In my first post on the cigar store figure Punch I shared his first known photo, dated from around 1870, and a current photo of him at York County Heritage Trust. My second post showed more of Punch’s stops around York’s Centre/Continental Square in the 1880s and 1890s. The photos
A couple of weeks ago I posted my recent York Sunday News column on the cigar store figure of Punch, which was positioned at various heights in various places on the northwest quadrant of York’s Centre/Continental Square for perhaps 60 years or more. The earliest known photo of Punch in
I have always been intrigued by the large and colorful Punch cigar store figure in the York County Heritage Trust collections. As I relate in my recent York Sunday News column, it is especially interesting that he “moved” around Centre/Continental Square in York over the years. In this and the
A friend asked me this the other day. I remembered that there were four different high schools in the city of York over the years and where they were, or still are, located, but I didn’t recall the exact dates. Others, such as fellow blogger Jim McClure, have written on
This account below is only one of several from the November 28, 1882 York Gazette recounting celebrations around the county of recent Democratic election wins. Democrat Robert E. Pattison had won the election for Governor, but not by much, over James A. Beaver. A candidate by the name of John
In my last post of Civil War news from the last week of May 1863, as published in the York Gazette, I recounted the sad news that eight York County men of the 166th Pennsylvania Infantry had recently been killed or wounded in battle near Suffolk, Va. There was good
Fire engines are still eye catching, but so were the colorful horse-drawn fire apparatus and the beautiful horses that pulled them. A short article from the August 24, 1894 York Daily tells the tale of two proud York fire companies, each of which was determined to lead the parade. The
Browns of York, England welcomed to Pennsylvania You just never know when new information comes to light. Just recently the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives was contacted by a descendant Henry Rhodes Brown, twice Lord Mayor of York, England. The family found a diary kept by Brown’s wife, Clara during
Does anyone know what H&B could stand for on this cane? Last Saturday a gentleman brought it into the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives to see if he could figure it out, perhaps by finding an organization with those initials. The wooden walking stick belonged to his grandfather, Chester Brenneman,
Halloween 1946 in Downtown York As far back as I can remember, the parade through the streets of York has been the biggest event of the Halloween season. According to the November 1, 1946 Gazette and Daily, the parade had been replaced during the war years with a downtown party.