I like to take an old photo, a postcard or even a drawing and go out and take a current photo of the same site to compare how much has, or hasn’t, changed. I’ve been known to dodge traffic and almost freeze body parts to do that. You can make
1890s Archives
Vigilant steam engine Whoops. I guess it is kind of embarrassing if your horse-drawn fire engine runs away, is stopped by a collision with your other engine and has to be people-drawn to the fire. That’s what happened to York’s Vigilant Fire Co. in the late 1800s. They may have
Site of Wellensiek whip factory York County had several whip factories in the 19th century, the days of horse-drawn wagons and buggies, including a large factory in Wellsville. German immigrant John Wellensiek opened a sizable factory for whip manufacturing on West Princess Street in York in the 1870s. In 1895
Early 1900s York Railways trolley I received an email with an image of a photo postcard of a trolley wreck in York Township between Spry and Dallastown in 1907. I started doing some research on it and was surprised at how many trolley accidents there were during the nearly 50
I love old newspapers. Together with letters and diaries, newspapers really make the people who lived here before us come alive. Two news briefs from the York County Heritage Trust microfilm of the July 26, 1893 York Gazette caught my eye. First, huge camp meetings were very popular, both as
York passenger station in early 1900s Rail travel was booming in the late 19th century. York’s pre-Civil War passenger station was no longer adequate, so a new one was proposed, incorporating features found in larger cities. New train station plan from article below The York Dispatch of August 29, 1889
Not having any luck hunting for game? You might want to try the charm above, shared by a friend who found it rolled up and tucked into the stock of his grandfather’s century-old shotgun. His grandfather was born in 1887. He lived in various communities in York County over his
The Rewalt house now and in the late 19th century. The first time John B. Gordon came to York, in late June 1863, he had an occupying army with him. He returned unarmed in 1894 and received a much warmer welcome. By then Gordon was a U. S. Senator from
Lewis Miller drawing of a 600 pound York hog. Shooting matches have been popular in York County for many years. The prizes have changed somewhat–I don’t think anyone gives a live big fat pig like they did in the 1892 article below. That would be fun to haul home. If
Illustration from York Wood Choppers charter, 1898. I was recently asked about an 1899 York Press reference to Foresters and Wood Choppers. Sound like people connected to lumbering, right? Not when you consider the popularity of fraternal organizations in that era. Men really seemed to like to get out to