Only in York County

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Catching up with some pop quiz answers

Congrats to two of my favorite readers and commenters for their correct answers to two recent pop quizzes.

Back on Oct. 29, I did a “where in York County were we” challenge that I didn’t think would be very hard at all. Only one answer was submitted, but it was right! Ben Lightner correctly identified that those photos were taken at Jim Mack’s Ice Cream in Hellam Township and Whitecomb’s Farm Market in West Manchester Township during some recent journeys.

Then, in my Nov. 4 post celebrating the history of Mount Wolf, I asked what borough in York County was incorporated the earliest – “oldest” if you will.

That was a fun one! Dianne gave what, as near as we can tell, is the correct answer – Hanover is the oldest of the 36 present boroughs, incorporated in 1815. We confirmed that in Bruce Rebert’s 1976 book, “Hanover, PA. 1776-1976: A commemorative history of borough affairs.”

However, the York County official website lists the municipalities and their founding dates and gives a different answer. According to their list, Lewisberry would be the oldest, with an 1832 founding date; they attribute Hanover’s incorporation to 1856.

The county website’s list of boroughs and incorporated dates is:

Cross Roads October 6, 1899
Dallastown August 31, 1866
Delta June 24, 1880
Dillsburg April 9, 1833
Dover November 11, 1864
East Prospect August 13, 1873
Fawn Grove October 10, 1881
Felton May 8, 1899
Franklintown April 29, 1869
Glen Rock August 29, 1859
Goldsboro August 23, 1864
Hallam May 25, 1908
Hanover April 29, 1856
Jacobus November 29, 1929
Jefferson December 11, 1866
Lewisberry April 2, 1832
Loganville April 8, 1852
Manchester August 27, 1869
Mount Wolf August 23, 1910
New Freedom May 2, 1873
New Salem July 24, 1876
North York April 17, 1899
Railroad August 31, 1871
Red Lion January 16, 1880
Seven Valleys August 23, 1892
Shrewsbury April 9, 1834
Spring Grove August 28, 1882
Stewartstown February 24, 1853
Wellsville November 14, 1892
West York June 20, 1904
Windsor July 3, 1905
Winterstown January 2, 1871
Wrightsville April 14, 1834
Yoe October 23, 1893
Yorkana August 26, 1912
York Haven December 1, 1892

So, we have another York County, Pa., history mystery – where did the 1856 date given on the county site come from?? I looked through that Bruce Rebert history book, thinking maybe something else of note happened on that date, but I didn’t find anything. Any ideas?

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