William Wagner’s 1830 view of Upp’s Vineyard Nearly 200 years ago, around 1818, Thomas Eichelberger planted the area of today’s Farquhar Park in York with vineyards. Others in the area quickly followed with their own vineyards and winemaking operations. In a little over ten years they were holding competitions among
Lewis Miller Drawing of Jacob Busser Singing about Wine You can enjoy a variety of good food and drink in comfort on October 18, no matter what the weather. Because of a dismal weather forecast, the 2009 Oyster Fest will be held at YCHT’s Agricultural and Industrial Museum, 217 W.
Simon Snyder, Pennsylvania Governor 1808-1817 Simon Snyder, who served from 1808 to 1817, was the first of many Pennsylvania Governors to have Pennsylvania German roots. George Leader, Governor from 1955 to 1959, the only York County-born governor, was another. Even though Simon Snyder wasn’t born in York County, biographies of
William Findlay is shown on the left and Joseph Hiester on the right in these images from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Nineteenth century Yorkers took their politics very seriously, as you can see in the rather long ad that Frederick Hoke took out in February 1818 in the
The recent York Daily Record article about a new church in York, the Swedenborgians, also known as the New Church or Church of the New Jerusalem, rang a bell. Click here for the York Daily Record article. Members beliefs are based on the writings of theologian, philosopher and scientist, Emanuel
The real estate notice below, from the November 7, 1816 York Gazette, is a great example of the wealth of information available in newspapers from the past. Such descriptions are often detailed, giving us an idea of how our forebears lived and worked. You can see by the headline that
York Fair week brings back memories of the midway when I was a child. Even though I never spent the money to go see them, I remember the hawkers and big tacky painted banners inviting fairgoers to step in and see the skinniest man, fattest lady, or whatever else they
In the past I have written about some of the outrageous claims for cures made by York County manufacturers of tonics and by animal doctors. Click here to read about Caldwell’s cure-all tonic. And click here to read about Heffner’s medicine for your cattle, horses, and swine. Doctors practicing on
(See below for Miller’s detailed caption.) Like anything else, pipes do eventually suffer from wear, whether they are made of iron, ceramic, plastic, or log. Log? York was quite progressive, instituting a public water system in 1816. The first piping system, which lasted for many years, was constructed out of