YorksPast

This post returns my focus to that section of the road east of North Sherman Street in Springettsbury Township, York County; i.e. Whiteford Road.  The Map of the City of York, Pennsylvania and Suburbs, issued by York Chamber of Commerce in 1930 is the earliest map that has been discovered containing a road or street named Whiteford in the general vicinity.  This is the fifth part of a series examining the reasons for the names associated with this stretch of road.  Other posts in this series and related posts include:

• A Road Named N.O.P., Arsenal and Whiteford; Part 1 – Avalong
• A Road Named N.O.P., Arsenal and Whiteford; Part 2 – Bofors at York Safe & Lock Co.
• Eliot Ness cracks the York Safe & Lock Company
• A Road Named N.O.P., Arsenal and Whiteford; Part 3 – Naval Ordnance Plant, NOP Road Ads
• A Road Named N.O.P., Arsenal and Whiteford; Part 4 – New 1948 N O P Route Cuts Traffic Hazards
• A Road Named N.O.P., Arsenal and Whiteford; Part 6 – 1945 Map with Straightened Whiteford Road & When was Whiteford Road known as WINEKA Road?
• Arsenal Road evolved from a Crooked Road that had an Iron Bridge that Shivered and Shaked

 

A significant housing development east of Eberts Lane is shown on the 1930 Map of the City of York, Pennsylvania and Suburbs, issued by York Chamber of Commerce.  This 1930 map is the earliest document that has been discovered containing a road or street named Whiteford in the general vicinity.

All the 19th Century maps up through and including this 1930 map have this east-west thoroughfare containing a kink in the route just east of North Sherman Street.  I’ve highlighted this initial road route in YELLOW on roads shown on the 1930 map and 2012 aerial views.

The early east-west thoroughfare extended west from North Sherman Street past Loucks Mills, over the Codorus Creek and connected to 11th Avenue in North York.  Note that the current road name for this original kink in the route on the 2012 Aerial View is 11th Avenue; this makes one wonder if this whole road section might have been known as 11th Avenue at one time.

By the time of the following 1937 aerial photo, the original path of the initial road is still there in addition to a straighter revised road placement.  Therefore sometime between 1930 and 1937 the main thoroughfare is straightened; i.e. the Whiteford Road placement that most people remember prior to circa 1970 Route 30 construction in the area.

The examination of the 1937 aerial photo reveals that many of the roads in the housing development to the east of Eberts Lane had not yet been started 7-years after appearing on the 1930 map.  The east-west streets south of Whiteford Street not yet started included: Glenrock St., Rodefield St., Chester St., Ellis St., Jaeger St., Myers St. and Chase St.; in fact none of these streets were ever started.

I’ve seen several other instances on this 1930 Chamber of Commerce Map where whole housing developments show up on the map many years before construction begins; while some were never built, like the lower half of the development being discussed.  This 1930 Map was likely pulled together just before the stock market crash closed out 1929 to initiate the Great Depression; thus delaying or canceling many of these planned developments.

In Part 6 of “A Road Named N.O.P., Arsenal and Whiteford,” I’ll continue my focus on the naming of the Whiteford Street (Road) portion of this road.

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