What competition attracted 3,000 people on October 18, 1939? According to a lengthy account in the Gazette and Daily the next day: “A large tent was erected on the farm and refreshments were sold to the crowd by the auxiliary of the York County Farmers organization. The grounds somewhat resembled
As you know, the southeastern/southcentral Pennsylvania area was settled early, and then, as families grew, some members spread out through the rest of the country from here. The western parts of Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina beckoned, as the settlers travelled down the valleys in quest of land. Some went
It is canning season again. As I indicated in the my York Sunday News column on York County canning houses a few years ago, there were commercial canneries of all sizes throughout 20th century York County. As far as I know, any remaining are very large scale, such as Hanover
Cindy Martin found this undated clipping in a scrapbook at York County Heritage Trust and shared it with me. It credits “Record Photo,” so I’m assuming it was from the York Daily Record, which came into being under that name in 1970. It reads: “UFO Corn Roast? Farmer Edwin Krout
In response to my recent York Sunday News column on York County potatoes, Glen Rock area historian and friend John Hufnagel shared five fantasy post cards from his collection. The informal community of Besserville consisted of a restaurant, department store and tourist cabins run by the Besser family. It was
I have been getting a lot of comments on my recent blog posts and York Sunday News column on the serious business of growing potatoes in York County. There was some glamour involved too, as shown in these two original press photos from the Gazette and Daily, now part of
We take potatoes for granted, consuming copious amounts of the fried, baked, mashed and chipped vegetable. York County growers have produced untold numbers of these staple tubers over the years. While transcribing my father’s diaries from his farming years, I realized how much work and care went into planting, cultivating,
The Potato Association of America says Americans eat more than 41 billion pounds of potatoes a year. An article in the York Daily Record a few days ago indicated that new techniques and varieties of potatoes might help York County farmers again make the county the potato growing center it
The real estate ads in the newspapers of 200 years ago were almost always for farms. Even if there was another enterprise on the property, such as a mill, there was usually quite a bit of acreage. Just about everyone farmed; even many business and crafts people in the town
These photos of a barn raising crew were recently donated to the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. They are unidentified as to location, but are probably of the building of a York County barn. Please let me know if you recognize any of the people in the photos. We have