Ask Joan: C’mon, Spring edition
It’s sleeting here in West Manchester Township. C’mon, spring!!
What’s inside
1. More info on Anstine’s Hotel
2. Some details about Eddie Herr
3. Seeking restaurants’ ham barbecue recipe
1. Quite some time back, I had a question on the former “Anstine’s Hotel” in Windsor Township, asked by Ethel M. Keller of Red Lion.
Paul Ilyes Jr. shared some information on the Freysville area, where the hotel was and where the building still stands, from his own research. He writes, “Freysville got started by a Conrad Frey in 1735. The Freysville road was a short cut around York when hauling freight, mostly whiskey, from Lancaster to Baltimore. The Pomeroy Whitman 1876 York County Atlas shows on that site a school, but no name. The map also shows a Mrs. Anstine’s Freysville Inn on the other side of the same road and north about 1,000 feet. I believe this is the current Taylor’s residence. Now is this the Anstine school you referred to in your article, since it was so close to their Inn? I don’t know but the reason I ask is the Clintons, who were the last owners, advised the hotel was built by a Daniel Anstine. It was only open for about 6 months due to the fact that it was closed due to its location being to close to the church and so it was illegal to serve liquor. He then closed the hotel and went into the cigar business. Also, Daniel’s wife, Tillie, was a good friend of Mrs. Clinton’s grandmother. I agree it is a shame to let it go downhill like this. About half of the barn was cut off and the front yard with its iron fence and light are gone due to the state putting in the new intersection. It would be a great place to restore and open to the public. I tried to find a date on the outsdide but was not able to. Hope this helps Ethel.”
Jeffrey Clinton said, “I briefly interviewed the owners of this house in 1995. They purchased it from a man named Earl Landis sometime after WWII. Before that time they associated the property with a man named Edward Flury and also a Phillip Stein. They stated it was used as a hotel and was built by a man named Anstine. It was also said by the owner ‘that covered wagons came through here and watered horses.’ They also stated the inn served no spirits since it was so close to the church. In the 1876 atlas of Windsor, near the intersection are found the words ‘Mrs. Anstine’s Frysville Inn’ and nearby ‘P. Stine’ is also noted.”
And one final piece of information came from Michael P. West of Scottsdale, Arizona, who was corresponding with June Grove of Dover, who was writing to June Lloyd of Universal York, who shared the information with me! (Is this reminiscent of a party line?)
Their information is compiled as follows: “Ethel recalls a ‘Till’ or ‘Tillie’ Anstine from 1938. That would have been Matilda Sechrist (b. Oct. 9, 1860, d. Dec. 31, 1943), the widow of Daniel Anstine (b. Jul. 7, 1855 d. Nov. 18, 1915). Daniel’s bio is found on page 201 of Gibson and, yes, he was involved in the cigar business. Daniel’s parents were Simon Anstine (b. Jan 25, 1824, d. Nov. 7, 1870) and Elizabeth Smith (b. May 6, 1832, d. Mar. 5, 1919). Elizabeth was the sister of Simon Smith (b. Mar. 9, 1816, d. May 10, 1874) who married Anna Tome (b. Sept. 4, 1816, d. Sept. 4, 1859). I suspect that she named Daniel after her father, Daniel Smith (b. July 14, 1788, d. July 24, 1865). Anna’s brother was Isaac Tome, the father of Elizabeth Tome Plantholt. Here is Daniel’s tombstone, and here is Matilda’s.”
Thanks to all for their research into this property!
2. Another earlier question from Ivan Gromling asked about memories of Eddie Herr’s beer distributorship.
Steve Ness wrote and said, “Wow, does that bring back memories! If memory serves me right, it was located on East Market street, adjoining the Lincoln Woods Inn property, with Dino’s where Perkins is now and Bury’s down the street. The reason I remember it so well is that both my uncle, Frederick E. Braner (deceased) and my great uncle Frank Leonard Sr. (deceased) worked there. Uncle Fred drove a beer truck and uncle Frank worked at the stables. Yes, Mr. Herr had a multi-stall stable, complete with race track. His pride and joy was a palomino stallion named ‘Man O Copper.’ Uncle Frank got me my very first job there, I would walk the track after it was raked and pick up any stones that might have been dislodged during workouts. I was 8 years old and thought I’d get rich! 25 cents per bucket of stones… LOL. At least enough for one of ‘Joe’s’ famous burgers in sauce!”
My friend Betsy Baird said, “Eddie Herr’s Beer Distribution House is familiar to me. When I was born, we lived right above his apartment, 34 N. George St. His was above the Town Tavern. His name is still at the top, embedded in the marble (WHY can’t they get that building in better looks, and it’s right in Downtown York!) Anyway, Mother said I liked to play with the buttons on his jacket. And he had gold faucets on one (or more) of his sinks. He then built the first ranch-type house in York, at 2600 East Market St. The one building standing at the edge of the land where the Holiday Inn is on East Market St., aside of the old Lincoln Woods, now Fat Daddy’s Night Club, was one of his places. It is now a hair salon. Where the Holiday Inn (Mexican food) stands, he had his main ranch-type house. He had his beer distributor operations at that tract of land. In addition, he had race horses. That building was later, moved to the corner of Eastern Blvd. and Edgewood Drive. It’s now occupied by a dental office. Mother and I said it never looked as graceful at its present location as it did among all the trees on East Market St. Eddie also had an insurance agency on North George St. I still have blotters with pictures of women dressed in the Coca Cola fashion of the early years.”
I also put Ivan in touch with some Herr family members who responded, and I hope they’ll be able to share even more info between them!
3. Would like recipe for Melvin’s or Avalong’s ham barbecue sandwiches.
– Shez
Any recipe ideas for Shez? I LOVE ham barbecue, so I’d love to hear as well!
Got any questions? Ask Joan using the form at right. I’ll attempt to answer them in a future “Ask Joan” column on this blog. I get a large volume, but I will feature three each week and answer as many as possible!
