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

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

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

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

Posted in Civil War Events Explanations/controversy Famous York visitors For photo fans Genealogy/research Local journalism & Web Local landmarks War York Town Square

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David Kline works around his Red Lion-area Family Heir-Loom Weavers. He will demonstrate the use of old looms to OLLI Brown-Bag Lunch participants on Oct. 27, one of several such sessions that are part of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute classes this fall. Background posts: York County's landscape, buildings, landmarks can serve as a classroom,
OLLI's theme song: 'Don't stop thinking about learning' and Iron-mine-turned-into-party-spot turned into York County park.

That machinery has produced costumes for actors in the films "Amistad," "Gods and Generals," "Gettysburg" and "Cold Mountain."

His Family Heir-Loom Weavers have produced items for nine presidential homes. That resume includes carpets at Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Ill., and George Washington's Mount Vernon home.

But he'll leave the big machinery behind in a Brown Bag Lunch and Learn program in October, part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute fall lineup... ... .

Posted in Civil War Events Explanations/controversy For photo fans Genealogy/research Local journalism & Web Made in York People Small-town life War York Town Square

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Crispus Attucks' Cindy Leiphart is surrounded by a dirt room beneath the floor in the William C. Goodridge house in York. Fugitives may have used a trapdoor in the kitchen floor to hide in this room, part of the Underground Railroad. Background posts: Research needed to unearth Underground Railroad, Part II, 10 years ago, York's exclusive Lafayette Club became less exclusive, Part II , William C. Goodridge: From slavery to success story

Efforts to turn the home of William C. Goodridge into an Underground Railroad museum are sitting on a siding while sponsors are searching for funds.

But a recent York Daily Record/Sunday News story telling about these funding woes revealed that the site is listed with the National Park Service's National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

That means that there has been some outside-the-county scrutiny of the home of Goodridge - a former slave who became a successful 19th-century York businessman -as an Underground Railroad site.

It appears to be the only site in York County to be so listed... .

Posted in Black history Civil War Events Explanations/controversy For photo fans Genealogy/research Local journalism & Web Local landmarks War York Town Square

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

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

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

Posted in Civil War Events Explanations/controversy Famous York visitors For photo fans Local journalism & Web Nostalgia & memories People War York Town Square

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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:

Posted in Books & reading Civil War Events Explanations/controversy Farms & fields For photo fans Genealogy/research God & York County Local journalism & Web Local landmarks Nostalgia & memories People School days Small-town life Unsung/obscure sites War Wheels of York Women's history York Town Square York sports

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This panel, part of the Murals of York series, shows the Central Market, one of at least three murals that celebrates York County's agricultural prowess. The murals can be used as an effective tool to teach county history. Free walking tours of the murals, courtesy of the York County Heritage Trust, are scheduled at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. every Tuesday through Saturday until Aug. 30. The tours start at the gift shop behind the Colonial Courthouse, West Market Street, York. Background posts: Don't know much about York County history? Part I, Part II, and Civil rights heros stand out at Bradley exhibit.

The Murals of York can served as a classroom teaching tool.

That's what I told teachers recently in a continuing education course on York County history, offered through Millersville University.

I then provided an overview of county history using the murals, as described in the following York Sunday News column, to be published on July 25: ...

Posted in American Revolution Books & reading Civil War Events Explanations/controversy Farms & fields For photo fans Genealogy/research Harley-Davidson Iconic images Local journalism & Web Local landmarks Made in York Nostalgia & memories Quizzes & (fun) tests War Wheels of York Women's history World War II York Barbell York Town Square Yorkco

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The Murals of York can be used as artifacts to tell a story about the York area. Pictured here is the York Fair mural on the side of the East Market Street parking garage across from the Yorktowne Hotel. There's a certain irony of this particular mural as a celebration of agriculture being located on the side of the garage, overlooking a parking lot. For the last 25 years, York County farmland has been gobbled up to provide housing for commuters from Maryland and elsewhere. Background posts: 20 questions and answers to prove your York County WWII smarts, Resources for York/Adams history junkies increasingly posted on Web, 20 questions and answers to prove your York County smarts, Part III.

When about 20 York County teachers became my students in a recent Millersville University summer continuing education class, I cast about for tools make local history come alive.

I put together a true/false quiz designed to summarize some of the themes of my two-hour primer. (I used it more as a mental execise than a test.)

See how you do, and don't be surprised if my answers resemble sound bytes. Follow the links to go deeper:

Posted in American Revolution Black history Civil War Events Explanations/controversy Farms & fields For photo fans Genealogy/research Local journalism & Web Made in York Quizzes & (fun) tests War Wheels of York Women's history York Town Square

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in A.B. Farquhar Civil War Explanations/controversy Famous York visitors For photo fans Genealogy/research Local landmarks Presidential stops Small-town life War Wheels of York York Town Square

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PennDOT has installed 73 of these "wayfinding" signs in York, Adams and four other counties. Twenty-four of the signs are in York and Adams counties pointing motorists to Civil War sites. Background posts: The horrors of the Civil War struck York County right after Sumter, Resources for York/Adams history increasingly posted on Web and Return Camp Security sign: 'No questions will be asked'.

Motorists around here might be noticing a bunch of new signs - Civil War Trail markers - along the road.

They're designed to point people to Gettysburg campaign sites - including the curiously named 'York: Prize of the Confederacy' - that are part of this region's Civil War Trail program.

These sites will become part of tourism efforts already in place in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina... .

Posted in Civil War Events Explanations/controversy Genealogy/research Local landmarks Mail bag War York Town Square

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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... .

Posted in Books & reading Civil War Events Explanations/controversy Farms & fields Genealogy/research Local journalism & Web Local landmarks People Pets & animals Small-town life War York Town Square

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