My previous post showed that York County wasn’t immune to the silk culture mania running rampant in the 1830s. A few more examples of local residents getting caught up in the craze are below. From the July 12, 1831 York Gazette: “A specimen of silk produced this season under management
(Illustrations from A Treatise on the Mulberry Tree and Silkworm and on the Manufacture and Production of Silk, 1839. Courtesy of York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives) Silk has been prized for as long as 5,000 years, since the fibers spun by silkworms were discovered in China and spun into luxurious
When you think about it, cars are easier to control than horses; your Ford Mustang isn’t going to get spooked by a train. The December 4, 1877 York Gazette reported two accidents, one quite harrowing, near Smith’s Station in Heidelberg Township. Not being as familiar with the southwestern part of
My previous post quoted a December 5, 1959 York Gazette and Daily article on the visit of Russia’s First Deputy Minister of Trade and Agriculture to two York County potato chip makers, El-Ge and Bon Ton. The Russians were very interested in the process of making our style of potato
Several years ago I did over a dozen posts on York County potato chips, drawing a higher readership than most of my other posts covering nearly 270 years of York County history. This clipping from the York County Heritage Trust files shows that during the height of the Cold War
Several years ago I wrote a York Sunday News column and some blog posts on native York artist Stephen Etnier (1903-1984). Etnier painted scenes of York, the Caribbean and many of Maine, where he spent a good part of his life. Occasionally an Etnier work will come up for auction.
Walking through the mezzanine gallery at York County Heritage Trust the other day, I stopped to take a new look at the cast iron lions guarding the stairs up to the second floor. I remembered some photos in the YCHT Library/Archives taken of them while they still watched over their
I can always find something of interest in the old newspapers on microfilm at York County Heritage Trust. Sometimes the little items from across the county are the most interesting. Here are a few from the July 1, 1887 York Gazette: “LUCKY FIND—Lillie Senft, one of the rag sorters in
Did anyone in your family visit the 1939 New York World’s Fair? From the souvenirs that I have seen over the years at public sales and antique/collectible malls, usually featuring the Trylon (elongated pyramid) and Perisphere (globe), I figured a lot of York County people made the trip. The railroads
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