800th Post and Readers Choose Top 10 Posts during July 2016
My initial YorksPast post appeared on July 26, 2012. Last week, a few days following the fourth anniversary of YorksPast, the article on Mahlon Haines’ Yorkshire Ranch marked my 800th post.
Near the beginning of every month, I’m sharing with my readers the top 10 posts from the previous month. This single graphic, features illustrations from all top 10 posts; however giving greater space to the higher ranked posts. If you are reading this on the Ydr.com site, click on this LINK for a Full View of the illustrations in this post on the original YorkBlog site; since the ydr.com site will occasionally cut off important details in the cropping of illustrations.
These are your favorites during July 2016:
1—Working in the Family Business; Avalong Farms Dairy Bar. Capt. Dick Wolfe provided memories of his families’ business; Avalong Farms Dairy Bar, which stood on the northwest corner of Whiteford Road and Mt. Zion Road in Springettsbury Township. Dick’s early work experiences provide some neat Avalong recollections and more accurately pinpoint estimated dates in last years post Avalong Farms Miniature Golf & Arnold Palmer Driving Range.
2—Round Two of Market St. and Mt. Zion Rd. Rezoning. Springettsbury Township had a Notice of Public Hearing, appearing on page 7B of the Monday, July 11, 2016, issue of the York Daily Record. This notice listed 66-properties, radiating from all corners of the intersection of East Market Street and Mt. Zion Road, which the Springettsbury Township Board of Supervisors propose to rezone and/or add these parcels to the town center overlay map. A resident of Springetts Manor Apartments, suggesting that I “take the cryptic list of parcel numbers and make an illustration of all the changes, then do a Blog post; so residents more clearly realize the extent of what is being proposed.” A public hearing on these changes will continue at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday August 25, 2016 at the Township Building along Mt. Zion Road. The Board of Supervisors may adopt these zoning changes at its regular meeting following the public hearing.
3—Final York NOP Walls Tumble Yesterday. The final walls that once were part of the former York NOP (Naval Ordnance Plant) fell early in July of 2016. The factory buildings of the old Harley-Davidson plant, i.e. the former Naval Ordnance Plant, were torn down during 2012, after Harley-Davidson sold their old plant to the York County Industrial Development Authority. However the two-story, reinforced concrete, L-shaped office building, of this complex, remained standing until construction started on the Eden Road Logistics Center at the site earlier this year.
4—Great Lincoln Speedway of 1925 located East of York. Construction started on the one and a quarter mile length “Great Lincoln Speedway” during 1925 along the Lincoln Highway east of York. This was one of the many construction projects going on in and around the City of York during 1925. The bigger projects included: $1,000,000 for the Hotel Yorktowne, $750,000 for the new YMCA building, $500,000 for the Speedway, $500,000 for three new church edifices, and $575,000 for three new bank buildings.
5—Earliest York Airfield in 1914 along Dover Trolley Line. Aviator Eugene Heth vouched for the “first-rate flying field conditions with hanger” at Hilton Field along the Dover Trolley Line in York County. Heth was the pilot of a Wright Brothers Model B Flyer during several days of free flight demonstrations next to the Hilton Trolley Stop during June of 1914.
6—East End Circus brings First Auto to York in 1896. The first automobile seen in York, was here as an attraction with the Barnum & Bailey Circus. It was not just York, many communities got their first glimpse at a “horseless carriage” as a result of the 1896 edition of the Barnum & Bailey Circus touring America.
7—Readers Choose Top 10 Posts during June 2016. Near the beginning of every month, I’m sharing with my readers the top 10 posts from the previous month. These were your favorites during June 2016.
8—History Center’s Smokestack Twin. This is Part 11 of an industrial chronicle of the buildings on the property purchased by the York County Heritage Trust, with their goal of renovating the buildings into a York County History Center. In the post 100th Birthday for the History Center Chimney I wrote about the history of the twin smokestacks; i.e. a 188-feet high smokestack completed in December 1910 and a 182-feet high smokestack completed in July 1916, which still stands. Sam Mills submitted a color zoom-lens photo of the ornamental brickwork believed to be topping the older History Center’s Smokestack twin; i.e. the one built in 1910 and torn down about 1960.
9—St. George Hotel on York’s North George Street. Terrence Downs submitted a photo of a York Directory ad, indicating the St. George Hotel was on a corner of George and Philadelphia Streets. Researching the history of the St. George Hotel complimented a YorksPast post about the Haines Hotel; also on one of the corners of the same intersection.
10—York Surrenders to a Force of Two. An 1896 article in York’s Semi-Weekly Gazette piqued my interest. Quoting the article: “It is rarely that a city surrenders to a force of two. This, however, is what York did Wednesday. The ‘two’ were cowboys of a section of Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show wintering in Red Lion.” Further research for this post revealed several photos of Pawnee Bill and his wife May Lillie taken by York photographers in the 1880s.
This chart tracks the level of my YorksPast readership. Thank you to the multitude of readers that e-mail me with comments, suggestions and finds; you’re created a wonderful backlog of subjects for me to post. Your continued feedback is very much appreciated.
