Bob Greer left a comment on my recent blog post about the engravings on a large rock at the edge of the Susquehanna River just upstream from Marietta. He identified the arch with the 2 ½ as a symbol of the Loyal Orange Institution/ Orange Order. He included a link
My past several posts have been on the old York Post Office at the corner of Philadelphia and Beaver streets in York. Since it is slated for renovation and reuse, I have been posting photos, mostly interior, that I took several years ago inside the building. Since it was in
Most of us probably think of African American persecution when we hear Ku Klux Klan. The haters cast a broader net in York County in the first half of the twentieth century. Anyone not a white protestant was fair game to be threatened by these men who hid their identities
We’ve seen illuminated objects hang over York’s Center/Centre/Continental Square, usually stars, once ever a glittering chandelier, in celebration of Christmas. But what occasion merited the square decorations depicted above nearly 101 years ago, much earlier than any photos I have seen of Christmas decorations? The York Gazette of May 26,
Old “City Directories,” which eventually covered small towns, suburbs and even rural areas are invaluable sources for researching the past. You can find out where your family members lived and worked; businesses, manufacturers, professionals, local government, churches and social organizations are classified, giving a glimpse into lifestyles. (It seems like
Richard Rush (1780-1859) served the United States in many important posts at various times, including Secretary of the Treasury, Attorney General, acting Secretary of State, Minister to Great Britain and Minister to France. The Rush-Bagot Convention (treaty) which he negotiated with Great Britain shortly after the War of 1812 is
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,
Illustration from York Wood Choppers charter, 1898. I was recently asked about an 1899 York Press reference to Foresters and Wood Choppers. Sound like people connected to lumbering, right? Not when you consider the popularity of fraternal organizations in that era. Men really seemed to like to get out to
Wall Street, 1903 A colleague recently asked me where Wall Street used to be in York. It doesn’t appear on present-day maps. A search through old maps with a magnifying glass located a tiny little Wall Street in the 1903 Atlas of York published by Frederick B. Roe.