Ask Joan: One week to go edition
That’s right, at this time next week, if you’re doing Christmas, you’ll either be opening gifts, or, if you have really little kids, you’ll be FINISHED with them by now!
You ready?
What’s inside
1. Place outside of Red Lion
2. Was it the original star?
3. Trolley right-of-way fun
1. I remember a place on Route 24 on the edge of Red Lion that burned down in the mid ’60s. I sort of thought it was bar. My memory is a little foggy on this.
– Bill Unger, Shrewsbury
Any ideas for Bill? He’ll be sharing some memories of a VERY popular local eatery later this week, so I wanted to see if we could help with this question!
2. The conversation in our family, 70+ years ago indicated that the original star (rumored to have been replaced later) which hung in the York square was made by my grandfather, Charlie T. Kitzmiller, an accomplished carpenter, who was also credited with creating spiral staircases. He worked at a shop located north of the Codorus Creek in an area a bit northwest of the then “Raquet Club” – not sure if the shop was named “Zinn’s”? Can you verify our family conversation and that the star in (the photo seen with today’s post) is the original star? Also, in 1987, William A. Falkler, artist, painted the “Star in the Square, 1950, York, PA,” which was then used for a Christmas greeting – is this the original star?
– Dolores M. Quickel
Christmas is drawing near, so our time to help Dolores “in season,” as it were, is short! I’ve been trying to find any info in our archives on the star, without much success, so I’m hoping someone can point me (and Dolores) in a good direction!
And our last question today is just for fun, and unrelated to the star, but tied in to that same picture from Francis Wark, or at least the trolleys therein. (And you can see another photo of even more downtown trolley activity here.)
3. I’m curious – when all those trolleys converge in the square from different directions at the same time – who has the right-of-way? Does size matter like boats and ships? How is it determined?
– Jo Ott
I found a really interesting post on trolley rush hour – a problem that actually contributed to the demise of this as a form of mass transit – but no clear answer on the rights-of-way at intersections for trolley lines! Any railroading/trolley history buffs who want to enlighten me – and Jo?
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!
