The historic stone home in Hellam Township which we know as the Mifflin House was occupied from about 1800 until 1856 by the Mifflins: Revolutionary War patriot Jonathan Mifflin, his wife Susanna Wright Mifflin and their son Samuel Mifflin. All three of the Mifflins are said to have participated quite
As promised in a recent post, here are more graphics showing the remarkable growth of the Weaver Organ and Piano Company factory in just 22 years. The 1882 building, designed by the Dempwolf firm of architects was of fair size, but the 1892 and 1898 additions added much more
We might be familiar with the quote “Houston, we have a problem” from the Apollo 13 flight to the moon in 1970 (actually a slight misquote) but not as familiar with a similar phrase: “We have a serious problem here,” uttered by astronaut David Scott, to Houston Control just four
When I was very young, I used to amuse myself with my grandparents’ parlor organ, very probably made by the Weaver Organ and Piano Company. As a teenager I took piano lessons, as my daughter did later, on a York upright piano, another Weaver product. I am working on an
There are still a fair number of people around who attended the rural one-room (sometimes two-room) schools that dotted York County until the mid-twentieth century. Ask your parents or grandparents and you might get some interesting tales. (Including how they had to walk five miles through the snow, uphill both
Eliza E. Ridgely was a beautiful young woman born into a prosperous Baltimore family. The Marquis de Lafayette was said to be charmed by her during his 1824 visit to Baltimore, and she played her harp for him when he was a dinner guest of her parents. Eliza’s letters at
Preservation Pennsylvania, in cooperation with Kreutz Creek Valley Preservation Society; Historic Wrightsville, Inc. and others, has announced a public rally for the threatened historic Mifflin House in Hellam Township, outside Wrightsville. The rally will be held Wednesday March 21, 6 to 8 p.m. at the John Wright Restaurant, 234 North Front Street,
There has recently been some discussion on Retro York on Facebook about the Historic York Inn (also known as the Smyser-Bair House Bed and Breakfast) on South Beaver Street, just off of West Market. Their website condenses the history of the wonderful house and includes some beautiful interior photos. Dr.
It used to be common to see newspaper features repeating news tidbits of the past. Some used a specific formula, like 50 or 100 years from that date. The Hanover Evening Sun seems to have been a little more arbitrary. Their feature, “Looking back over 50 years,” wasn’t as precise.
We are coming up on the 100th anniversary of national woman suffrage in 2020. Before the passage and ratification of the 19th amendment of the United States Constitution, which granted all American women the right to vote, women could vote in relatively few states. While working toward a national constitutional amendment, women