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
Over the years I heard of the “Hermit of the Hellam Hills,” and came across a couple late 19th century newspaper articles that mentioned Joel Strong, the hermit. When I started digging in the files at the York County History Center and perusing newspapers.com (available to use at the YCHC
The historic stone home in Hellam Township which we know as the Mifflin House was occupied from about 1800 until 1856 by the Mifflins: Revolutionary War patriot Jonathan Mifflin, his wife Susanna Wright Mifflin and their son Samuel Mifflin. All three of the Mifflins are said to have participated quite
Preservation Pennsylvania, in cooperation with Kreutz Creek Valley Preservation Society; Historic Wrightsville, Inc. and others, has announced a public rally for the threatened historic Mifflin House in Hellam Township, outside Wrightsville. The rally will be held Wednesday March 21, 6 to 8 p.m. at the John Wright Restaurant, 234 North Front Street,
The campaign to save the historic Mifflin House, the extremely significant site in Hellam Township at the edge of Wrightsville, is moving on, but help is needed from the public. To bring you up to date, in August 2017 Hellam Township denied a demolition permit requested by the developer of
Our area has a high concentration of descendants of so called “Hessians.” This general term was applied to those soldiers from German-speaking regions whose rulers hired out their regiments to fight on the side of the British during the Revolutionary War. (Germany did not become a confederated nation until 1871,
Jonathan Mifflin was also a prominent Revolutionary War patriot, even going contrary to his Quaker religion to become an officer and assistant Quartermaster General for the entire American army. He also became a friend of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette during the war. Charles Thomson
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
As stories fly about the possible planned destruction of Hybla, the Mifflin-Wright house near Wrightsville, more concern has surfaced about this important York County historical site. Hybla has just been named one of the 11 most endangered properties in Pennsylvania by Preservation Pennsylvania. Click these links for media coverage of