I started working on my April York Sunday News column, which you can read below, about two months ago. We were just starting to hear more about COVID-19 then. By the time it was finished and published in the paper a couple of weeks ago, it became even more relevant.
York’s Bullfrog Alley (part of East King Street) had a distinct personality over the years. It was famed as the home of “gypsies” who went out traveling each summer and for basket making, some of which seem to be in same families. It was also the home of a gang
Pennsylvania German food is captured in Lewis Miller’s drawing and text on early 20th century York tavern life.
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,
Advertisements in old newspapers give us a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. Here is a sampling from the December 21, 1824 York Recorder, on microfilm at the York County History Center: FRESH CRANBERRIES The Subscriber begs leave to inform his friends and the public generally, that he has
To remind you how far we have come in communications in the past 55 years–the headline above introduces a full page picture story from the June 19, 1961 Gazette and Daily. Just
In 2010 a Greenbrier County, West Virginia resident was plowing his garden and unearthed a round metal object, probably brass. It was somewhat weathered, with some stains that a collector indicated that it might have been through a fire. It was a seal of the type used to emboss official
It is obvious that I find old newspapers fascinating. The items serve as snapshots of the time, giving a picture of what was then happening in the same spaces we occupy today. In addition, the incidents described and unfamiliar terms used are often springboards for further exploration. The $30 reward
Dr. Florence Gipe was a very interesting woman. She was a pioneer in modern nursing education and also deeply interested in York County History and Civil War history. I only met Dr. Gipe once, even though she was a childhood friend of both my parents and my stepfather. They all
You have heard of the Gallup Poll. For nearly 80 years the company has been taking a sampling of individual opinions and analyzing them to report what the public is thinking and to predict trends. I just happened across an article in the files of York County Heritage Trust and