Recently in York Safe & Lock Category

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... .

The circled area in this aerial photograph of the Harley-Davidson plant in Springettsbury Township, Pa., shows the location of munitions pits excavated in 2004. (See additional photograph below.) Also of interest: Three views of York's Naval Ordnance Depot/AMF/Harley-Davidson plants and All Harley-Davidson posts from the start and Hiker finds remote foundation in York narrows.

Harley-Davidson's recent thumbs up or thumbs down decision on its future in Springettsbury Township was big news in York County. (It's thumbs up.)

But the plant has made headlines for years, really since its older part was built in World War II.

U.S. presidents have viewed it as an opportune place to visit. There's been a good deal of labor-management fighting.

Almost forgotten was an event about five years ago in which the Springettsbury Township site made headlines for no reason of its own. An issue formed behind what Harley's predecessors left behind.

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' munitions team moved in after suspected munitions were uncovered as Harley officials surveyed land for possible parking sites... .

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... .

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

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

They meet every year at Glatfelter Station to renew acquaintances.

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

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

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

People leave Harley-Davidson's Springettsbury Township, Pa.'s, plant on the day that workers learned that 300 would be cut from the work force. (See additional photos below.) Background posts: Presidential visit No. 3: Bush makes like Bono, AMF-Harley in York, by the numbers and AMP's and AMF's alphabet soup spilled in same small town.

Since 1942, news has flowed from the Springettsbury Township plant that has housed York Safe & Lock, Blaw-Knox, Naval Ordnance Depot, AMF and Harley-Davidson.

Three strikes (1969, 1991, 2007). Three presidential visits (1987, 1999, 2006). Now 300 to be trimmed from Harley's ranks.

There's more.. .

York Safe and Lock's S. Forry Laucks, second from right, is shown in this clipping from 1906. He was part of the initial slate of officers of the York Manufacturers' Association. They are, from left, John C. Schmidt, president of Standard Chain Co. and Schmidt and Ault Paper Co.; Thomas Shipley, York Manufacturing Company; Laucks; and Francis Farquhar, A.B. Farquhar Co. Background posts: The old-time York County community bank: 'They know me by sight and voice', York, Pa. made big, heavy things - and was immensely proud of it and New Freedom station houses alien safe.

Some news accounts say that the current down economy is pushing up the sale of safes.

According to a York Daily Record story (11/9/08), safe business locally is steady but not explosive. The idea is that when the stock market is down, people want gold and other valuables in "safe" places.

Steady business was not the case in the Great Depression, at least not for York Safe and Lock... .

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

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

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

President Reagan visited Springettsbury Township's Harley-Davidson plant in 1987, the first of a series of chief executives to mug at the York County, Pa., plant. That's Harley employee Eric Myers on the bike. Presidential visit No. 1: Mr. Reagan goes to Harley, Presidential visit No. 2: Clinton hugs Harley and Presidential visit No. 3: Bush makes like Bono.

Continuing the series of telling York County, Pa.'s, history through images: ... .

York (Pa.) Ice Machinery Corporation, later York Corporation and today owned by Johnson Controls, served as a catalyst for the York Plan. Yorkco chairman William S. Shipley headed the York Manufacturers Association, which promoted the sharing of machinery and manpower to land large World War II defense contracts. Here, condensers are lined up on Yorkco's shop floor. Background posts: York made big, heavy things and was immensely proud of it, The bomb: 'And yet it stopped the war' and 'Her words helped win the war'.

Continuing the series of iconic photos - photos that capture layered moments - from York County, Pa.:

Plans are moving ahead for an October reunion of 1960s bands that played at White Oak Park. Meanwhile, memories of the park continue to flow to York Town Square. Background posts: Stadium will be site of The Oaks music reunion, York-area full of memory-spawning landmarks and White Oak Park welcomed Blaw-Knox workers .

For many years, Jane Heller's grandfather, Oliver Lease, ran White Oak Park, that nostalgia-inducing recreational center located in the area where the Masonic Lodge now sits, along the Susquehanna Trail, north of York.

Jane shared memories of "The Oaks" via an e-mail conversation: ...

This big World War II mobile siege gun represented the legacies of two industrial giants. Neighboring factories S. Morgan Smith Co. and York Corporation jointly constructed the gun, which could lob 240-pound shells at targets 30 miles away. Background posts: Glatfelter, Morgan Smith head industrial legacy list and 'Little Johnny' called for Allies in World War II.

In a recent York Sunday New column titled "Contributors bring history to life (see below)," I muse about how York County factories historically have made big things and worked hard to tell the world about them.

I tied it to the recent sale of Bradley Lifting, which made big, heavy devices that helped lift big, heavy things.

I went on a riff like this: ... .

Harvey Bradley, who built his York company, Bradley Lifting, from scratch has sold his company to an out-of-town outfit. Here, Bradley is seen with a giant hook in 2007. His company fabricates the block that the hook will be hung from. Background posts: Glatfelter, Farquhar, Shipley: Insights from local greats, Who will lead York in the future? and Samuel Small tops community contributor list.

Harvey Bradley is a living example of some of York County's past captains of industry.

He started with few resources, except perhaps the most important, an entrepreneurial spirit. He built big things... .

This photo shows two quad (that's eight guns) 40 mm anti-aircraft Bofors made at Blaw-Knox Special Ordnance Division plant during World War II. Those guns were America's best defense against Japanese suicide attacks late in the war. Today, the York Safe and Lock-made Blaw-Knox plant is incorporated into Harley-Davidson's sprawling complex. Background posts: AMF-Harley in York, by the numbers and York Safe & Lock worker recalls chat with Hedy Lamarr.

The York Safe & Lock / Blaw-Knox Special Ordnance Division / Naval Ordnance Division / AMF / Harley-Davidson plant near the Narrows north of York has always been associated with robust output.

That's why it has been visited by admirals and U.S. presidents.

But how robust is robust?...

In this 2004 photo, George Leader hands an ornamental chicken to Paul Masenheimer, who painted his nursing home - Providence Place - in York County's Dover Township. Leader bought the chicken to place outside the nursing home and to serve as a reminder of the link between chickens and the Leader family. His father was a renowned chicken breeder, and Leader began his career running a chicken hatchery. Background posts: Author muscles way into York's weightlifting, bodybuilding world and Gov. George Leader cleared dam plan.

York County Register of Wills Bradley C. Jacobs, a Dover-area native, pointed to several achievers to add to those that I pointed out in my column, Dover home to many achievers.

He particularly pointed to George Leader, the only Pennsylvania governor to come from York County. Leader grew up in York Township - Leader Heights. But after serving in World War II, Leader operated a chicken hatchery in Dover Township. That was his day job as he launched a political career... .

It would have been interesting to see this batter slide in his business suit in this photograph taken at a Blaw-Knox Special Ordnance Division picnic on July 29, 1945, at White Oak Park, north of York. Blaw-Knox succeeded York Safe & Lock near the Codorus narrows, east of the park site. AMF and Harley-Davidson followed Blaw-Knox at the plant. The park also accommodated dances with live bands in the 1960s. Background posts: Memories about 'The Oaks' pile up, Wanted: Old photos of teen hangout White Oaks Park and The Dell: 'It was like family'.

The promoters of a compilation CD of bands that played at White Oak Park Dances in the 1960s has a release date.

Oct. 18, 2008.

In an e-mail, Phil Schwartz wrote:

"The release of the CD is being timed to coincide with an even bigger event: a White Oak reunion... ."

Blaw-Knox Special Ordnance Division employees mug for the camera in 1944 in a rally to raise morale - and production - during World War II. The Navy sold the plant to American Machine and Foundry in 1963. Today, Harley-Davidson occupies the plant. 'Hog' label linked to Harley for 80-something years and 'Harley's Journey a Good Ride'.

AMF - the forerunner of Harley-Davidson in York - is back in the news.

The Brunswick Corp. bowling pin manufacturing plant in Antigo Wis., is closing.

That leaves QubicaAMF in Lowville, N.Y., as the last manufacturer of bowling pins in the United States... .

Founder A.B. Farquhar (in portrait) appears to be overseeing the sale of his 95-year-old company in 1951. William J. Fisher, seated, Farquhar president, and his son, Edward H. Fisher, sold the company to Oliver Corporation. Farquhar executives cited the difficulty of independent medium-sized companies trying to do business through depressions, wars and war threats. Other York County companies also started selling to large, out-of-town interests in those years. Interestingly, the trend today is not only to sell to larger, out-of-town companies but then some of that work is moved not only out of town but out of the country. Background posts: York County agrarianism vs. industrialization, Part I and York's western gate: One image says so much.

Around York, community service organizations are concerned about where leadership - and funding - will come from after a group of aging philanthropists who have made things happen for years pass on.

In a York Sunday News column, I explored options and even named names, taking a long historical detour along the way... .

American Machinery and Foundry, best known to York County as occupant of the former York Safe & Lock factory after Naval Ordnance Plant and before Harley-Davidson, started in Hanover and became an international company. Its first plant was located on East Middle Street in Hanover until it burned down in 1903, leaving a ruin shown here in this August 1967 AMF newsletter. Background post: From Bofors to bikes, Harley plant top hog, Where was the arsenal on Arsenal Road? and Glen Rock marked site of AMP/Tyco's first Pa. plant.

AMP, now Tyco, opened its first Pennsylvania factory in Glen Rock.

AMF started in Hanover. It became best-known as the owner of the former York Safe & Lock plant, which later became Naval Ordnance Plant. Among other products that AMF made at its new plant after 1974 were Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

And AMF had a plant in Glen Rock, too

AMF and AMP in the same town.

Imagine trying to explain to relatives a change in job from one to the other... .

This was the first graphic or photograph to appear with a York Town Square post, accompanying York Market House No. 5 - Carlisle Avenue Market, revisited in April 2006. Incidentally, that the present-day Dreamwrights building was built as a farmers market still surprises folks. Background posts: There were 5, count 'em, 5 York markets and Don't know much about (York market) history?.

The year 2007 saw visitors to this blog increase exponentially over the previous two years we've been posting.

We hope you are enjoying each day's history lesson. The numbers, increased commenting and e-mails suggest you are.

A list of best, first and most popular posts at this blog follows:

The Civil War-era U.S. Army General Hospital became a major site for treatment because of its proximity to Virginia and Maryland, where many battles took place, and its location on a major rail line. Here, convalescents pose in one of the hospital wards at the Penn Park complex. The military hospital is an example of a York County history topic awaiting study. Background posts: Civil War nurse: 'Dogs of War in our midst' and Not all rebel wounded suffered after Gettysburg.

Many people use New Year's to kick off historical research projects.

My York Sunday News column Looking for a local history research project? probed several topics ripe for research focusing on York's Civil War-era military hospital.

The following is a sampling of topics from York County history awaiting further exploration or publication of existing research:

Marta VanZandt, co-owner of Morgan Jewelers, shows off a York Safe and Lock strongbox in the downtown York business. The store is closing, the third such shop to close in the past two years. Background posts: Buildings reveal a bit about York and York Safe restoration 'once in lifetime' project.

As late as 1968, the book "Greater York in Action," boasted that Futer Bros. Jewelers, on York's Continental Square, housed two floors of quality gifts.

That business was located in the Hartman Building, for years the tallest building west of the Susquehanna River. The building had recently been chopped from six stories to three, but what it lost in height, it had gained in appearance, the York Area Chamber of Commerce book stated.

Futer Bros., in York's downtown since 1932, closed that store in 2006... .

Col. Paul W. Tibbets, with the B-29 Superfortress bomber the Enola Gay, the plane he piloted in dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on during World War II. Tibbets, who had named the plane after his mother, died recently in Columbus, Ohio. Background post: Publishing legend Gitt vocal about nuclear power.

York countians helped with parts of the Manhattan Project. And at least one York countian saw the destruction wreaked by the second bomb, the one that hit Nagasaki.

Lt. Paul Hyde, a York Corporation employee, was navigating a Coast Guard-manned landing craft that was greeted with a tench as his craft moored in Nagasaki's harbor....

My book "In the thick of the fight" described this scene: "Soon after Pearl Harbor, York (Pa.) Corporation President Stewart Lauer stood on a truck bed to tell workers the world was embroiled in a war of ships and machines. And a modern war machine can't keep going without refrigeration. That speech and others in York Corporation's shop marks Yorkco's commitment to stick to the knitting -- cooling and refrigeration equipment for the Allies. Although the company did produce ordnance, the refrigeration it produced -- for example, to preserve food on big ships crossing great oceans -- aided the war effort." And one other project made a difference in the war: Yorkco was involved in the Manhattan Project. Background post: "Little Johnny" called for Allies in World War II and Her words helped win the war'.

The death of Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbets prompts York County connections to the atomic bomb:

- Jack Yeaple was aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis when it went down after a Japanese torpedo attack. The Indianapolis had just dropped off atomic bomb parts and was on to another mission. Yeaple was perhaps the last York countian to die in World War II... .

The missing historical marker that marked the spot of Camp Security is missing. The sign stated: 'Stockade built in 1781 by Col. Jas. Wood on land of Daniel Brubaker. British Troops of Burgoyne's army imprisoned here guarded by York County militia. The camp was about a mile to the south.' Background post: Camp Security memories tucked inside memoirs.

The presence of the missing Camp Security marker is a story in itself.

The marker is one of more than 15 American Revolution-related markers dotting greater York.

The prevalance of these markers underscores the area's rightful love affair with its Revolutionary War past. In contrast, the number of markers pointing to Civil War sites is one or two.

It could be three, but a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Web site says that a marker pointing to Gen. Jubal Early's march through the Weigelstown area is also missing.

Thus, these signs can be viewed as artifacts that, taken as a whole, point to the way the community sees itself. That surrender to the invading Confederates in those pre-Gettysburg days of 1863 is long remembered - or maybe intentionally forgotten.

But what is not as easily explained is the dearth of World War II markers... .

This pedestrian bridge provided a shortcut for North Yorkers walking to York Safe & Lock and other factories on the other side of Codorus Creek. 'That bridge was way down at the end of the (Small's) meadow, built, I guess, by the York Safe and Lock Co.,' Raymond Sechrist wrote in his book "Skinny Dipping in the Codorus"." Background post: York Safe and Lock faltered after founder's death.

Games at York's new baseball stadium are causing people to make the trip from Small Field and North York in greater numbers since the heyday of York Safe & Lock in the first half of the 20th century.

In those days when people walked to work, a pedestrian swinging bridge crossed the Codorus Creek about 3/4 of a mile east of the North George Street Bridge.

Here's how Raymond Sechrist described the bridge:

Four-foot-tall "Little Johnny" is shown with 250-pound Charles Chester Stine during a visit to York Corporation during World War II. York Corporation played role in Manhattan Project and All Johnson Controls/York Corporation posts from the start and York County sacrificed on homefront and war front to aid Allies in World War II.

Hedy Lamarr made a well-publicized visit to York Safe & Lock to promote war bond sales in 1942.

A lot of people remember that visit.

York Corporation, another giant defense contractor, also brought in a celebrity to raise morale and investment in war bonds.

That was "Little Johnny" of Philip Morris cigarette fame... .

The New Freedom Train Station welcomed thousands of visitors as the first stop in Pennsylvania on the Northern Central Railroad. Now rehabbed with interesting exhibits and a caboose tour, the station welcomes scores of visitors each week of a different sort - riders along the York County rail trail. A small museum now occupies the right side of the station and the left side plays host to a snack bar for rail trail users.

The renovated New Freedom Train Station is a community treasure. But its interior bears something that is decidely not York County.

Its longtime safe was not made in York County by venerable York Safe & Lock... .

This Farm Security Administration photograph from 1942 shows a York Safe & Lock worker listening for defects during the grinding of a powder chamber for a thirty-seven-millimeter gun. "Site of this production is a former lock and safe company now converted to manufacture of weapons for victory," the photo's caption states.

The recent Floorola and past York Safe & Lock posts have drawn on a wonderful repository of Depression- and World War II-era photographs from the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information archives.

These are among the most famous documentary photographs produced. And FSA photogs covered York County and elsewhere in Central Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland ... .

A Floorola Products employee, a former weaver and repairer of looms, assembled small parts for gun mounts.

Al Savard, sav4940@comcast.net, works for Motion Industries, owner of the old Floorola Building at 560 Maryland Avenue.

He read my York Sunday News column that touched on World War II's York Plan and is seeking information on Floorola.

The company is a good example of a local factory that effectively retooled for defense purposes and benefited from cooperative agreements with other York companies to score large defense contracts - the York Plan.

I included some information and photos on Floorola in my World War II history "In the thick of the fight" and Georg Sheets had a brief explanation about the company in his "Made in York:"

York native Jacob L. Devers, third from left, surveys Hitler's home in Berchtesgaden, Germany. Devers' men helped capture this hideaway, 'Eagle's Nest.' From left, Sgt. John Turnipseed, from Devers' staff; Gen. Wade H. Haislip, commanding general of the 6th Corps, and Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, 101st Airborne Division, join Devers. Ken Burns' is exploring heroes like these in "The War," broadcast at 8 p.m. today and Tuesday at 9 p.m. Wednesday on WITF-TV (Ch. 33) and WMPB-TV (Ch. 67).

The airing of Ken Burns' "The War" prompted me to write a primer on local World War II highlights in the York Sunday News.

I included my two favorite local stories as part of that piece, titled "York/Adams residents contributed to 'The War.'"

The first one brings together the type of contributions to the "Arsenal of Democracy" by farm and factory:

Factory space is so scarce in York that one small businessman, Charles Coffey, set up a machine shop in the end of City Market, where farmers still sold their wares. He crafted parts for York Safe & Lock machines that, in turn, made armor plates.

The City Market, now demolished, was the largest and most ornate of the five covered market houses in York.

This was, indeed, an example of farm and factory literally working together... .

You never know who you're run into when you're out giving speeches.

I was at West Manchester's Country Meadows recently doing a presentation on York County and World War II.

A resident at the assisted living place stood up and proceeded to tell the audience about meeting Hedy Lamarr during her visit to York Safe & Lock, now occupied by Harley-Davidson, in 1942. (See Hedy Lamarr's visit to York long remembered.)

C. Clark Julius sat beside her during a program to drum up War Bond sales. He conjectured that he must have been a big giver to have received such an honor.

I asked him what he remembered about the beautiful actress, and he immediately said that she talked a lot -- the whole time in fact... .

That's a curious thing to remember about Hedy Lamarr... .

Reader queries and comments about York Safe & Lock strongboxes continue to hit this blog.

Please comment below if you can answer this question: ...

An owner of a vintage strongbox from York Safe & Lock is seeking information about it.

One note about this particular safe made by the venerable and now-defunct York County manufacturer that differentiates it from those owned by several others who have made queries to this blog: the owner has the combination to open this safe.

If you can help, e-mail the inquirer directly or comment below:

I am trying to obtain historical information about a vintage York safe which
I have had for many years. Only recently have I studied it carefully and
decided to try to find out more about its history and value.

This safe is in mint condition, measuring 21" in depth, 22" in width, and
32" in height... .

Blaw-Knox's Naval Ordnance Depot, successor of York Safe & Lock, was one of the newsmakers that occupied a spot in Codorus narrows north of World War II-era York. The area where the creek cuts through the hills has long been a site of activity in York County, including home of current occupant of the old Naval Ordnance building, Harley-Davidson. Here, servicemen from Philadelphia's Naval Incentive Division "inspect" Twin Bofors, 400 mm anti-aircraft guns, with the aid of some women workers. (For a look at Quad Bofors, see photograph below.)

An e-mailer responded to my recent column on the Codorus narrows with some memories:

Living away from York for many years, I particularly enjoy reading
your excellent historical pieces on my hometown.

Your recent piece on the Codorus Narrows brought to mind a visit home
a few years ago, when I woke to the sight of excavation on the
hillside directly west from our family home. The hill, long being
gobbled up by a quarry on the creekside had been scraped clear for a
townhouse development to the east and south... .

Hedy Lamarr stumps for bond sales at York Safe & Lock's ordnance plant in 1942. Those buildings make up part of Harley-Davidson's Springettsbury Township complex.

Hedy Lamarr's visit to York Safe & Lock's naval ordnance plant in 1942 was one of many landmark events occurring at that site.

"I came here to sell war bonds. You came here to see what that 'dame' Hedy Lamarr looks like. Hitler and Hirohito are not interested in that," she told the crowd... .

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

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

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

The owner of Round the Clock Diner is developing this neighborhood across the road. A Sheetz convenience store will be constructed there.

The struggling residential neighborhood southeast of the Interstate 83 and Route 30 intersection will someday be smooshed to make way for something else. See wrecking ball.

Perhaps it was inevitable that the stranded neighborhood would wither. I-83 severed its connection with North York, and it's surrounded by highway, businesses and the Codorus Creek.

Driving its uneven streets, the neighborhood is a bit like a village that time forgot. Roads that previously ran into North York dead end at the interstate. An uninviting walkway or drainage culvert or some such tunnels under the highway... .

Workers produced Bofors anti-aircraft guns at the Special Ordnance Division plant, now part of Harley-Davidson's complex, during WWII.

Decades before market leader Harley-Davidson operated out of its Springettsbury plant, another top-of-category company occupied the complex.

First, it was York Safe & Lock and later Blaw-Knox Special Ordnance Division, and their prime product was Bofors guns. You know, Ack-Acks, the guns on ships that you see in World War II movies.

The 40-mm anti-aircraft guns represented the Navy's response to Japanese Kamikaze planes.

The double- and quad-mounted York County-made guns are credited with bringing down Kamakaze planes at a rate of 32 a minute in Pacific Theater fighting.

Some facts about Bofors, according to a Naval Ordnance Plant publication, February 1946: ...

Gerald Smith works on a 37mm gun mount for use in World War II.

A photo of York Safe & Lock's Gerald Smith illustrated my column in the York Sunday News showing how owner S. Forry Laucks revved up his company to gain World War II defense contracts.

It drew a neat e-mail from Gerald's daughter, Joyce Fix:

York, Pa.'s artisan Othmar Carli shows off latest restoration project, a 5,000 pound steel safe. Background posts: The bomb: 'And yet it stopped the war', Noted photo archive captures York County treasures, Women's Club of York (another Carli project): 'No one knew it really looked like this' and Othmar Carli: 'Restoration is much better than selling shoes to make a living'.

Was it worth $10,000 to restore a York Safe & Lock-made box to vintage condition?

York County invested that much in its Recorder of Deeds safe. Well-known historical restorationist and York resident Othmar Carli and two others did the work.

The short answer is yes... .

Eric Wise, a reader with many interests, picked up on York Town Square posts on York Safe & Locks. ("York Safe & Lock faltered after founder's death;" "York safes durable, beautiful.")

They reminded him of his grandfather's story about the streets of post-World War II Tokyo: ...

This is the view of the wide stretch of the Susquehanna River from Highpoint, part of York Safe & Lock owner Forry Laucks' Lauxmont estate. Easy access to the river from both the York and Lancaster county sides made the river between Wrightsville and Columbia a crossroads - and a part of many key phases of this region's past. That's the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge in the foreground and the Wright's Ferry Bridge up river. Background posts: When the bridge over the Codorus moved, New Freedom station houses alien safe, The bomb: 'And yet it stopped the war' and Noted photo archive captures York County treasures.

My York Sunday News column "The Susquehanna River runs near it" tells about the life and death of York Safe & Lock's S. Forry Laucks.

What happened to York Safe & Lock after his death in 1942?...

S. Forry Laucks' name has appeared in several York Town Square posts, in part, because he was such a player in early 20th century York County.

His legacy includes:

-- Harley-Davidson uses part of his York Safe & Lock plant to make motorcycles. That particular plant made Bofors, the main anti-aircraft gun used on Navy ships in World War II. Ask any Navy vet from that era about Bofors.

-- His Lauxmont Farm, overlooking the Susquehanna River, is a current point of controversy between those who want to develop parts of it and those who want to turn it into a park.

But that's not all of his legacy: ...

Forry Laucks, the original owner of Lauxmont farms now part of a park controversy, was himself controversial.

The contrarian owner of York Safe & Lock was a Democrat in the 1920s and 1930s when many York County factory owners were Republican. He was a pioneer at getting government contracts for defense work during buildup to World War II, but it took W.S. Shipley from York Ice Machinery and York Corporation, to mold such collaborative efforts into the York Plan.

He was at home on the farm and factory. He had a downtown residence as well as his Lauxmont mansion.

He loved York, but spent much time in New York.

Fortune published a profile, "Up to Lauxmont," shortly before Laucks' death in 1942, which captured a bit of the Laucks' legend. An excerpt follows: ...

Recent news service stories told of phony Medals of Honor for sale on the Web. People who have never served in uniform are wearing, making or selling the coveted award.

True recipients of the honor are, indeed, scarce. In my studies of area history, I've only run across two local men in uniform who received this highest of all honors... .

Over the years, someone with excess white paint camouflaged the 1880s-vintage red brick Loucks School. That plus other alterations has made the West Manchester Township building hard to identify as a former one-room school

That’s not the only way the building and its surroundings have changed.

It’s a white-glove event that intrigues every year. The York County Heritage Trust’s “Treasures of the Trust" brings to public view items from its collection not currently on display.

It featured a range of items, including stuffed animals sent by Harold E. Miller to his daughter, Jean, shortly before the soldier was killed in World War II Europe.

Roy Young, a former York Safe and Lock worker, had donated a 37 mm M-51 tank shell manufactured at this major World War II defense plant, now home to Harley-Davidson.

Those attending also saw Fiebing’s Saddle Soap, used to care for saddles and harnesses of horses used to pull fire equipment in turn-of-the-20th-century York. The soap kept the leather from drying out.

And all kinds of other neat stuff, plus tours of storage areas. ...

The explosive Adhesives Research fire a couple of weeks ago near Potosi brings a question about how the Springfield Township crossroads got its name.

Fifty years ago, John D. Kilbourne, Historical Society of York County director, put forth an answer.

He had received an inquiry from a Wisconsin resident, who was trying to link mining with other towns in the Americas called Potosi. Kilbourne wrote back that iron ore mining occurred in the 1880s in the township, and the Potosi Post Office was established there in 1901.

Jerry Ambrose wondered recently about why York’s stretch of Route 30 is known as Arsenal Road.

I wasn't aware of a true arsenal ever being there.

I checked with a local historian, and she confirmed my best thinking.

During World War II, York Safe and Lock, later operated by the U.S. Navy and Blaw-Knox, made Bofors anti-aircraft guns. These guns were widely used on Navy ships. (Part of the Harley-Davidson plant now occupies this building,)

A second explanation might come from the U.S. Army Reserves facility near Route 30.

If anyone can enlighten Jerry — and me — on this, please post.

York Corporation, later York International and Johnson Controls, made essential machinery for the production of plutonium as part of the Manhattan Project.

So reports longtime Dallastown resident Charlie Raab, who worked as a metallurgist for York Corporation during World War II. The Manhattan Project produced the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945... .