maybe 10 miles away.

The link was the trolley system that snaked throughout the county at the turn of the 20th century.

The Red Lion Centennial Commission's history said popular Sunday excursions to Highland Park sparked some ministers and churches to protest inappropriate activities on the solemn Sabbath... .

Over the years, someone with excess white paint camouflaged the 1880s-vintage red brick Loucks School. That plus other alterations has made the West Manchester Township building hard to identify as a former one-room school

That’s not the only way the building and its surroundings have changed.

Town squares have been known to move in York County.

Take the focal point in Shiloh, for example.

While the trolley rattled through West Manchester Township, the village’s center point fell at Broad Street and Church Road. Now, it's the intersection of Carlisle and Church roads... .

Just off York’s Roosevelt Avenue at Fahs Street, people today reside in two-story government-type housing.

The houses clash with the style of their single-unit neighbors in the Fireside area, but motorists passing by have probably grown accustomed to them.

But these houses were anything but nondescript when introduced to York in 1943... .

A reader pointed out an intriguing Web site http://www.eawebview.com/masondixon/StoneMarkerSearch.cfm detailing extensive research on extant Mason-Dixon Line markers.

Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon undertook their famous survey between 1763-1767. They worked on the section near Delta, in southeast York County, in 1765. They laid their line setting York County's southern boundary after that.

They put down their markers this way: Their imported stone markers were placed every mile with “M" for Maryland chiseled on one side and “P" for Pennsylvania chiseled on the other. Larger five-mile markers bear the arms of the families of Lord Baltimore and the Penns.

About 40 stones still stand in York County today... .

Helen Thackston Memorial Park sits obscurely between West Princess and West College near the Codorus Creek in York.

Not many people know where the park is, much less the woman whose name is on its sign.

But even a cursory reading through Crispus Attucks Community Center history brings Helen Reeves Thackston’s name to the forefront. She touched the lives of virtually every senior leader in the black community today.

She did this by directing the center’s preschool program from 1932 until 1964. For many years, she volunteered her services.

Her community peers and former students speak of her with awe:

‘Helen didn’t just teach children, she taught them to be proud,’ Sylvia Newcombe, retired York Recreation Commission head, stated in 1979.

Community leader Ray Crenshaw described Helen Thackston in 1969, the year she died. An edited version follows:

“You can spend your whole life in and around York, and never notice Eberts Lane."

That’s how former York Daily Record writer Marianne Clay began her 1994 article on this overlooked York County road.

It’s also one of the York area’s best short cuts.

After Marianne wrote her story on the narrow, winding lane, I took a spin to try it out.

It was a wonderful all-too-brief excursion.

And it gets you from the city to the Galleria area in a matter of minutes.

Indeed, one hesitates to mention it here lest it becomes congested. It’s a little like suggesting that Coombs Tavern on York’s Pennsylvania Avenue has the area's best-tasting, best-priced prime rib — which it does — and then find out that reservation slots are scarce — which they already are.

Eberts Lane, not far from Windsor Park, my previous post, is another of York County’s overlooked treasures.

Marianne’s story below describes the lane so well that we’ll let her take it from here:

Windsor Park, sandwiched between Loucks Mill Road, North Sherman Street and Route 30, is an intriguing part of Spring Garden Township.

It’s easy to drive by the streets leading into the development without even knowing it’s there.

Windsor, Windsor Township, Lower Windsor Township. Windsor Park is at least fourth on the list of best-known Windsors in York County... .

Iron Mike might be one of the smallest of York County’s overlooked landmarks.

Mike’s a little statue — made of iron cast in York – standing guard over the monument of a mounted Union cavalryman in Hanover’s Center Square.

A Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce publication tells about the diminutive dog:

The news that Futer Bros. Jewelers is closing its downtown York store casts a spotlight on one of York’s most historic buildings.

Futer Bros., at the southeast corner of Continental Square, has been located in what has been known as the Hartman Building since the 1930s.

John Hartman built his six-story building on the southeast corner of Continental Square in 1850.

Three years earlier, former slave William C. Goodridge had built his five-story emporium — York’s first “skyscraper" — at the northwest corner of the square.

An often-told story suggests that a competitive Hartman intentionally built his structure a story higher to trump Goodridge ... .

I recently turned a York Town Square post on York’s World War II USO into a column in the York Sunday News.

It drew several responses:

Martha Frankenberry could recall the USO but thought it was across from the South George Street post office.

That would have been the Alcazar ballroom, now Cobblestones.

Large meeting places were in demand during the war, and it’s possible the ballroom was used for large USO dances.

USO activities focused around the old York County Academy on North Beaver Street and the Pennsylvania Dutch Canteen, located in the school’s tiny gym... .

Mary Ann Furnace, an early York County iron furnace, operated in West Manheim Township starting in 1762. Among other things, the furnace produced grape shot and cannon balls for the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

The furnace is long gone, but its site will become part of Codorus State Park. The York County Farm and Natural Lands Trust paid $1.75 million for the land, and the state will pay back the loan by March.

All this will shield the historic site from the developer’s bulldozer.

What is the 1762 furnace’s place in county history?

The following from “Never to be Forgotten" gives a glimpse:

June Lloyd, retired archivist at the York County Heritage Trust, is off to a great start as a columnist for The York Daily Record/Sunday News.

On Christmas Day, her column connected a product of York County with a popular part of New Orleans. You'll have to read below to find out more.

Previously, she wrote on Christian Gobrecht, a York County native who became a well-known engraver at the United States mint. She also told about Hanover native John Luther Long's story that Puccini adapted for his famed opera "Madame Butterfly." (That column is posted in the York Town Square archives.)

June brings the skills honed in years of unsung, painstaking research as the popular archives at York County's premier historical research facility. In her retirement, she'd doing historical consulting. I'll occasionally post her work here, but all her newspaper material will be available at www.newslibrary.com.

Motorists driving across the Wright’s Ferry Bridge spanning the Susquehanna River might wonder about the long lonely row of bridge supports seen downstream beside the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge.

Some may know that these piers supported the mile-long bridge burned by Union militia to keep the Confederates from crossing the river in the days before the Battle of Gettysburg in late June 1863. But that’s the extent of their knowledge... .

A fight between a developer and preservationists over the Camp Security site in Springettsbury Township has made many York County residents aware of the history of that Revolutionary War location.

Fewer are aware that York County played host to a second prisoner of war camp — Camp Stewartstown in World War II.

More than 2,000 German prisoners camped there in the summers of 1944 and 1945. These detainees came down from Fort Indiantown Gap to work in the orchards and canneries through southern York County. They stayed in tents, within a barbed-wire-enclosed compound at the Stewartstown Fairgrounds, next to the Presbyterian Church.

“There’s no homes built on it yet," Betty Baldwin commented in presenting information about the camp to a gathering at Zion United Church of Christ earlier this month... .

People usually overlook "The Big Inch" because it runs underground.

Few know that this major petroleum pipeline and its smaller neighbor travel across York County on their way to the East Coast.

"The Big Inch" and "Little Big Inch" have been buried under county soil since the World War II years.

A reader wrote us with a question about the sycamore trees lining the Susquehanna Trail in stretches between York and Maryland.

He had heard they were planted in memory of World War I soldiers and was seeking details.

The Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge spanning the Susquehanna River quietly passed its 75th anniversary on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Many stories surround the 7,500-foot-long structure, in secondary use since construction of the Wright's Ferry Bridge in 1972.

But first its vital statistics:

Wrightsville's history goes back so far -- to the first page of York County's story -- that one would think its sites have been well explained and explored.

But its strategic location affording easy access to the Susquehanna River has meant that it touches wars and most other things historical. This adds up to a lot of stuff to see.

Every time I hear that another rowhouse has succumbed to flames in York, I think about how many families called that place home in its 100 or so years of existence.

York’s long strings of attached homes were built for families of factory workers during the height of the Industrial Revolution.

Although York sees itself as a Revolutionary War town, much of its housing stock comes from the Victorian era.

I’ve kept my eye on one row house for years — 531 Thomas St.

A blogger pointed out that a good candidate for an overlooked county treasure is the now-headless statue on Salem Square in that part of York City.

Good point.

The York-area boasts few odes to the Civil War to begin with, so we should treasure them all.

But what war does the statue celebrate? See controversy below.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that the doors to a small brick building at the rear of a parking lot across from York’s St. John’s Episcopal Church were pulled back.

This was my chance to see if any remnants of a World War II USO were left in the building, the former gym for the York County Academy... .

Ask any York County audience about the current location of "The Little Courthouse" or "Victory House," and they'll pause and say, "Farquhar Park," or "near Kiwanis Lake."

Well, the 1 ½-story replica of the Colonial Courthouse -- county courthouse No. 1 of 4 -- hasn't rested in the park for years.

The Prospect Hill Cemetery, vandalized last week, is just one of York County's unsung treasures... .