Only in York County

I couldn’t believe how many responses I got – and how quickly they came in – following my last column. So, today, I want to share some of the great information I received on two topics we just discussed!

What’s inside

1. Following up on pizza shop
2. Giving more WORK transmitter details

1. Following up on pizza shop

Reader Daniel McMaster had wanted to know the name of a pizza shop at the York Mall, presently home to Walmart and Sam’s Club and earlier, a home to many other stores and restaurants.

Rick Moul was the first to respond, noting, “Luca’s Pizza was at the York Mall in the ’70s.” That was seconded by a reader who did not give their name, but who noted that before it was Luca’s, it was called the Purple Cow.

Scott Pennewell also recalled Luca’s. He wrote, “It was on the Penney’s end of the mall. Excellent deep dish slices!”

A reader named Liz remembers an earlier time. She writes, “Could this person be asking about one of the first pizza restaurants in the York area? The era was the late ’50s or early ’60s. The restaurant had red checked tablecloths and a winebottles stuffed with a candle. It was charming but I don’t remember the name. The restaurant faced Market Street.”

I’m curious whether that was Luca’s, the Purple Cow or something else!

I also heard another possible name from Louise Kline. She noted, “If I remember correctly, when I was in high school in the 1970s, there was a pizza place called Marsala at the York Mall. I went to York Catholic High School and Joe Marsala was in my class. His family owned the business and he worked there too.”

She continued, “In the summer, my friends and I would meet at the mall and go to a movie at the cinema by Montgomery Ward. After that we would walk up to Marsala for pizza and soda. It was a narrow shop with small tables down one side and the counter/oven/work area on the opposite side. Good food and good memories with friends.”

I would love to hear more about the Marsala era as well!

Perhaps my favorite story about this business goes back to the Luca’s name, and came from Stephanie Kin. Stephanie wrote, “My husband and I believe that the pizza restaurant in question at the York Mall was Luca’s. We first spotted one another there in 1980 (even though we didn’t speak to one another at that point). We’ve been married 38 years in June!”

Stephanie, thanks for sharing that – and happy anniversary to you and your husband!

2.Giving more WORK transmitter details

Also in that recent column, John Berkheimer had asked about where the WORK radio station transmitter would have been from about 1946 to 1960.

That, too, drew some great responses!

John Simmers wrote, “The WORK (now WOYK) transmitter site is at the same location it’s always been, 141 N. Emig Mill Road in West Manchester Township. The station’s three towers are visible from Route 30 West. WORK signed on in 1932. I was a DJ at WORK’s successor, WZIX, in the 1970s when it featured a popular Top 40 format. The studios were on the second floor of 13 S. Beaver St., where they had been since 1932. The space had cavernous ceilings and had been a ballroom in the 1920s. Around 1978, the studios were moved to 2 W. Market St. on the square.”

Chris Wagman of York noted, “The three towers and the transmitter building were – and still are – located in West Manchester Township along Emig Mill Road. WORK came on the air in the 1930s; the call letters were changed to WZIX in the 1970s and to WOYK in the 1980s. The station has been broadcasting at 1350 AM since 1941, and recently added a translator at 98.9 FM. It is now owned by York Professional Baseball – The York Revolution. WOYK is the only locally owned radio station and the only radio station broadcasting local sports coverage. More history details can be found on the station’s website.” (That’s 989woyk.com/stationhistory.)

Joyce Moul noted also that WORK has become WOYK, and shared a webpage with the specific coordinates for the towers – radio-locator.com/info/WOYK-AM.

And finally, Jay wrote to me on behalf of the West Manchester Township Historical Society. He noted, “West Manchester Township commercial communication – In the early 1930s, WORK, York’s first commercial broadcasting station, erected their transmitting towers west of York in West Manchester Township. The towers and transmitter are located a half-mile north of U.S. Route 30 on the west side of North Emig Mill Road, just down the road past the old consolidated school building. Some of the first engineers who operated the transmitter were Willis Weaver, Merle Miller and Wayne Secat, who lived in the adjacent house. This house in earlier days was the third Bott’s School built in the township and was used as a school ’til 1938. Towers and house/school are still standing. The land is now zoned: Telephone Equipment Exchange.”

Jay also was kind enough to share the labeled Google Maps image you see with today’s column – thank you so much, Jay, and everyone else who was glad to share this info about WORK!