Why would a large rock at the edge of the Susquehanna River have numbers and letters carved on it? (I am not talking about the petroglyphs of birds and animals left by the Native Americans, such as those on Big Indian Rock and Little Indian Rock just below Safe Harbor
While doing some research on Phineas Davis and his York locomotive for an upcoming column, I realized I had never posted my column from some time ago on John Elgar and his Codorus steamboat. Elgar was a member of York’s Quaker community, as was Davis, and his iron steam boat
We are blessed with an abundance of gorgeous scenery in York County. It seems especially striking when you get away from the towns into some of the more remote corners. The long eastern border along the Susquehanna River affords many striking views from near Harrisburg to the Mason-Dixon Line. We
If you are a member of the York County History Center, you have probably already received the 2017 edition of Journal of York County Heritage. As part of the YCHC publications committee and one of the editors of the journal, I am again proud of this issue, the eighth in
My previous post shared a July 21, 1905 article from the York Daily about Dr. Reed of Lancaster coming to look for the camp where his grandfather guarded Revolutionary War prisoners. We know the site today as Camp Security. Dr. Reed’s visit must have been important in the news of
I found this article from the July 21, 1905 York newspaper, probably the York Daily, in the Jere Carl scrapbooks at the York County History Center. Little articles about Camp Security pop up every now and then in the old newspapers. Even though these articles might not be completely accurate, as
My recent post was on the specifications advertised in 1828 by the York County Commissioners for . According to the Lewis Miller drawing, it was completed in 1835. Where was/is the Gut? The Gut is in East Manchester Township. You can easily see the site on these four maps. (Keep
I have written before about York’s multitalented William Wagner. One of his lasting legacies as an engraver is the Map of York and Adams Counties that he published with Daniel Small in 1821. This map is still very useful today to locate sites important to our local history. The map
One of my previous columns in the York Sunday News was on the ferries that crossed the Susquehanna River between York and Lancaster counties. There were so many that I didn’t have room to write more than a sentence or two on each one. Since then I have been doing
What makes historical research so interesting, as well as frustrating, is that what you find usually leads to a lot more questions. Some time ago, at the Library Company of Philadelphia, I came across the ad above from the Pennsylvania Packet newspaper, published in Philadelphia. I made a copy of