Recently in Explanations/controversy Category

According to authorities, an al-Qaida terrorist worked as a contractor at southeastern York County, Pa.'s, Peach Bottom Atomic Power Plant (seen here), Three Mile Island and three other American nuclear plants. That is one of many international incidents that have linked up with York County in recent weeks. Also of interest: In the shadow of disaster: York County and its newspaper tested 30 years ago and York County human trafficking: 'Three years of ... long hours, often seven days a week, for no pay' and Rebel entry into York before Battle of Gettysburg was gut wrenching, community shaping.

York County has brushed against - or collided with - more than its share of national and international events in recent weeks.

The number of York countians who were in Haiti and Chile before, during or after the natural disasters in those nations is surprisingly large.

A York County nail salon owner was charged - along with two others - with trafficking for forcing two Vietnamese women to work at local nail salons for fear that they would be turned over to immigration officials. Those were the third human trafficking or human smuggling cases to publicly touch York County in the past 15 years.

Just recently, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a Spring Garden Township man's case against so-called church members who protested his son's military funeral... .

Flo Snyder Neff, a World War II-era office employee at York (Pa.) Corporation, penned poetry that went to Yorkco employees on the warfront and homefront. She read her poetry at a recent Osher Lifelong Learning Institute class at Penn State York and was warmly received. Also of interest: York County poet: 'Her words helped win the war,' Part II and York County's Bob Senft, World War II vet, exemplified the Greatest Generation and World War II combat hero from York County: 'Avenged the death of his platoon leader' and All World War II posts from the start.

Flo Snyder's words of encouragement in verse form were read by thousands of men and women in uniform and in York Corporation's employ in World War II.

About five years ago, I asked Flo Snyder Neff to read her poetry at my presentation before Red Lion Area Historical Society.

Just last week, she did an encore before an OLLI class. (See three of her poems below.)

Here is how "Shop News," the Yorkco newsletter carrying her poetry, introduced the teenage Dallastown High School graduate in November 1943:

This list, found in a York County (Pa.) USO's newsletter on file at the York County Heritage Trust, provides a tongue-in-cheek account of services provided by hostesses at the Serviceman's Club and Canteen at the old York County Academy during World War II. Also of interest: Old gym bears signs of USO past and USO column attracts WW II-era memories and Just try to resist this memory-tugging photograph of northwest York, Pa. and All World War II posts from the start..

Another in a short series ( Part I and Part II) about York County's United Services Organization during World War II... .

In the fall of 1945, the USO in York welcomed the 100,000th man or woman in uniform to use its services.

Cletus Ruby of East Prospect picked up a certificate in recognition of this milestone.

The war was now over - V-J Day on Aug. 14 was the celebratory end - and the USO had adopted the new role in aiding the military in demobilization, redeployment and training of returning vets.

According to "In the Thick of the Fight:"

An air raid siren found atop of the Yorktowne Hotel is shown on display at the Agricultural and Industrial Museum in York. The museum is housed in the George F. Motter & Sons complex. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: When a Pullman automobile became a seesaw and On Second Saturdays: 'It's really cool that the Heritage Trust started this program' and World War II-era air raid siren discovered atop Yorktowne Hotel.

An informed member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute class that I'm teaching passionately told others about York industrialist's John C. Motter's insistence on precision in the printing press equipment he made.

Other machining companies talked about allowable tolerances, but Motter insisted on being right on the mark.

That discussion reminded me that I've never sorted out the various Motters so clearly linked with printing press manufacturing in York County.

Fortunately, the York County Heritage Trust's Spring 2010 newsletter laid it out:

This photograph from a mid-20th-century York (Pa.) Chamber of Commerce publication shows 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 Walmart. 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'.

In the same way that horse-drawn wagons and sleighs and those newfangled automobiles shared York County's bad roads in the 1910s, people around York County had to adjust to the introduction of airplanes and airports a quarter of a century later.

York countian Dorcas LaMotte Townsley mailed in a news article about one particularly heated airport controversy.

That came over the building of a landing strip in the Yorkshire area of Springettsbury Township, around the York Valley Inn, in the months before Pearl Harbor.

Ben LaMotte, a Red Lion businessman and Dorcas Townsley's uncle, made the proposal to build on Henry Frank's farm and started work on the land later covered by the York Mall, now Walmart.

His opposition came from the formidable "Shoe Wizard" Mahlon Haines... .

Russell W. Chapman was appointed to the York City School Board in 1967, the first black person to fill a seat on that board. Background posts: Thackston Park area connects to York's past and Civil rights heroes stand out at Bradley exhibit and York's West Princess Street in 1950s: 'I knew there was something special about that area' .

Last night, I told a story about York City School Board member W. Russell Chapman's vote on a crucial issue - at a meeting moved to his home so he could make the vote - four days before his death in 1971.

Someone made the point at the memory-filled evening, "Reflections of Greatness,
a Journey Through West Princess Street," that the story shows that you can make a difference no matter now old you are, even on your deathbed.

Good point.

Enjoy the story, based on newspaper accounts, about Russell Chapman, one of the community's leaders in the middle part of the 20th century. See what lessons you can draw from it:

This is one of three panels of the York City Human Relations Commission's mural 'Civil Rights Heroes - Barrier Breakers.' A brief presentation on this mural, to go along with a panel discussing growing up on West Princess Street in post World War II-era, is set for 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 27, at the York County Heritage Trust. (See key below.) Also of interest: Check out these updated lists of pioneering York County minorities, women and All black history posts from the start and All Underground Railroad posts from the start.

Another in a series of the people of the Civil Rights Heroes Mural of York ... .

A three-panel traveling mural, on the wall at the York County Heritage Trust's meeting room, awaits the Saturday, Feb. 27, 'Reflections of Greatness' Black History Month events. Stephanie Seaton of the York City Human Relations Commission will describe the people on the murals and a panel of achievers - Judge Marie White Bell, Dr. Julia Hines-Harris, Dr. Dorothy King and Virginia Hunter - will tell about how their neighbors on the 300 block of West Princess Street helped in their development. (See one of the colorful panels below, with a key of those on the murals. (Check out the York County Heritage Trust's site for event details.) Also of interest: York, Pa., civil rights leader took plunge against discriminatory ban at city pool and An evening to learn about York County, Pa.'s, 'Civil Rights Heroes - Barrier Breakers' and All black history posts from the start..

In 2005, Brett Greiman and his Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts student assistants created a mural depicting 18 participants in the civil rights movement in 20th century and early 21st century York County.

A York Daily Record/Sunday News account described the process:

Greiman collected photographs of the people featured in the art, then projected and enlarged the images onto three large sheets of canvas against his home garage wall. The students outlined the images and Greiman painted them. The process took about five months. The art is a monument to people who worked for peace and civil justice, he said.

I wrote brief descriptions for the program for the upcoming "Reflections of Greatness" event. Here they are for those shown in the left panel (the other two panels described in subsequent posts) ... .

Maurice Peters, Sr., addresses York (Pa.) City Council about the use of excessive force by the police department in 1965. Council President Fred Schiding is seen at right. Peters was a leader in the civil rights movements in York County in the 1960s. (See additional photo, from The Gazette and Daily, below.) Also of interest: All black history posts from the start and York's West Princess Street in 1950s: 'I knew there was something special about that area' and Add another achiever to the list of York countians with impressive resumes .

Eighteen community members shown on the mural, "Civil Rights Heroes - Barrier Breakers", will be honored as part of a black history event Saturday, Feb. 27, at the York County Heritage Trust.

Eighteen people who fought the good fight, using a diversity of styles, will be recognized.

And the story of Maurice Peters Sr., one of the 18, is one of the most interesting... .

Jean Bonnet Tavern stands along the Lincoln Highway, west of Bedford in Napier Township, Bedford County. The attractive stone landmark stood on the site since before the American Revolution. The National Register of Historic Places site was named after a 18th-century owner. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.) Also of interest: Who were York County's most influential citizens? and This working list details presidential visits to York and Adams counties and With all those stills, the York County hillbillies?.

This blog often teases over the fact that all roads lead to York, Pa. - that there's a York County link to everything.

The theory was tested in a recent visit, which included a wonderful dinner, at Jean Bonnet's Tavern in Bedford County, two hours from York County.

The restaurant/inn's history justifiably makes much of farmers meeting on its grounds in the 1790s to protest the federal government's Whiskey Tax. Then troops, sent by U.S. President George Washington, camped there on their way to quell the rebellion in western Pennsylvania... .

The Rev. Thomas Montouth, seen here in a photograph from 1946, and Dr. George Bowles, were leaders in York, Pa.'s, black community in the first 50 years of the 20th century. The Rev. Montouth pastored the now-demolished Faith Presbyterian Church on North Duke Street. The pastor and physican are among 18 community members shown on the mural: "Civil Rights Heroes -- Barrier Breakers". Also of interest: All black history posts from the start and All Underground Railroad posts from the start and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County, Pa., smarts.

The three-panel Civil Rights Heroes mural, an exhibit that has traveled around the community for five years, will serve as the backdrop for an evening designed to inform visitors about the York, Pa., community.

A panel of achievers from the 300 block of West Princess Street will begin and end the evening. That predominantly black neighborhood will provide a sense of place in discussion about growing up in York in the mid-20th century

The panel will bracket a presentation by York City Human Relations exec Stephanie Sechrist about the mural. The colorful panels were created in 2005 by Bradley Academy graphics design instructor Brett Greiman, with assistance from his students.

Here is information about the evening followed by a brief quiz about one of the neighborhood's notable figures:



Lynn Haines, York County, Pa.'s, Lincoln Highway Garage's last owner, takes care of a former customer's truck in this May 2005 York Daily Record/Sunday News file photo. Haines took part in the grand opening of the Turkey Hill on East Market Street, replacing the historic Lincoln Highway Garage that stood on that spot since 1921. (See additional photo of garage below.) Also of interest: Was the Valley Inn Garage part of Springettsbury Township's old York Valley Inn? and Just try to resist this memory-tugging aerial photograph of the old York Valley Inn and Then & Now: 'See how York County has changed...from York City to the outlying boroughs'.

The York Valley Inn, topic of several recent Yorktownsquare.com posts, ended in better shape than many other buildings in York in the 1960s era.

The York County Academy, York Collegiate Institute, Hannah Penn Middle School, York City Market and the Children's Home of York came down and never went back up in any form. (Those buildings also have been part of past posts.)

The process of replacing architecturally significant buildings, landmarks and traditions with replicas or visual reminders is better than nothing and possibly the best that can be expected, considering that heritage dollars always seem to be losing weight... .

The 300 block of West Princess Street in York, Pa., seen in this 2001 photograph in the York Sunday News, was the childhood home of numerous achievers. Panelists at an upcoming Black History Month event will discuss growing up in the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. Also of interest: All black history posts from the start and On Second Saturdays: 'It's really cool that the Heritage Trust started this program' and Civil rights heroes stand out at Bradley exhibit.

An evening for the public to explore what it was about life in the 300 block of West Princess Street in post-World War II York that produced so many achievers is set for Saturday, Feb. 27.

A panel of those who grew up in that predominantly black neighborhood will highlight the event, starting at 5 p.m., at the York County Heritage Trust, 250 E. Market St., York.

Judge Marie White Bell, featured in a Feb. 18, 2001, York Sunday New article, will be one of those panelists.

That story began:

York County's most celebrated human trafficking case in recent years came in 1993 when nearly 300 Chinese men and women were smuggled into the United States aboard the Golden Venture. The steamer ran aground in New York and some of the men were assigned to the York County prison. There, they stayed for several years, without being charged, until released. "The way these guys bring people to the United States is not much better than slave ships in the 19th century," attorney Craig Trebilcock, who represented the captives, said in 1998. Here, legal advisers leave a York restaurant with Zheng Xin Bin, a Golden Venture passenger, shortly after Zheng was granted asylum in 1999 after a six-year wait. Also of interest: Underground Railroad museum in York would honor achievements of William C. Goodridge and When York County rolled up its red carpet to people of color and Golden Venture survivor's family escaped venom of Snakeheads.

York County has played host to three human trafficking cases in the past 20 years.

And one would have thought that York County's association with slavery ended before the Civil War when fugitive slave hunters, lawfully, crossed the Mason-Dixon Line in search of their prey.

First, we had the Golden Venture case in 1993, which was thrust on York County because it had room in its prison.

Just four years ago, South Korean women worked in two brothels in York County to pay off their transportation costs to America. (See details below.)

Recently, three people were charged with trafficking for keeping two Vietnamese women and forcing them to work at nail salons lest they be turned over to immigration officials... .

Rudy Art Studio produced this stained-glass window at York's First Moravian Church, one of series made by this noted turn-of-the-20th century York art studio. This window was given in memoriam of George Small, who bore a common York-area name. Who was this particular George Small? Read below. Also of interest: Beautiful York, Pa., church known for neat features, as in 31 stained glass windows and Beautiful First Moravian Church in York, Part II and York County enthusiasts could find historical event, site to visit every day

The most-prominent branch of the massive Small family of York, Pa. goes like this, according to my "East of Gettysburg":

Lorentz Schmahl came to American in 1743.

Killian, Lorentz's son, had seven sons.

George was the most prominent of Killian's seven sons, all carpenters.

George's family included sons, P.A. and Samuel, who were the most successful businessmen in 19th-century York.

P.A. had three sons - George, William Latimer and Samuel - who became prominent in the York business community.

The last George Small in this particular Small family line died in 2002... .

York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News' Paul Kuehnel captured 'Blizzard People' in coverage of this week's Blizzard of 2010. His coverage was just part of a large effort by the newspaper's staff to cover this major news event. Other noteworthy meteorological events from York County's past: York County residents passed through fire and water, or water and fire, in 1822 and For years, York countians have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams and York County's 'uncommon,' deadly snowfall of 1772: 'The poor animals struck through'.

The Blizzard of 1996 spawned the introduction of ydr.com, the York Daily Record/Sunday News Web site.

And this week's "Snowmageddon" caused the news organization to innovate even more.

Such was the topic of my upcoming York Sunday News column.

After all this coverage, the feeling of many in the newsroom reflected the next morning's headline: "Enough Already":

The column follows:

Dover (Pa.) Township property owners moved their sheep from a pen near the Conewago Creek amid fears of the creek flooding, leaving only this barred rock hen, a rooster and a few other birds in the yard. These remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy in 2005 interrupted York County's dry spell by dumping 2.1 inches of rain on York County. In contrast, not far from this scene, in the drought of 1822, farmers raised turnips on the bed of the Conewago. Also of interest: York County's 'uncommon,' deadly snowfall of 1772: 'The poor animals struck through' and For years, York countians have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams and Tropical Storm Agnes savaged York County with more than 15 inches of rain.

Another in a short series of meteorological events, tied to this winter's big snows... .

No weather events had stumped York County more than the water and fire of 1822.

Simply, nature did an about face in the course of six months, as the following excerpt from "Never to be Forgotten," indicates:

This photograph, from York, Pa.'s, 225th anniversary book in 1966, serves as a reminder that York County has always had its share of big snows, like the current nor'easter. Also of interest: Readers tell about those blizzards of 1993, 1996 and For years, York countians have eyed amazing, destructive Susquehanna River ice jams and Ice upon ice pic tells chilly tale of York County's 1996 blizzard.

York County's earliest history books highlight one particularly devastating snowfall.

The nature of the snow made it deadly for deer and no doubt other wildlife. But it also left a shortage of venison for decades - perhaps a century - thereafter.

John Gibson's 1880s history of York County tells about the "uncommon" fall of snow locally in January 1772 - 3 1/2 feet.

Then came a heavy rain which froze, forming a thick crust... .

Catherine Meyer, known as the "Mother of Red Lion," was a successful community leader whose contributions were recognized publicly before women generally achieved such. Also of interest: Ma & Pa rabbit trains passing through Red Lion: 'I hope they thoroughly hosed out the cars.' and Red Lion, then and now: 'Welcome to a popular page on our web site' and Every day, York County struts its diverse architectural stuff and Penn State student renovates Red Lion Victorian-era house.

Catharine Meyer was a late-19th century/early-20th century Red Lion business woman and landowner.

She was one of York County's most publicly successful women in those days before women could even vote.

Interestingly, she was not included in the American Association of University Women's "Legacies" project in the 1980s. That project profiled prominent 19th- and 20th-century York County women.

Not all deserving people could be included in the booklet, to be sure. And the book tended to be York centric.

There's even uncertainty about how to spell her name - whether her first name is "Catherine" or "Catharine... ."

A Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information photographer captures 28-year-old Gerald Smith assembling 37 mm gun mounts at York Safe & Lock. The caption stated: "Assembling weapons for Victory to be used by the armed forces." Also of interest: Torpedo, bomb loader, made in York, Pa., turns up in Tennessee museum and York County's BAE links BMY and Bofors and battered vehicles in Bair and Jeep prototype has York County WWII roots.

York County's Harry Smith, Jr., is challenging the common association of the older part of Harley-Davidson plant solely with the Navy.

The photograph above, showing Gerald Smith making 37 mm anti-tank gun mounts, makes his point visually.

Many companies have occupied the western buildings on present-day Harley-Davidson's industrial campus, including York Safe & Lock, Blaw-Knox, Naval Ordnance Depot and AMF.

But that old plant is most commonly known for its manufacturing of Bofors anti-aircraft guns late in World War II.

Drawing on memory, Smith wrote that construction on the Springettsbury Township plant started in 1941 under the authority of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department... .

A post-World War II baby boom, the entry of Caterpillar and other industries in the early 1950s and the erection of Springettsbury Township's York County Shopping Center, seen across the middle part of this photo, in 1956 caused additional traffic on the old Lincoln Highway. That highway runs across the top of this photograph. A road-widening project in 1962 to accommodate all these new motorists spelled the end of the old York Valley Inn, seen at 11 o'clock here, across from the Playland pool. This 1700s stone building is not to be confused with a 20th-century restaurant/hotel complex farther east on the Lincoln Highway. (Photo courtesy of York Buchart Horn and J. David Allen.) Also of interest: Olde York Valley Inn confused with historic predecessor and Forgotten York Valley Inn may be rediscovered and Check out this drawing of the York Valley Inn at Susquehanna Memorial Gardens..

An upcoming road-widening project set for a stretch of the Lincoln Highway east of the Route 24 intersection in Springettsbury Township brings to mind a recent conversation with Mary Arcuri and her husband Buddy.

They remember a road construction project in that area, but workers that time plowed under the berm and close-by buildings west of that intersection.

Mary called to discuss the work artist Cliff Satterthwaite undertook for their restaurant, The Carousel Room, in the 1960s.

That was their second restaurant in that era.

Before that, she and Buddy were the last innkeepers of the old York Valley Inn, the 1700s stone building that sat along a busy Lincoln Highway... .

Jean Fix of York, Pa., sent this Cliff Satterthwaite drawing to YorkTownSquare blog. It shows an art aution conducted by well-known York County artist William Falkler. Katie Falkler is holding the painting to his left and Ted Fitzkee is behind Katie holding a painting on an easel. Satterthwaite was well-known in the York County community in the 1950s-1970s for his impromptu sketching of everyday scenes. He now lives in Virginia. Also of interest: About long-time York County, Pa., documentary artist: 'Cliff was quite a character' and Linked in with neat York County, Pa., history stuff and Walt Partymiller's cartoons and catalogues.

After researcher Diane Palladino asked for info on former York County artist Cliff Satterthwaite, several local folks contacted us with stories about the Virginia resident and examples of his work still on display around the area.

Satterthwaite had a penchant for attending events and sketching those in attendance during his local drawing days of the 1950s through 1970s.

One caller pointed to a time when he attended the Glades Auction, and Satterthwaite sat in the back of the room sketching "caricatures of the characters" there. The caller and his wife were among the artist's subjects.

But here's the most interesting story about Cliff:

Hog maw, a Pennsylvania Dutch food staple, is the lining of a pig's stomach, usually packed with sausage, potatoes, onions and others ingredients. One York County, Pa., church, Dover Township's Mount Royal United Methodist, has become well known for its hog maw - and oysters - fund-raising dinners. Also of interest: How about a little hog maw with your oyster stew? and Rite of fall in York, Pa.: 'Feast on oysters - fried, stewed or nude' and Mix 'You know you're a Yorker, if' with oysters. You get... .

A recent observation by a reader of the re-printed York Hospital "Benefit" Cookbook remarked that no recipe for hog maw was listed in its 240 pages.

That comment was printed in the York Daily Record/Sunday News and drew several remarks - and two hog maw recipes from readers.

One reader could not understand why anyone would be reticent to eat parts of a pig's stomach, which immediately brings to mind Granny's comments about sow's belly on TV "The Beverly Hillbillies." ...

Brett Kelley, curator of Collections at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, is set to weather two weeks of the cold while living the life of a Civil War soldier on the picket line. But technology will allow people to communicate with him via social networking. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: Poster highlights the life of a Civil War soldier and Hanover Civil War story stop: 'Mother Loses Two Sons to War' and 'Tweeting' helps disseminate neat stuff on the regional, York County history front.

Starting Feb. 6, Brett Kelley will start living the life of a Civil War soldier on the picket line for two full weeks.

"Utilizing only Civil War era reproduction uniforms, equipment and food rations," a news release from The National Civil War Museum states, "Kelley will be residing in a Civil War tent on the Museum grounds in an effort to raise funds for The National Civil War Museum's education department."

Among other things, he will walk his post, construct a rail fence, embark on several 10-mile marches to area historical destinations and speak to visitors about his task.

But unlike the average Union private on picket duty, he will be in touch with the world... .

This image of the York Valley Inn along the Lincoln Highway, later Route 462, is found in a file of artist Cliff Satterthwaite at the York County (Pa.) Heritage Trust. It was used as placemat or advertising piece with the boast: "One of South Central Pennsylvania's Most Comfortable Resort Motels." This landmark, chockful of memories for many Yorkers, fell into disrepair in the past decades and was demolished several years ago. Also of interest: York Valley Inn: 'What a mess.' and Olde York Valley Inn confused with historic predecessor and York Valley Inn: 'a building reduced to Stonehenge-like pylons'.

A mixed bag of neat stuff ... .

I had a delightful experience addressing the Avenues Neighborhood Association last week.

Some readers here might be interested to know such a group - representing historic northwest York in the general area between the old York Fairgrounds and Farquhar Park - is meeting and effectively and enthusiastically representing that area... .

Robert N. Senft had just been inducted into the service in this August 1943 photo. He is pictured with his wife, Ethel. Senft spent much of his life in York County, Pa., mostly in Zion View, Conewago Township. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: In the WWII fight, in York County and abroad and 'Little Johnny' called from York for Allies in World War II and Beacon helped spot whereabouts of Zion View.

York County's role in World War II was so sprawling that I thought much about how to frame it in my research for a book on that topic.

After running across a nearly full set of York Corporation newsletters, at the York County Heritage Trust's Book Blast, I had gained a record about how one influential industry, and its employees, ventured through World War II.

Then I went on the lookout for particular employees who could help tell the story.

I found a hero, Red Lion's Thomas Frutiger, who survived the Bataan Death March in the Phillippines only to die at war's end on a Japanese hell ship as they transported the lieutenant and other POWs to Japan... .

Northern York County Regional Police Chief Carl Segatti investigates a fatal crash, in this York Daily Record/Sunday News file shot. Segatti is longtime chief of this veteran regional police department. Also of interest: A list of traumatic, painful incidents that rocked York County and Errant pickup driver knocked on-duty fire policeman out of his shoes and Beauty of York County's Susquehanna Trail shrouds its dangers.

York County's government might be denied by law to fund a countywide police department. That's in contrast to the vision of its founding fathers, who so earnestly sought police protection that they successfully split from Lancaster County in 1749, in part, so they could have their own force.

But the county has been a leader in the regionalization of police departments, an across-the-grain development in a county - and state - that has been slow to adopt such shared services or mergers of municipal and school governments.

In fact, its Northern York County Regional Police Department was an early responder after an act was passed in 1972 that permitted municipalties to delegate individual police powers to a regional department... .

A quality control expert at York, Pa.'s Classic Caramel, now part of Camp Hill, Pa.-based Warrell Corp., checks a piece of Slo Poke candy to make sure the packaging is closed with a proper twist. Warrell also produces candy under the Katharine Beecher name - a brand that started in York County's Manchester borough. (York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News photo.) Also of interest: Katharine Beecher: 'Legacies,' Part I and York Peppermint Patties: 'York became synonymous with dark chocolate and peppermint' and OLLI's theme song: 'Don't stop thinking about learning'

An e-mailer gave this heads up:

Katharine Beecher's name appears prominently in a candy display in York Township's Cracker Barrel.

I took notice.

The Beecher name is legendary in a York County that is big on candymaking... .

Steam into History Inc., a group made up of York County, Pa., investors and railroad enthusiasts, is seeking to operate an excursion line on the old Northern Central Railway, now part of the York County Heritage Rail Trail. They are looking to contract with Ilinois-based David Kloke to build an 1863-era 4-4-0 model steam engine similar to this one. Also of interest: Abe Lincoln stopped at Hanover station:"We want to preserve history ... so it doesn't disappear' and York newspaper about Gettysburg Address: 'Mr. Lincoln made a joke or two ...' and Abandoned Codorus railroad not just any abandoned railroad.

Rail enthusiasts in Muddy Creek Forks are operating excursion rides. Railroad backers at the defunct Stewartstown Railroad want to reopen such service.

Now comes a group, Steam into History Inc., that has asked York County's government for clearance to operate an excursion train between New Freedom and Hanover Junction on the old Northern Central Railway.

It will not just offer a train ride, but an oil-burning, steam-powered train ride.

And the excursion would be themed around a topic not common in the central part of York County - the Civil War... .

Artist Cliff Satterthwaite captured the sad demolition of the York Collegiate Institute, a forerunner to York College. The beautiful building, South Duke Street and East College Avenue, joined the architecturally significant York City Market, Hannah Penn Middle School, York County Academy, Children's Home of York and the Helb Mansionon the demolition list in the 1960s era, a time in which beautiful buildings were seemingly knocked down for sport. The front entrance and part of the back wall of this building - that gave College Avenue its name - came down last. Much of Cliff Satterthwaite's work for York newspapers involved documenting news events. A biographer is collecting information about the former York County artist's local work. Readers with information can e-mail Diane Palladino at antiqus4all@aol.com. The artist's Web site: www.cliffordsatterthwaite.com. Also of interest: Biographer searching for details of former York County artist Cliff Satterthwaite and Cartoonist made York newspaper owner's views an art form and Cartoons and catalogues.

A mixed bag of neat history stuff ... .

Towanda, Pa.'s Joseph Rene DuPont e-mails that York native and female aviation pioneer Aline Rhonie Hofheimer is being inducted into the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame. ... .

This map with overlay, courtesy of 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, shows the various police departments covering York County today. York County separated from Lancaster County in 1749, in part, because of the need for law enforcement west of the Susquehanna River. 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.

Who says things never change in Pa.?

And sometimes in the wrong direction.

York County was founded in 1749, in part, because settlers living on the west bank of the Susquehanna River sought sheriff's protection.

Indeed, the remote parts of future York County - and that was most of it - were known to be places of refuge for "idle and dissolute Persons" who stole stuff and committed other crimes.

Fast forward to today... .

The York, Pa., Boys Club Pool near Farquhar Park appears in this Gazette and Daily image from artist Cliff Satterthwaite in August 1958. Seventeen years earlier, a polio epidemic closed the pool and many other gathering spots throughout York County. Also of interest: Polio survivor and York, Pa.'s own Vic Wertz: 'The man who hit the ball Mays caught' and Spanish flu of 1918 no three-day fever. Try 365-day worldwide plague and Pre-World War II Thanksgiving holds lessons for York countians today.

Polio survivors in York County serve as living reminders of that disease that caused dread with the annual onset of warm weather 60 to 70 years ago.

The York Daily Record/Sunday News recently published a piece on such survivors.

Those folks are rare, generally born before Jonas Salk developed the first vaccine against polio in 1955.

The York Daily Record report quoted a family doctor whose 2,500 patients include one survivor... .

York County (Pa.) artist/historian Jim Rudisill rendered this wonderfully accurate view of York County. The rifle barrel creates the Mason-Dixon Line, York County's southern border. The York County Heritage Trust uses this artwork as a bookplate. Also of interest: Chickies Rock braced for rush of Susquehanna's waters and Site filled with wealth of York County geological info and Scenic Yellow Breeches snakes along York County's northern boundary.

"It's shaped like a horse's ... ."

That's how some people start the description of York County's shape.

The York Daily Record/Sunday News recently asked four elected officials to give their renditions of York County's 900-square-mile face.

They did pretty well, but you be the judge (see example below)... .

Zachary Witman, accused of killing his brother, carries documentation for his defense into the York County (Pa.) Courthouse in 2003. He was convicted but legal proceedings concerning his case continue in county and appellate courts. A post that includes information on the Witman case, was the most accessed single post on Yorktownsquare.com blog in 2009. Also of interest: Major York County historical moments through the centuries and York County's top 10 news stories in 2006 and Who were most prominent 20th-century sports heroes in York and Adams counties?

Viewers of this blog, Yorktownsquare.com, have seen recent posts on the top news stories from 2009 and the past decade, 2000-2009.

But what posts have been the favorites of Yorktownsquare.com viewers in the past year?

You can view the following list and, if interested, click on the links to see those making up the top 10 (after, of course, the Yorktownsquare.com home page which received the most):

A machete-wielding madman attacked teachers and students in a Red Lion Area School District in 2001. Three years later, a student shot Red Lion Area Junior High School principal Eugene Segro. Those violent acts brought York County's schools into the series of attacks in schools across the nation. Here, a memorial sits outside the junior high school in 2004. Also of interest: Check out this list of York County top news stories in 2009 and Major York County historical moments through the centuries and York County's top 10 news stories in 2006 and Who were most prominent 20th-century sports heroes in York and Adams counties?

York Daily Record/Sunday News reporter Teresa Boeckel did a thoughtful, thorough job in her recent compilation of many of the big news events from the first decade of the 20th century.

It helped that this veteran reporter and Northeastern High School graduate covered most of these events, in full or in part.

Viewers can get the full details from Teresa's reporting at A decade in local news: The highs and lows of York County.

Here are the topics in her report of a decade that came of the heels of York County's hopeful 250th anniversary celebration in 1999 and started with the tensions of the so-called millennium bug, Y2K: ... .

The fire that destroyed most of 111-year-old Shenberger's Chapel United Methodist Church in February was one of the top news stories in York County. Also of interest: Major York County historical moments through the centuries and York County's top 10 news stories in 2006 and Who were most prominent 20th-century sports heroes in York and Adams counties?

Members of the York Daily Record/Sunday News staff have put forth a list of top 10 York County news stories from last year.

And they've provided an interactive page for readers to record their own most memorable moments of 2009.

"Create a keepsake before 2009 is forgotten," a headline states.

Here's the list:

Brittany Murphy, the young Hollywood actress who died recently, was a star of the movie 'Girl Interrupted,' filmed, in part, in southwestern York County, Pa.'s, Hanover. That serves as a reminder of another film 'For Richer or Poorer,' filmed, in part, in southeastern York County's Muddy Creek Forks. Both were produced in the 1990s. Here, a York Daily Record story tells about extras used in the Muddy Creek Forks' filming. The movie, featuring Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley, told about a high-flying husband and wife hiding among the Amish. At the time of the filming of the flop 'For Richer or Poorer,' real Amish people were just then moving across the Norman Wood Bridge from Lancaster County to southeastern York County and form a sizeable community today. Although York County is hardly a hotbed for Hollywood filming, a fair of York countians have gone on to stage or screen fame. 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.'

A mixed-bag of neat history stuff ...

York County has long been known for its woodworking, particularly in the form of furniture making.

So, we often receive queries about people who have a prized piece of York County-made furniture that they want to know more about.

The fine work of Ebert Furniture, formerly of Red Lion, is one such maker.

This recent comment by Guy Bair on the post Red Lion's Ebert Furniture: From bedroom suites to gunstocks is typical:

Two York County, Pa., icons come together, as children enjoy Loganville-based Carmen's Ice Cream outside Hellam Township's Haines Shoe House, in this 2008 York Daily Record/Sunday News photograph. The Shoe House will figure in New Year's festivities this year when a large shoe will drop at midnight in nearby Hallam borough. (See the shoe being made below.) Also of interest: Route 30 Roadside Giant sprouts as tourism lure and Landmark Modernaire Motel built in Lincoln Highway's heyday and Lincoln Highway Communities: 'I know I'll be back'.

Let's see.

York has its rose. Dillsburg has a pickle. Red Lion a cigar. Mechanicsburg a wrench. Harrisburg a strawberry. Hershey a kiss, a Hershey Kiss, that is.

Now Hallam borough - not to be confused with Hellam, the township - is going to let a shoe drop. That's an 8-foot, 125-pound shoe.

Perhaps the oversized shoe is appropriate, for it is borrowed from a nearby oversized shoe-shaped house, the well-known Haines Shoe House... .

Some of the Stewartstown (Pa.) Railroad's rolling stock sits in the yard, background, as Don Matthews, a railroad director, is seen inside the station. Two historic preservation groups are among the groups with a stake in the now-closed, short-line railroad's future. The Stewartstown Railroad, which opened in 1885, hauled mainly agricultural goods on a line that parallelled the Mason-Dixon Line in southern York County. For much of its tenure, it ran from New Park westward where it met up with the old Northern Central Railway, later Pennsylvania Railroad, at New Freedom. Background posts: Stewartstown Railroad: 'Truly a unique entity in the state, and possibly, the nation' and 'Yesteryears' southern York County sites and All Stewartstown-related posts from the start.

The headlines on the York Sunday News story about the Stewartstown Railroad's future summarized its plight in less than 30 words: "Stewartstown Railroad's future derailed? / Supporters are trying to get it back up and running, but it could be put up for auction if it can't repay a debt soon."

It's one of those disputes that you just know could be worked out if you could just get all the interested parties in one room.

That's particularly so because two historical groups are involved, and one of those groups, the Bucks County Historical Society, is the beneficiary.

One wishes one could just say, "Huddle up."

I'll try: "Huddle up."

In that Sunday News story, writer Jeff Frantz provides about as clear of an explanation as is possible considering the complexity of the topic involving this farmers railroad:

York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Jayson Plotkin asked several York County folks to imitate the unimitable New York Wire factory steam whistle. And he captured them on video. But all kidding aside, was the early Christmas Day 2009 concert the famed whistle's last concert? Also of interest: All New York Wire whistle posts fromt he start and The world's loudest music without amplification from a non-musical instrument and New York Wire's musical factory steam whistle - by the numbers.

Sponsor Susquehanna Heritage Gateway Area has done an effective job of raising the question about whether this year's New York Wire factory steam whistle concert will be the last one.

That would be a shame if it is. Combined with the Glen Rock Carol Singers annual stroll through the streets of that southern York County town, the factory whistle concert gives the county two odd, but lovable Christmas traditions.

Then, too, the whistle concert attracts many folks downtown and brings in some national exposure for York each year... .

Cheryl Johnson, right, and her sister Vicki finish a Nativity scene on boards covering the front of Cheryl's Windsor Township, Pa., home. A minivan crashed into the front door of the home, and the Johnson family turned that bad incident into a good moment. See a "before" photo below. Also of interest: Easter in York County, 1919: Sadness, joy, hope and Pre-World War II Thanksgiving holds lessons for York countians today and Henry Laurens' Christmas in York Town: 'I will not quit my post, although I ... fear that I may perish on it'.

I wrote the following to be used as the editorial in today's - Christmas Day's - York Daily Record/Sunday News.

Merry Christmas! ... .

This advertisement is among hundreds that appear in the 'York Hospital "Benefit" Cookbook,' circa 1916. The cookbook has been reprinted and available for sale at the York County Heritage Trust. The cookbook was subtitled "Home Formulary of 'Tried and Tested' York County Recipes with Hints and Helps to Good Housekeeping." In the original cookbook, color swaths were glued onto the pages of this advertisement from the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Alabastine. Also of interest: All "YorkEats: Hogmaw and such" category posts from the start and Oysters: 'Economical ... not bones or waste ...' and Mix 'You know you're a Yorker, if' with oysters. You get...

"For people who have an interest in cooking and historical data and a fascinating presentation of advice."

Thus was the dedication for the reprint of the 'York Hospital "Benefit" Cookbook, courtesy of the John Zimmerman family.

York County's John Zimmerman found the 240-page paperback book among the cookbook collection of his late wife Kathryn and realized its value to the York community... .

This poster appears on the Table of Contents page in the third edition of the York County, Pa., history "Never to be Forgotten." It merges the William Wagner market drawing from 1830 featured on the book cover (see below) with a 2000 drawing of Central Market. Also of interest: York's old Hudson - new Exchange City building sparks memories and Old York City Market: 'It was a real treat for me to walk to market with Grandma' and Steps of old York City Market mark its former location.

York County artist Tracey Bisher Cullen merged the old and the new in rendering a market scene detailing York in 1830 with a similar scene in 2000.

She drew that poster for placement in my "Never to be Forgotten," published in 1999 in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of York County.

The York Daily Record artist showed a man sitting on the hood of a car, typing on a laptop outside Central Market. She thus captured plans 10 years ago to gentrify the markethouse... .

Democrat George Leader of York County, Pa., earned the Nov. 15, 1954, Time magazine cover after his election as Pennsylvania's governor. (See additional photo below). Also of interest: Wolf would join long list of Yorkers to gain political posts and York native, Pa. Gov. George Leader cleared dam plan and List of luminaries with Dover-area links lengthens.

Pennsylvania, an old, populous state near everything, is sometimes faulted for not producing more U.S. presidents.

James Buchanan, the state's only entry, doesn't count for much, often rated in the lower tier of U.S. presidents. Neighboring Ohio, in contrast, has produced six U.S. presidents.

Likewise, York County, an old, populous county near the political power centers of Harrisburg and Philadelphia, has not had the success one might expect in producing large numbers of ranking state officials since 1800.

Gov. George M. Leader is an exception, the only York County-produced holder of the state's top office, and a respected one at that... .

York (Pa.) Mayor John Brenner, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell and Steve Stetler, right, get together during Rendell's visit to York in February 2004. Rendell later appointed Stetler, a York County native, as state revenue secretary. Stetler resigned that position today, hours before state prosecutors implicated him in the ongoing public corruption investigation, Bonusgate. Also of interest: List of high state officials hailing from York County grows and Add Robert P. Kane to list of prominent York County politicos and Jeremiah S. Black among top government officials with York County ties.

Shortly after his election as York's state representative in 1990, Steve Stetler sat in a group at a table at the Yorktowne Hotel.

The wave of introductions went around the table before stopping with Stetler.

He introduced himself as Steve Stetler. That was it.

It was a humble gesture for a politician. No, bravado. No effort to reinforce his name with his position.

His brand, in other words.

For many years, that was the likeable Stetler's public approach... .

Paul McCleary holds Larry Gordon, who was a resident of the Hellam (Pa.) Township's Horn Farm in the 1950s. Route 30 would later run between where he is standing and the barn and the house. A non-profit board is developing this working farm into an agricultural education center. Less than a decade ago, county officials were eyeing it for development. (See additional photo below.) Also of interest: 'It's so sad to see such a great piece of architecture fall down' and All farm and field posts from the start and York County agrarianism vs. industrialization.

Harley-Davidson, always a newsmaker in York County, sparked a green storm in 2000.

That came when the company was a contender to occupy the Horn Farm, a county-owned site in eastern York County's Hellam Township.

The York County Industrial Development Corporation proposed in May 2000 what its exec David Carver called the "the project of the decade."

The project called for a 300,000-square-foot Harley-Davidson plant that would be home to 1,400 employees... .

Shrewsbury (Pa.) Township's Leon Saubel shows a bottle of Foust whiskey, still filled with whiskey, from his collection. He collects Foust products because they were distilled near where he lives and the items are attractive, according to a York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News story. The William Foust distillery, which started operating outside Glen Rock, was a village in itself. Only a smokestack, deteriorating superstructure and houses remain of this once-bustling company town. It is perhaps York County's best-known ghost town. The stack serves as a reminder that the whiskey-making industry was a major cash producer in 19th-century agricultural York County. Also of interest: With all those stills, the York County hillbillies? and Cigarmaking Red Lion on top of York County and Brewer Hannes' bout with an aged hermit.

Alcohol and tobacco use, the sin taxes they produce and the goofy state store system and other such government intervention often makes headlines.

So I pulled together several past blog posts into a York Sunday News column that explores the topic of whiskey, beer and tobacco production in York County throughout history.

In my research, the date 1907 kept appearing.That was the date Carrie Nation came to York decrying alcohol and tobacco use.

That was about the high point of cigarmaking in the county, as well as whiskey making. The onset of Prohibition dampened the distilling of spirits in large quantities about a dozen years later.

So, here's an advance look at Sunday's piece:

Jeannette Harvey is a 90-something former teacher in York County, Pa. The Hametown resident's long life reaches back to a night in 1928 when she observed three men heading toward Winterstown. They turned out to be the trio who slayed powwoww practitioner and suspect witch Nelson Rehmeyer in what became known as the Hex Murder Trial. Also of interest: Hames made in Shrewsbury Township's Hametown fueled early American horsepower and The Susquehanna Trail: 'Greatest highway in Eastern America' and Trees commemorate World War I vets.

At one time, powwow doctors were easily found in many York County town.

Some believe Nelson Rehmeyer, victim of the Hex Murder, was just such a practitioner. But others believe he was a witch and that led to his death at the hands of three young assailants.

Are powwow doctors around today?

The Nelson Rehmeyer's Hex murder house in North Hopewell Township, Pa., stands today in rural York County. A couple of years ago, township regulations thwarted efforts to convert the house into a museum. The famous 1928 murder of Nelson Rehmeyer was a case of the Pennsylvania Dutch healing practice of powwowing that went fatally amok. Other posts of interest: What happened to Hex Murder defendants, convicted in York County 80 years ago? Part I and Part II and Der Belsnickel of the Pennsylvania Dutch: 'He looked scary and carried a sack of presents' and What is the Pennsylvania German (Pennsylfaanisch Deitsch) dialect all about?

An often-forgotten piece of the Hex Murder case is that people alive today knew one or more of the three defendants who killed powwow practitioner and suspected witch Nelson Rehmeyer in his southeastern York County home.

Three defendants were convicted in the slaying of Rehmeyer, a farmer in remote North Hopewell Township, only eight decades ago.

As I wrote in my World War II book "In the Thick of the Fight," this case involving superstition and white magic and the casting of spells and the like occurred only a decade before York County manufacturing prowess reached its zenith in World War II. So, you had York countians serving as internationally known forward-thinkers on the military defense front at the same time that another set of residents were practicing medieval healing arts.

That's York County. So simple, but so complex.

The following York Daily Record/Sunday News story (6/20/07) explores one resident who had contact with one of the Hex Murder defendants:

This is Hex Murder defendant John Curry's portrait of 7-year-old York countian Buddy Marrese. Curry charged $50 for the painting that entailed five or six Saturday sittings in his Thomasville home in 1960, according to Springettsbury Township's Mary Jo Marrese, Buddy's mother. Curry became a painter of sorts after his release from prison after his conviction in the death of Nelson Rehmeyer in 1928. Also of interest: What happened to Hex Murder defendants, convicted in York County 80 years ago? Part I and Hex headache cure: 'Tame thou flesh and bone' and Relative: Evil in Hex murder came from outside.

The Hex Murder defendants received prison sentences 80 years ago.

How did they re-enter the world again?

Well, one of the trio and the youngest, John Curry, took up painting.

His legacy is the most prominent of the three defendants.

His artwork hangs in area homes, as the following story appearing in the following York Daily Record/Sunday News (6/20/07) attests:

Norma Grace Strawbridge is shown in this York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News file photo with portraits of herself, bottom, and her sister Lois. John Curry, one of three defendants convicted in the 1929 Hex Murder trials, painted the portraits about 1946. Also of interest: Genealogical society speaker to provide tips for 'Finding Lydia's Bottom' and Descendant of powwow doctor: 'Powwowing was done for good' and Little-known facts about Hex murder trial emerge.

Yorkblogger June Lloyd tells a riveting story about a man who kept a hand-drawn charm copied from 'Long Lost Friend' for good luck when he hunting. It was found rolled up in the stock of a shotgun.

That reference to the book that was a text for the Pennsylvania Dutch custom of powwowing serves as a reminder that the highest-profile example of that white magic healing practice observed an anniversary this year.

The three defendants in York County's Hex Murder cases were convicted and sentenced 80 years ago.

Which leads to the question: What happened to those defendants who killed suspected witch Nelson Rehmeyer? ...

York city and environs is seen from the air in this York Daily Record/Sunday New file photo. The dark section, upper left, is Wyndham Hills. Penn Park is at bottom left. The noted Olmsted landscape design firm laid out Wyndham Hills. (See links to other York-area aerial photos below.) Also of interest: 11 designs highlight upcoming Historic York's 'Discovering Dempwolf' house tour and Jeremiah Sullivan Black among York County politicos holding high office and Reader doesn't understand some things about York County.

The recent York Town Square post about Frederick Law Olmsted's design of Vandergrift, Pa., serves as a reminder that his landscape design family and firm - designers of New York's Central Park - touched York, Pa.

Specifically, the area now called Wyndham Hills in Spring Garden Township.

Georg Sheets discussed the Olmsted-York link in his "Facts and Folklore:"

This photo from York (Pa.) Day Nursery's Web site shows community support for the center in 1962. The nursery is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Also of interest: Samuel Small tops York, Pa. community contributor list and First Pinchot Road in York County example of Great Depression-era stimulus project and Great Depression not only pinched in York County, it punched.

Many of York County's great community institutions started during the Great Depression.

York Little Theatre.

York Symphony Orchestra.

Martin Memorial Library.

I wrote about the silver lining of the dark Depression in the blog post: "The bad, and yes, the good of the Great Depression in York County."

This year, another Depression-era community service, the York Day Nursery, is observing its 75th year. It marked an early moment for day care in nursery school form in the York area. Meanwhile, at Crispus Attucks Community Center, the social services center for the black community, Helen Thackston directed the day-care program from 1932 to 1964.

The short story of York Day Nursery:

The Visiting Nurse Association started the day care for mothers who needed to earn a second income for their family during the Great Depression... .

A support for the dome for Roll 'R Way East, known for years as Playland, is shown in flames as a fire destroys the longtime York roller skating rink in November 1985. Playland gained a headline this week when the York Daily/Record Sunday News wrote about skating icon Richard Lustgarden, known around town as "Cha-cha." Rest Haven-York recognized Cha-cha with a skating party at Roll'R'Way Family Skating Center in York. The East Market Street Playland complex, neighbor to a Bury's hamburger restaurant, included a roller skating rink, a large swimming pool and later a motel. The complex opened in the weeks before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and lost spin completely when the fire destroyed the skating rink. Other parts were razed in 1991. Today, Cloister Car Wash and Wendy's sit on parts of Playland's former site. The event honoring Cha-cha, the newspaper reported, occurred on the 24th anniversary of the blaze that stopped Playland's skaters in mid-roll. Also of interest: Just try to resist this memory-tugging aerial photograph of York Whitehull Airport and York Valley Inn and Playland and ... and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph and Playland plays nostalgic note for York countians.

He led two armies across the Rhine into Germany during World War II and there's never been a full length biography on this leader, who outranked George Patton.

All that until recently. Mark Perry's "Partners in Command" started on the course of building Devers reputation as a leader.

And now comes David Colley, with his "Decision at Strasbourg: Ike's Strategic Mistake to Halt the Sixth Army Group at the Rhine in 1944." ...

This cartoon, found in Jim Lewin and P.J. Huff's book, "Lines of Contention: Political Cartoons of the Civil War," is indicative of the regular scrutiny Abraham Lincoln and his polices drew from his political opponents. For example, The York (Pa.) Gazette, a Democratic weekly newspaper was a shrill opponent of the Republican president. Also of interest: Imposing Thanksgiving statues greet York Post Office users and Did York's Thanksgiving proclamation indeed create America's first Thanksgiving? and Pre-World War II Thanksgiving holds lessons for York countians today.

History buffs in York County - and there are many of them - often associate Thanksgiving with the American Revolution. (See Thanksgiving and war below.)

But there's a local historical angle to Thanksgiving and the Civil War, particularly York County residents' disappointingly low view of Abraham Lincoln's justified, high-minded Thanksgiving proclamations.

All this is rolled into the following piece, which I wrote and appears as today's York Daily Record/Sunday News editoria, headlined "A bi-partisan Thanksgiving"... .

Before today's west-end Hannah Penn Middle School was built, this school, also Hannah Penn, stood across from Penn Park. And before this York, Pa., school became a junior high, it was York High, replaced by today's William Penn High School in the 1920s. This building has been demolished, and its footprint serves as a parking lot for St. Patrick's Church. Others in a series of school namesakes: Who was Hannah Penn of York City middle school fame? and Who was Edgar Fahs Smith? and Who was Phineas Davis? and Namesakes of Devers and Goode schools often confused.

In March 2008, Yorkblogger Paul Kuehnel posted a video of an archaeological dig at Coulsontown, the Welsh miners village being restored in southeastern York County.

Just this month, a former a member of a family with Coulsontown roots commented on Paul's Greenmesh blog post.

"Funny how people "unearth" these videos," Paul wrote me in an e-mail. "Nice memory blip of Coulsontown."

The commenter, identified as Kandi Creamer, wrote: ...

Harley-Davidson workers examine a tentative agreement between the company and the union at the York (Pa.) Expo Center. (See colorful Harley mural below.) 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? ... .

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:

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:

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... .

The World War II model aircraft collection of York County, Pa., aviation enthusiast and author John F. M. Wolfe will be on display at the annual York County Veterans Day breakfast Wednesday. (See event details below.) Wolfe's favorite model? A miniature of the PV-1 Lockheed "Ventura." He served as a crew member of that medium bomber in World War II. Also of interest: 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.

The player pianos produced by Weaver Organ and Pianos in the 20th century formed the home entertainment centers of that day.

We learned that last post: York, Pa.'s Weaver Organ and Piano Co.: 'Guaranteed to give permanent satisfaction'

Weaver closed in 1959, but there are successor musical instrument makers in York County today.

Bluett Brothers Violins has been making instruments for 25 years in York.

Enjoy a video, produced by York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel, of that music maker below:

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... .

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... .

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. Earlier this year, a deal in which Snyder's of Hanover would acquire cross-town snack food producer Utz Quality Foods fell through. 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... .

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... .

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.

- More neat stuff below. -

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... .

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... .

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:

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... .

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 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? ...

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... .

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... .

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... .

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... .

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... .

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 (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... .

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... .

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:

-

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: ... .

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... .

Baseball great Brooks Robinson is seen in his York (Pa.) White Roses uniform in 1955. His statue can be seen everyday in Brooks Robinson Plaza at York's Sovereign Bank Stadium. Background posts: Brooks Robinson - and stories about his York, Pa., pro debut - enduring and York Town Square reader: 'I thought Vic Wertz had some connection to York?' and Baseball's Methuselah played for White Roses.

True or false?

Brooks Robinson broke into professional baseball in York and went to the majors and greatness after a short gig here, never to return to minor league baseball?

The answer is .... .

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... .

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:

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: ... .

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:

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... .

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... .

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:

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:

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... .

"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... .

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... .

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:

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.

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 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... .

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:

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... .

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... .

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'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... .

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... .

This newspaper advertisement touts Gen. John B. Gordon's return to York to deliver a speech. The friendly, enthusiastic crowd welcomed the general-turned-politician. (See photo of Gordon below.) Background posts: York County Civil War hero grandmom of Gore Vidal and Civil War affected women in York County - and vice versa and Years after Civil War, (a) Longstreet steps onto York County soil .

The head of this hypothetical invading force was gentlemanly, but this did not keep his men from stealing the cars and other property from many York countians. Further, he damaged other property - catalyzing the destruction of an expensive Susquehanna River bridge and trampling valuable crops in fields. He killed at least two defenders of the county and shaped the way York viewed itself for years.

Would we welcome him back as a hero? ... .

This 2004 aerial view of the undeveloped Camp Security site shows the encroachment of development on every side. Friends of Camp Security and other groups are trying to raise support for site preservation. Background posts: 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'.

The public will get a rare opportunity to view artifacts Saturday (6/27/09) from a past archaeological dig at Camp Security, the Revolutionary War POW camp site that might be covered over with houses.

A limited dig in 1979 uncovered pottery shards, buttons and gold coins... .

York County's Jeff Koons' statue of Michael Jackson and his pet chimp Bubbles is among Koons best known. Background posts: List of luminaries with Dover links lengthens and Proposed 'Creation of a Nation' museum name glib, but lacks grounding and All York County celebrities posts from the start and Othmar Carli: 'Restoration is much better than selling shoes to make a living'.

And here's more proof that when something happens in the world, there's always a York County tie-in.

Pop icon Michael Jackson, dead at the age of 50, has never been to York County. But there's always a York link to such a captivating/controversial person as Jackson.

Jeff Koons, who grew up in Dover, brings that link.

Koons, world-renowned pop artist, created the life-size, white porcelain "Michael Jackson and Bubbles.' It's owned by the San Franciso Museum of Modern Art, and one reviewer who saw it there called it "memorably creepy."

Here are some links for "Bubbles" and Jeff Koons:

A copy of the York (Pa.) Daily Record front page from almost 37 years ago tells about Tropical Storm Agnes' fury. The newspapers look, or design, has changed dramatically since then. (To get a look at the new look to be unveiled Thursday, see photo below.) Background posts: This all appeared in The (York, Pa.) Gazette and Daily on June 1, 1949 and In the shadow of disaster: York County and its newspaper tested 30 years ago and Suicide story: York hotel proprietor 'found a package that had contained about a quarter of a pound of Paris green'.

A newspaper's appearance can go out of style, just like clothes.

So about once a decade, as it turns out, the York Daily Record has made style changes, called a redesign.

The newspaper will make such a change in Thursday's edition, as I explain in a York Daily Record/Sunday News column today. That column begins: ... .

Earl Shaffer chat with fellow Appalachian Trail hikers north of Harpers Ferry during his last through hike in July 1998. Other hikers recognized the celebrity Shaffer during this hike, which came on the 50th anniversary of his first through hike - the first such on the Appalachian Trail. West Manchester book contains valuable gold coins' and Who were most prominent 20th-century sports heroes in York and Adams counties? and Highpoint offers Susquehanna River view for the ages.

West Manchester resident Earl Shaffer was out of the service after Army Signal Corps duty in World War II.

And he was ready to "walk the Army out of my system" on the Appalachian Trail.

"Late in 1947 I had seen an article in an outdoor magazine entitled 'The Long Trail's Challenge,' " he wrote in in his book "Walking with Spring." "It said that no one was known to have hiked the entire Trail in a continuous journey, though many had tried, and such a trip might actually be impossible."

Shaffer proved it was possible with the first through hike in 1948, a second hike the other way in 1965 and a 50th anniversary hike in 1998. He was then almost 80 years old.

This information comes from a Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History news release, telling about the opening of an Earl Shaffer exhibit next month... .

York County native Samuel Jordan is known as the father of modern education in Iran. He was ordained into the ministry in southeastern York County, and went overseas as a missionary. He is buried in Centre Presbyterian Church's cemetery, New Park. 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.

All roads do lead to York.

This road includes New Park, in southeast York County; Persia, now Iran; and University of California, Irvine branch.

And it involves a minister named Samuel Martin Jordan.

The tie that binds these places comes from an e-mail written by Stewartstown's Kathryn Jordan. Samuel Jordan is Kathryn's late husband's uncle - Uncle Mart.

Here are the links:

Cassandra Small, who wrote about the Confederate occupation of York in 1863, will come to life at a Civil War symposium at York College. Terry Latschar will take on her character. The free public event starts at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 25, at DeMeester Recital Hall in Wolf Hall, York College. Scott Mingus and Dennis Brandt will also present. Photos courtesy, York County Heritage Trust. Background posts: All Civil War posts from the start and Cassandra Small's, James Latimer's Civil War letters from York will 'never be forgotten' and Burial site reportedly found for rebel officer who occupied York.

Terry Latschar will give a first-person account of the rebel occupation of York County through the eyes of letter writer Cassandra Morris Small in a Civil War Symposium next week at York College.

In assuming Cassandra Small's character, the former Gettysburg park ranger and licensed battlefield guide will do more than remind those attending about the high emotions linked with the rebel raid in late-June 1863 through York County.

Latschar's part also will underscore the fact that local Civil War demands elevated the profile of women onto local history's pages.

During war and peace, women always had helped form the community's backbone in unsung - and often undocumented - fashion. Their heroics during the Civil War give particularly rich content for Latschar and those writing history to draw from.

Cassandra Morris Small, Cassandra Small Morris, Isabel Cassat Small, Mary Sophia Cadwell Fisher and Sarah Latimer Small were among those who helped support a large military hospital at York's Penn Park. Their contributions, among many others, included making bandages and providing nursing care... .

James O. Lehman and Steven M. Nolt published "Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War." The 2007 book explored the Mennonites and Amish response to the Civil War. Background posts: Stack of books on York County's Civil War past getting higher and 'One of the shells found its mark' and Unsung farmhouse loud symbol of a shaping moment for York.

York County resident Jonathan R. Stayer, who is also head of the reference section of the Pennsylvania State Archives, has called on local Civil War researchers to remember those who sought exemption from military service on grounds of conscience.

York County's conscientious objectors numbered 156 in 1862, he e-mailed, sixth highest among Pennsylvania's counties.

"Even tiny Adams County was home to at least 129 conscientious objectors," he wrote. "The reason? Both counties were (and are) home to significant communities of Mennonites and Dunkards (Brethren), and to a lesser extent, Quakers."

He called attention to James O. Lehman and Steven M. Nolt's "Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War," which local Civil War blogger Scott Mingus has since reviewed.

Here are excerpts from Stayer's e-mail:

This old post office represents the past in Franklintown, on the former main way between Baltimore and Harrisburg. (For a view of the new, see photo below.) To locate this small, changing borough, Warrington, Carroll, Washington and Franklin townships all meet east of town. Background posts: Franklintown second cousin to neighboring Dillsburg and Birthday borough Dillsburg: 'Seems to be York County's wild child' and Flag expert: 'I was interested in my nation's heritage'.

Northwestern York County's tiny Franklintown borough has been in the news because of earthquakes in those parts.

But the town regularly made it in national headlines from 1982 to 1994 when its books contained a law that all residents had to own guns.

Townsmen even appeared on Donohue to talk about their ordinance.

Today, towns statewide are considering adopting law that lost and stolen firearms are to be reported to police within 72 hours.

That's controversial, but not as much so as the never-enforced, mostly symbolic Franklintown law... .

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

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

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

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

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

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

In this 2000 photo, Spring Grove players workout in their former football stadium, with the Glatfelter paper plant looming large. The team now plays in new digs - Papermakers Stadium - located near the new high school. (See related photo below.) Background posts: Private, public interests built Lake Marburg for manufacturing, recreation and Worker saved key historical surveys from Glatfelter pulping machine and White Woman of the Genessee captured 250 years ago in York County.

Glatfelters have been making news around York County for, well, more than 250 years.

Perhaps the most prominent Glatfelter is the Spring Grove papermaker. And just in the past few days, that Glatfelter was in the headlines because of a wonderful piece of land the company donated in Adams County and an air tank that ruptured (no one was injured) at its mill.

When Harry Potter climbs back into the news, it's certain to bring back ties of the Glatfelter as the maker of the pages that people so devotedly turn.

But the descendants of Casper Glattfelter - Glatfelters, Gladfelters, Glotfeltys, Clodfelters and Clotfelters - are known for more than papermaking... .

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

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

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

But not all town squares are equal.

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

For example: ... .

This York (Pa.) Gazette story from Aug. 29, 1901, tells about the first night baseball game played in York - and probably York County. Special rules were put in for this game. Background posts: Sons of Union vets seeking relatives of Civil War soldier from U.S. Colored Troops, 32nd Regiment and York's American War Mothers monument captures interest and Adding to York baseball timeline: Revs ready for 'second helping'

Officials are looking for ways to give York's Penn Park new life.

The relatively light use of the city park today can shroud its heavy use throughout history.

For example, it was the place where freedman from the South headed upon reaching York, north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

It housed a large Civil War military hospital.

And, on a lighter note, a ballpark, complete with grandstand, home of a Penn Park team, operated there. It was there that York's first night baseball game was played in late August 1901... .

Hannah Penn Middle School closed early this school year because of confirmed or prospective swine flu cases. Background posts: York community leader: 'We didn't have equal opportunity to achieve' and People mag features York native as a 'Hero Among Us' and 1967 William Penn senior class scored firsts.

Hannah Penn Middle School's place among those York City schools closed by swine flu may cause some to ask about the woman's name on the southeastern school's facade.

Hannah Penn (1671-1726) was the second wife of William Penn, who loaned his name to our state.

Actually, the middle school is the second such building to bear the name of this capable woman, who handled affairs of state for her husband after illness incapacitated him.

Here's a brief summary of York City's middle and high school buildings, according to Jim Rudisill's "York since 1741" and Jim Hubley's "Off The Record:"

Have you driven on Taxville Road in West Manchester Township and been startled by the figure of a Civil War soldier carved out of what used to be an oak tree?

Wonder what's going on there?

Fellow blogger Scott Mingus explains that wooden soldier and his dog stand outside the Civil War-era home of Dr. Jacob Eisenhart... .

York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel captures fellow photographer Bill Schintz as he assesses the prospect of two-way traffic outside his East Market Street photo studio. Background posts: East Market Street's New York Wire factory whistle concert: 'We'd stand out on our driveway to hear it' and Camp Security memories tucked inside memoir and Web site filled with nostalgic Lincoln Highway photos, postcards.

Heavy traffic in post-World War II downtown York prompted the pattern of one-way streets in effect today.

That's the one-way pattern, specifically on East Market Street, that soon will be studied to see if another plan might work.

It was another day when the current traffic patterns were put in place in 1950.

The city's population was at its zenith - about 60,000 people... .

York, Pa.'s, Edgar Fahs Smith Middle School is a favorite site for crowds to gather to watch July 4 fireworks at the York Expo Center. Background posts: York County ... 'A smorgasbord of architectural styles' and Smith students watched skies in WW II and Sports books focus on York High Bearcat boys.

Edgar Fahs Smith Middle School and McKinley Elementary School were the first two York City schools to close because of swine flu concerns.

The name of McKinley is easily traceable to the President William McKinley, who had York County roots.

But Edgar Fahs Smith. Who was he? ... .

York, Pa., attorney Jeffrey C. Bortner is the author of the newly released "Commentaries For Lawyers and Ilk." The book is available at York County libraries. Background post: Essayist profiles champion for the blind and At the blind center: 'The bees have been enjoying this garden, too.' and York County census hike spawns more lawyers.

As the title "Commentaries For Lawyers and Ilk" suggests, longtime York County attorney Jeffrey C. Bortner's new book is filled with lively views and news about the local legal community.

For example, in commenting on how the quadrupling of the number of judges has outstripped population growth since 1950, Bortner opines:

"This grossly disparate growth reflects the unfortunate need for more arbiters to resolve the disputes, enforce the Statutes and clarify the regulations which increasingly characterize, if not paralyze, today's America."

In reviewing books, I like to look for information that an author brings forth that may not be widely known.

Such was the case in Bortner's presentation about Judge Ray P. Sherwood, who served on the local bench from 1928 to 1958... .

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

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

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

We'll provide two views in this post.

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

First from JoAnne: ... .

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

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

But she remembers it well to this day.

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

This York Daily Record/Sunday News graphic represents the location of the series of earthquakes that have been felt in northeastern York County in the past year. So far, the impact of the earthquakes have not been as severe as "A BIG GROUND SWELL" that shook York County in March 1889. Background posts: Northern York area strawberry part of Neapolitan county and Photographer tramps to far reaches of York County and Franklintown second cousin to neighboring Dillsburg.

Recent Dillsburg-area earthquakes have been mere rumblings compared to the most memorable quake to hit York County - in 1889.

The multi-deck headline in the York Gazette on March 9, 1889, tells the story:

"A BIG GROUND SWELL"

"York Shaken by a Bona Fide Earthquake"

"A Tall Local Sensation"

"Bricks Fall From Chimneys And Dishes Rattle"

"BUILDINGS VIBRATE"

"Pianos Emit Weird and Mysterious Sounds"

"The SHAKE AT OTHER POINTS"

"Windows Rattled at Gettysburg - Lancaster and Old Berks Feel the Shock - Baltimore Touched"

"OTHER POINTS FEEL THE TREMOR."

The Gazette reported that the streets were deserted, but as soon as it was felt, men, women and children rushed shrieking into the street... .