Springettsbury Township’s Witmer School Revisited
Witmer’s 1905, Helen H. Haller, teacher
In my previous post on Witmer’s school, the brick one-room school that was recently sold, I wondered about the “Copy Shop” sign on the side of the building. Using city directories at York County Heritage Trust, I found some of the ventures the building was used for after it wasn’t needed any longer as a school.
1907 Witmer’s School
As you can see, I was also delighted to find five different photos in the YCHT photo files of classes that attended the school. At least some of the photos were donated by the Throne family, who, as I mentioned before, had ties with the school. The 1908 photo has a sign on the door “Notice to Trespassers” and warns of a $5.00 fine. I wonder why.
1908, Chas. P. Markey, teacher
In 1961 and 1962 Kathryn Fritz is listed as having a “women’s apparel” shop on Stonewood Rd. Numbers hadn’t been assigned yet, so the rest of the address was just York RD 9. (The recent sale ad listed the seller of the school and .5 acres of land as the Kathryn Fritz estate.)
By 1964 through 1969, the business there was Kopy Shop printers (Donald R. Fritz). The address had changed to 5 Stonewood Rd. That address is listed as vacant in 1970 and 1971, and, from 1972 on, the address isn’t mentioned at all.
Undated photo of Witmer’s school
The dumpster has been gone for several days now, and the building is still there, so I’m hoping that is a good sign that it is going to be preserved.
Undated, teacher Irma Throne Daron. This may not be Witmer’s, but another school at which Mrs. Daron taught.
