I see York city is restoring its Keystone markers, those familiar keystone with a rectangle signs that tell you the town you are entering, where its name came from and how many miles down the road to another town. Good for the city–every bit helps in first impressions. There is
It’s soon income tax time again. There was no federal income tax 200 years ago, but that doesn’t mean that you didn’t have to pay taxes to support the United States government, it was just harder for people to find the right accounting and consulting services. Not having strong taxing
Latrobe thought the Turkey Hill rapids or falls “most formidible.” Benjamin Henry Latrobe has been called one of the fathers of American architecture, but his work surveying and mapping the Susquehanna River in 1801from Columbia, Pa. to Havre de Grace, Md. was of more importance to the people of York
Lewis Miller drawing of 1804 York horserace I was intrigued to see that the famous stallion Smarty Jones will be staying just a couple of miles from me for a while. Ghost Ridge Farms, 860 Dietz Rd., York (between Longstown and Freysville in Windsor Twp.) is holding a public open
Lewis Miller drawing of Einstein and his cabbages Yesterday’s post told how early York County Democrat Simon Einstein [Anstine] was successfully elected on his own ticket to the Pennsylvania General Assembly when fellow Democrats left him off the official slate. How did he celebrate? With a wagon load of cabbages!
Lewis Miller drawing of Windsor Democrat Simon Einstein Politics and politicians have been at the top of the news throughout the history of our country. York County was no different from any other area, with rampant mudslinging and infighting. Newspapers were usually very partisan and elections hotly contested. Folk artist
Barn at Rock Ford, site of Henry Kauffman Museum A friend, who is active in the Lower Windsor Township Historical Society, called my attention to the reopening of the Henry Kauffman collection at Rock Ford Plantation in Lancaster. She pointed out that Kauffman, who collected Pennsylvania German artifacts and wrote
Historical research is so intriguing because it is all about making discoveries and solving mysteries. You just never know when that ah-ha moment is going to happen. A friend showed me the watercolor portrait above recently. It is attributed to folk artist Jacob Maentel, who lived in York County part
I love old newspapers. Together with letters and diaries, newspapers really make the people who lived here before us come alive. Two news briefs from the York County Heritage Trust microfilm of the July 26, 1893 York Gazette caught my eye. First, huge camp meetings were very popular, both as
Philip A. Small examining Christian Roth’s wheat Whenever I start researching some York County history, it seems like someone from the Small family turns up. Pennsylvania German immigrant Lorentz Small settled in Windsor Township in 1743, but soon the family became involved in carpentry, building, mills, iron furnaces, retail and