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Harley-Davidson workers examine a tentative agreement between the company and the union Friday morning at the York (Pa.) Expo Center. Also of interest: York workers traditionally have made big, heavy things and York County chainsaw artist about Harley carving: 'I had an inspiration for the bike and America' and All Made in York posts from the start.

York, Pa., is locked in mortal battle with Shelbyville, Ky., over who will win rights to assemble Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Harley's union in York is viewing a tentative contract with the company that is considered key to retention of work in its current Springettsbury Township plant.

A pundit in the York Daily Record/Sunday News newsroom pointed out an interesting twist.

Harley workers were perusing their new tentative agreement in and around the Toyota Arena.

So workers who proudly make these venerable American-made bikes were finding out about a piece of their financial futures at a venue sponsored by a Japanese automotive manufacturer... .

Phineas Davis' coal-burning locomotive "The York," in the foreground of the West Market Street mural, points to the transition in the 1800s from York County, Pa., agrarianism to industrialization. (The photo used by the artist of this mural is posted below.) Also of interest: Susquehanna River, shallow and rocky, fends off 19th-century navigation attempts and Don't know much about York County history? and Often forgotten: Achievements of people named on building facades.

York City School Board's study of the future of the 1930-vintage Phineas Davis school leads to the question.

Who was Phineas Davis?

I give a brief summary adapted from "Never to be Forgotten":

The Cookes house, one of York County's oldest structures, is shown in a photograph from about 1890 to 1900. New owner Michael Helfrich is laboring to learn more about the history of the historic house, on the bank of the Codorus Creek in York City. Also of interest: Two hundred years after Thomas Paine's death, the pamphleteer is due a marker in York and Worker saved key historical surveys from Glatfelter pulping machine and York's housing stock not that revolutionary.

A major mystery surrounds the Cookes House, the 1761 stone structure that is easily overlooked to the rear of Martin Luther King Jr. Park in the western part of York.

Did Thomas Paine live and work there when the Continental Congress met in York in 1777-78? ... .

Allen J. Smith, seen here inside his restoration, shows the caboose he worked on for years so that, 'It's better than new.' The rail car wil be moved from New Freedom to Wellsboro and Corning Railroad in Tioga County. (See York Daily Record/Sunday News' photographer Paul Kuehnel's video of the caboose below.) Also of interest: What it was like aboard the Stewartstown Railroad and Mason-Dixon Line hugging New Freedom playing host to a new museum and Is mystery railroad the old Shrewsbury narrow gauge?

Yorkblogger Scott Mingus fielded a query from a reader about the origin of the name Pickett Road in Washington Township.

Scott explained that it likely didn't come from the presence of Gen. George Pickett's men in the Gettsburg Campaign in the Civil War summer of 1863... .

In 1995, Mark Spotz spits during his arrest after a killing spree, which started after an argument over a gerbil. He is one of eight defendants who committed crimes in York County who is on death row. (See details below.) Also of interest: A list of traumatic, painful incidents that rocked York County and Witman murder among York County's most notorious crimes and Exonerated death-row inmate Ray Krone of York County hopes book will open eyes about capital punishment.

Even investigating police officers shed tears at the trial of what history will remember as the torture death of a 2-year-old York girl with a video game cord.

On Monday, a jury agreed to the death penalty for Harve Lamar Johnson in connection with his fatal beating of Darisabel Baez, his girlfriend's daughter on April 6, 2008. In addition to the video game cord, Johnson's weapons included one of the girl's hiking boots and his fists. The girl died at Hershey Medical Center the next day.

York Daily Record/Sunday News court reporter Rick Lee provided those details as well as the following concise summary of this horrific case:

The Stewartstown Historical Society is looking for photos of side streets in the southeastern York County, Pa., borough. This is a rare shot of such street, showing the intersection of present-day Route 851 and West Pennsylvania Avenue in Stewartstown. This photo came from the estate of John Denney of Columbia. Also of interest: 'Yesteryears' Stewartstown-area York County sites - Part I, 'Yesteryears' - Part II and German POWs: 'They worked cheaper than We did'.

The Stewartstown Historical Society is working on a new photo book, similar to the the 'Yesteryears' books it published a few years back.

The group is getting lots of photos but not many showing Stewartstown's side streets.

Early photographer Oram Bell took many shots of Main Street, but if he moved with his camera off the main drag, none of his work is known to exist.

Society member Doug Winemiller provided this information and photograph and went on to explain a rare photo of one side street, pictured above... .

Milkweed pods are opening about now around York County, Pa. They're largely ignored nowadays, but in World War II they were coveted. Also of interest: All World War II posts from the start and World War II torpedo, bomb loader, made in York, Pa., turns up in Tennessee museum and Explosions heard around York County after World War II-era 'experts' give canning advice.

For years - decades - York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Bil Bowden has captured visual moments in and around York County.

In the last post, his work is displayed after he visited remote Wildcat Falls along the river road, north of Wrightsville.

Now he has grabbed a milkweed pod opening.

Of course, there is a story from history - World War II, to be specific - surrounding this little-noticed plant, and my "In the Thick of the Fight," gives a summary:

The Wildcat Falls Hotel is marked as such in this undated photo. The falls (see photo below) was a popular picnic destination. Its water rushed down a York County, Pa., hillside across the Susquehanna River from Marietta in Lancaster County. The river road is at left. Also of interest: The things you learn from reading local history and Opportunities in York County to feed your sense of discovery and Absorbing photo and overlay shows locations of six Susquehanna bridges.

York Daily Record photographer Bil Bowden was doing some sleuthing recently, looking up the once-popular-but-now-little-known Wilcat Falls area, north of Wrightsville.

A picnic area and hotel once operated there, and among other tourists, people crossed the river from Marietta to enjoy the destination... .

This nameplate is affixed to a York, Pa.-made World War II vintage bomb/torpedo loader acquired by the Tennessee Museum of Aviation. To see a photo of this American Chain and Cable-made truck, visit: Torpedo loader turns up in Tennessee museum. Also of interest: Jeep prototype has York County WWII roots and York-made vehicle welcome to retirement home in York, Pa. and All Made in York posts from the start.

The Codorus Valley Chronicles, the newsletter of the Codorus Valley Area Historical Society, always contains neat stuff.

In the November edition, Bob Shaub, editor of the newsletter for this Jefferson-based group, wrote about the value of artifacts made of tin, tied to a program on collecting old tin advertising:

"Little thought was given, let's say from the 1940s back, that tin cans, tin advertising signs would some day be collectible.The containers and signs were thrown away the same as we throw away the plastic containers and cardboard signs today... .

George F. Kennan helped set U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War and won a Pulitzer Prize. He also purchased a farm in eastern Adams County and was known to many folks in the East Berlin, Pa., area. Also of interest: Hanover's Cold Warrior J.W. Gitt's mansion: 'You can look down and see the town laid down before you' and York still twinning with France, Germany after 50-plus years and Cuban expert and York editor Jim Higgins: 'He was just another journalist ... with opinions'.

The late "Green Acres" actor and World War II war hero Eddie Albert wasn't the only celebrity with East Berlin ties.

Historian George F. Kennan served the Allied cause in World War II as a diplomat in European capitals.

He was winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Twice.

He promoted the policy of containment to prevent the spread of communism via the "domino effect." Some believe that policy led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War in 1989.

He's the topic of a popular book "The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War".

And he also owned a farm in the East Berlin area of Adams County... .

Ron Herman's sunglasses reflect the statue honoring veterans of the Vietnam War at the York (Pa.) Expo Center unveiled on Oct. 3. Also of interest: Map aficionados will love bird's-eye view of York County and Vietnam vets wall moves York countians and All Vietnam War-related posts.

For about 20 years, the total of those who died in the Vietnam War has stood at 101.

The bronze tablets on the front of the old York County Courthouse reflected that total, for example.

And actually, that number is correct.

But with work on the new York County Vietnam War Veterans Memorial, that total has been reduced to 85, and that's the number included on the York Expo memorial.

Why the difference?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Participants in the York County, Pa. Teachers' Institute in the 1928-1929 school year received this notebook to write down insights gained in these city and county training sessions. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: One-room school reunions preserve educational culture of thousands of York countians and Former Temple head product of York County schools and All school days category posts from the start..

The annual Teachers' Institute for York County city and county teachers was a longtime rite of fall.

With this multi-day in-service program for teachers came a booklet, courtesy of Dan Meckley's collection. The black-and-white notebook raises several interesting items of historical note.

First, the institute has separate dates for York City teachers and county teachers.

Part of the reason for this might have been relevant instruction for grade-level classrooms in the city versus country one or two-room schools in which all grades were grouped.

Advertisers were eager to get their messages to the recipients of the notebooks, teachers from the three-corners of York County... .

Dianne Bowders submitted this view of the York House or Billmeyer House, part of York, Pa.'s, First Presbyterian Church campus. In the post "Some of York County's famous buildings", Yorkblogger Joan Concilio tells about a new user-submitted gallery available at http://ydr.inyork.com/ydr/gallery. "I was really excited to see some people who I don't even know starting to submit ... ., Concilio wrote in her increasingly popular Only in York County blog. Also of interest: Postcards tell story of York County community and My Capture photo book available (containing additional photos by Dianne Bowders) and York County book 'All in One Room' ready for readers.

People are talking about the possible demise of Phineas Davis school.

The York City School District is examining the future of 1930s-era building.

"I went to Phineas Davis when it was a junior high from 1964-1966 where I made lifelong friends. These were the best years of my city education. The sports, cheerleading, the teachers & the competition between Smith & Hannah Penn - these were the best times," Sandy (Shorter) Fake wrote in commenting on a York Town Square post that told a little about 19th century inventor and school namesake Phineas Davis... .

This image was used to promote Weaver Organ and Piano products made in York, Pa. This card appears to be 1920s vintage. (See sales pitch set to verse on the card's back below.) Also of interest: Junior Curators exhibit: The name of Lefty York of York, Pa., lives on and The organ: 'It is a whole orchestra in itself' and All Made in York posts from the start.

Dan Meckley III's father was an exec at Weaver Organ & Piano Co. for years before its closing in the 1950s.

So history-minded Dan III has made sure the York community has a musical legacy of that venerable's company's products at the York County Heritage Trust's Historical Society and Agricultural and Industrial museums.

Recently, Dan put forth advertising cards - actually, miniature handbills - touting the company's organ and pianos, made at its four-story factory on North Broad Street.

Some of the cards are targeted to families, who kids would make prospective users. Others were targeted to upscale market. Those in his collection addressed women suggesting that they were decision-makers on the purchase of pianos and organs... .

Spring Grove, Pa.'s, Ford dealership - then owned by Pierce Stambaugh - was a mainstay in its downtown in this 1934 photograph. Marley Gross Ford, which occupied that site for decades, just recently closed its doors. Also of interest: Spring Grove museum displays horse gas mask and more and A leading York County name: 'Keeping it in family is the Glatfelter way' and Is this a York County farm truck or is it just a wagon with a motor?.

There goes another small-town or old-time automobile dealership.

This time, it's Marley Gross Ford in Spring Grove.

The passing of these dealerships is corresponding with the growth of businesses that handle numerous brands in several towns or even across state lines. Apple Automotive Group is an example of that.

This change is not necessarily bad. It's just different... .

With a landslide win Tuesday night, Kim Bracey became York, Pa.'s first black mayor and third woman to hold that office since 1887. Also of interest: Mattie Chapman, first black elected county official profiled, Pioneering women in state politics and 10 years ago, York's exclusive Lafayette Club became less exclusive.

The election of Kim Bracey as the first black person to hold the mayoral seat in York City and Chuck Patterson as the first black person to sit on the bench in York County calls for an updating of the list of political and community firsts.

Patterson also became the second person of color - and the first male - to win countywide office. Mattie Chapman gained election to the post of prothonotary in 1975.

Here are updated lists of pioneers, plus an updated list of York mayors since 1887, when York became a city:

Amy Staub submitted this photograph for publication in the new book Capture York. It shows her grandfather, Franklin Armold, and his wife, Lillian while out for a motorcycle ride in the 1920s. Also of interest: All presidential visits from the start and Washington Township, Jefferson Borough, Madison Avenue. How about an Obama Street in York County? and Yo, Yoe never was Yohe.

Years ago, Sam Snyder, Yoe borough council president, garnered a box of letters at a York County auction.

The writer?

Chester Alan Arthur.

That turned out to be Chester A. Arthur, future president of the United States... .

This artist's rendering shows the original ACCO Chain plant in York, Pa., built in 1916 and 1917. Peerless Chain Co. in Minnesota purchased the chain side of ACCO Chain & Lifting Products, then in York Township, in 2006. The lifting products side remains in York. The building now housing York's Cable House apartments was part of the East Princess Street manufacturing complex. Also of interest: Jeep prototype has York County WWII roots and York-made vehicle welcome to retirement home in York, Pa. and All Made in York posts from the start.

York County - and the stuff made here - just shows up everywhere. For example, in Sevierville, Tenn., in the foothills of the Smokies.

The Tennessee Museum of Aviation has acquired a World War II bomb and torpedo truck, a small bomb loading machine, that was made in York, Pa. (See photo below.)

The truck was dated 1943 and manufactured by Manley Manufacturing, a division of American Chain and Cable, widely known as ACCO.

The following is taken off the vehicle's data plate:

The New York Giants' Willie Mays makes what has become known as "The Catch" of York County native and Cleveland Indians Vic Wertz's long fly ball in the 1954 World Series. Mays amazing play overshadowed Wertz's stellar performance in that series. Background posts: Who were most prominent 20th-century sports heroes in York and Adams counties? and York County sports a miniature Cooperstown and Story answers much about great athlete Hinkey Haines, including origin of his nickname.

I've written before about York native and major league baseball player Vic Wertz.

All he did was hit .500 in the 1954 World Series in which his Cleveland Indians lost to the New York Giants.

He returned from a bout with polio to hit 32 home runs.

Late in his career, he broke his ankle and came back to play on.

But it was that World Series and Willie Mays' over-the-shoulder grab of Wertz's long fly ball that relegated Vic Wertz to baseball's "almost-great" list.

But this post really isn't about baseball.

In a York Sunday News column (11/1/09), I compare Vic Wertz to his native York County, Pa., a kind of human metaphor for this south central Pennsylvania county ... .

York Hospital started sprawling along the hillside south of York, Pa., from its earliest days after its move from West College Avenue in 1930. That move marked its 50th year of operation. Now, the hospital's parent is reaching into Harrisburg. This week, officials at WellSpan said they would explore a merger with PinnacleHealth of Harrisburg. This photograph comes from longtime York Hospital surgeon Ray Kehm's book "The Birth of a Surgeon." Also of interest: Doctor wrote about oxygen use to aid 'average country practitioners' and Spanish flu epidemic in York: 'People died one right after the other' and Civil War hospital: A master's thesis waiting to be written and West Side Sanitarium, later West Side Osteopathic and later Memorial Hospital born in The Avenues in York.

"One winter day in December 1879, a man named Small acted upon a not-so-small idea and began the serious planning that would before long culminate in a hospital for York, Pennsylvania."

So began the preface of Florence La Rose Ames' "That Sovereign Knowledge," a history of York Hospital's first 100 years.

A hospital was needed in post-Civil War York County... .

Visitors pose at York County, Pa.'s Wildcat Falls, an unsung landmark on the west bank of the Susquehanna River. Frederic H. Abendschein, in the recently published "Columbia, Marietta, and Wrightsville," wrote: "A popular summertime destination, both local and out-of-town tourists would take a ferry from Marietta to cross the Susquehanna River over to the York County side to reach the falls and the nearby hotel." This photo came from that work, from the presses of Arcadia Publishing. (See additional photos below.) Also of interest: The things you learn from reading local history and Opportunities in York County to feed your sense of discovery and Absorbing photo and overlay shows locations of six Susquehanna bridges.

For years, York County's Wildcat Falls, north of Wrightsville, was a getaway for people on both sides of the Susquehanna River.

People would arrive at the falls via ferry, crossing the river from Marietta. They would cross over the stream near the falls on a narrow wooden bridge and use stairs and handrails going up the hillside parallel to the falls.

They would dine on a nearby deck and enjoy the cool breezes... .

When this Evening Sun in Hanover, Pa., photo was produced in 2008, about 16,000 pounds of potato chips per hour rolled off the lines at Utz Quality Foods' High Street plant in Hanover. Pending approval by the Federal Trade Commission, Snyder's of Hanover will acquire cross-town snack food producer Utz Quality Foods. Also of interest: Chipmaking of the potato kind has deep roots in York County and Who makes the best potato chips in York County, Martin's or Utz? Or someone else? and York Barbell's tall, heavyweight lifter has long helped put York County on the map.

I've written previously that York County manufacturers have historically made BIG, HEAVY THINGS.

York Barbell, of course, is Exhibit A, almost by definition.

Some lines of the old Pfaltzgraff pottery were known as stoneware and plates are rock-like in weight - wonderful rocks, I might add.

York Safe & Lock made vaults and other such equipment whose bulk kept their contents safe... .

York County, Pa., Civil War author Scott Mingus has added another book to his growing list of titles: "The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863." This 315-page book covers this famous Confederate brigade during the during the Gettysburg Campaign, including its two-day stay in the York area. For locations to purchase the book, contact Mingus at scottmingus@yahoo.com. Civil War book: 'When flames brilliantly illuminated the sky over the Susquehanna River' and Books probing York County in the Civil War come in strong, sudden onslaught and The Four YorkBloggers write.

In his recently published "Louisiana Tigers," Scott Mingus tells the wonderful story of Gen. Jubal Early meeting the widow Zinn in western York County's Big Mount.

"Are you goin' to destroy us, are you going to take all that we've got?" she asked Early.

Early replied: "No madam, and to give you the best protection possible, I will stay with you, with my staff, and no one shall trouble you."

Early then visited one of his brigade commanders, John B. Gordon, at nearby Farmers.

When he returned at about 9 p.m., Mrs. Zinn had saved a supper of 15 varieties of food - meats, vegetables, coffee and milk... .

York, Pa.'s Martin Library honored Emanuel A. Cassimatis for library and community involvement at a recent ceremony. The event also served as a fundraiser for the library's endowment fund, used to purchased new books. (See list of past honorees and Cassimatis' favorite books below.) The Cassimatises: 'Builders and Heroes,' Part I and William Penn Senior High School Hall of Fame honors a host of York County achievers and York's Martin Library asks community: What to do with those old doors?.

Retired York County Judge Emanuel A. Cassimatis was meeting with the president of Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the International Tribunal of Children's Rights. It was the Friday following the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001.

During introductions, the president express his sympathy to Cassimatis, as a U.S. representative, for the tragedy.

"You know," he told the group, "we are all bound by a universal consciousness so that when something happens to one of us, it affects all of us."

Cassimatis told that story in receiving an award from Martin Library. This member of York's pioneering Greek family then summarized its meaning and what it says about community involvement... .

The landmark silos at the Ohio Blenders York, Pa., complex are coming down and the Northwest Triangle project's condos, shops and office will go up in their place. That's the Codorus Creek, at right.(See related photo below.) Background posts: Map explains York, Pa.'s $50 million redevelopment area and York County agrarianism vs. industrialization and All farms and fields posts from the start.

The silos that mark Ohio Blenders can be seen as symbols of York County's agriculture.

So their demolition to make way for badly needed new and rehabbed buildings can be viewed as bittersweet, another storm to wash out carefully planted seeds in a longtime farm economy.

But those tall icons are not easily plowed under... .

The York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News and MediaOnePa has released a new York County area picture book, "Capture York." The book is packed with user-submitted photographs. Melanie Wallace took this cover photograph. For details, visit www.captureyork.com. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: Horse, buggy, one-room school make York County comeback. and The Four YorkBloggers write and Postcards tell story of York County community .

Here's a chance to see an Amish school up close.

The GFWC New Holland Area Woman's Club is hosting its 11th Annual 'HOLIDAY TOUR OF HOMES' Nov. 14,10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The Lancaster County tour includes 8 homes and an Amish School. Tickets are $10 in advance; $12 on tour day.

Proceeds benefit community and charitable organizations including ELANCO Library, Liberty Fire Co., New Holland Recreation Center, New Holland Park Summer Arts Program and the park playground, New Holland Rescue Squad, Garden Spot Soccer League, and Garden Spot Little League. For tickets and further information, call 717-351-9995.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Was Ohio Blenders formerly Hespenheide & Thompson? she asked.

And then she added:

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

Comment below if you can help this e-mailer.

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Glen Burkholder, with The Building Recycler in Kutztown, dismantles a bagger this week at the former Ohio Blenders plant in York. About half of the machinery and silos will be dismantled and reused. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: York's Lafayette Club: 'It's not your father's club ... It's historic. But it's not prehistoric' and Map explains York, Pa.'s $50 million redevelopment area and Skinny dipping in the Codorus?

The high-profile demolition of those big blue Ohio Blenders silos on the bank of the Codorus Creek is an example of a change in York County that can be easily overlooked.

Those towers are coming down causing an obvious change in York's skyline, as mixed commercial and residential uses that are part of the Northwest Triangle development take their place.

But take a moment to think about why those silos were there... .

Joseph N. Gallagher of York, Pa., found this Gazette Almanac in his grandfather's belongings. His grandfather was the late Rev. Norman Ort, founder and minister of West York's Four Square Gospel Church. Also of interest: York County newspaper gets new wardrobe, some nips and tucks and 1874 York Daily: Is it worth anything? and Newspaper's founding date hard to pin down.

Joe Gallagher found a prize among the stuff his late grandfather Norman Ort left behind: a Handy Almanac Encyclopedia and Year Book, dated 1916.

The guts of the 142-page softcover book contained national information for those relatively quiet moment before the deadly years of American involvement in World War I and the Spanish influenza epidemic.

The cover, inside title page and back cover were custom printed to tout The Gazette of York, Pa., then operating out of its 35-37 E. King St. plant.

There's a story there... .

Ophelia Chambliss' art has been widely exhibited at York, Pa.'s, Crispus Attucks Community Center, the York County (Pa.) Heritage Trust and elsewhere around York County. Here, her art is available for all to see in Murals of York-fashion outside York County borders - in Harrisburg. The mural, titled "Mending Hearts, Minds and Communities" is part of neighborhood revitalization and community projects. The wall space was donated by Christina and Bluett Jones on the side of their gallery (Gallery Blu) at 1633 North Third St. This is the debut mural for the Susquicentennial Commission's "Painting the Town" project, as part of Harrisburg's 150th anniversary celebration in 2010. Also of interest: Civil rights heroes stand out at Bradley exhibit and Linked in with neat York County history stuff - Oct. 15, 2009 and If you want to see the Murals of York up close ... .

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

A tiny group of Episcopalians converged on a tiny chapel in the tiny Adams County town of York Springs.

"They prayed and meditated on Scripture in a one-room brick chapel on Main Street -- the parent church for Episcopalians west of the Susquehanna," York Daily Record/Sunday News reporter Melissa Nann Burke, wrote. "A rotting sign out front reads: 'Christ Church Episcopal, Colonial English Parish founded 1746.'"

The congregation dates back to the 1740s, and the structure standing today in York Springs dates to the 1830s. Read more at Episcopalians take pilgrimage to past.

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Lee Schwan's Web site includes a bunch of compelling photos from northwest York, Pa.'s Yorktowne Homes, built as housing for defense workers in World War II. Schwan wrote in an e-mail, published in a previous post, that he hopes someone writes about living in Yorktowne in the 1940s and 1950s. Background posts: Just try to resist this memory-tugging photograph of northwest York, Pa. and World War II-era Yorkers welcomed nondescript housing and Linked in with neat York County history stuff - Oct. 10, 2009.

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

- York County history enthusiasts should keep their eye on e-Bay for bits of history. An e-mailer pointed out that copies of The Morning Journal are available on there. The York Dispatch published this short-lived newspaper during a short-lived strike by workers of competitor The Gazette and Daily in 1970. The Gazette came back after that strike as the York Daily Record, owned by District Attorney Harold Fitzkee and partners who had purchased it from J.W. Gitt. That comeback spelled the demise of The Morning Journal... .

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Hanover High School's Al Bemiller became known nationally as Jack Kemp's center during the Buffalo Bill's glory years in the mid-1960s. (To learn about a Bemiller hobby during his days in York County, see the back side of his player card below.) Also of interest: Wikipedia profiles Al Bemiller and seven others with national status bearing Hanover roots and Academy Award-winning costume designer Ann Roth's sketches exhibited in Hanover and How Hanover's Eichelberger school morphed into 'The Eich'.

The Buffalo Bills - yes, the Buffalo Bills - made the news twice this week in York County.

An 18-year-old New Freedom resident is leading the charge to purchase billboard space near Buffalo to show concern about this NFL's team inability to win.

Susquehannock High School grad Ryan Abshagen is fed up with the Bills' losing ways.

Then, Red Lion High School's quarterback has been dismissed from the team. Chad Kelly is the nephew of former Bills quarterback and football hall of famer Jim Kelly.

But actually York County has enjoyed a connection with the Bills for years.

Hanover High School's Al Bemiller played center on the Bills' championship teams in the 1960s... .

The ascension of brave folks in balloons has taken place for decades. Here, artist Lewis Miller captures the ascension of a balloon from York, Pa.'s Penn Park in 1835. Notice the crowd that had gathered to watch the contraption ascend. Also of interest: 5,000 Penn Park fans witnessed first York night baseball and Posts linking to Lewis Miller's art and Where was York County's earliest documented airstrip?

In 1854, George Elliott prepared himself to ascend in a balloon over Hanover. A newspaper reported that arrangements are made with the "intrepid Aeronaut" for the public-pleasing stunt.

This information came from my "Never to be Forgotten," and is presented here as a tie-in to the confusing incident in Colorado in which a 6-year-old boy was thought to be aboard a balloon.

In the 1800s, itinerant balloonists toured the country - and York County - to show off.

According to "Never to be Forgotten":

Lee Schwan has some neat photos on his Web site about York, Pa., in the 1960s. Here, he shows Bear's Department Store, on the northwest corner of Continental Square. (See additional downtown York photo below) Also of interest: York columnist Jim Hubley's 'Off the Record' again on the market and 03/downtown-thrived-in-postww-ii.html">Downtown thrived in post-WW II York and Columnist: 'I still have my memories ... of the bustling downtown York business district' .

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

- York Sunday News columnist Gordon Freireich is now a Yorkblogger, part of the York Daily Record/Sunday News stable of community bloggers. See his York at Heart blog where he adds to his 30-year newspaper habit of observing, commenting and remembering York. He writes York at Heart continues those observations on life and family in York - then and now. Gordon has made many appearances on York Town Square via his many York Sunday News columns I've linked to and excerpted.

And also ... .

Five-year-old Sarah Eline gets ready to feel her first raw oyster slither down her throat at the 2008 Oyster Festival in York, Pa.. The York County Heritage Trust's 35th Annual Oyster Festival runs from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, in York. "Oysters aren't afraid of water, and neither is the York County Heritage Trust," a news release stated. So the festival has been moved this year to the trust's Agricultural & Industrial Museum, 217 W. Princess St. because of inclement weather forecasts. Also of interest: Mix 'You know you're a Yorker, if' with oysters. You get... and 'The oysters have been very, very popular' and Oysters: 'Economical ... not bones or waste ...'.

How many oysters does it take to fill hundreds of stomachs at York County Heritage Trust's annual oyster festival?

That question was asked and answered by some folks at the trust:

An article in the Fall 2009 edition of Albright Today profiles York County, Pa.'s, George Spangler. Spangler resides in the Albright Care Services' Normandie Ridge Senior Living Community in West Manchester Township. Also of interest: No church/school conflict here: Manchester church to shore up deteriorating school and Roundtown in Manchester Township, York County, Pa.? Where did that come from? and Pottery put the other Foustown - the one in Manchester Township - on the map and A West Manchester village center that up and moved.

George Spangler remembers growing up on a farm that straddled the then-dirt
Bull Road in Manchester and West Manchester townships.

His family farm was pretty typical of those in York County in the 1920s. Turkeys, chickens, corn, wheat and hay were the staple products.

An old barn, built with pegged and hand-hewn logs, came with the farm. But one feature made this farm and barn different from most. The barn's "soul box," a small door in one of its sides, became a tourist draw... .

Dover, Pa.'s, Baughman Memorial Works has been around since 1875, spanning five generations - with a 6th generation working his way in. Donald Baughman told a recent meeting of the South Central Pennsylvania Historical Society that the business is the oldest of its type in York County, Pa., and one of the oldest in Pennsylvania. This photograph came from the Baughman Web site. Background posts: Dover's Baughman Memorials craftsmen: 'Sum up decades of living in a few letters and numbers' and Each month, three free history presentations offered to York countians and York County's Pinchgut vs. The Gut.

Donald Baughman provided a high-tech look at his hands-on cemetery marker business at a recent South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society meeting.

But that hands-on business is become increasingly high tech.

Don Baughman's (pronounced "Bockman") Powerpoint presentation showed the evolution of his business from the hand etching of names and dates into whatever fieldstone was available to color etching of elaborate scenes on the sides of granite markers.

The presentation indicated a change in York County, as elsewhere, in which public demand causes a change from a one-size-fits-all-approach to business to a smorgasbord of services. And it shows a change in affluence. People can now afford such choices.

Some notes from his presentation:

Matt Baum is campaigning to save Chimney Rock in Hellam Township, Pa.. His Web site is packed with appeals to save this geological formation. Also of interest: Chickies Rock braced for rush of Susquehanna's waters and Web site filled with wealth of York County geological info and Iron-mine-turned-into-party-spot turned into York County park and Gurgling all the way from Texas to New Jersey.

Matt Baum is owner and lists himself as steward of Chimney Rock in eastern York County.

He dates the Hellam Township rock formation at 550 million years in age.

He has written a letter to the editor urging action against a proposed Texas Eastern natural gas line that my damage the formation... .

Marquis de Lafayette's toast in support of George Washington hangs York, Pa.'s Lafayette Club's reading room. (For a closer look, see: Marquis de Lafayette captivates folks even today.) The club is profiled in the October edition of Spaces, a glossy magazine exploring luxury living in Central Pennsylvania published by the MediaOnePa. For subscription information, visit Spaces. Also of interest: York's Lafayette Club: 'It's not your father's club ... It's historic. But it's not prehistoric' and Gettysburg's Majestic Theater: 'This was a golden project' and Former Hahn mansion: 'I thought it would make the most spectacular funeral home'.

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

- Did you know that Route 74, that winding road that runs diagonally across York County linking Dillsburg in the northwest with Delta in the southeast, wasn't marked as such until 1927. That and lots of other road information at: http://www.pahighways.com....

A photo of Eddie Plank holding a baseball on the wall of Gettysburg Eddies, an eatery in Adams County, Pa., tied to native son and baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Plank. Also of interest: Remembering York/Adams major leaguers and Vancouver, B.C., has beauty, but York, Pa., has a life-sized Brooks Robinson statue and York County sports a miniature Cooperstown.

Fellow blogger Pat Abdalla has profiled baseball players from York and Adams counties who performed in the Major League post-season.

The most prominent is Vic Wertz and his long fly ball out hauled in by Willie Mays.

In his Southpaw blog, Pat also explores the post-season work of: ... .

Springettsbury Township's (Pa.) Avalong Dairy house, aka Meadowbrook mansion, aka Christmas Tree Hill has long captured the imagination of motorists traveling on Whiteford Road. At one time, it served as the office of the dairy. Also of interest: Before Geno's made news in Philly, Gino's headlined in York and Druck Valley, Glades area offers beautiful scenery for Sunday afternoon drive and York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks

As a kid, York, Pa.'s, R. Stephen Bancroft would ride his bike up to Avalong Dairy Farm from his home in East York and help with the cows and play in the barn.

As a teen, he delivered office supplies - for his father's business, H.G. Bancroft, Inc. - to the back door of the house.

"So I am some what familiar with the history of the area," he wrote to York Town Square in an e-mail.

He provided insight into that popular Whiteford Road/Mount Zion Road corner plus some information on Melvin's Drive-In, another nostalgia-inducing landmark for many York countians: ... .

One of York, Pa.'s, Dempwolf architectural firm's lasting designs is the Schmidt House, at Springettsbury Avenue and South George Street. The large, architecturally significant structure, is being converted into three condominiums. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: 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.

Fellow blogger Scott Butcher is also president of Historic York Inc., promoter of this weekend's three-day tribute to York, Pa.'s, Victorian-era Dempwolf architectural firm.

He sent out a long e-mail detailing this 'Discovering Dempwolf' weekend. Even if you're not able to make it to any of the York-area tours of Dempwolf designed houses and other buildings, you'll enjoy the insights Butcher puts forth about this famous firm.

His excerpted e-mail follows:

The Yorktowne Hotel, left, is one of the projects Emigsville's now-closed HAFA Construction listed on resume of work performed on historic buildings. Here, the Yorktowne is seen, next to the old York County Courthouse, from the roof of the new York County Judicial Center in this 2004 York Daily Record/Sunday News file photo. That's York County employee George Meshew, in foreground atop the judicial center, pointing out that the seven-story judicial center is higher than the Yorktowne, if you don't count the hotel's flag pole. Also of interest: Roundtown in Manchester Township, York County, Pa.? Where did that come from? and 'Skyscrapers' have shaped York's skyline since 1850 and Ten years ago, Emigsville's mighty oak fell.

A York County business, known for its historic preservation, is closing its doors.

Emigsville's HAFA Construction auctioned off its assets earlier this week.

"It was a bittersweet day for all of us," Douglas Kauffman said. He was not personally involved in the family business but his older brother, mother and uncle were its mainstays.

Here are excerpts from an e-mail from Douglas, which also explain the origin of the company's name:

This image from York, Pa.'s, Prospect Hill Cemetery's Web site shows the I-beam from the World Trade Center upon its arrival at its new home in cemetery. The cemetery will dedicate the beam in an upcoming ceremony. Statesman buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery: 'He said his farewells to his family ... ' and Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts: 'In this simple grave ... lies a national hero' and What's the story of that fenced-in graveyard atop a hill near I-83?.

A woman at the just-dedicated Vietnam War Memorial at the York Expo Center asked a visitor about the much-publicized World Trade Center I-beam at Prospect Hill Cemetery.

She had been at the cemetery earlier Sunday afternoon, had even seen the flags representing those who had died in Iraq and Afghanistan, but could not find the beam... .

The York County (Pa.) Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled on Saturday, Oct. 3, attracting a crowd of 2,000. But people kept coming by on Sunday to see it in the York Expo Center's front yard. (See video of the unveiling ceremony below.) Also of interest: Wrightsville's overlooked monuments to vets and Vietnam vets wall moves York countians and War memorials stand proudly in towns throughout York County.

A steady stream of people visited the long-awaited York County Vietnam Memorial Sunday afternoon, the day after it was unveiled.

On that sunny afternoon, many people stuck around, and their quiet presence attracted others to the York Expo Center site to see the newest monument rendered by Dallastown artist Lorann Jacobs... .

The community mausoleum sits largely forgotten at York, Pa.'s, Prospect Hill Cemetery. Also of interest: Statesman buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery: 'He said his farewells to his family ... ' and Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts: 'In this simple grave ... lies a national hero' and What's the story of that fenced-in graveyard atop a hill near I-83?.

In the reaches of Prospect Hill Cemetery rests an almost forgotten community mausoleum whose 420 crypts bear the remains of the Pfaltzgraff and Shipley families as well as those of lesser local luminaries.

York Daily Record/Sunday News reporter Jeff Frantz (10/4/09) wrote about the current renovation of the large building, which measures 45 paces in width with a 20-foot high ceiling.

The building will observe its 100th birthday in 1914, and Civil War veterans Lewis E. Smyser was the first burial in the mausoleum... .

The fields around York, Pa.'s, Veterans Memorial Park were used for farming in this mid-20th-century photograph. (Below, see photo of that area today.) Also of interest: Brooks Robinson - and stories about his York, Pa., pro debut - enduring and Great Balls of Fire, York's Memorial Park to spin back to 50s and Opportunities in York County to feed your sense of discovery.

In its earliest days, the York White Roses played at Memorial Stadium in Spring Garden Memorial Park. That's where Brooks Robinson made his professional debut.

Today, the sports complex is known as Bob Hoffman Stadium at Veterans Memorial Park.

But whatever its name, the local chamber of commerce accepted credit, in the booklet "The Record of the York Chamber of Commerce in the First Half of the Twentieth Century," with helping to keep organized baseball in York... .

This photograph shows the administration building of the original York (Pa.) Airport along Haines Road. It is now a private residence, although it looks vastly different. Background posts: Where was York County's earliest documented airstrip? and York Airport memories spawn even more recollections about old York-area airfields and It's a bird. It's a plane. It's cigars with wings dropped by York-based promoters.

Recent York Town Square posts have examined the Roosevelt Avenue airport in west York and the Valley Airways field in east York.

We've even looked at what the local student of aviation John F.M. Wolfe views as the earliest documented airstrip.

But what about the original York Airport, the one that many remember operating on the Kindig Farm along Haines Road? ...

Philip Given of The Susquehanna Photographic blog captured this image from the men's restroom under York, Pa.'s Continental Square on the recent Harley-Davidson Bike Night. Also of interest: Researcher leaves detailed files on more than 300 York and Adams mills and York County photo collection adds to historical record and Noted photo archive captures York County treasures.

"For the non-biker, perhaps one of the most exciting parts about Bike Night was the bathrooms. That's right. The bathrooms."

So says a caption on Philip Given's compelling blog, The Susquehanna Photographic.

His blog provides several scenes of the old restrooms, under Continental Square's southeast corner, as part of his photographic coverage of Harley-Davidson's annual Bike Night ... .

About 50 people hiked the paths at P. Joseph Raab County Park to hear a history of iron mining in York County. York County oversees 11 parks. Also of interest: Chickies Rock braced for rush of Susquehanna's waters and York County: It's shaped like a horse's ...., Scenic Yellow Breeches snakes along York County's northern boundary and Site filled with wealth of York County geological info.

Ken Burns' new six-part documentary "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," airing on PBS, raises the question about the length and breadth of county and state parks within the 900 square miles making up York County.

For many York countians, the 11 county parks and three state parks represent a place of fun and recreation.

But often long forgotten is the pain and political capital spent to bring them about... .

The seats in The Majestic in Gettysburg, Pa., are the original design, found off a style number from the original seats. This photo and those below come from an upcoming edition of Spaces magazine. Also of interest: In last issue of Spaces - York artist Horace Bonham's house: 'There are paintings of his children throughout the building' and Hanover's old State Theater: 'Don't lose hope, it's not dead' and Dallas Theatre perking along, but Stewartstown's Ramsay Theatre: 'It is really in bad shape'.

The Majestic Theater in Gettysburg opened in the mid-1920s, a large vaudeville and silent move theater.

That was the heyday of such theaters. York had a half dozen in operation at one time or another.

Every small town seemed to have one.

Few were as grand as the Majestic.

Spaces magazine, a York Daily Record/Sunday News-produced, publication that profiles high-interest public and private buildings and houses will feature the Majestic in an upcoming issue.

Here are excerpts from the Majestic story in that magazine:

Starting after World War II until the mid-1950s, York (Pa.) Airport operated along Roosevelt Avenue. It then moved back to its previous - and current site - near Thomasville. For part of that era, a second York-area airstrip bookended this west York landing area in east York, near the current location of Wal-Mart in the old York Mall. Also of interest: Ho, ho, ho - uh, Santa, hold on, The Grumbachers: 'Builders and Heroes,' Part III and For 15 years, old Kelsey Airstrip atop York Township hilltop flat spot for local pilots.

The booklet "The Record of the York Chamber of Commerce in the First Half of the Twentieth Century" is filled with wonderful photographs of the York area at mid-century.

Its emphasis on airports tied to the York chamber's role as an advocate for the business community.

The booklet explains that the proximity to Harrisburg Airport was then shorter than the commute time of most major cities to their fields, particularly when the "new express highway," Interstate 83, was finished.

Indeed, that's true today... .

The Rathton Road/South George Street intersection on York, Pa., south side is well-known for the water that collects there. And it's known George is named after British royalty in the 1700s. But where does Rathton come from? Also of interest: Where did Camp Betty Washington Road get its name? and What do York radio station WSBA's call letters stand for? Book bears neat stuff about early radio and Often forgotten: Achievements of people named on building facades.

A group of York County history enthusiasts were stumped on a question someone had raised.

Who was the "Rathton" in Rathton Road, that divider between York and Spring Garden Township? ... .

This photograph in the office of Dover, Pa.'s, Baughman Memorial Works shows the business in 1910. The company's founder, Nelson H. Baughman, is at right. (See present-day photo below.) Also of interest: Each month, three free history presentations offered to York countians and York County's landscape, buildings, landmarks can serve as a classroom and Dover forges blacksmith shop.

Baughman Memorials is an iconic York County business that, in fact, produces icons for others.

Owner Donald Baughman will talk to the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society about his family roots in Dover, and how the cemetery monument industry has changed throughout the generations with updated technology and more efficient ways of crafting memorials. So says a news release from the genealogical society, sponsor of the free, public presentation on Sunday, Oct. 4.

The release gives further details:

This photograph from a mid-20th-century York (Pa.) Chamber of Commerce publication shows popular landmarks of that day. In the lower right part of the photo, that's what is known today as the Playland pool beside the roller skating rink. Both are gone. That's York Valley Inn, long since dismantled and moved to Susquehanna Memorial Gardens, across the Lincoln Highway from the pool. And surrounding the inn is the York Valley Airways, later York Whitehull Airport. The old Valley Canvas building, then part of the airport, stands today. The airport land is now occupied by the old York Mall, now Wal-Mart. Also of interest: First York Airport's administration building stands today and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph and U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way, Part III: 'We would watch the dragsters on trailers head for Thomasville'.

Gerald A. Young, 76, considers the time he spent around the York Whitehull Airport as a youth as a fun but important time for him.

George Whiteley III - of the Dentsply Whiteley's - flew out of the East Market Street airport.

"George was a great influence on me," he said in a recent phone conversation... .

York, Pa.'s, Martin's Potato Chips are randomly sampled salt and moisture content, as seen in this York Daily Record/Sunday News file photo from 2004. Also of interest: York County, Pa. made big, heavy things - and was immensely proud of it and Chipmaking of the potato kind has deep roots in York County and York's Central Market sells steak ... and sizzle.

Universal York blogger June Lloyd keeps chipping away, er, profiling potato chipmakers around York County, Pa.

She just did the El-Ge/Eagle/Frito-Lay plant, west of York.

But here's the thing.

The topic of potato chips often sparks a fun debate that diverts attention from the
weightier issues facing York County and the world.

The discussion about who makes the best chips usually is framed this way:

Yorktowne Homes in northwest York are seen soon after their World War II-era construction. This aerial view by J. David Allen, who took many such bird's-eye photographs in those days, appeared in a York (Pa.) Chamber of Commerce publication in 1950. Notice the rural nature of this section of York, often associated today with the Fireside Park neighbhorhood. Also of interest: Map aficionados will love bird's-eye view of old York Fairgrounds. and York's Roosevelt Avenue airport large enough to play host to air mail pick up, corporate travel and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph.

Yorktowne Homes were built to provide housing in the
World War II years for workers flocking to York's bustling defense factories.

The post Yorkers welcomed nondescript housing tells this story.

A York Chamber of Commerce publication covering initiatives of that organization during the first 50 years of the 20th century tells more about these houses, still standing east of Roosevelt Avenue.

According to the publication:

Digging to find evidence of Revolutionary War prisoner-of-war Camp Security began near the Schultz House in Springettsbury Township, Pa., and continued outward. (See additional photo by the York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News below.) Also of interest: Camp Security memories tucked inside memoir and Story revives memories of oft-forgotten York County POW camp in World War II and York-area developer: 'I think we have gone way above and beyond to preserve Camp Security'

Digging for Camp Security artifacts on the grounds of Springettsbury Township's Schultz house will soon conclude.

The verdict thus far: No remnants of Camp Security.

But at least that dig apparently will allow dig overseers to rule out the acreage surrounding the Schultz House as part of Camp Security's primary footprint... .

Conewago Township (Pa.) chainsaw artist Brad Heilman carved a sculpture of a Harley-Davidson bike out of a 15-foot-tall pin oak trunk near J & J Cycle Barn, visible from Interstate 83 north of York. Here, Joe Sciarrabba, owner of the cycle shop, tidies up after the carving. (See another chainsaw sculpture below.) Other posts of interest: York, Pa. made big, heavy things - and was immensely proud of it and AMF-Harley in York, by the numbers and AMP's and AMF's alphabet soup spilled in same York County town .

Chainsaw art pieces carved from trees are growing in popularity around York County.

The newest comes from Brad Heilman, perhaps the most prolific artist. He carved a Harley-Davidson bike emerging from an oak stump visible from Interstate 83.

His work is drawing a lot of honks from passing motorists.

Whether history will bless this form of art as the years pass remains to be seen... .

A Martin's Potato Chips employee fills a seasoning hopper at the company's Thomasville-area plant in this York Daily Record/Sunday News file photo from 2004. Martin's makes one of York County's iconic products. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: York's Central Market sells steak ... and sizzle and Richard Nixon's visits seared into York countians' minds and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County smarts

Over at Universal York, blogger June Lloyd has a mini-series going on potato chip making in York County.

For example, she links Hanover Foods Bickel's and Bon-Ton potato chips: Potato Chips Go Back a Long Way in York County... .

The Meadowbrook Mansion looms in the background as folks and their mounts mug for the camera. That area of Springettsbury Township, Pa., has seen farms and businesses come and go for decades. Also of interest: From top dog and hot dogs to dogfight and dog days in York County, Pa., Before Geno's made news in Philly, Gino's headlined in York and Mother Goose teaches York County history lessons.

The Whiteford (Arsenal) Road/Springettsbury Township intersection has been a site for change over the years.

In a recent e-mail, longtime area resident JoAnne Everhart traced some of those changes.

She started with memories from recent York Town Square posts on local miniature golf courses, specifically "Little Duffer" in York Township.

Then she told of another course on the northwest corner near the memorable Avalong Restaurant. A stop at the drive-in inevitably followed the putt-putt game.

Here are excerpts from her e-mail:

This mural in the Lafayette Club shows York, Pa., soon after the Marquis de Lafayette visited the town in 1825. Lafayette returned to York about 50 years after his first visit, when he publicly supported George Washington during trying military and political times for the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolution. This photo, capturing a scene adapted from engraver/artist William Wagner's work, is part of a story about the club in an upcoming edition of 'Spaces' magazine. Also of interest:10 years ago, York's exclusive Lafayette Club became less exclusive, Part I, Part II and Marquis de Lafayette captivates folks even today.

For a club that has long been private and mysterious, York's Lafayette Club - and particularly the townhouse where it operates - has seen much history.

P.A. Small, York's leading businessman of the 19th century, lived here.

Gen. John B. Gordon stopped there to give a speech touting the gallantry of the Confederates then invading York in June 1863.

The deed for the townhouse was lost on the Titanic... .

A Pennsylvania National Guard helicopter takes off from a field near the then-York Township, Pa., municipal building and York Area Regional Police Department in 2004. Helicopters flown by the Guard's Counter Drug Program help police spot marijuana plants. This is not the first time that aircraft flew from land in that vicinity. Other posts of interest: First York Airport's administration building stands today and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph and U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way, Part III: 'We would watch the dragsters on trailers head for Thomasville'.

Gwen Ferree Wise was curious about Spry's old Kelsey Airstrip, located at the present site of the York Area Regional Police Department and township park.

She could not immediately remember an airport operating from that site.

This photograph ran in the York Sunday News right after New Year's Day in 2000, and its caption noted that the last of the Bury's 11 York-area restaurants closed in 1986. In a sense, Joe Bury's popular hamburger stands out-McDonalded McDonald's for years. Background post: New McStore going up in highly trafficked spot and York countians are proud of the York Fair, and there's a lot to be proud about and York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks.

Let's just say the contest between York Fair's two known Bury hamburger vendors was settled by the strength of an onion slice.

It's the annual York Fair faceoff pitting the Bury's burger from Johnny Eagle's stand versus the offering from the Bury's Famous Hamburger booth.

Many people have York Fair traditions, and mine has become sampling the burgers from the two stands and deciding which is better that particular day ... .

The 1901 book 'York and York County' included this photo of the vaulted basement of Cresap's Fort or Dritt Mansion. The restored Long Level structure perched along the Susquehanna River south of Wrightsville, Pa., today is headquarters for Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area, the former Lancaster-York Heritage Region. It's a National Register of Historic Places site. Also of interest: Where exactly is the York/Lancaster border? and Native Americans help clean up Dritt family cemetery in new York County park and Gettysburg-area National Register homestead gives snapshot of pressures facing farms.

The Leinhardt Brothers Furniture Warehouse in West York was formerly home of the Ashley and Bailey Company Silk Mill and was also known as the Franklin Silk Mill.

And noted York architect John A. Dempwolf did, indeed, design the York Silk Manufacturing Co. in East York.

Recent posts on those two landmark York-area buildings have raised such questions.

People in York County like their old buildings.

So, here's a resource to find out more about them and other historic structures in York County and beyond... .

Lewis Miller put forth this drawing after the Army of Northern Virginia's surrender to Gen. U.S. Grant's Army of the Potomac in 1865. The carpenter/artist also captured the Confederates trooping into York after the town surrendered to the Confederates two years before. Also of interest: Invaders put off by earthy Pennsylvania women, Owner seeks info on old toll house and York County Civil War, by the numbers.

People might get sidetracked by reports of the gallant demeanor of some of the Confederates occupying York in June 1863 after the town surrendered to the invaders.

They see great generals, albeit dusty great generals, on white horses with plumes in their hats showing their wonderful manners toward women in town.

The Confederates were polite southern boys just doing their jobs in the green pastures of the North, some might say.

Well, fellow blogger and tireless researcher Scott Mingus has come across a heretofore undiscovered account of activities in York the day before the Confederates marched into town for their two-day stay... .

Matthew Garrett Collins served as general manager of York Silk Manufacturing Co.'s two factories in York's east end at the turn of the 20th century. The fortress-like Hay Street building that stands today has made a mark on the memories of York countians and catches the eyes of thousands of motorists a day. Also of interest: About York Silk's boss: 'Mr. Collins was regarded as one of the big men in this community' and Did York Silk ever operate a silkmaking factory in West York? and How one spot in York County, Pa., tells much about what's going on around there.

There's something about that York Silk Manufacturing Co. building that sparks memories.

Several folks have written after posts and my York Sunday News column explored the building now known as Hudson Park Towers.

The silkmaking factory's product lines changes through the years from Moneybak black silk popular 100 years ago to boys pajamas and other nighwear in the 1950s... .

As usual, JoAnne Everhart has the most concise memories.

Excerpts from here comments follow:

A mud slide caused this train accident on the Ma & Pa Railroad at the Ben Roy Station between Red Lion and York. Also of interest: Collector searching for Western Maryland Railroad memorabilia and Old Baltimore tunnel an intriguing reminder of the 'Ma' in Ma & Pa Railroad and What it was like aboard the Stewartstown Railroad.

Hundreds of miles of railroad lines operated in York County since tracks from Baltimore reached York in 1838.

Thousands of trains have rolled along those tracks.

Sometimes, they stopped rolling.

They halted with a crash.

So, history has recorded the deadly Good Friday, 1920, train wreck near Glen Rock... .

Mary Anne Bacas, of the Avenues Neighborhood Association, is seen at the Farquhar Park gazebo in 2006. The gazebo, or bandstand, has been the scene of vandalism since its restoration in the past decade. (See another view from the gazebo below.) But park vandalism has been a problem for more than 100 years. Also of interest: About York's Farquhar pool's water: 'He would demonstrate the safeness by drinking a cup' and U.S. Army Field Band: Live at Farquhar Park and The 'Little Courthouse,' longtime Farquhar Park resident, still stands tall.

In 1899, York city officials were concerned about vandalism at Farquhar Park.

Not much has changed.

But that wasn't their biggest issue with the beautiful hilltop park named after industrialist A.B. Farquhar... .

The Women's Club of York exhibits a style in architecture and interior fixtures common in the Victorian Age. Here, an angel-shaped sconce is on display at the organization's East Market Street building. (See additional photos of Victorian-era buildings in York, Pa., below). Also of interest: Women's Club of York: 'No one knew it really looked like this' and York County civic, service groups fighting for lives and Author: 'York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture'.

For all of its assets, York County - particularly the York area - has a branding problem.

Its historic and cultural resources, though considerable, are not as high-profile as Lancaster County's Amish and Adams County's Gettysburg Battlefield and Dauphin County's Capitol.

The York area's two most significant historic moments - adoption of the American Revolution's Articles of Confederation and World War II's York Plan - are significant, indeed. But they're not likely to capture the imagination of tourists, much less local residents... .

York County, Pa., native Samuel Jordan is known as the father of modern education in Iran. He will be honored at events at the Samuel Jordan Foundation in Califorrnia in October. Background posts: Three Rhodes Scholars call York County their boyhood home and Fawn Township's magnificent Centre Presbyterian Church worthy of a looksee and Church's story links up with U.S. religious history.

About 10 family members of York native Samuel Martin Jordan will soon travel to University of California,
Irvine.

The university's Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture is honoring Jordan and his family as part of an October conference:The Alborz School: An International Conference. Jordan was part of the genius and energy behind that school, which grew into a college... .

York (Pa.) Silk Manufacturing Co. operated two factories in York's east end at the turn-of-the-20th-century. This drawing, from York County Heritage Trust files, shows the silkmaker's factory at Vine (State) Street and Wallace Street. The factory no longer stands. Background posts: How one spot in York County, Pa., tells much about what's going on around there and The York/Adams day that birthed memories of falling stars and silkworms and All Made in York posts from the start.

Was the old Leinhardt Brothers Furniture company in West York ever a silkmaking factory, specifically York Silk Manufacturing Co.?

Reader Bob Lookingbill posed that question after reading posts about the York Silk factory that forms part of the York skyline today.

I wrote back that York Silk, at least in the early 1900s, operated only two factories - both in York's East End.

One was Hay Street's Diamond Branch, with its two towers and smokestack... .

In the final days of Gettysburg's Electric Map's showing in 2007, Mitchell Keiper visited the map while on a field trip from Wisconsin. A photo caption aptly summed up the recent story of the map. Some students said they thought the narrator's voice was boring. Mitchell said he thought the program was interesting. Gettysburg National Military Park is seeking a solution to address both views. Also of interest: Q&A on new Gettysburg visitor center, old Electric Map, Restored Gettysburg Cyclorama arriving in new home and Gettysburg's Electric Map blinking in finale season.

The Gettysburg National Military Park's Museum and Visitors Center is drawing high marks from patrons, The Evening Sun in Hanover has reported.

But many give a brief critique: "I really wish that you still had the map."

Before demolition of the old visitors center, the map was taken apart and is now in storage.

Park officials are considering bringing back the map in video format, as this excerpted Evening Sun (9/13/09) story reports:

The Dempwolf-designed York County (Pa.) Courthouse, one of York County's most architecturally significant buildings is photographed soon after its turn-of-the-20th-century construction. York County is known for its diverse architecture. (See video link below demonstrating this diversity.) Also of interest: Coca-Cola out in Springetts... self-storage space is real thing and York's housing stock not that revolutionary and Virtual York offers colorful tour of York's past.

The greater York area has long boasted of its Colonial heritage, which might suggest it's filled with Colonial-era building and houses.

Not so.

Much of its architecture comes from the Victorian era - from Dempwolf-designed Market Street structures to working-class rowhouses... .

York, Pa.'s, arch-laden Centre Square was lit up as it never had been before in this photograph of York County's 150th birthday celebration in 1899. This scene was captured in the York Daily-published book, "York and York County." Also of interest: York's Bradford pear trees: 'Beautiful arch of blooms ... followed by the snowstorm of petals' and York-area picture book not your typical coffee table publication and Author: 'York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture'.

The descriptions sounds like a review for a 21st century sci-fi movie:

"The result was a scene which might well have led an alarmed burgher of 1749, had he unexpectedly witnessed it, to rub his bewildered eyes in astonished inquiry as to whether it was the upper or nether world to which he had suddenly been transported."

Those words described York's well-lit Centre Square in 1899.

Folks in those turn-of-the-century days when electric lighting was in its infancy just never had experienced such a moment, much less York's first settlers 150 years before... .

A movement in York County, Pa., to legalize marijuana for medical and industrial purposes is growing. Here, a York Daily Record/Sunday News photograph from earlier this year shows Charles Homan, resident of Manheim Township in the county's southwestern section, supporting the legalizing of marijuana for such use. Also of interest: Jackson Township again in the middle of things and Tobacco usage: Rooted in York County's past and York County cigars: 'They contained a vast amount of nicotine'.

This weekend's Mary Jane Fest is an unusual event in York County.

A very unusual event.

The two-day festival at Elicker's Grove in Jackson Township will promote medical and industrial uses of marijuana.

This serves as a reminder about a report in a York magazine in 1933 that came in the early stages of the use of marijuana in York County. Then as now, law enforcement officials were vocal against marijuana use... .

These patriotic pre-World War II York (Pa.) Fair days were hopeful after a rough summer of battling a polio outbreak. Fairgoers needed this respite. Just two months later, Pearl Harbor changed everything. Also of interest: This York Fair mural is fading from sight and Good old days at the York Fair were at least old and JFK received grand applause at York Fair visit.

An e-mailer, an exec with a local firm and proud of the York Fair, asked the York Daily Record/Sunday News to ask for special York Fair memories.

I wrote back saying we have done just that, and they're available with audio clips by clicking here.

And we've created a thread on the York Daily Record/Sunday News' bulletin board, The Exchange, for you to share your memories.

And the posts on the blog All's Fair includes many historical memories of the fair.

That's all past stuff... .

A Robert E. Lee look-alike attends a Hinton, Va., hearing in August about a Wal-Mart proposed for a site near the Wilderness Battlefield. Preservationists are urging Walmart to retreat from plans to build a Supercenter near the famed battlefield. Also of interest: York scored another first: Wal-Mart's entry into Pa. and Cracker barrel and Cracker Barrel hold places in York County's past and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging Sears photograph.

Wal-Mart is looking to build a SuperCenter near the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County, Va., sparking preservationists into action to block construction.

This is a reminder to catch up on Wal-Mart's presence in York County, particularly since the first Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania was built in the York Mall in Springettsbury Township in 1989.

That store is still there, enlarged in fact.

It drew no controversy then because the mall was reeling after major anchors moved to the newly opened Galleria, and Wal-Mart was not generating controversy in those days... .

This image from a turn-of-the-20th-century York city directory shows a stand of row homes that has gone up along West Princess Street. Rowhouses often accommodated workers at the many factories operating in or near city neighborhoods in the late-Victorian era. Also of interest: Colonial York, Pa.? No, try Victorian York, Pa. and York's rowhouses becoming an endangered species and How one spot in York County, Pa., tells much about what's going on around there.

A York Sunday News reader resided in one of the homes pictured above, the first one at 624 W. Princess Street.

He was not the first owner of the turn-of-the-century home, moving there in 1951.

"We raised five children at that residence," he wrote. "It was quite different in 1903 than in 1951." ... .

Hundreds viewed this item recently at the Dover (Pa.) Firemen's Fair on Canal Road in Dover borough. But no one could identify its purpose. (See additional photo below.) Background posts: Is this a York County farm truck or is it just a wagon with a motor? and The Acme Tongue Carrier of Hanover, Pa.: Are there any around today? and York County group preserving Pennsylvania Dutch language, heritage.

There's a mystery machine in Dover, and folks at the Great Dover Historical Society are looking for someone who can crack the case... .

This view from the penthouse of the Glen Rock Mill Inn shows the heart of Glen Rock. It's quiet here, but the borough has played host to many newsworthy events. The borough is celebrating its 150 anniversary next year. Background posts: AMP's and AMF's alphabet soup spilled in Glen Rock and Google Images bring life and times of Glen Rock's Cliff Heathcote, a trick shot artist, other York County, Pa., memories and Parade Music Prince Roland Seitz: From Shrewsbury to Friday Night Lights.

Glen Rock is going down in history as a town with the most histories written about it.

In recent years, the Glen Rock Carolers have updated their already thorough history, which is also a history of the town.

Earlier this year, Bob Ketenheim published a postcard history book covering Glen Rock's plentiful hills and dales.

Next June, the borough will celebrate its 150th birthday, and yes, the committee heading that effort is publishing a book... .

This drawing, from York County (Pa.) Heritage Trust files shows York Silk Manufacturing Co.'s Diamond Branch at the turn of the 20th century. The Hay Street building has been converted into the Hudson Park Apartments, but it remains a visible part of York City's skyline. Also of interest: After WWII success, Farquhar sells assets to out-of-town outfit and Who will lead the York area in the future? and Who are York's most influential citizens?

You can't miss York Silk Manufacturing Co.'s fortress-like imprint on York's skyline.

How did that landmark building get there in the first place?

A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but this York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News photograph tells a story covering a century. This photo by Paul Kuehnel shows, background, the dual towers of the old York Silk Manufacturing Co., bookending its single smokestack. It is now an apartment complex. A Sheetz Convenience Store is going up in the now-demolished neighborhood, foreground, at the Interstate 83 and Route 30 intersection. Unknowingly, the photographer set up a contrast between today's growing York County service industry and the decline of large-scale smokestack factories in the past 100 years. (See photo below of houses coming down.) Also of interest: Interstate 83 has strangled York crossroads neighborhood and Rutter's store offers snapshot of change in York County and All Made in York posts from the start.

My York Sunday News column (9/6/09) ties to Labor Day and the changing landscape of York County:

Southbound motorists on Interstate 83 crossing the Route 30 overpass can see an intimidating building with two towers prominent in York's skyline.

York County doesn't have many fortresses, and the building's high smokestack gives it away as an old factory.

That's one of York Silk Manufacturing Co.'s two turn-of-the-20th-century factories. The company became widely known for its specialty, Moneybak black silk, according to York County Heritage Trust documents... .

The original part of the Friends' meeting house in Warrington Township, Pa., was erected in 1769. The Northern York County 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: Of Pennsylvania's conscientious objectors: The 'other side' of the Civil War and Quaker horticulturalist Jonathan Jessop was 19th-century York County Renaissance man and Gladys Rawlins, 'Black History Profiles.'

"Welcome to those attending our meeting for the first time," the church bulletin said.

Well, it wasn't exactly a bulletin, but a half-page explanation of what transpires at the Warrington Friends Monthly Meeting at this northwestern York County building.

And it wasn't exactly a church either. It was a meeting house, or meeting, home of the Warrington Friends Monthly Meeting. That would be a Quaker Meeting, a lovely stone structure visible to all amid beautiful scenery on Route 74 between Wellsville and Dillsburg.

The term "Meeting" is used by Friends to designate their place of worship as well as the worship service itself," the explanation or statement said.

For those who wonder what Quakers do in their service, here's the order of the Warrington service:

-

This scene comes from one of York County, Pa.'s, best-known miniature golf courses, Putter's Paradise in Manchester Township. Putt-Putt golf courses have been around York County for decades and not all of them have been outdoors. Also of interest: Bucolic Outdoor Country Club started in busy York neighborhood and On Eisenhower's York County golf round: He turned in a 'commendable score' and Why is Hanover Country Club in Abbottstown?.

Reader Walter B. Ziegler has identified a miniature golf course that was here prior to the 1940s when York Township's Lil Duffer is known to have been operating.

But the putt-putt course that Walter Ziegler pointed out had a roof... .

Thousand of worshippers have heard sermons in this outdoor pavilion, the tabernacle, at Penn Grove Campground in southwestern York County. The camp meeting was a rite of summer for thousands of York countians. Also of interest: Mining a rich vein of southwestern York County's religious history, Part I, Part II and Abe Lincoln, Gwyneth Paltrow passed through Porters Sideling and Billy Graham: 'I do remember him being here and what a thrill it was'.

Roy Flinchbaugh is one of a host of York countians who attended Penn Grove Campgrounds in Smith Station, Heidelberg Township.

Fond memories of those days prompted him to reflect on the camp in the 1930s, after reading my recent York Sunday News column on that topic:

" When I was growing up my parents took me up to Penn Grove Camp almost every Sunday evening in the summer... .

The village of Spry in York Township, Pa., is the home of Goodwill Fire Company, which supplied the ladder truck so that Almar the Professional Idiot could demonstrate his escape from a straight jacket. Almar kicked off the Dallastown Halloween Parade about a decade ago and was captured in this York Daily Record file photo. (See additional photos below.) Background posts: 19th-century mines gave Ore Valley its name and York County one-room schools: 'That's when things were good' and Forgotten York Valley Inn may be rediscovered.

Bonnie Stiles has provided family information that confirms details in a previous York Town Square post about the toll gate that operated at Leader Heights Road and South Queen Street in Spry.

The gate pivoted up and down on the west side of Queen Street, across the street from present-day Tollgate Village.

"When my paternal great-grandmother (Estella Mae Markey Sechrist) was alive she told me she used to run the 'toll gate' on S. Queen Street," Bonnie Stiles wrote.

"Apparently her husband, my great-grandfather (Norman Sechrist) ran a wagon from Red Lion to York every day. They claim he had something to do with tobacco."

Those were the days, less than 100 years ago, when toll roads still radiated from York... .

The First National Bank of Glen Rock's building has long been an anchor in the borough's downtown. It was constructed in 1912, and this photograph was taken two years later. Bob Ketenheim nicely captures Glen Rock, Pa.'s, past in his recently published "Around Glen Rock," part of Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series. Background posts: Google Images bring life and times of Glen Rock's Cliff Heathcote, other York County, Pa., memories and Mystery of Glen Rock-area's Narrow Gauge Road deepens and Glen Rock hilltop farm: 'You cannot stay stressed here for long'.

Bob Ketenheim's "Around Glen Rock" contains numerous interesting photos that individually tell the story of this southern York County's borough history.

And sometimes photos in this book, working in tandem, tell perhaps unintended but rich and revealing stories.

One photo, for example, shows a proud Wesley C. Koller driving his brand new Stanhope make of automobile into Glen Rock on Manchester Street in 1900... .

About 50 airports or airstrips have operated in and around York County, Pa., since the 1920s. Kampel Airport in Warrington Township is one of the grass airstrips still in operation. In this York Daily Record/Sunday News file photo from 2006, Bill Luther has just received a ride in a Boeing Stearman PT-17 for his 85th birthday. Luther trained during World War II to fly Boeing Stearman PT-17s. Other posts of interest: First York Airport's administration building stands today and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph and U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way, Part III: 'We would watch the dragsters on trailers head for Thomasville'.

Aircraft still land and take off from many of the 50-something airports that have operated in and around York County.

The York Airport is the best known example.

Some of the airports are now plowed under... .

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

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

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

Here are three: ... .

Pennsylvania Furniture Co.'s William Henry Hubley is shown in this newspaper clipping from a York County Heritage Trust file preparing a dresser for a coat of varnish. The West York-based fine furniture manufacturer operated for about 70 years after its founding in the 1890s. By 1949, the company had manufactured more than 100,000 bedroom suites. Background posts: These antiques bear the York, Pa.-made Pennsylvania Furniture Co. label and Red Lion's Ebert Furniture: From bedroom suites to gunstocks and Bethlehem Furniture Co. woodworker carved JFK statue.

Pennsylvania Furniture Co.'s fine woodworking continues to intrigue local folks and those with the long-defunct company's bedroom suites around the world.

Who made this wonderful furniture?

I found a 1949 newspaper clipping about a Renaissance man, William Henry Hubley, who then typified York County craftsmen.

Here's what the article said about the wordworker:

The Hippodrome, one of downtown York's many theaters in their early 20th-century heyday, is example of stories told in a Junior Curators' exhibit unveiled this week at the York County (Pa.) Heritage Trust. Background posts: You maybe didn't know it but ... they're from York County - Part II and TV show box set 'Terry & the Pirates' to be part of a museum exhibit someday? and Young curators produce York Fair exhibit: 'A Fair of Our Own'.

Maybe it was meant to be.

Big league pitcher James "Lefty" York lived his later years in York, Pa.

He was in the majors for a cup of coffee with the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago Cubs covering parts of two seasons, 1919 and 1921. He compiled a 5-11 record in 42 games.

The Arkansan would be forgotten to history, except that Junior Curator Alex Daugherty has resurrected him as part of "From Artists to Athletes: a History of Entertainment in York County" exhibit at the York County Heritage Trust... .

St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hanover, Pa. also serves as a mini-museum. One exhibit is this beautiful 19th-century altar. Other posts of interest: Abe Lincoln, Gwyneth Paltrow passed through Porters Sideling and Dutch vs. English? York County debate still perking in 1920s and People of varying religious groups founded York County.

"The 10-mile line between York County's Spring Grove and Adams County's Edgegrove bears a rich vein of history."

That's how my last York Town Square post about a long tour of southwestern York County sites began.

Here are some specifics about that visit in question-and-answer format, which showed great diversity in the religious sites visited: ... .

After various moves over the years, York Airport landed in Thomasville and so have thousands of planes. This one landed near the field in 2002, and the pilot and passenger walked away from the crash. Background posts: First York Airport's administration building stands today and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph and U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way, Part III: 'We would watch the dragsters on trailers head for Thomasville'.

Post a blog item on York-area airports - operating and defunct - and people e-mail with fond memories.

There just seems to be pent-up interest in those old airstrips, perhaps because one has to squint to see where they once operated. And it's fun to try to figure buildings standing today that were used for airport operations at one time.

If you want a full dose of all things about airports in York County, consult John F. M. Wolfe's spiral-bound booklet "Profile of Aviation, York County, Pennsylvania," first published in 1998... .

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

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

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

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

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

This image comes from the front of the Eastern State Penitentiary brochure. The long-closed Philadelphia prison was America's first penitentiary, constructed to inspire penitence in those detained. It's now a museum raising the question about whether York County, Pa.'s old jail could be used for fundraising purposes. Other posts of interest: Old York County, Pa., jail on endangered list and Prison listing brings back food loaf memories and 'There were only so many cells in that old stone prison.

Look east from several points at York's Sovereign Bank Stadium, and you'll see a fortress-like, ruddy building rising high well beyond the outfield fence.

That's York County's old Chestnut Street Prison, vacated in 1979, when inmates were moved to a brand-new lockup near the county-owned Pleasant Acres in Springettsbury Township.

The old jail has been for sale for many years. One prospect considered making it a restaurant. Some places - Boston, for example - have converted old prisons into apartments.

The old building is difficult and expensive to knock down because its built, well, like a prison... .

The United Brethren Church built two-story cabins when it opened the Heidelberg Township (Pa.) campground in 1896 for churchgoers to stay overnight or weekly. Penn Grove Campground later operated as Camp Pamaveda and is known today at Penn Grove Retreat. All but one of the wooden structures, sometimes called tents, have been torn down, and campers to this southwestern York County facility now sleep in newer cinderblock cabins. The corner of the tabernacle, an open air pavilion for worship services, is seen at right. The campground was a stop on a recent tour of religious sites in York and Adams counties. Other posts of interest: Abe Lincoln, Gwyneth Paltrow passed through Porters Sideling and Conewago Chapel steeple worker wondered if he'd ever get up there: Now, 'Here I am' and Pamadeva. Get it? Pennsylvania. Maryland. Delaware. Virginia..

The 10-mile line between York County's Spring Grove and Adams County's Edgegrove bears a rich vein of history.

Spend five hours mining that vein with three knowledgeable students of history, and you come away with a clarity about how much you don't know about this fascinating region.

Actually, those students are longtime teachers about York County's history: Jim Rudisill, Luther Sowers and June Lloyd.

On a recent Saturday, Rudisill served as tour guide, equipped with his 14-stop itinerary neatly handwritten on lined notebook paper... .

A teen tries to guide her putt past the horse statue at Putter's Paradise in Manchester (Pa.) Township. An e-mailer to York Town Square wondered when miniature golf arrived in York County. (See additional York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News file photo below.) Other posts of interest: York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks and Playland plays nostalgic note for York countians and Western York County home owner seeks info on old toll house.

"A crazy question popped into my head today dealing with entertainment in York County," an e-mailer wrote.

"When did miniature golf come to York and what were some of the early popular venues?"

Dates like that are tough to track down.

So I asked history enthusiasts at the York Daily Record/Sunday News Exchange bulletin board.

I received two responses:

The New York Times obituary about York native Ernest W. Lefever gave insight concerning a controversy involving Lefever during the Reagan administration. Other posts of interest: York County high school grads teach lessons in achievement on national stage and York County home to national pro-life leader and In recent years, York County presidential endorsements a mixed bag.

Another case in which all roads seem to lead to York... .

Native son and York High grad Ernest Lefever died at the age of 89 recently, and his local obituary noted his leadership of internationally known The Ethics and Public Policy Center.

His accomplishments were such that he earned a New York Times obituary, which stated in part:

In this York Sunday News photo from 1958, York (Pa.) Little Theatre's Jean Farlow makes noted screen actor Cameron Mitchell appear 40 years older for his part as the William Jennings Bryan character in "Inherit the Wind." A photo of the production was part of a York County Heritage Trust exhibit opening this week. Other posts of interest: Former York countian-turned-screen-writer Laurice Elehwany: How to make it as a writer and Young Alan Alda performed along the Codorus? Researcher checking that out and Many national stars first performed on YLT's stage.

Paper covers the exhibit cases that are part of the York County Heritage Trust's "From Artists to Athletes: A History of Entertainment in York County."

The Trust's Junior Curators, a group of budding exhibit overseers, will unveil their handiwork starting on Friday, with the exhibit running through Oct. 30.

But a label near one of the covered cases serves as a reminder about one of York County's leaders in the entertainment field - probably the most honored actor ever from the county... .

The last line in this multi-deck newspaper headline tells of the days of cockfighting in the York and Adams counties area. Michael Vick's activities indicate that the sport of animal fighting hasn't gone away. Other posts of interest: Famous York County cockpit painting might not be about cockfighting and A short test of your York black history knowledge - Part II, Exhibit captures decades-long flow of wide Susquehanna and Artist Jeff Koons came back to York for a show.

So says The York Dispatch in May 1902, quoting an 85-year-old resident.

Animal fighting was against the law then, too, but a tavern a few miles from Hanover along the the York/Adams border put a work-around in place.

Here's how it worked, according to the newspaper article: ... .

Jann Rentzel Lehman is looking for information - particularly pictures - about her great-grandfather's York County, Pa., business.

Here's her query:

I was wondering if you could locate any information on my great grandfather, Jacob Rentzel's Farm Implements and Phosphate Feed Business at 15 South Main St. in Manchester.

AMF York produced the Ski-Daddler, a power sled, which the company indicated was popular at that time. "Ski-Daddler is used for racing, exploring, carries skis and is a great asset to all 'round winter sports fun," the York (Pa.) Chamber of Commerce's "Greater York in Action" reported. Other posts of interest: York, Pa. made big, heavy things - and was immensely proud of it and AMF-Harley in York, by the numbers and AMP's and AMF's alphabet soup spilled in same York County town .

Harley-Davidson is examing four locations as possible relocation sites for its motorcycle production lines from York.

Those sites will provide an option for the company to consider alongside keeping the plant in York, a decision expected before year's end.

Nervous York community leaders are wise in talking about a Plan B. What if Harley moves? ... .

That would be devastating, of course.

This story, from an unspecified paper as found in Jere Carl's scrapbook at the York County (Pa.) Heritage Trust, spins together a strange tale about the night when the sky over York and Adams counties seemed to be falling. Background posts: Iron-mine-turned-into-party-spot turned into York County park and Site filled with wealth of York County geological info and Quarrying in Delta-Peachbottom.

A July fireball has sent searchers looking for pieces of the meteorite in York and Lancaster County.

But that single falling star was nothing like the 1833 Perseid Meteor Shower that made York/Adams residents think that the world might be ending.

A 1902 newspaper clipping tells the impact of the meteor bursts. And it gives a glimpse of a local industry - silkmaking - then at its height:

The Murals of York program was well under way at the time of the 250th anniversary of York County (Pa.) in 1999. So the Murals of York committee commissioned its painting as a summary of the main events that made up the celebration. Background posts: York vs. Lancaster, Pa: The American War of the Roses still rages and The day west bankers looked forward to tax time and York, Cumberland counties longtime companions.

"The 10th anniversary of York County's 250th anniversary"? Isn't that like saying the 48th anniversary of my 1st birthday?"

So wrote a commenter on a recent York Daily Record/Sunday News story on the 260th anniversary of York County - and the 10th anniversary of the mammoth 250th celebration in 1999.

The commenter is right that it's a bit like a celebration about a celebration.

But the 1999 celebration is still remembered by many. Even if the 10th anniversary isn't significant, the 250th was, indeed... .

An York County (Pa.) Agricultural and Industrial Museum exhibit features a model of York's first airport in Fayfield, along Haines Road. Museum-goers can see the exhibit and other information about early aviation in the county at this York County Heritage Trust museum. Background posts: Beacon helped spot whereabouts of York County town and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph and It's a bird. It's a plane. It's cigars with wings..

Recent York Town Square posts, which resulted in a York Sunday News column about past York County airports have prompted readers to share their memories, intriguing information - and questions.

For example, Betty Hirschfield wrote:

"I remember an airport on Haines Road many years ago...Am I right?"

Ammon Stolzfus, 37, of Quarryville, Pa., picks up the latest issue of Cruise Letter, a newsletter made 'By Cruisers For Cruisers,' outside the Markets at Shrewsbury in southern York County. In this 2007 York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News file photo, Stolzfus was working at the outside booth for Penn Dutch Kitchen during Friday Cruise Nights. When asked if he ever checks out the cars himself, he told the newspaper there's never any time. Background posts: Who was Norman Wood (of bridge fame)?, Horse, buggy, one-room school make county comeback, Amish: 'We are making a commitment to forgive'

The Amish, commonly associated with the east bank of the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, are seen more and more in southeastern York County. They also can be seen at the Markets at Shrewsbury, a house of vendors along the Susquehanna Trail in Hametown, Shrewsbury Township.

The so-called Pennsylvania Dutch church people - German Reformed and Lutherans - mostly pioneered in York County. The Amish, different from the church people in their practice of baptizing adults among other doctrinal distinctions, settled among similar believers in Lancaster County.

So, many York countians, even Pennsylvania Dutchmen, are not that familiar with the Amish... .

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Visitors to the new Gettysburg National Military Park visitors center are presented with the opportunity to examine all kinds of Civil War exhibits. But Civil War enthusiasts don't have to go to Gettysburg to learn about the Civil War. York countians can receive their lessons at home. Background posts: New Lincoln blog category introduced to honor Abe's 200th birthday and Abe Lincoln stopped at Hanover station:"We want to preserve history ... so it doesn't disappear' and York educator plays Abe's friend: 'This definitely was a cool thing'.

Dr. Charles C. Fennell, Jr., will present on the "Confederate Disaster on Oak Ridge: The Demise of Brig. Gen. Alfred Iverson's Brigade on July 1, 1863 at Gettysburg" Wednesday in York.

The licensed Gettysburg battlefield guide will address a meeting of the York (Pa.) Civil War Roundtable.

The Civil War group's meeting is a reminder about the regular monthly meetings that are available at no cost about different aspects of York County's history... .

A rescuer holds a Chinese passenger by his pants as he tries to transfer to a small boat from the grounded freighter Golden Venture June 6, 1993, off New York City. About 40 passengers were detained in York County Prison for more than three years awaiting disposition of their cases (Associated Press photo). A dozen years after their release, a book discusses their plight. Background posts: 'York: A Key City in the Keystone State' and York's Chestnut Street fortress bad symbol of York's past and All famous York visitor posts from the start and .

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

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

Earlier this year, native York countian Judy Druck Routson released a book on her family. The Drucks were early on the scene in York County, Pa. Springettsbury Township's Druck Valley borrows its named from the family. Background posts: York County villages bear memorable names and About phone pole playground at Rocky Ridge: 'Children's heads got caught in between the logs' and Long Level and Pleasureville fielded bands?.

When you think about Druck Valley, you think of Rock Ridge County Park.

And when you think about Rocky Ridge, you think of the nearby region colorfully known as "The Glades."

More on that region in a second.

First, what of the settlers in that part of present-day Springettsbury Township?

Ball Mason jars, around for 125 years, can be used for many things. In this Kansas City Star photo, tea lights flicker in the jars. In fruit- and vegetable-rich York County, Pa., the jars remain staples for canning, their use for decades. Background posts: 21st-century Victory Gardens might morph into Stimulus Gardens and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County WWII smarts and Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking York County residents often conversed with German POWs and Jamaican fruit pickers worked York County orchards in World War II .

Five brothers named Ball started production of fruit jars in 1884, with John Mason's 1858 invention in mind.

Three years later, they moved their plant to Muncie, Ind., and their Ball Mason jars became a standard part of American homes.

This 125th anniversary of the jar brings to mind time of a government snafu when canning was most needed - the days of World War II... .

York, Pa., artist Horace Bonham, 1835-1892, was one of 19th-century York's best known personalities. Today, his best-known painting is "Nearing the Issue at the Cockpit." Background posts: A short test of your York black history knowledge - Part II, Exhibit captures decades-long flow of wide Susquehanna and Artist Jeff Koons came back to York for a show.

The Philadelphia Eagles' signing of quarterback Michael Vick of dogfighting ring infamy shows the disgrace of such a crime in the 21st century.

But it's interesting that animal-fighting did not hold such ignominy 150 years ago... .

George Shumway's book on the Schreyer family of Hanover, Pa., shows York countians as major makers of 18th-century rifles. The book is available at York County libraries. Background posts: Springetts collector attracts 'Antiques Roadshow's' Kenos and Northwestern York County flag expert: 'I was interested in my nation's heritage' and York Hospital doc: Expert on antique surgical saws, antiquated procedure of bloodletting.

When people talk about Kentucky long rifles around here, they usually qualify them as Pennsylvania long rifles.

For example, when Denver, Pa.'s Dan Morphy Auctions sent a news release about a sale of a collection of long rifles set for today, it called them "Pennsylvania-made pre- and post-Revolutionary War era long rifles."

The release later put "Kentucky" in quotes.

And the auction house gave further explanation:

In 1926, York, Pa.'s Union Evangelical Lutheran Church hired J.A. Dempwolf to design a new sanctuary. That would be his last church design, according to a church spokesman. In 1929, the new sanctuary was dedicated. "The shape of the ceiling is that of an inverted ship's hull; hand-carved oak figures of Moses and Luke flank the altar; and art-glass windows line the nave, choir loft and clerestory," the spokesman said. Interestingly, the first building the Dempwolf firm designed was a Lutheran church - First St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church on West King Street, according to a York Daily Record article. Background posts: 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.

Brothers John A. and Reinhardt Dempwolf designed more than 400 schools, churches and other architecturally significant buildings.

Just in York County alone.

Eleven of those buildings will be on display during Historic York Inc.'s "Discovering Dempwolf" on Sunday, Oct. 11.

Some facts about the Dempwolfs and the tour:.. .

Philip K. Eberly's "Susquehanna Radio, The First 50 Years" tells about the early years of radio in York County, Pa., and southcentral Pennsylvania. The 1992 book is available at York County libraries. Background posts: 101 Ranch Boys play on in York County memories and Old WSBA station: 'Another part of history has gone' and Carly Simon at WSBA: 'What do you want to hear?'.

In his book on the nationwide Susquehanna Radio Corp., the late Philip Eberly answers questions and provides insight locally into the 1940s and 1950s when radio was the hot media.

For example, what does WSBA stand for?

Actually, Eberly's "Susquehanna Radio, The First 50 Years" isn't clear on that point:

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

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

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

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

Natanael Santiago of York flips for the rings at Rocky Ridge County Park in this 2006 York Daily Record/Sunday News file shot. At one time, a pile of telephone poles at this Springettsbury (Pa.) Township park served as a place for fun. Background posts: Richard Nixon's visit to his namesake park sparks memories and Wildflowers at Shenk's Ferry glen sprouting despite centuries of encroaching civilization and Native Americans help clean up Dritt family cemetery in new York County park.

York Town Square postings about York Township's Springwood Park brings Loganville's Alan Nelson back to his childhood.

Specifically, he remembers forts at Rocky Ridge County Park constructed from telephone poles.

Kids climbed on them and within the mazes the piles created, he wrote in an e-mail.

He was seeking information on this low-tech playground.

Enter York County Parks' Jeri Jones, who knows a lot about a lot of things... .

Leonard Zinn, Hall-of-Fame steel guitarist, sets to work. Zinn played for the 101 Ranch Boys, a group that helped launch WSBA Radio in York County. Philip Eberly tells about the Boys and other radio personalities in "Susquehanna Radio: The First 50 years." Background posts: 101 Ranch Boys play on in York County memories and Old WSBA station: 'Another part of history has gone' and Carly Simon at WSBA: 'What do you want to hear?'.

Philip Eberly, who died recently, left a legacy on the early days of York County radio as a WSBA and Susquehanna Broadcasting salesman, sales manager, station manager, vice president and general manager.

So says a recent York Daily Record/Sunday News article (8/07/09).

But his most lasting contribution might be his 1992 book "Susquehanna Radio: The First 50 years." (Available via the York County Library System.)

That work tells about WSBA and Susquehanna Broadcasting's early years up to 1992. That empire grew into a media group that grew into stations in San Francisco, Houston and Dallas before it was sold in recent years to Cumulus Media.

For example, an interesting book section tells about the company's venture into TV... .

Malissa Hilliard, of Lower Windsor Township, participated in a recent road rally to keep Harley-Davidson in York. The 1996 Sportster, foreground, was made there. Harley linked up with another York County staple - chicken corn soup - recently in the southeastern part of the county. To see how chicken corn soup is prepared, see photo below. Background posts: All Harley-Davidson posts from the start and All York Eats: Hogmaw and such posts from the start and All Made in York posts from the start.

Blogger June Lloyd has managed to tie together two York County icons - chicken corn soup and Harley-Davidsons.

The link is akin to York-area industry and Chanceford Township agriculture gladly shaking hands.

Here's a hint how she made the link... .

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

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

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

Anna Olmeda of Dover recently discovered this KKK certificate in the back of a framed photograph. Background posts: Criticism of Geno's leads to 'commie' claim and Leonard Pitts speaking in York, Pa.: Sometimes, history hurts and York, Pa.: 'It's a midsize city with an interesting history'.

Signs of the Ku Klux Klan's presence in early 20th-century York County are pretty common around here.

The various chapters held regular picnics, cross burnings and parades in small towns throughout the county. So, this secret society left a public trail.

A reminder of those days came recently when Dover Township's Anna Olmeda found a certificate in an old picture frame granting Claude A. Slyder, presumably from York County, membership in the Klan... .

A silo in a neighboring farm overlooks BAE's West Manchester Township (Pa.) plant, where rows of Bradley vehicles are ready for action, in this 2005 York Daily Record/Sunday News file vehicle. (See additional photo below.) Background posts: Jeep prototype has York County WWII roots and All Made in York posts from the start and From Bofors to bikes, Harley plant top hog.

BAE Combat Systems is known for the number of zeros in the defense contracts it frequently pulls down.

And it's known for the York County-made Hercules Recovery Vehicle that pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein during fighting in Iraq.

But motorists could drive by the farmland between York and Spring Grove and not know this major defense contractor is operating in nearby Bair Station.

Here are some facts about the company, gleaned from BAE Systems history-rich Web site and my "In the Thick of the Fight":

The Brogue General Store has served as a community meeting place for years. Here's a gathering from 2004. Background posts: One-room school days fascinate York County history students and High-ranking military brothers spent time in York County and Wildflowers at Shenk's Ferry glen sprouting despite centuries of encroaching civilization.

Fellow blogger June Lloyd is a native of The Brogue.

The former York County Heritage Trust archivist knows much about her home area - and is offering a well-grounded explanation for the origin of the southeastern York County village's name... .

Thomas V. Chatman Jr., a pioneer in York's (Pa.) black community, passed away this week. Background posts: Mattie Chapman, first black elected county official profiled, Pioneering women in state politics and 10 years ago, York's exclusive Lafayette Club became less exclusive.

Tom Chatman, York's first black chief of police, died this week, and Mike Argento's obituary story quite rightly details his accomplishments on the road to that office.

"He endured, back in his days as a patrolman and later a detective, the most vile racial epithets from bigots and being called an Uncle Tom by members of his own community," Argento wrote.

To boil down a list of Chatman accomplishments, he became York's police chief within 10 years after the York race riots ended. The practices and policies of York's police department contributed to those terrible summers of 1968 and 1969.

With the spotlight on this pioneer, it seems right to repeat or three-peat his place in this sampling of minority and female "firsts" in York County's past, many of which have occurred since 1970:

This undated postcard shows Farquhar Park Pool, replaced in recent years by the Graham Aquatic, early in its years of operation. The pool opened in 1922. (See additional photos below.) Background posts:Cartoonist made York newspaper owner's views an art form and York Town Square reader: 'I never knew about the White Rose Amusement Park' and Reader searching for Boys Club Pool photo.

Dan Meckley, like many York Town Square readers, is interested in the old Farquhar Park Pool and the White Rose Amusement Park. (See comments, for example, under: Farquhar Park pool: 'Good grief, how long has that pool been here?')

"Here is my contribution to the genre," he wrote.

Before going on active duty in the Navy, he served as head lifeguard at the old pool in 1943.

He said it was one of the largest in Pennsylvania, the last vestige of the White Rose Amusement Park. The park closed a decade earlier.

In this York (Pa.) Daily Record file photo from 2005, June Grove is seen in Brogue's St. Luke Cemetery. Her ancestors are buried there along with Revolutionary War veterans George Keener, 1757-1841, John Stermer, 1760-1855, Henry Tome, 1754-1846. Background posts: 'Painting pastor's' work survives devastating southeastern York County blaze and On York County parks, Susquehannocks and carved river rocks and How many Amish have crossed the bridge from Lancaster to York County?.

Information in a post on fellow blogger Joan Concilio's Only in York County site gives a possible explanation for why the Chanceford Township village of Brogue is often called The Brogue.

The short answer is that it was a shortened version of someone saying "I'm going over to the Brogue Hotel," a landmark there for years.

But where did the village name of Brogue come from?

June Grove knows more about the Chancefords (which includes Lower Chanceford Township) than anyone... .

This early 20th century view of York, Pa.'s market street shows that trees were part of the scene then, albeit not designed in to the streetscape. But they were there much earlier than that, too. Background posts: Escaped bovine makes York newspaper headline and York-area picture book not your typical coffee table publication and Author: 'York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture'.

In a previous post, a York Town Square reader opined that trees lining York's market street add much to the downtown.

But they also obscure wonderful architectural features on building facades.

When were the trees added?

Notice the Dritt name on the broken tombstone at the historic Dritt cemetery in the new York County (Pa.) Native Lands County Park recently. Those are the hands of Paul Nevin, one of the cleanup crew members. (See related photo below.) Background posts: 400 years ago, John Smith explored Chesapeake Bay and For years, York countians have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams and Petroglyphs, American Indian carvings, almost forgotten treasure.

After months of rancor surrounding the Lauxmont Farms controversy, it was intriguing to see a recent example of productive peace in a park that the episode spun off.

Last weekend, local Native Americans weeded an overgrown cemetery on land that is now part of York County's Native Lands County Park.

That was the cemetery for the Dritt family, an old-time local family that hasn't been able to muster such a clean-up effort in recent years.

The park is home to more than the Dritt cemetery.

It contains the site of the last Susquehannock Indian village and cemeteries that would have resulted from such a settlement... .

For some, the Woodstock album brings back clear memories about the vaunted festival and its famous mud. Others have no recollection about those days in August 1969, when an estimated 400,000 people attended the rock festival on a dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y. Background posts from 1969: Timeline of 1969 race riots, court cases and 'Remember' series recalls moon landing and rocket scientist who helped make it so and 40 years ago, men walked on moon and race riot victims wheeled into York emergency room.

The Daily Record/Sunday News is looking for area residents who remember Woodstock, soon to observe its 40th anniversary.

And did anyone with York/Adams links attend?

These memories will be part of the newspaper's "Remember" oral history series, a growing collection of memories accessible by clicking here. If you want to share your memories, call 771-2008 and follow the instructions.

Incidentally, the rock festival did not resonate locally, at least not with the local paper... .

In this York Daily Record/Sunday News file photo, Spring Garden (Pa.) Township's Stephen Sechrist sits near his 51st Strathmeyer Christmas tree. Strathmeyer has been selling trees to customers in York County - and beyond - for more than 75 years. Background posts: York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks and Interstate lined out Melvin's swan song and York artist Lewis Miller's depiction of a Christmas tree part of the York County Heritage Trust's collection.

In the recent post E-mailer links Roosevelt Avenue Airport, Downtown York's Bon-Ton - and Santa, JoAnne Everhart wrote about an annual rite of York County's past.

She and her father would welcome Santa at the Roosevelt Avenue Airport, watch as he was shuttled into York's downtown to climb a ladder into the Bon Ton, then pick up a Christmas Tree from a side yard of a home in The Avenues.

She believed that the yard was the home of the Strathmeyer family, operator today of the massive Dover-area-based Christmas Tree farm.

She compared notes with a friend and confirmed that The Avenues home was indeed that of the Strathmeyers.

She wrote: ... .

In 1931, York Cone Co. made, well, cones, as this invoice from York County Heritage Trust files indicates. But it later became widely known as maker of the York Peppermint Pattie. Background posts: 20 questions and answers to prove your York County smarts, Part II and Katharine Beecher of Beecher Candies fame: 'Legacies,' Part I and York, Pa.: 'It's a midsize city with an interesting history'.

E-mailer Allison W. Bitzer threw me for second.

She wondered about the location of the York Cone Company factories in York.

York Cone Company. York Cone Company.

Oh yes, the original makers of York Peppermint Pattie... .

Pennsylvania Furniture Co.'s Sumner Street factory in York, actually West York, was erected in the early 1900s and became the home for long-lasting bedroom and dining room suites. Background posts: Red Lion's Ebert Furniture: From bedroom suites to gunstocks and York-area woodcarver, furniture maker made life-size JFK statue. But where is it now? and Springetts collector attracts 'Antiques Roadshow's' Kenos and Of York antiquarian Joe Kindig III: 'He is generous with his knowledge'.

E-mailer David Degroot is looking for a few good facts about York, Pa.'s venerable Pennsylvania Furniture Co.

"My wife and I bought an antique bedroom set," he wrote. "One of the pieces has a small sticker on the back indicating that the furniture was manufactured by the Pennsylvania Furniture Co. in York, PA. My guess is that furniture was manufactured in the early 1900s."

Furniture-making was a big business in York County in those days, and Pennsylvania Furniture was one of the most successful. The county was home to plentiful hardwood trees, and its location on transportation routes spawned wagonmakers, riflemakers and manufacturers of other hand-made wood products.

The York County Heritage Trust's file on Pennsylvania Furniture contains several documents. (One bore the photo above.)

Here are some salient facts gleaned from those documents:

Industrialist A.B. Farquhar was at the top of his game as a man-about-town in 1909. Other posts with Gordon Freireich's columns: Washington Township, Jefferson Borough, Madison Avenue. How about an Obama Street in York County? and Vermont windmill: 'That turbine was built at the S. Morgan Smith company, right here in York' and York's Reservoir Hill: 'My 'reward' was to sit in the gazebo at the top of the hill'.

York Sunday News columnist Gordon Freireich provided an interesting glimpse of York County in 1909.

He tied this 100-year retrospective to what would have been his father's 100th birthday.

He found information via York Gazette microfilm at the York County Heritage Trust. Each Jan. 1, the newspaper recapped events from the previous year.

He found an article appropriate for today: York - and the nation - was still recovering from the recession of 1907:

In a March 10, 1995, story, The York Daily Record tells about the then-upcoming "The Brady Bunch Movie," written by former York countian Laurice Elehwany. Background posts: Cameron Mitchell, Craig Sheffer, Dixie Chick born here and Artist Jeff Koons came back to York for a show and Add another to list of entertainers with York links.

"Until she was 13, Laurice Elehwany lived a few miles outside Spring Grove. She swam in Lake Pahagaco. She ate cotton candy at the York Fair. She directed her neighborhood friends in skits she devised. And she watched 'The Brady Bunch' on TV. Today 30-year-old Elehwany lives in Hollywood and writes screenplays. She achieved her first success three years ago with 'My Girl.' Now she can also lay claim to the current hit 'The Brady Bunch Movie.' "

That's how a York Daily Record story in 1995 introduced local-girl-made-good Laurice Elehwany.

The recent Jefferson Carnival reminded me of Elehwany, successful in Hollywood but almost forgotten around York County.

She small-town setting in "My Girl" was based on her memories of Jefferson borough in southwestern York County, according to the Daily Record... .

Santa's annual visit to the Bon-Ton and downtown York, Pa., came after he landed first in the York Airport along Roosevelt Avenue and later its Thomasville location. Background posts: Ho, ho, ho - uh, Santa, hold on, The Grumbachers: 'Builders and Heroes,' Part III and What was famed architect John Dempwolf's own house like?

JoAnne Everhart, that astute observer of the York area with a keen memory, noticed recent York Town Square posts on the old Roosevelt Avenue Airport and tied that to another recollection - Santa's trip from the airport to the Bon-Ton to kick off the Christmas shopping season.

I include her e-mail here because it touches on so many parts of the York-area's past:

The first article reminded me of stories my late father, Hamilton B. Everhart Jr., told me of going to the airport as a young boy in the 1930's to see the airplanes, which were housed there... .

This monument is not readily available to the public because it stands near the Box Hill Club within the confines of the gated Regents' Glen community in Spring Garden Township. It's been there since the 1920s. Background posts: Glatfelter, Morgan Smith head industrial legacy list and The real big York County house that little false teeth built and Chocolate Bliss? Tooth shining flavors 'cooked up' in York.

The variety of tree known as the white oak has loaned its name to many things around York County.

White Oak Park, a hangout north of York, stood amid a stand of such trees. White Oak School was a one-roomer near Hametown in southern York County.

White Oak Plains was an area running from present-day Regents' Glen near the Country Club of York and extending toward Indian Rock Dam... .

A cleanup is set Saturday for the Dritt Cemetery in new Native Lands County Park. "Presently the cemetery is a tangle of weeds and mile-a-minute vines," a Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area release states. Background posts: 400 years ago, John Smith explored Chesapeake Bay and For years, York countians have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams and Petroglyphs, American Indian carvings, almost forgotten treasure.

Local Native Americans will be cleaning up a historic cemetery at the new Native Lands County Park, in York County, beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday, July 25.

According to a Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area release:

The park contains the site of last Susquehannock village and its associated cemeteries, and it also contains the Dritt family cemetery.

The Lancaster-York Native Heritage Advisory Council has organized the Dritt Cemetery clean up because it believes all of the burials deserve there need to be respected.

Members of the Dritt/Tritt family have experienced difficulties in maintaining the cemetery over the years... .

The York Airport can be seen running along Roosevelt Avenue in this 1957 photograph. The track at center is the York Fairgrounds. From that reference point, find Roosevelt Avenue and follow it out. Find where it bends. You'll see a runway at top center. (See additional links to aerial views of York County sites below.) Background posts: Museum exhibit brings back early days of high fliers and Map aficionados will love bird's-eye view of York County and Absorbing photo and overlay shows locations of six Susquehanna bridges

After seeing views of the old York airport in a previous post, eagle-eye Joe Stein found an aerial view of the York Airport in 1957, still there along Roosevelt Avenue a year after it closed.

I've always placed the sprawling airport near the Sylvania Plant along Roosevelt, which appears to be a relatively close landmark designating its northern part.

John F.M. Wolfe, in "Profile of Aviation," gives the following facts about the airport, which sported two grass runways, including one 3,000-foot strip:

A World War II B-17 bomber sits at the York Airport in Thomasville in October 2001. Andy Rusnack, seen here, a World War II veteran, flew in a B-17 exactly like this one shortly before he was sent overseas in 1942. "It sure takes you back," Rusnack said. Background posts: First York Airport's administration building stands today and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph and U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way, Part III: 'We would watch the dragsters on trailers head for Thomasville'.

A former York countian e-mailed after looking into a query from someone about an aircraft that wrecked near Winterstown or Red Lion some years ago.

"Didn't find that, but ran across this link about the old York Airport," he wrote. "I never knew we had an airport on Roosevelt Ave."

I had written in a past York Town Square post - Museum exhibit brings back early days of high fliers:

This iconic photo capturing the moment of the 1969 York race riots shows police seizing weapons from a North Newberry Street home. Newberry Street Boys were headquarted on their namesake street, which served as the site of shooting of Lillie Belle Allen on July 21, 1969. This photo originally appeared in The Gazette and Daily and now is part of York County Heritage Trust's archives. Background posts: Images capture hope for racial harmony, York Charrette or charade? and First pitch could break link with York race riots.

In an earlier post in this York race riots series, I wrote about prepping to background a visiting journalist about those disturbing moments in the 1960s.

As part of those preparations, I wrote the following slogan, common around York in the 1860s: "The Union as it was, the Constitution as it is and the Negroes where they are."

This was the majority view in York County. As I've written before, it was a border county in a border state in the Middle Atlantic region where North meets South.

The county developed the pragmatic view that slavery was not York County's problem, and it was not an issue that merited splitting the Union and fracturing the Constitution. Many believed it would disrupt commerce with the South, and the freedman would take scarce jobs or demand financial support.

Abraham Lincoln represented disunion, so we voted against him in the presidential elections of 1860 and 1864... .

A fun thread under way on The Exchange, a York Daily Record/Sunday News community bulletin board, is exploring topics relating to Springwood Park and Pool and Camp Betty Washington.

The conversation is exploring the old Springwood pool, which operated along Springwood Road between Chapel Church Road, and Yoe and the old Camp Betty Washington Pool. That complex was operated along the road of the same name, about a half mile south of the Mount Rose intersection in Spring Garden Township.

The camp was started and used by York's St. John the Baptist Episcopal congregation from the 1920s to 1940, which generally overlapped with the heyday of the Springwood Park... .

This is perhaps the photograph used most often to illustrate stories on the York race riots of 1968-69. The National Guard was called in to York to supplement local and state police forces that were seeking to quell rioting in 1969. The photo first appeared in The Gazette and Daily and is now part of the York County Heritage Trust's Archives. Background posts: Helping to sort it out in York: Timeline of 1969 race riots, Part I and Since 1887, York mayors have dealt with the serious - and the silly and York Charrette or charade?

A visiting journalist, a college professor, was due in our office to gather background on the race riots of the late 1960s and particularly the legal resolution of the trials in 2000 to 2002.

I contemplated concise ways to explain both tough, memorable moments and finally came upon the idea of putting forth the causes and effects in the form of chemical equations.

So, to explain the riots, I wrote:

Long racial oppression + neglect of services for low-income people + unfit mayor + boiling U.S. urban racial environment + K-9 Corps (as a catalyst) = York riots of 1968-69.

Walter Cronkite, who died last week speaks on April 21, 1998, in York. He appeared at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center as part of the Junior League's "In The Spotlight" series. Background posts: Hedy Lamarr's visit to York long remembered and Presidential visits to York listed and All famous visitors to York from the start.

Sure enough, he was, courtesy of the Junior League of York's "In the Spotlight" speaker's series.

That series drew Cronkite and a host of other luminaries here.

That list includes:

This AP photo from June 2001 shows the media besieging the then-York County Courthouse during the trial of defendants in the slaying of Lillie Belle Allen and Henry C. Schaad during race rioting 32 years before. Background posts: For years, York countians part of major court cases and Witman murder among York County's most notorious crimes and York County educator recounts machete attack on 'I Survived...' .

As rioting rocked the York area, Lillie Belle Allen died 40 years ago today.

The death of this black woman from the South, visiting family in York, came three days after white police officer Henry C. Schaad was shot while on patrol.

Two young people dead. Their slayers did not come to justice for another 30 years.

In some minds, these wrenching events all run together. What happened when?

The following chronology, published in the York Sunday News (7/19/09) is designed to help place events in order:

York Daily Record/Sunday News journalist Melissa Nann Burke captured former rocket scientist and now Hanover resident George Hubbard in writing - and on video. He worked on Apollo 11. Posts on other topics in the 'Remember' series: Tropical Storm Agnes savaged York County with more than 15 inches of rain and Great Depression work: 'It was the largest thesis in the history of the history department' and York County's cigarmaking days: 'I remember that people stripped tobacco in their pantries'.

The York Daily Record/Sunday News has profiled Hanover's George Hubbard who worked on the Apollo 11 project that landed men on the moon 40 years ago today.

In 1969, Hubbard, 24, was an aerospace engineer at the Houston's Johnson Space Center... .

York Township's Springwood Park and pool complex is seen in this undated York County Heritage Trust photo. Background: York Township's Springwood Park dance hall: 'We would pack the place' and York Town Square commenter asks about much-remembered Springwood Pool's ownership and Springwood Pool and its sloping sides: 'I remember so well how cold it was'.

A couple of callers have contributed information about the long-closed Springwood Park and pool that operated along Springwood Road in York Township.

John Fishel noticed on an 1876 atlas that the park was listed as the Ma & Pa Railroad's Springwood Picnic Station.

A York Township history indicates that the park operated from the 1920s to 1954, but that might have been the park when it was built out for large crowds... .

Scott Blanchard, Sunday editor at the York Daily Record/Sunday News, e-mailed me this week that someone was "tweeting" from a Civil War conference in Gettysburg.

(S)ome interesting stuff on there," he wrote.

Indeed.

I checked out the link he sent and found that Blue Ridge Country magazine editor Cara Ellen Modisett was posting on Twitter impressions from the "Panel discussion at the Journey Through Hallowed Ground's Annual Conference."

You can see her 'tweets' at http://twitter.com/BRCeditor (you might have to go to second or third page). She even provided a twitpic on the panelists at http://twitpic.com/ajqsm.

It's an example of how technology is helping disseminate neat stuff on the history front... .

In this 2004 York Daily Record file photo, Nellie Scott of York Township goes through a scrapbook from her service overseas as nurse in World War II. Background posts: Women's history posts from the start and World War II posts from the start and York County people posts from the start.

Diane Fessler, author of "No Time for Fear, Voice of American Military Nurses of World War II, noticed a York Town Square post about local nurse Nellie Scott, who died in 2008.

"I wish I'd been able to interview her along with the 200 nurses included in the oral histories in the book," she commented.

That comment served as a reminder how often nurses played a role in York County - and national - history... .

The July 21, 1969, edition of The Gazette and Daily told about man's walk on the moon and rioting in York, Pa., a pretty interesting news day. Background posts: Background posts: Meeting of riot victims brought racial accord, Mayor: 'We're going to clean up this site' and York Charrette or charade?

In the minds of some in York County, the moment of Neil Armstrong's and Buzz Aldrin's moonwalk in 1969 will always be aligned with the escalation of rioting in York.

Editors at the Gazette and Daily had to balance coverage of the moon walk with the march of shooting victims into the York Hospital emergency room. This was the product of what has become known as the race riots of 1968-69.

One of the shooting victims was 29-year-old Jacob W. Hose Jr., known today as former York County Sheriff Bill Hose... .

Springettsbury Township's Harley-Davidson plant is seen during shift change in January 2009. (See additional photos below.) Background posts: All Harley posts from the start and All York Safe & Lock posts from the start and All Made in York posts from the start.

It began during wartime and the old plant in Springettsbury Township has never really been at peace.

It's had a long series of owners since York Safe & Lock built it. Harley-Davidson occupies it now, but for how long?

It's had labor strikes. Celebrity visits. Presidential praise.

Just three years ago, George W. Bush was there, touting its great American qualities... .

Zheng Shi Ji survived the beaching of Golden Venture in New York Harbor and was released from York County (Pa.) Prison in February 1997. He stayed with Ann and Don Wolcott until he found a job. Background posts: 'York: A Key City in the Keystone State' and York's Chestnut Street fortress bad symbol of York's past and All famous York visitor posts from the start.

The term "snakehead" re-entered York County discourse in the past few weeks with the release of Patrick Radden Keefe's "The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream."

That book tells the story of the Golden Venture passengers who ran aground in New York Harbor in the 1990s. Some of these passengers from China stayed in York County Prison for months, attracting widespread community support about their plight.

The York Daily Record closely covered the story of the approximately 40 detainees in the prison, including their fear of snakeheads, who smuggled them out of China and then often fiercely demanded payment from their families.

A March 1, 1997, Daily Record story tells about one fortunate detainee, who escaped the Snakehead bite:

Spring Garden Township resident Thomas W. Clarke, seen here in his military days, has written his World War II memoir 'George S. Patton's Typical Soldier.' Background posts: York County sacrificed on homefront and war front and All WWII posts from the start and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County WWII smarts.

"Then we got into the rain of shells and had to hit the ground," Thomas W. Clarke wrote in his recently released memoir.

He continued:

"They would land on the right, then the left, or in front of us. What a helpless feeling it was, just to lie there and take it! It was then that I realized what an insignificant and unimportant bit of this universe that I was. What did it matter to the world, whether or not the next shell landed on my head and blew me to hell? But I lay there, pressing myself into the ground and praying that it wouldn't."

Wally Clarke wrote many things about his time in European combat in World War II... .

Former Oakland Raider teammates, Mo Collins, right, and Lincoln Kennedy, joke around between holes during the Celebrity Golf Classic in June. Background posts: Names of stars from York County with pro sports links just keep increasing and York County has produced star NFL players and Lineup full of sports stars with York County links.

Lincoln Kennedy was born and raised in York.

He starred at the University of Washington, attracted the Atlanta Falcon's first-round pick in 1993 and later played on three division champions with the Oakland Raiders.

Before retiring in 2003, he was viewed as a leader on and off the field.

And he's still leading.

He's a good example of a celebrity who has not forgotten his hometown, coming back frequently to lend his name to charity efforts... .

A group of Chinese immigrants - formerly aboard the Golden Venture freighter that ran aground in 1993 off New York carrying about 300 passengers - listen during a news conference in 2006. That New York press conference, seen in this Associated Press photo, coincided with the release of a documentary film about Golden Venture. Now, a book on the Golden Venture has been published. (See photo of Golden Venture below.) Background posts: 'York: A Key City in the Keystone State' and York's Chestnut Street fortress bad symbol of York's past and All famous York visitor posts from the start.

Some maintain that York County is not always the most welcoming place to outsiders.

This, despite the fact that the county has served as a crossroads since its earliest days, and has grown accustomed to people coming and going.

And this, despite the fact that the county became Ground Zero for a national immigration battle in the 1990s, with the community largely in support of the newcomers from China at the center of this fight.

About 40 detainees from the grounded freighter Golden Venture sat in the York County Prison for years, although not charged with any crime.

The detainees faced much adversity, particularly from the Snakeheads, a Chinese term for those who smuggle humans from China to the free world... .

An ATF agent and Spring Garden Fire officials investigate the ruins shortly after the explosion at York International on Feb. 2, 1998. The York Daily Record reported that four compressed air tanks, measuring about 25-feet long by 4-feet wide, exploded. One tank flew through the roof of the Grantley Road plant's Building 9 in Spring Garden Township. The tanks contained pressurized air and refrigerant. The mixture was used to test air conditioners at the plant. Dennis Stough, a 42-year-old welder, was killed. Twenty people were injured, including five police officers who suffered from chemical inhalation. (See aerial view of the damage below, also courtesy of York Daily Record/Sunday News.) Background posts: All York International/Johnson Controls posts from the start and Deadly York fire: 'There never was a more horrible one' and Hanover Civil War story stop: 'Mother Loses Two Sons to War'.

A fire that consumed 16 rowhouses and displaced 61 people in York City last week led to a York Town Square blog list that gave a sampling of the worst fires in York County history.

Arson is suspected.

That raises the question about peacetime examples of crime and trauma on York County soil, in addition to those wrenching fires.

Here are links to a sampling - just a few of many - of those painful moments:

This aerial view from 1937 gives a view of York Township's Ore Valley. Springwood Park is seen in the left, center part of the photograph. See description below to locate it. Background: York Township's Springwood Park dance hall: 'We would pack the place' and York Town Square commenter asks about much-remembered Springwood Pool's ownership and Springwood Pool and its sloping sides: 'I remember so well how cold it was'.

This is a post designed to be fun.

You can't see much of Springwood Park, an old recreational site off Springwood Road in York Township. But it's fun to look try to locate it:

- Locate that cluster of houses at 6 o'clock, just at the edge of the photo. That's Yoe.

- Follow the road, Springwood Road, running to about 9 o'clock out of Yoe until you come to an angled intersection. That's Chapel Church Road connecting Springwood and Cape Horn. (Still does.)

- Now backtrack just a short distance along Springwood toward Yoe until you see a bulge in the road. That's Springwood Park with the pool on one side and the dance hall on the other... .

York's Citizen's Committee to open the Municipal Swimming Pool placed an advertisement to draw attention to a meeting after the city closed the pool in the late 1940s rather than allow blacks entry there. Background posts: Cartoonist made York newspaper owner's views an art form and York Town Square reader: 'I never knew about the White Rose Amusement Park' and Reader searching for Boys Club Pool photo.

The Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission is investigating the case of a private club outside Philadelphia that allegedly revoked an agreement to allow minority campers from the Creative Steps Inc. group to swim in its pool.

About a week ago, young minority campers from Creative Steps went to a Philadelphia-area pool to swim.

Patrons of the Valley Club made racial remarks and removed their own children from the pool, the camp's executive director told USA Today.

That has created a controversy, and rightfully so... .

This 1995 photograph shows the burned out Thonet Industries complex two years after the fire, one of the largest in the past two decades in York County. Background: Colonial York, Pa.? No, try Victorian York, Pa. and York County ... 'A smorgasbord of architectural styles' and Fire-damaged Women's Club of York restored.

The question is going around. Was the Chestnut Street rowhouse fire this week the largest ever in York and York County?

It was a big one, displacing 61 people from 26 families who had lived in the 16 damaged rowhouses. The short answer is that a fire in 1856 took out an entire York city block including 17 buildings of mixed uses.

Undoubtedly, the largest fire in York County was the burning of the covered bridge across the Susquehanna River during the Civil War.

U.S. militia set the bridge on fire in 1863 to prevent the Confederates from crossing the river and taking Harrisburg from the east. Some might split hairs and note the bridge was part of Lancaster County, as is the river. But the blaze took out numerous buildings in Wrightsville, too.

But if we're talking about peacetime fires, there's a long lineup to consider.

Here is a sampling compiled from my "Never to be Forgotten," and York Daily Record/Sunday News files:

The York Gazette published invading Gen. Jubal Early's requisitions of York's residents in its June 30, 1863, edition. It was printed on or about the time that the last Confederates were leaving town after staying for a little less than two days. A local researcher has discovered what happened to some of the goods gained in the requisition. Background posts: Invaders put off by earthy Pennsylvania women, Owner seeks info on old toll house and York County Civil War, by the numbers.

For years, it's been known that part of the goods received from the Confederate requisition of York in late June 1863 wound up in the stomachs of the 6,000-plus invaders.

Some remained in or on the bodies of the rebels after roughly 30 percent of Gen. Jubal Early's division sustained casualties in the subsequent Battle of Gettysburg Civil War.

Now author and fellow blogger Scott Mingus has put forth a piece about what happened to part of the requisitioned goods... .

Scott Butcher's "Gettysburg Perspectives" is a 100-page paperback book with more than 100 photos. So it's packed with images. This is the York author's latest in a series of such books on Central Pennsylvania. Background posts: York-area picture book not your typical coffee table publication and Author: 'York's streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture' and The Four YorkBloggers write.

Fellow blogger Scott Butcher has two new books out and more coming.

His books are photo-intensive, which in itself makes a valuable contribution. The photos provide wonderful visual information. But the writer and architectural historian in Butcher means that his captions are packed with reliable information.

Without further delay, here is info on Butcher's latest work:

This mansion at Lauxmont Farms was built by the farm's founder and York Safe & Lock's owner S. Forry Laucks (see photo below), one of the most prominent of the Laucks family that will celebrate its 300th anniversary in America next year. Today, the mansion is owned by the Kohr family. Background posts: With hot controversy cooled, Highpoint offers Susquehanna River view for the ages and Bad economy turned York Safe & Lock toward lucrative defense work and And now starring actor ... Jakie Devers?.

Descendents of the Casper Glattfelter family have much to brag about as a successful York County family.

They meet every year at Glatfelter Station to renew acquaintances.

Now comes another prominent local family - the Laux family with a planned reunion next June in York. That reunion will celebrate the family's 300 years in America.

The family has set up a Web site, which bears interesting information. It addresses the Laux family and all variations of that name.

Did you know Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer has Loux blood? ... .

When the Confederates entered York, they would have been greeted by a scene similar to this with the Hartman building towering over York's Centre Square. The building, referred today as the Futer Bros. building, is being renovated. But the market sheds are long gone. Background posts: York's western gate: One image says so much, Farm vs. factory tension relieved by overnight raid and Late June has seen pivotal moments in York County history.

Since the year 2000, more than a dozen books have been written that address, in full or in part, York County's role in the Civil War.

Research was limited before that.

But one writer deserves credit for kicking off the current popular Civil War enthusiasm in York County, complete with stories of the Civil War hospital, the burning of the Wrightsville Bridge, the surrender of York, Jeb Stuart's ride through the countryside, among many other events.

His name is Gerald Austin Robison Jr., and he was writing about the Civil War in 1965 when it was not a popular local topic... .

This is one of only two photographs of old Springwood Park in York County Heritage Trust image files. (See second photo below). A York Township history places the park on the railroad bend north of Relay and Yoe. But see the existing house along Springwood Road, with the distinctive windows, in the post Springwood Pool and its sloping sides: 'I remember so well how cold it was' to gets its exact location. (But drive carefully because that stretch of road is wicked.) Background posts: 19th-century mines gave Ore Valley its name and Yo! More support for Yoe vs. Yohe and So, you want learn about your house's history?.

The post "York Town Square commenter asks about much-remembered Springwood Pool's ownership " brings forth more information about York Township's Springwood Park.

But there's not a lot on the official record about that now-abandoned spot.

The book "York Township celebrates 250 years of history" is the best resource.

It at least tells about the dance hall in the photo above:

Betty Bury Harmon, here at the York Fair, looks at herself in front of her family's hamburger stand in an old fair book. "They just developed it," Harmon said about her father and his brothers. "They came up with the sauce, and it hit." Each year, York Fair offers Bury's burgers at a stand where Harmon's recipe - still secret - is served as well as at a second unrelated stand. But versions of the secret Bury's recipe are available in homes across York County and will be deployed on scores of grills today. Background posts: Lighthouse marks site of landmark Dover Township soft pretzel stand and Interstate lined out Melvin's swan song and Just try to resist this memory-tugging photo of North York's White Oak Park .

Hits on York Town Square posts for Bury's Famous Hamburger recipes escalate this time of year.

People probably around the world are looking to see whether to try out their own Bury's recipe this holiday or experiment with one of the many variations in the public domain - some documented on this blog.

Joe Bury operated a chain of hamburger stands touting a secret recipe for the red sauce that covered his delicious burgers, firmly sealed into the memories of local residents.

So, to avoid all that searching, here are some leads to recipes which purport to be Bury's:

James Hayney, portraying President Abraham Lincoln, gives a speech at the Hanover Junction Train Station in 2008 as part of the remembrance of Lincoln's passing through on his way to and from Gettysburg. The station, located about 10 miles south of York, is open from 1-5 p.m. today - the Fourth of July. A complete schedule is available at York County parks site. Background posts: Jefferson borough's Center Square in the middle of history and Abe Lincoln stopped at Hanover station:"We want to preserve history ... so it doesn't disappear' and John Adams: 'Yesterday the greatest question was decided'.

I've labeled the post: "This working list details presidential visits to York and Adams counties" and you can get to it by clicking here.

Working list is right.

I keep finding times when U.S. presidents or candidates stopped or passed through York County. (And many of their visits were, well, eventful in a quirky way.)

So I've reworked the working list... .

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:

This photo from Jim Hubley's "Off the Record" points out an unusual cellar door in the sidewalk outside Bear's Department Store between Market and George streets. "Frequently," Hubley wrote, "pedestrians would be started by the slowly opening cellar doors and the surprising emergence of the freight elevator." Hubley's book particularly focused on downtown life in York City. Background posts: Escaped bovine makes York newspaper headline and York's first mayor Daniel K. Noell named one of his sons and Longtime York sportswriter Jacque Tracy: 'He enjoyed writing features about athletes and coaches'.

When longtime York Daily Record/Sunday News columnist Jim Hubley died a little more than a year ago, people were asking around about how to get his book "Off The Record."

The book, available at local libraries, was out of print.

You couldn't buy a copy around town.

But now you can... .

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... .

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? ... .

Mount Wolf's Ciara Coombes danced to kick off the York County Heritage Trust's Civil War Celebrity Tea, part of Patriot Days activities in 2006. Patriot Days 2009, last weekend, kicked off this year's Civil War observances. Numerous such events today-Sunday are part of observances of the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Background posts: Site places readers in the footsteps of the Civil War in York County and beyond and Poster highlights the life of a Civil War soldier and Hanover Civil War story stop: 'Mother Loses Two Sons to War'.

The calendar this year - the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg - coincides exactly with the calendar in 1863.

That means that July 1 this year is a Wednesday, and that is the day fighting began. On Saturday, July 4, 1863 - Independence Day - a defeated Confederate army retreated toward the Potomac.

So, a particularly packed lineup of events in both York and Adams counties is scheduled this weekend.

Here's the list, courtesy of the York Daily Record/Sunday News:

Sandra Smallwood-Stockton recently retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel. To reach that rank, she soldiered through much adversity. Background posts: Pioneering aviator Aline Rhonie another York native who made U.S. headlines and A short test of your York black history knowledge and York County WWII nurse: 'You know, it was the biggest war ever, and they needed nurses'.

In recent York Town Square posts, we've featured:

- York countians who have achieved in the military.

- York County grads who have accomplished much as civilians on the national stage.

- York's William Penn grads whose work has elevated them to that school's hall of fame.

Now comes Sandra Smallwood-Stockton - that's Lt. Col. Sandra Smallwood-Stockton - who attended William Penn but earned her high school degree in Maryland... .