Some of us can remember when the big furniture factories in Red Lion were in full production. Local workers crafted fine furniture shipped around the country and perhaps beyond. A couple of weeks ago, while I was writing my recent York Sunday News column, I saw a news item that
Each of our York County communities, no matter what size, seems to have its own uniquely rich history. My own families settled, some well over two hundred years ago, in the southeastern part of the county. I still have so much to learn, especially about the rest of the county.
In my column a couple of months ago on the Weaver Organ and Piano Company, I asked readers to share their stories about with the company and its instruments. I have heard from several people about their Weaver encounters, as well as from some that would currently be happy to give
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
Even if you are not a die-hard fan of Civil War history, you might have heard of the Battle of Cold Harbor, fought in Hanover County, Virginia, not far northeast of Richmond. The conflict, fought June 1-3, 1864, resulted in extremely heavy causalities to Grant’s Union forces. Click here for
In my recent York Sunday News article on the history of the Weaver Organ and Piano Company, I invited people to share any memories connected with Weaver. A couple of responses were from individuals who fondly remembered playing in recitals at the Weaver studios in the factory complex. Dorothy
Who knows how many thousands of sturdy musical instruments emanated out of the growing complex of buildings that stood imposingly for 136 years at the intersection of Broad and Philadelphia streets in York? The York County History Center Library/Archives has 16 volumes of shipping records, up through 1944, and it
As promised in a recent post, here are more graphics showing the remarkable growth of the Weaver Organ and Piano Company factory in just 22 years. The 1882 building, designed by the Dempwolf firm of architects was of fair size, but the 1892 and 1898 additions added much more
When I was very young, I used to amuse myself with my grandparents’ parlor organ, very probably made by the Weaver Organ and Piano Company. As a teenager I took piano lessons, as my daughter did later, on a York upright piano, another Weaver product. I am working on an
Leafing through a recent issue of a magazine for tractor collectors called Antique Power, I found an article “Resurrecting a Pioneer Diesel” by Dave Gerlach. The photos show a gleaming orange farm tractor with a bold nameplate reading “Sheppard Diesel.” The article relates that in 1933,