Recently in YorkEats: Hogmaw & such Category

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... .

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:

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: ... .

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:

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 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 ... .

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... .

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... .

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... .

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:

This roadside giant went up at Shatzer's Fruit Market in Franklin County's Hamilton Township this week. It's an example of roadside architecture, evident for years along the Lincoln Highway and Route 30, to attract attention to stops for motorists. Background posts: Mahlon Haines got in trouble at Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and Old Lincoln Highway pulled 'Americans out of the mud' and Landmark Modernaire Motel built in Lincoln Highway's heyday.

A modern-day Roadside Giant has been birthed along Route 30 near Chambersburg.

Students at the Franklin County Career and Technology Center assembled an super-sized replica of a 1921 Selden apple truck, complete with crates of produce on the bed, according to the Chambersburg Public Opinion.

It's dimensions?

Eleven feet tall and 26 feet long.

Such oversized structures have been part of old-road architecture for years.

York County's Shoe House, near both Route 30 and the old Lincoln Highway, is a York/Adams example.

This tourist attractions are fighting to stay standing... .

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

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

But she remembers it well to this day.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This view in Manchester Township is taken from a development, crosses farmland and runs into more development. Farmland preservation is taking hold, although non-farm use of land surpassed agricultural use 25 years ago. (See additional photo below.) Background posts: A York County story: Sprawl leaves problems in its wake and Demolished Red Lion Grange Hall still tells tale of changing York County and From Meadowbrook Mansion to York County farmhouse and All farm & fields posts from the start.

YorkCounts correctly believes farmland preservation is a key quality-of-life indicator in York County.

"York Countians value open space as a matter of principle and honor farmland in concert with our heritage," the coalition stated in its recent report. "Preserving farmland means protecting not only the agricultural sector of the economy, which is still vibrant in York County, but also the very look and feel of the place where we live."

Fortunately, YorkCounts' stats show a trend line of acres of York County farmland gaining protection faster than population is growing... .

Propaganda posters, as they were then called, helped sell patriotic ideas during World War II. This poster promotes Victory Gardens, but the posters ranged from loose lips sink ships to recycling themes. (See additional poster below.) Background posts: 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 .

Victory Gardens, 21st-century style, may make a comeback as Americans cope with the recession this summer.

The gardens represented an important part of military strategy in World War II. The idea was that if homefront Americans could grow enough to feed themselves, the government could concentrate on feeding the troops.

This excerpt from my "In the Thick of the Fight" describes the World War II-era gardening boom:

Fastnachts (fost-nokts) await transport to customers at the Stewartstown Senior Center today, Fastnaught Day. (See additional York Daily Record/Sunday News photos below.) Background posts: Classes offer rare op to learn Pennsylvania Dutch - Part II and PS Harrisburg grad school: 'Set my feet even more firmly on the path into the world of Fraktur' and Noted Pennsylvania German art historian will be missed.

In a York Daily Record/Sunday News story today (2/24/09), writer Barb Krebs answered two basic questions about Fastnachts:

Question 1: What is a Fastnacht, in the first place?

Answer: A Fastnacht is a yeast-raised potato pastry that is deep fried like a doughnut. The name fastnacht is German for "fast night," and the tradition of making them began with the Pennsylvania Dutch as a way to use up the lard, sugar, fat and butter that are forbidden during Lent.

Question 2: What makes a fastnacht different from a regular doughnut? ...

The Farmers Market at Penn and Market in York sustained damage after a driver ran into it in 1992. Efforts are under way to reinvigorate the markethouse, the oldest of five such markets in York. Background posts: Don't know much about local market history? and There were 5, count 'em, 5 York markets and York's Central Market sells steak ... and sizzle.

A grass roots group is forming to strengthen the oldest York markethouse, the Penn Street Farmers Market.

To the eye, the markethouse, constructed just after the Civil War, has struggled in recent years.

Among other things, the group is pushing a niche product that was the mainstay of York's five covered markets since they started cropping up in the last half of the 19th century - fresh food... .

Pro Football Hall of Famer Raymond Berry signs items at a January 2009 reception in York. Author Steve McKee includes Berry as part of his memories of the Baltimore Colts in his Da Capo Press book, "My Father's Heart." Background posts: 'When people are looking back into Pa. basketball history ... it's great' and Lineup full of sports stars with York County links and Playland plays nostalgic note for York countians.

How do you tie together such York County icons as York Area Sports Night, Gino's, York Catholic basketball and the Baltimore Colts?

Well, Steve McKee deftly did so in the following excerpt from his "My Father's Heart," soon to be released in paperback.

Here's an excerpt from the nationally distributed book, published in the York Sunday News (1/18/09):

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Adamsville United Methodist Church's Jon Butcher promotes the church's annual apple festival in this 2007 file photo. The church serves as the center of the York Township village of Adamsville. Background: Red Lion's towering Fairmont Park off the beaten track, York County cigars: 'They contained a vast amount of nicotine' and LBJ's, Lady Bird's visit a high point in Dallastown's history.

The village of Adamsville also has been called Pinch Gut and Arbor.

Its location, like its name, is also hard to pinpoint. Maybe it's near Red Lion. Maybe Dallastown. It's actually in York Township, somewhere between Route 24 and Route 214.

One hundred years ago - perhaps because it was near a lot of places - it was bustling with cigar factories and a dairy and a ballfield... .

This painting, owned by the York County Heritage Trust, was one of 16 that became part of the 1927 celebration marking the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in York County. Given the war conditions, scarce food and high costs might have meant that the woman and toddler were not as nourished as they appear in the painting. An upcoming York College class will study food, disease and their impact on early York County. Background posts: "York's Central Market sells steak ... and sizzle," and Demolished Red Lion Grange Hall still tells tale of changing York County and Lighthouse marks site of landmark Dover Township soft pretzel stand.

York College is offering a course on how food, health, disease and accidents affected the life span of York countians.

The course, titled "Voices from the Past: A History of York County, 1730 - 1930," picks up pioneers as they first legally settled west of the Susquehanna River and follows their ancestors until just before the Great Depression... .

She looked skeptically at the best, publicly known recipe for Bury's hamburger sauce - a recipe that reportedly passed muster with Joe Bury himself.

I'll get the real recipe, she said, one that appeared in your newspaper... .

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

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

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

She declined with a smile.

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

I might already have it... .

The stand with the lighthouse is the new home of Smittie's Soft Pretzels. It replaces the shack that was home of the York County delicacy for decades. The location is the same: Route 74, north of Dover. (See photo of shack below.) Background posts: York area full of memory-spawning landmarks, Interstate lined out Melvin's swan song and Before Geno's made news in Philly, Gino's headlined in York.

Smittie's Soft Pretzel's shack never offered the dramatic visual treat put forth by the Lincoln Highway's Shoe House, east of York, or the windmill restaurant, east of Lancaster.

But the old structure was an local icon, and its culinary offering delighted motorists along another old highway - Route 74 - for generations.

The shack is now gone, replaced by a small structure marked by a lighthouse.

Why a lighthouse in the landlocked Dover area?

Brent Burkey's York Daily Record/Sunday News story (8/17/08) explains:

This area view, courtesy of J. David Allen & Son Photography and from Buchart-Horn Inc./BASCO Associates' files, shows the York County Shopping Center in the late 1950s. Background posts: Before Geno's made news in Philly, Gino's headlined in York, Bury's memories far from buried and Sears, York County Shopping Center in the middle of things.

Last post, we showed off a piece of J. David Allen and Son's photographic handiwork from the air - a shot of White Oak Park.

Last time we posted an aerial shot from those photographers - and a photo of the York County Shopping Center - it drew several comments.

For example, Bill Landes wrote:

What a great photo, lots of memories. Across the street from the Shopping Center entrance(I think) was the first Gino's 15cent Hamburger Joint. I remember Gino Marchetti and Alan Ameche signing autographs there at the grand opening...1960 or 61??

Gene Schenk from Buchart-Horn Inc./BASCO Associates, who supplied the original Allen photo of the shopping center, e-mailed another photo with landmarks marked by numbers, which will aid locating landmarks.

Here's the key:.. .

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sears Roebuck and Co. opened with fanfare in the York County Shopping Center. About 35 years later, Sears moved from its outdated store to new digs in the York Galleria. A busy Giant store covers Sears former footprint in the renamed York Marketplace. The shopping center and landmarks like Gino's feeding off its traffic continue to fascinate local residents. Background posts: 'I still have my memories ... of the bustling downtown York business district', Bury's burger memories far from buried and Playland plays nostalgic note for York countians.

The photo with the post Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph spawned the eagerly expected e-mails and comments.

For Bill Landes, as one example, it brought to mind Gino's:

"What a great photo, lots of memories. Across the street from the Shopping Center entrance (I think) was the first Gino's 15 cent Hamburger Joint. I remember Gino Marchetti and Alan Ameche signing autographs there at the grand opening ...1960 or 61??"

As popular as the controversial Geno's is in Philadelphia, York's Gino's was an equally popular spot around here... .

The cover of the "The Lincoln Highway Forum" warns members of the Lincoln Highway Association that the vintage brick surface of the historic highway in Stark County, Ohio, might be paved over. The magazine keeps members apprised of news and events affecting this early coast-to-coast highway, which passed through the heart of York and Adams counties. Background posts: Lincoln Highway Communities: 'I know I'll be back.', A 7th bridge? Pedestrian walkway may span Susquehanna River some day and Trees commemorate World War I vets.

Does anyone in York and Adams counties remember seeing cans of sardines littering the sides of the old Lincoln Highway, later Routes 462 and 30?

A writer in the fact-filled "Lincoln Highway Forum" found plentiful metal containers along western stretches of this early coast-to-coast highway.

"Your editor has come to to the conclusion that Lincoln Highway travelers of the 'teens and 1920s lived on sardines," Gregory M. Franzwa wrote... .

Loganville's landmark Brown's Orchards & Farm Market started as a roadside stand, seen here in 1956, and has since expanded into a 29,000-square-foot market. Background posts: Glatfelter, Farquhar, Shipley: Insights from local greats and Horn Farm: 'A very special living history memorial to those hardy ancestors'.

Many Susquehanna Trail motorists traveling through Loganville see Brown's Orchards & Farm Market atop the hill and can't wait to turn into its lot.

They might not know that the market started like so many other tiny roadside markets that dot York County's countryside... .

We thought we had published the perfect Bury's burger recipe after Jean Fix of York flagged its publication in the York Sunday News in 2000.

As it turns out, our reported recipe, Reader reveals Bury's secret recipe, may have been incomplete. Delicious, but not authentic. And the source is the maker of the iconic York County burger himself, Joe Bury.

Sort of... .

This is an artist's rendition of how the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education will look when developed. The center will put a spotlight on "the past, present and future of York County agricultural," according to center's mission statement. Background posts: 'It's so sad to see such a great piece of architecture fall down', York County agrarianism vs. industrialization, Part I and Part II & III.

Once upon a time, a York feed manufacturer and retailer loved land he owned in the country.

As a history published in 2000 goes, he made products that aided the agricultural community but was not a farmer himself.

But he enjoyed his Hellam Township property with its barns, fields of grain and livestock. And he loved showing it off.

He died in 1964, and 17 years later, his wife and daughters gave the farm to York County.

A sign gives his name: ...

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. By that time, McDonald's had sprinkled its restaurants around the community. Background post: New McStore going up in highly trafficked spot.

Dover Township's Barbara Rudy, a longtime volunteer at the York County Heritage Trust library, has put forth a quick-and-delicious Bury's hamburger recipe.

You can go through all the work suggested in the secret Bury's recipe published in the York Sunday News in 2000. Or, according to Barbara, you can simply:

Carolyn Miller, right, and Eleanor Lawyer coat oysters with cracker meal Thursday night in preparation for a November 2006, hogmaw and oyster supper at Dover Township's Mount Royal United Methodist Church in Dover Township. Background post and hogmaw recipe: How about a little hog maw with your oyster stew?

A lot of fun and wonderful comments are floating around the blogs and The Exchange about oysters, that longtime favorite of York countians.

Take Yorker Nancy Shue's letter, "You know you're a Yorker, if ...", for example:

Henry's Seafood celebrated its 20th year of business by serving up an oyster feast for more than 1,000 people on Sunday.

That event was another moment in York countians' love affair with the very edible mollusk.

Among other things, Henry's supplied the oyster treats for the York County Heritage Trust's annual Oyster Festival.

So, that raised the question. What was the recipe for, say, the oyster stew in such demand on that October afternoon?

We posed that question to Susan Hosier from the York County-based Henry's, and she readily delivered the following recipe (no secrets here):

Frank Shaffer works at the annual York County Heritage Trust oyster festival, a moment that places the spotlight on that seafood delicacy. A local church serves oysters regularly, but in combo with hog maw. Background post: Search Joan Concilio's Only in York blog for "hog maw."

Oysters are a York County delicacy, but some people think you have more of a good thing when served in combination with hog maw?

Two iconic county delicacies served side by side.

And add to that meat loaf.

That's what's on the table at regular Mount Royal United Methodist Church fund-raising dinners.

"Hog maw, oysters and meat loaf are the specialty meals and are prepared by cooks with years of experience," a history of the Dover Township church states. "The dinners constitute a unique Mt. Royal church dining experience topped off with homemade pies and cakes and a refreshing drink."

What is hog maw?

Members of the Central York Middle School Colonial Fife and Drum Corps played during the York County Heritage Trust's Oyster Festival.

York County, 50 miles from the Chesapeake Bay, has long been acquainted with oysters, the seafood treat still consumed in great numbers at an October Oyster Festival.

Oysters served as more than just good eating.

The shells also served as gravel... .

The cracker barrel in old country stores served as focal points in communities for social interaction.

As fellow Yorkblogger Scott Mingus explains in his "The Cracker Barrel" post, the modern country cooking restaurant chain draws on this nostalgia as a gathering place for travellers and visitors.

He goes on to tell of a Civil War moment in which a cracker barrel in southwestern York County's Porters Sideling incapacitated a clerk as rebels plundered his store. You have to read the yarn.

But here's a current twist on the cracker barrel in York's past.

Did you know the first Cracker Barrel restaurant/store in Pennsylvania opened in York County in 1994?...

Jean Fix of York has put forth the secret recipe for Joe Bury's hamburgers, that iconic York County treat readily available only once a year at the York Fair.

She remembered that the York Sunday News published the recipe in 2000, and Jean saved it.

She mailed it to us after I lamented its secrecy in a newspaper column and post "Bury's burgers: Nostalgia on a bun":

Here goes, according to Jean:

Cheryl, peanut44@cox.net, writing from Arizona wondered whether the recipe for the secret sauce associated with Bury's hamburgers was, in fact, secret ... .

Motorists who drive by the Smittie's Soft Pretzel stand in Dover Township might not recognize this as the headquarters for this York County landmark.

Bury's Burgers, Melvin's Drive-In, Playland, White Oak Park, Shady Dell are among the York-area icons we've explored in this blog.

Places like these continue to provide a mountain of memories - a kind of group recollection - that act as magic glue making a community a community.

Now come two others for the list: Bricker's French Fries and Smitties Soft Pretzels... .

Melvin's was located on East Market Street before the interstate spelled its demise. Posing in front of the hangout in 1939 are front row, from left, Howard Rohrbaugh, John Brenneman Jr., Al Wildasin and Earl Warner. "York Then and Now," the source of this photograph, indentifies only three of the four in the back row, Bob Neiman, Bob Givens and Melvin Bond.

When Interstate 83 came through, Melvin's Ice Cream Bar came down.

Melvin's is another of those York County icons that immediately evoke memories from those who have lived in York County "a while."

It was one of the drive-in restaurants that grew up with the popularity of the automobile and sat along main thoroughfares.

This anchor of east York was balanced out in the west by the White Swan, located at 4155 W. Market St.

York Daily Record columnist Jim Hubley, writing in 1996, explored the popularity of places like the White Swan and Melvin's:

Johnny Eagles' stand at the York Fair was right where someone said it would be.

Kind of across from the Toyota Arena.

And signage ensured there was no mistaking its proud main fare.

Bury's burgers.

So I approached the stand and asked for a burger.

This would be my first Bury's special.

The only option. Onion or no?

Onion, I said. ...

It's York Fair time, and also time for the annual emergence of Bury's burgers at Johnny Eagles' stand and perhaps elsewhere.

I know one veteran fair-goer who likes Bury's and clearly isn't dissing them.

And he's sure there's something special in that sauce... .

Food loaf won't be on the menu of any restaurant that opens in at the old York County (Pa.) Prison on Chestnut Street in York. In fact, it's no longer on the menu at the new York County Prison on Concord Road. Prison officials discontinued it about two years ago. Background posts:Old York County Prison on endangered list and York's Chestnut Street prison bad symbol of York's past.

I was writing an editorial for the York Daily Record/Sunday News on the oft-mentioned prospect of a restaurant going into the old York County Prison, now for sale for $3.9 million.

I suggested the menu would have to fare better than food loaf, served over the years to problem inmates at the county prison.

What is food loaf?

Well, it's today's jail meal, dumped into a blender. Add in flour or corn meal and bake.

I actually tasted some about four years ago when the York Daily Record did a story on the topic. It tasted like corn bread with curious lumps in it, which I didn't want to think about.

The Daily Record's story of this prison menu item with accompanying quotes from taste testers:

First there was Pavlov's dog and then Bury's hamburgers.

Mention the word 'hamburger' to many York countians, and they'll immediately think "Joe Bury" and then start salivating.

Take York Daily Record/Sunday News columnist Jim Hubley, for example:

A typical Seven Valleys-area ice cream plant, complete with factory store.

Every time I read Armand Glatfelter's history of Seven Valleys, I peruse the section covering the burgeoning ice cream industry in that area in the 1800s.

Why Seven Valleys?

That area had dairy cattle.

It had streams that could be dammed to harvest ice in the winter for making ice cream the next summer.

And it had the Northern Central Railroad (See the Great Watermelon Train Wreck). The Northern Central Railroad that ran to an eagerly awaiting market in Baltimore.

And it had enough people to rake leaves.

Large amounts of leaves and sawdust were needed to insulate the ice taken from the frozen waterways against the summer heat. So, laborers took the woods in the fall to rake piles and piles of leaves.

Harry Poet and Susan Myers talk outside 615 S. Pine St., the place where York Peppermint Patties were made for nearly 50 years. The confection gave York nationwide recognition.

By now, many people know that York Peppermint Patties are no longer produced in York.

Haven't been since 1989.

Soon, they will no longer be produced in Reading.

Maybe Monterrey, Mexico.

A cool bite of history:.. .

So, I made the point in a York Sunday News column that White Oak Park (The Oaks) was to the north side what Shady Dell (The Dell) was to the south side of York: The Dell.

Primo teen hangouts in the 1960s and later.

White Oak Park was in the vicinity of the Masonic Lodge, north of York. (Someone explained to me that Interstate 83 and its interchange caused major changes in the terrain around there.)

Where was The Dell? (For photo, see teen hangout.)

On the hill overlooking Violet Hill and South George Street near the intersection of Old Baltimore Pike and Shady Dell Road.

But I'll shut up and let the York Daily Record's Mike Argento describe The Dell, taken from his article at the time the hangout's furnishings were auctioned in 1993:

This photo, from the York County Heritage Trust archives, challenges the myth that women entered the workforce for the first time because of necessities of World War II. Here, Stauffer Biscuit Company workers are seen in 1910.

A highlight of the D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Co. exhibit is the York Safe & Lock strongbox formerly used by the venerable York County bakery.

Those viewing the exhibit at the York County Heritage Trust's Agricultural and Industrial Museum get a close up look at what put Forry Laucks' York Safe & Lock on the map. It appears similar to the safe restored by York County government last year... . (See safe restored.)

Betty Bury Harmon, here at a recent 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."

Write about Bury's Hamburgers, and it will spark more response than any other York County icon.

There's something about those burgers, still served at the York Fair, that bring back memories.

Bury's operated up to 11 restaurants in the York area at various times starting in the 1930s. The York Fair is just about the only place to find them in recent years. Smitties Soft Pretzels and Bricker's Fries rival Bury's in memories, but Bury's takes the sauce.

A couple of Bury's memories from readers:

Our recent York Town Square series on York's markets just scratched the surface on their rich history.

Dave Yates, president of Central Market's board, gave a detailed speech, "Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow." to the York Economics Club in 2001.

The speech is excerpted below:

Several years ago, I wrote a short history of York's Central Market for its Web site.

The most surprising fact I learned was that more than 20,000 people a week shopped at the downtown market at peak points in its heyday.

And Central Market's story includes a strange middle-of-the-night incident ...