My last month’s York Sunday News column condensed some of the eight-part Gazette and Daily series that ran in the spring of 1940 on the thriving amateur baseball leagues of York County. Besides an introductory article on the clubs that had come and gone before then, the first four columns
In my recent York Sunday News article on the history of the Weaver Organ and Piano Company, I invited people to share any memories connected with Weaver. A couple of responses were from individuals who fondly remembered playing in recitals at the Weaver studios in the factory complex. Dorothy
The campaign to save the historic Mifflin House, the extremely significant site in Hellam Township at the edge of Wrightsville, is moving on, but help is needed from the public. To bring you up to date, in August 2017 Hellam Township denied a demolition permit requested by the developer of
Jonathan Mifflin was also a prominent Revolutionary War patriot, even going contrary to his Quaker religion to become an officer and assistant Quartermaster General for the entire American army. He also became a friend of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette during the war. Charles Thomson
In 1826 Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833) created the first real photograph known to exist today. The view from a window at Gras, France is also known as the “First Photograph,” and it is in the photography collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
For the past few years, Albert Rose, long-time volunteer at the York County History Center Library/Archives, has been documenting war memorials throughout York County. He has visited and photographed many of them and also verified some that no longer remain. But he looking for still more, such as the ones
As stories fly about the possible planned destruction of Hybla, the Mifflin-Wright house near Wrightsville, more concern has surfaced about this important York County historical site. Hybla has just been named one of the 11 most endangered properties in Pennsylvania by Preservation Pennsylvania. Click these links for media coverage of
We look at covered bridges, or memories of the now mostly extinct bridges, as picturesque remnants of the past. But they were not built to be charming. They were vital links in the transportation system. The walls and roof were added to protect the bridge from the elements, preserving its
While researching my recent York Sunday News column on the Hybla mansion near Wrightsville and the Mifflins who lived there, who were instrumental in York County Underground Railroad activity, I came across an original letter written by Jonathan Mifflin (1743-1850). The letter (memorial/petition)was addressed to York County judges, and in
Fellow blogger Scott Mingus has done extensive research on the Mifflin family of Hellam Township. He has written, both in his Cannonball blog and in his recently published book, The Ground Swallowed Them Up: Slavery and the Underground Railroad in York County, Pa., about the significant role Jonathan Mifflin, his wife Susannah