I noticed Prospect Hill Cemetery has been posting historical information on their Facebook page about notable people from York County’s past who are buried there. Today’s was on Henry Lee Fisher, attorney, historian and Pennsylvania German poet. Fisher is one of my favorites from the past, and I realized I
Look at an old map of York County. You will see names of areas, perhaps very near where you live, that you have never heard of. It might have been a flourishing area at one time with a general store where you could buy just about anything, a post office,
York’s Bullfrog Alley (part of East King Street) had a distinct personality over the years. It was famed as the home of “gypsies” who went out traveling each summer and for basket making, some of which seem to be in same families. It was also the home of a gang
Some of you might be lucky enough to have Pennsylvania German birth and baptismal certificates that were done for family members well over 100 years ago. Or you just might be intrigued by the art and design of these unique folk art documents and perhaps collect them. I have written
In my column a couple of months ago on the Weaver Organ and Piano Company, I asked readers to share their stories about with the company and its instruments. I have heard from several people about their Weaver encounters, as well as from some that would currently be happy to give
Who knows how many thousands of sturdy musical instruments emanated out of the growing complex of buildings that stood imposingly for 136 years at the intersection of Broad and Philadelphia streets in York? The York County History Center Library/Archives has 16 volumes of shipping records, up through 1944, and it
When I was very young, I used to amuse myself with my grandparents’ parlor organ, very probably made by the Weaver Organ and Piano Company. As a teenager I took piano lessons, as my daughter did later, on a York upright piano, another Weaver product. I am working on an
The York City School District recently sold the Duke Street School at the corner of South Duke Street and East Hope Avenue. Many people probably do not realize that the building dates back to 1860 and that it housed York’s first high school. According to Prowell’s History of York County:
See above and below for this interesting Lewis Miller drawing that was recently shared with me by a private collector. Miller’s caption reads: “The fish Angulars, at the—Codorus river, York County, Pennsylvania, Mr. Jacob Rudy and his daughter Susanna, one mile from town at the high rock. In the year
My York Sunday News column last month illustrated how you often to take several sources and put them together to round out the story on a person, an event or a place that you are researching. Speaking of research, a couple occurrences this past week reminded me that you should