Recently in Pets & animals Category

York's Continental Square is shown in this undated photo from Jim Hubley's "Off the Record." This was the site that a World War II era cow toured early in World War II. Background posts: Perrydale's bovine: 'She's a wonderful, laid-back cow' and 'Boys, she's a Confederate cow' and When did York's square change from Centre to Continental?.

I've written about York's headline-grabbing cow before.

But the meat of the story is worth repeating.

Early in World War II, a runaway cow - termed a steer by a newspaper - rumbled around York's Continental Square, two men in a truck in tow.

"The steer," Police Chief C. P. Gerber told The York Dispatch, "obeyed the traffic rules."

It circled the square in the proper traffic lanes.

In that post, I drew this short conclusion to this short story: "That was post-Depression York County. Its people did their work simply, ably and followed the rules."

But there's more to the story. Where did the cow come from? ... .

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... .

Dr. Harold Neibert participated in the famed rescue of the now-world-famous Lipizzan horses from Czechoslovakia in World War II. Here, he shows pictures of the horses he cared for. Background posts: York County sacrificed on homefront and war front to aid Allies in World War II - Part I and York County sacrificed - Part II and Pioneering aviator Aline Rhonie another York native who made U.S. headlines.

York County veterinarian Harold Neibert cared for rescued World War II Lipizzan horses, ancestors of the entertainers of today.

Look for a takeout on those noted horses in an upcoming edition of World War II Magazine.

A writer for that magazine saw the York vet helped save famed Lipizzan horses post on this blog and is in the process of getting in touch with him.

"I'm writing about the rescue of Austria's Lipizzaner horses at the end of World War II for the magazine I edit, World War II," Karen Jensen wrote in an e-mail... .

William Solomon, owner of Pin Oak Lane Farm in Shrewsbury Township, is seen with Deposit Ticket in 2004. Deposit Ticket's offspring earned $1.4 million during the year. Pin Oak was the birthplace of 1992 Kentucky Derby winner Lil E. Tee (see photo below). Background posts: Glen Rock hilltop farm: 'You cannot stay stressed here for long' and Wiki profiles eight with national status bearing Hanover roots and Hames made in Shrewsbury Township's Hametown fueled early American horsepower and Two ornate mansions that Hanover Shoe built.

York County ranks third in the state behind Chester and Lancaster counties for the greatest number of racehorses, a Penn State researcher said a few years back.

"You don't have a racetrack in the county," the researcher said. "It's a bedroom community for those who do."

Bedroom community, yes.

But one of those horses who lived here and left will always have a York County birthplace in its biography.

That's Lil E. Tee, 1992 Kentucky Derby winner, who was put down this week.

These excerpts from a York Daily Record/Sunday News/AP story (3/24/09) tell about this first Pennsylvania-bred horse to win the Derby:

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: ...

For years, a hame was displayed on a sign in Leon Saubel's front yard in the Shrewsbury Township (Pa.) village of Hametown. The display has been taken down. Background posts: Codorus collector exhibits collection of conveyances - wheels and sleighs and 'I didn't know a peach tree from an apple tree, but we learned quickly.' and Trees commemorate World War I I vets.

In putting up the recent post on a Hametown one-room school and its upcoming reunion, it occurred to me that viewers might not know how the school's host village received its name.

Hametown between Shrewsbury and Loganville on the Susquehanna Trail was a major center for the making of hames.

Hames, along with collars and traces, form the pulling part of a horse's harness. (Other parts of a harness - a bridle, for example - relate to guiding the horse.)

J. Emory Seitz, whose great grandfather founded the village's hame-making factory circa 1850 defined a hame in a 1970 letter: ...

Brian Brown, project supervisor of the newly opened Manchester Township's SPCA told the York Daily Record/Sunday News in 2006: 'These dogs are going to be living good.' York-area residents began organization of the SPCA in 1925. Background posts: Pets and animals in York County history and Perrydale's bovine: 'She's a wonderful, laid-back cow' and Landmark dog guards picket.

Dover's Sara Bretz is a retired teacher who wants to instruct others about the SPCA's story.

She's embarked on a project to learn the SPCA's history, spending hours in the York County Heritage Trust Archives. She hopes to compile her history into a publication.

She's found that organizing members of the group first met on March 31, 1925. Harry A. Harris brought the group together.

An annual report for 1931, issued by president Joseph H. Mosser, summarizes the SPCA's goals in those years:

The best place to start in researching York County (Pa.) Pfaltzgraff pottery is "Pfaltzgraff, America's Potter." The book tells the story of the former York County pottery makeer from its founding in the early 1800s through 1989, the date the book was published. It's available via the York County Library System, www.yorklibraries.org. Background posts: Who are York County's most influential citizens? - Part II and Pottery put the other Foustown - the one in Manchester Township - on the map and Original WSBA station hands mic to demolition team.

The Pfaltzgraff arm of Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff made pottery of all shapes and sizes for all kinds of uses for decades and decades.

Page through the book "America's Potters," and you'll see pottery used for Christmas ornaments, cookie jars, ash trays, laundry sprinklers and door stops.

But nothing in there about dragons, a point of query by Julie Patterson... .

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... .

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... .

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

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

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

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

Ten died in an Aug. 10 industrial accident 100 years ago. The York Rolling Mills explosion appears to be the worst industrial accident in York County's history. Background posts: 1908: 'Boiler Explosion At York Rolling MIlls Kills 9 Men; 20 injured' , Freight locomotive 'telescoped' runaway Stewartstown Railroad car and York County lawmaker fought to aid the blind.

When Jumbo crosses paths with York County history, horrific things happen.

One example came when Jumbo, a traveling circus elephant, fell ill. A account of that memorable night is found in the York Town Square post: The day Jumbo screamed in North York - Elephant story Part II

The other recorded episode involving Jumbo came 100 years ago, when a boiler so named exploded at an industrial site, York Rolling Mill, near the Codorus Creek.

We pick up Teresa Boeckel's account in a York Daily Record/Sunday News story (9/7/08) here:

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. ...

A new Civil War monument in Hunterstown, Adams County, includes a bust of Gen. George Armstrong Custer and a description of Hunterstown's contributions to history. It is located on the Harding farm, corner of Shrivers Corner and Hunterstown Road. Background posts: History-making evening on rebel occupation could turn into daylong symposium, Public gets Buford's-eye look at Gettysburg battlefield and Is Civil-War-era cash buried around Hanover?.

Many prominent Civil War generals passed through York County.

Jubal Early, John B. Gordon, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Jeb Stuart, William B. Franklin, head the list.

And George Armstrong Custer, a brand new brigadier general, is one of the best remembered, perhaps because he - or his horse - made a lasting mark... .

After 50 years of practicing law, Jane Alexander's longtime law office is filled memorabilia and 26-year occupant Jake 'the Jerk.' The bird is known to ask: 'May I help you?' Background posts: Who are York County's most influential citizens? - Part II, List growing of high state officials hailing from York County and Strange pairings could help raise funds in York.

York County's second female state legislator has decided to call it quits in Harrisburg.

Bev MacKereth, a four-term Republican legislator, is taking a position as the executive director of the York County Human Services Department.

Interestingly, in a legislative world of long terms, York County's first female state legislator also served a relatively short time... .

The York Sunday New rated Bob Hoffman, founder of York Barbell, at the top of the top 10 York and Adams counties sports figures in the 20th century. Background posts: Lineup full of stars with York County links, Author muscles way into York's body building world and Richard Nixon's visit to his namesake park sparks memories.

The York Daily Record/Sunday News publication of the 25 most influential people in York County sparked much community discussion.

The same was true in 2000 when the York Sunday News issued its list of the 20th-century's top 10 sports people.

Bob Hoffman headed the list on the strength of his role as five-time Olympic weightlifting coach and his founding of York Barbell.

His selection - and others in the top 10 - brought accord and also disagreement... .

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:

Kaltreider-Benfer Memorial Library is known for a lot of quality public services, including its used book sales. The next Book Nook is set for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 17, at the Red Lion Country Club, formerly Copper Beech. But where does the Kaltreider come from in its name? This is part of a continuing blog series about the sources of names on the sides of York County's buildings.Grange Hall represented past way of York County life, Red Lion's Ebert Furniture: From bedroom suites to gunstocks and Red Lion's towering Fairmont Park off the beaten track.

Historian George Prowell considered cigarmaker D. Frank Kaltreider as the epitomy of a self-made man, starting at the bottom and achieving "sound" financial condition by the age of 29... .

Springettsbury Township's Meadowbrook mansion looms in the background as riders and horses strike a pose. At the turn of the 20th century, cigarmaker Edwin Myers brough this George revivial look to the mansion. Many stories are attached to the site. Tradition has it that invading, horse-hungry Confederates visited the spread in 1863, perhaps in search of the ancestors of the mounts pictured here. This photograph came from a Meadowbrook Village brochure filed at the York County Heritage Trust. Background posts: Property rights foundational in Lauxmont debate, York County cigars: 'They contained a vast amount of nicotine.' and Picturesque steel bridges going way of covered bridge ancestors.

The Canada goose that sought to hatch her goslings near Borders on Whiteford Road provided an opportunity to draw lessons from the former Meadowbrook estate.

I devoted my York Sunday News column (5/11/08) to the topic, which touched on the Dempwolf architects, cigarmaking, the lives of the rich and covered bridges - and the story of Mother Goose:

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

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

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

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

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

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... .

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.. .

Ginger Parker is a different type of York County barn owner. She uses her barn, located on a high point near Glen Rock, to breed show horses. Here, her is the inside-out view of Parker in the barnyard. Background posts: Star Barn's relocation a plus, even if not in York County and 'An old bank barn with so much character'.

Hanover Shoe Farms put horse breeding on the map in York County.

Most recently, Donato Hanover, then stabled at his birthplace in Hanover, won harness racing's 2007 Horse of the Year honors.

And it was 16 years go that Pin Oak Lane Farm in Shrewsbury Township gained the national spotlight as birthplace of Lil E. Tee. That colt was the first Pennsylvania-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby... .

‘Migration’ (1997) by Hellam Township artist Rob Evans is part of the 'Visions of the Susquehanna, an exhibit of 250 years of paintings by American Masters,' on display at York College through Wednesday, Feb. 20. Several works in the exhibit, for which Evans served as curator, capture the Susquehanna River as it divides York and Lancaster counties. Background posts: Susquehanna River bridge makeover flowing along, Almost ... a double deck bridge across the Susquehanna? and When did Wrightsville Ferry service end?

The "Visions of the Susquehanna River" exhibit, in its final days at York College, shows the beautiful river from a number of vantage points.

But the paintings, as the saying goes, are more than a bunch of pretty pictures... .

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

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

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

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

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

The cover of "The River and the Ridge," (Gateway Press, 2003) shows a Peach Bottom slate quarry pit that opened about 1900. The book's jacket states: 'The cable hoist was used to move blocks of good slate and waste slate out of the quarry. The logs protected the steam pump that was used to move water out of the quarry. The bell-ringer's shanty at upper left was usually occupied by a young boy. He sent signals to the cable hoist engineer because the engineer could not see over the edge of the pit.' Background posts: Coroner responds to quarry calls and
Pinchgut vs. The Gut and Black soldiers from York County served in 'Glory' unit - Part I.

Anytime someone asks about the Delta area, (see Wanted: One slate-roofed privy from Delta, Pa., I immediately refer him or her to the massive local history of that area, "The River and The Ridge."

The book is among the best histories written about a township or section of York County. (See post on another well-done history: West Manchester book contains valuable gold coins... .

Lewis Burns is seen with some of his birds in one coup among 12 filled with racing pigeons on property in the east end of York. Background posts: Birds gone, rehabbed steeple stands and Marine and his military dog meet 60 years later

Pigeons have long flown across the pages of York County's history books.

Passenger pigeons formerly populated what are called the Pigeon Hills - or is it Pigeon or Pidgeon Hills?

York County homing pigeons aided the Allies during World War II... .

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?

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

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

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

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

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

Finding relics around Gettysburg was common in the post-Civil War years? But finding artifacts of the the Battle of Hanover, site of 300 casualties? Blogger June Lloyd tells about one such find in: Civil War Confederate Sword Plowed Up in Hanover. Background posts: The four bloggers write, Skinny dipping for web readers and Best of yorktownsquare.com, 2007 .

York County's other three local history bloggers regularly come up with surprising findings about the county's past.

Here are some examples of some topics from June Lloyd's Universal York, Scott Mingus' Cannonball and Scott Butcher's Windows into York that may enlighten and intrigue local history enthusiasts:

York Mayor John Brenner mans a machine that is knocking down part of Weaver's Auto Body on North Beaver Street. The building was partially demolished as part of groundbreaking ceremonies for the Northwest Triangle project this week. Background posts: Map explains York's $50 million redevelopment area and Skinny dipping in the Codorus?

Now that groundbreaking for the $50 million Northwest Triangle Project is out of the way, contractors will spend months cleaning up the soil contaminated in the largely industrial section of town.

In his "Skinny Dipping in the Codorus," Raymond Sechrist gives a glimpse of one contaminating industry in that region at the turn-of-the-20th century.

It centered around William Gerber's coal yard on both sides of North Water (Pershing Street) and touched on a long-passed way of life: ...

Scott Mingus takes another look at interesting, often behind-the scenes stories of the buildup and aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg. The books are available at Gettysburg bookstores, the York Emporium and Amazon.com. Amazon.com. Background post: E-mail queries about Confederate invasion .

As Confederate Gen. Jeb Stuart was riding away from Hanover after a day-long battle, he detained a "fat dutchman." The Hanoverian seemed to be counted the rebel horsemen.

We'll let Scott Mingus tell the rest of the story, taken from his new book, "Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign, Volume 2:"

This photograph is part of Dr. Harold Neibert's collection and was taken during his work with Lipizzaner horses during World War II. Neibert helped to rescue the horses in the 1940s. He owns Yorkshire Animal Hospital in Springettsbury Township. Background posts: German POWs: 'They worked cheaper than we did' and York County veterinarian's link to World War II Lipizzan horse rescue captures interest .

Harold Neibert is a vet from York and a vet from York.

He's a veteran of World War II, where he exercised his training as a veterinarian to help bring 40 Lipizzan horses from the former Czechoslovakia to American control.

Some of the Lipizzaner Stallions that perform worldwide today - and in York County recently - may have come from those herded by Neibert, according to the following York Daily Record story:

The former Highland Park site, a destination point for trolley riders from across York County, is now a quarry. Here, a trolley waits at the park’s entrance. Background post: A village center that up and moved.

Did you know part of the impetus for the electrification of America's trolleys rested with the tendency of horses to become diseased from strain in getting the heavy cars started?

And a single horse deposited 10 to 20 pounds of manure on the street each day.The streets were generally muddy in inclement weather anyway - which fueled ridership - but their condition was not helped by animal excrement.

And trolleys drew their names from the trolley wheel that rolled along the line once the systems were electrified... .

A cow at York Township's Perrydell farm recently had triplets, a rare feat. But the fertile cow was outdone by a goat with quints some years ago. Background posts: Other cow stories: Boys, she's a Confederate cow and The steer obeyed the traffic rules .

Tom Perry of York Township's Perrydell Farms said the mother of triplet calves is normally a laid-back cow. But her accomplishment landed in the 1 in 105,000 category.

Unfortunately, her production did not meet the output of a Craley goat in 1995.

Anthony "John" and Jockquin Eveler's Alpine goat, named Patches, delivered five healthy, non-identical kids, a feat considered "pretty unusual."

Those quints brought the Eveler family's total of goats to 36.

The Evelers expected to seek a license to sell milk from their goats.

"It makes great ice cream and good cheese," Jockquin Eveler said.

But back to Perrydell's triplets. To learn about an opportunity to visit them, see the following York Daily Record story, orginally headlined "A Cow Wow:" ...

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... .

Hundreds of people gathered outside Christ Lutheran Church in downtown York recently for a rededication ceremony of the building’s steeple.

Another towering York steeple has been rehabbed and restored.

Last year, St. Paul Lutheran's steeple received a facelift.

Now comes mother church Christ Lutheran, just north on George Street, and its 177-foot steeple.

Renovation of the 1815 steeple cost about $267,000.

And it didn't come off without a hitch.

The project was delayed by nesting kestrels (see story and photograph below). But the Christ Lutheran congregation was patient with the small falcons. The steeple had been there from just after the War of 1812 ended. It could hold up a little longer.

A York Daily Record story on the project's completion as well as a piece about the kestrels follow:

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

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

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

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

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

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."):

Esther Paules

Esther Paules , of Windsor Township, can remember horses hitched around York's Continental Square - then Centre Square - when it was unpaved.

Unpaved roads weren't unusual in the city in those days. Even in 1942, only 35 miles of York's 90-mile road system were paved.

Sunday she celebrated 100 years during a party at Locust Grove United Church of Christ.

And on the topic of animals on Continental Square, consider this story of a wayward cow, according to "In the Thick of the Fight:" ...

Chad Whitcraft of New Freedom unloads his 1935 John Deere B off the back of his truck in Manchester in preparation for Old Tyme Days in 2004.

A Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin article
about a York County couple who sell models of old-time construction equipment brings to mind a past rite of summer in York County.

That was Old Tyme Days in Manchester borough.

That annual event was just an old-time fair held about this time every year. Home-made food. Antique farm machinery. Tractor pulling competition. An old-fashioned prayer meeting.

Several years ago, the owners of the land where the fair was held for years sold the property to be used as a housing development.

What a symbol for a York County in change. A fair priding itself in the display of farm equipment giving way to sprawl. As I write, the housing development is going up on the old fairgrounds.

The York Daily Record explored this and other examples of perhaps less-than-desirable change in a 2004 editorial:

Mary C. Fisher, seen in the living room of her East Market Street home, arrived at field hospitals in Gettysburg soon after the battle ended in early July 1863. What she saw there shocked even this veteran military nurse.

One more thing about Mary C. Fisher, the seasoned Civil War nurse who helped so many wounded after the Battle of Gettysburg.

She made one of my favorite quotes from history, in describing the concern of York's citizens about the Confederate occupation in late June 1863.

"We knew not how soon might come a signal to unleash the dogs of war in our midst," Fisher wrote, "and give your homes a prey to the invader." ...

Scott L. Mingus Sr. has produced another book in a series capturing little-known or unknown stories surrounding famous battles.

His "Human Interest Stories from Antietam" Antietam book is now available, complementing his work on the Battle of Gettysburg.

Here are two examples from his Antietam work, including the story about a Confederate cow:

More than humans and petswent to Europe and the Pacific in World War II.

Backup communications was for the birds.

According to "In the Thick of the Fight," the U.S. Army Signal Corps put out a call for homing pigeons, early in the war:

The corps asked the six or more York County pigeon clubs to inventory how many of the county's 6,000 homing birds would be available for military service.

The military considered pigeons an important part of war communication, when other means of sending messages had broken down. The corps also cautioned the clubs about foreign agents intercepting the birds... .

Arthur Glatfelter lays his hand on the statue of his dog Pal, who served
in the 3rd Marine War Dog Platoon during World War II. The statue
was unveiled during a special Veterans Day presentation.

Philanthropist Art Glatfelter’s goodbyes and hellos with his dog Pal during World War II was touching. http://www.ydr.com/search/ci_4646146 The summary point is that Art went to war and so did Pal.

That relationship will be memorialized for the ages with a Lorann Jacobs’ http://www.yorkblog.com/archives/2006/10/post_69.html statue to sit along the rail trail in York’s downtown.

How pets fare during war is an often overlooked topic.

The following from my World War II book “In the Thick of the Fight" gives a summary:...

After you've visited Round Hill Presbyterian Church in Cross Roads, consider other points of interest in the Chanceford Township-area of southeastern part of York County in your Sunday afternoon drive. (See previous post: "Get around to seeing ornate Round Hill church.")

-- Hershaull Park, near Round Hill church, sports a ball field that abuts a cornfield. Put in bleachers, and it's a small-scale version of that famous field from "Field of Dreams. ... "

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: ...

Photographer Paul Kuehnel tells an intriguing of an old-time gas/electric Rutter's Daily milk truck.

The last known milkman to make deliveries in York County was a Rutter's route man, John Schwartz.

That came in 1994, after Schwartz had been making deliveries for 45 years.

Rutter's opened its first convenience stores in York in 1968, the beginning of the end for home deliveries... .

Shorty Fincher's Valley View Park played host to the likes of Hank Williams Jr. and Sr., Porter Waggoner, the Osmond Brothers, Kitty Wells and the Harmonica Cats.

Some performers who traveled to the eastern York County venue were in their early stages of stardom.

But Roy Rogers performed during the Hellam Township park's heyday in the 1950s when he also was a top box office star.

Rogers did not perform alone.

His horse, Trigger, joined him on the eastern York County stage... .

Two other stories reflect the growing tension between farms and factories in York County's past.

At the height of the industrial buildup to World War II, a runaway steer made a grand entry into York’s Continental Square. It was almost as if the trotting steer was trying to remind folks that agriculture was important to the war effort, too.

Two men in a truck pursued the cow.

“The steer," Police Chief C.P. Gerber told The York Dispatch, “obeyed the traffic rules."

It circled the square in the proper traffic lanes.

The second story is a sad one... .

Stories abound from York County's storied agricultural past.

Many illustrate the conflict when an agricultural county evolves into a major industrial center.

Here's a machine vs. animal story from the Spring Grove Ripplet in 1918... .

The burning of a York County barn scheduled to be part of an agricultural museum might slow down the heritage project. http://www.ydr.com/history/

But it gives good reason to ruminate a bit on the county’s vaunted agricultural past.

Throughout York County’s history, its farmland has been among the most productive in the nation. For example, York has been among the country’s 100 leading counties in value of farm products sold and remains near the top in Pennsylvania in number of farms.

When did agriculture officially lose the majority in York County? ...

Nostalgia about York’s trolleys might obscure memories about their dangers.

Two incidents in Dallastown in 1902, taken here from “Never to be Forgotten," give a glimpse into life along the far-flung lines:

Several reminders of York County's once-far-flung electric trolley network remain.

Former red-brick car shops are hidden on the Avenues in York. Trolley Road runs through West Manchester Township. A former trolley bridge can be seen along Susquehanna Trail in Violet Hill, York Township. And Brookside Park, one of several trolley parks, remains in use near Dover... .

York County's Balloon Fest, held for the third year at John C. Rudy Park, is growing in popularity.

To tie into this hot air balloon festival, former York County Heritage Trust achivist June Lloyd wrote about some of the quirky early lighter-than-air efforts from the 1830s on Sunday.
I took my turn a few years ago in "Never to be Forgotten:"

George Elliott prepares himself in 1954 to ascend in a balloon over Hanover. A newspaper reported that arrangements are made with the "intrepid Aeronaut" for the public-pleasing stunt. Elliott is one of many itinerant balloonists to tour the county in the mid-19th century. An added crowd pleaser comes when the aeronauts toss dogs or cats in parachutes from balloons... .

York’s Patriot Days this weekend might raise the question for some about what actually happened in York County in those days before the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

The following is a quick overview, taken from 'East of Gettysburg' :

In 1889, the Eastern Market walls took a tumble.

With it came near disaster, as described in this excerpt from “Never to be Forgotten":

A little boy and his dog play in the Eastern Market yard. The dog runs toward the building, and his young companion starts to follow when the walls fall... .

York County resident Dave Yates read my blog-entry-turned-column in the York Sunday News and e-mailed his own elephant story.

But Dave's story is heart-breaking so read on with caution ... .

Ok, one more elephant story to complement two previous posts.

Again, one that can bring a tear to the eye, from the York Daily Record, 1995:

I had one of those magic moments when everything I was reading converged.

Within a short period, I read about swimming elephants in two far different types of writing.

A York Daily Record article reported speculations that the Loch Ness Monster might have been an elephant that escaped from a traveling circus that visited that area of Scotland in the 1930s. The article explained when an elephant swims, it flattens out with its trunk above water — similar to photographs of Nessie... .

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:

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.

Could you locate Dogtown, Pinchgut or Hollywood on a York County map?

Well, after working my way through the "Gazetteer of York and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania," I can get close.

The South Central Pennsylvania Geneaological Society has produced the 90-page geographical dictionary, listing thousands of county places, prominent and obscure.

Dogtown, for example, covers Adams Street in West York between Princess Street and the Codorus, also known as Highlandtown and Smoketown. Highland Park, an electric or trolley park operated near there in the early 20th century. Reformer Carrie Nation and other notables lectured there, amid the amusement park fun.