Universal York

York County’s Phineas Davis, an inventor, contributed much to commerce and transportation in the 40 short years of his life.

It used to be common to see newspaper features repeating news tidbits of the past. Some used a specific formula, like 50 or 100 years from that date. The Hanover Evening Sun seems to have been a little more arbitrary. Their feature, “Looking back over 50 years,” wasn’t as precise.

Nearly a year ago I wrote a York Sunday News column and several blog posts about the travels of the 19th century cigar store figure, Punch, up and down and all around the northwest quadrant of York’s Continental Square. Punch is now on display at his current home, the York

When you think about it, cars are easier to control than horses; your Ford Mustang isn’t going to get spooked by a train. The December 4, 1877 York Gazette reported two accidents, one quite harrowing, near Smith’s Station in Heidelberg Township. Not being as familiar with the southwestern part of

The General Gates house is one of York County Heritage Trust’s historic restorations. It is so named because it is said to have been the residence of Horatio Gates when he served as president of the Board of War [forerunner of the Defense Department] during part of the time Continental

Jason B. Snyder headed the York YMCA for many years. Many people who remember him as a pillar of the community are probably not aware of his Florida adventure during World War I. His family recently shared a clipping from the Saturday, June 22, 1918 Fort Myers Press as well

The account below, from the May 26, 1913 York Gazette tells of a train wreck caused by human error. It also illustrates how stories become exaggerated as news travels. It is rather remarkable that, with the damage and injuries cited, the train and passengers were able to travel on in

There has been a lot of coverage of the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster this week. As with many events, there usually seems to be some kind of York County connection. There are several local ties to the Titanic story. Some have been known for years, but more seem

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