I found this 1777 letter last week while looking through the microfilms of the Papers of the Continental Congress at the National Archives. It seems that Colonel Thomas Hartley of York was trying to arm his regiment. He thought the gunsmiths of neighboring Lancaster County would help supply him, but
My last post was on Barbara Smith/Schmidt/Schmith (c.1724-1798), the affluent widow who left nearly her entire estate to the Lutheran congregation [now Christ Lutheran Church] in York, including the funds specifically designated to purchase an organ. That organ, the last organ built by master organ builder David Tannenberg, is now
Latrobe thought the Turkey Hill rapids or falls “most formidible.” Benjamin Henry Latrobe has been called one of the fathers of American architecture, but his work surveying and mapping the Susquehanna River in 1801from Columbia, Pa. to Havre de Grace, Md. was of more importance to the people of York
Charles Chips at the Golden Plough Tavern You can’t eat just one potato chip, right? Apparently you can’t just do one blog post on potato chips either. At least I can’t. This is my 13th post on chips that are/were made and/or loved in York County. People seem to like
Biesecker’s Mill on the Little Conewago York County Heritage Trust will launch its latest publication, Millers’ Tales: The Mills of York County, this Saturday, November 27 with a public program. The event will be held a 1 p.m. at the Trust’s Agricultural and Industrial Museum, 217 W. Princess St., York.
Barn at Rock Ford, site of Henry Kauffman Museum A friend, who is active in the Lower Windsor Township Historical Society, called my attention to the reopening of the Henry Kauffman collection at Rock Ford Plantation in Lancaster. She pointed out that Kauffman, who collected Pennsylvania German artifacts and wrote
Constables had their hands full a century ago, according to the 1907 York newspaper clipping below. It seems that a constable went to Columbia to arrest an individual wanted in York the same day a Columbia constable came looking for a Yorker. Neither man wanted to come along quietly. The
Utz or Martin’s–which is best? York County potato chips manufacturers are in the news again. It looks like Utz has pulled out of the deal to merge with Snyder’s of Hanover. Before I wrap up my “potato chip series,” I want to give a nod to Herr’s snack foods, located
Remember Charles Chips? I have been posting brief histories of York County potato chip makers and fellow blogger Jim McClure has touched on them too. Jim took the subject to the York Daily Record online Exchange community forum, which has stirred up more chip discussion. One exchanger commented on the
1864 Bridgen’s map of Conestoga Township showing dam. 1860 Shearer & Lake map of Chanceford Township. A friend recently alerted me to an article about the port of Safe Harbor on the east bank of the Susquehanna River. The article referred to the Conestoga Navigation, which operated from the late