Bury’s in Springettsbury Township was not just Hamburgers
These 50-year-difference aerial photos show the 2700-block of East Market Street in Springettsbury Township; i.e. the vicinity just east of Northern Way. Recent research in Directories at the York County Heritage Trust shows that at one time or other, Bury’s had various businesses at 2709, 2710 and 2720 East Market Street in Springettsbury Township; locations that I have as so noted at the left side on the 1964 (lower) aerial photo.
Bury’s was where our family ate, the evening of the day our family moved from York Township to Springettsbury Township in January 1958. I can’t recall exactly which location we ate at, however I do distinctly remember, after eating, that my parents took our family inside the Playland Skating Rink, for my first time; just to have a look around.
Andrew Diehl poised as question to Joan Concilio in an Only in York County post Ask Joan some history questions. He asked: “Can anyone recall what was to the right side of Playland skating rink as you looked at it head-on from East Market St.? Some say a restaurant/lounge or something else?”
A similar question has been on my list of future posts for several months; I know at one time, 2710 and 2720 East Market Street were Bury establishments, however for how long and was anything else on the west side of Playland? The question to Joan and my curiosity got the better of me; so I bubbled a post on this subject to the top. After my post: 35 Participating Restaurants for March of Dimes Coffee Day in 1958; Avalong, Paddock, Bury’s/Playland Steps several readers commented or saw me with comments; all except one agreed that Bury’s was immediately to the west of the Playland Skating Rink, which was on the south side of Market Street. However one reader was certain Bury’s was on the north side of Market Street; he thought during the 50s. My previous post included a 1958 Ad, it had the address for Bury’s as 2710 East Market Street; i.e. the south side of Market Street, however the question remained, was there ever a north side location?
Refer to the aerial photos at the beginning of this post. In the 50-years since the 1964 aerial photo was taken, only two buildings remain standing in the field of view. On the left side, at 2700 East Market Street, the very distinctive shaped building that was Nello Tire Company in 1964. On the right side, at 2816 East Market Street, the two-story, now white brick building where Sigafoose & Jackson Family Chiropractic is located in the structure to the rear.
There is one small structure between these two buildings that dates prior to 1964. That structure is shown in this 2014 photo; concrete steps that are a reminder of a place from my youth.
Pappy’s Pizza was built in the front part of the Parking Lot that existed immediately to the west of Playland. Pappy’s Pizza was built in the 1970s; when the Playland Skating Rink still stood. The Pappy’s Pizza building eventually housed an Arby’s and now it is a Wendy’s. On the east side of Wendy’s, the concrete steps, which had always existed to step up from the parking lot level to the Playland Skating Rink entrance, still remain, even after the Rink was demolished following the 1985 fire.
The Directories at the York County Heritage Trust start to include entries for this area of Springettsbury Township during 1955. Here are my EAST MARKET STREET address findings for the Bury establishments:
- 1955-1958 : at 2720, Bury’s Diner & Bury’s Ice Cream Bar
- 1959-1961 : at 2720, Bury Motors
- 1959-1965 : at 2710, Bury’s Famous Hamburgers
- 1959-1965 : at 2709, Bury Bros. Soft Ice Cream
- 1962 : at 2720, Bury Bros. Restaurant
- 1963-1965 : at 2720, Bury Amusements & Rides
- 1966-1969 : at 2720, Bury’s Raceway East (Go-cart track to the rear of building)
- 1966-1969 : at 2710, Bury Bros. Catering & Bury’s Famous Hamburgers
The 2710 and 2720 East Market Street addresses are listed as vacant in the 1970 and 1971 Directories. In 1972, the first Car Wash moves into these locations. The widening of Northern Way from a narrow driveway back to Haines Park took most of what was the 2710 East Market Street lot.
The following photo is from the Archives of the Springettsbury Township Historic Preservation Committee. The photo is a police Polaroid taken September 26, 1965, at 8:50 a.m. The view is looking west from the front of the parking lot between Playland Skating Rink and Bury’s. The 2720 E. Market St. building is to the left and the 2710 E. Market St. building is in the center, with Nello Tire Company building behind it. Looking west, down Market Street, in the distance, one sees the York County Shopping Center sign on the north side of the street.
This photo shows, per the Directories, that in 1965, the 2720 location was the business address for Bury Amusements & Rides. The 2710 location housed Bury’s Famous Hamburgers, and directly across Market Street, out of camera view, at the 2709 location was Bury Bros. Soft Ice Cream.
Joan Concilio’s Ask Joan column, in the August 24th Sunday News, contains the birds-eye-view aerial photo that appeared in her post. The undated aerial photo is from the time an airfield existed north of the 2700 Block of East Market Street; that airfield closed about 1953. That aerial photo does show the 2710 and 2720 East Market Street buildings; however no 2709 East Market Street building appears.
Even though the Directories list no 2710 East Market Street before 1959, both 2710 and 2720 buildings existed per the Ask Joan birds-eye-view aerial photo. My previous post contained an 1958 ad noting Bury’s was located at 2710 East Market Street. It is evident the eating establishment was given a separate address in 1958/1959, when the 2720 East Market Street location was converted from Bury’s Ice Cream Bar to Bury Motors.
Summarizing Bury’s along 2700 Block of East Market Street
Bury’s Famous Hamburgers
- 2710 East Market St. (south side, next to Nello Tire)—from sometime prior to 1953 through 1969
Bury’s Ice Cream
- 2720 East Market St. (south side, next to Playland)—from sometime prior to 1953 through 1958
- 2709 East Market St. (north side, directly across the street from Bury’s Hamburgers)—from 1959 through 1965
Bury Motors and other assorted Bury businesses
- 2720 East Market St. (south side, next to Playland)—from 1959 through 1969
- 1959-1961 : Bury Motors
- 1962 : Bury Bros. Restaurant
- 1963-1965 : Bury Amusements & Rides
- 1966-1969 : Bury’s Raceway East
A reader told me that when Bury’s Ice Cream was located next to Playland (i.e. through 1958, from my research, at the 2720 East Market Street location), a large room in the rear was used for everything from overflow seating to Bingo to estate auctions. Please comment with your stories about any of these Bury businesses or if you know what year Bury’s first went into business along this stretch of East Market Street in Springettsbury Township.
Related posts include:
- 35 Participating Restaurants for March of Dimes Coffee Day in 1958; Avalong, Paddock, Bury’s/Playland Steps
- 75 Years Ago, Joe Bury sells Four and a Half TONS of Hamburgers at the York Fair
- Bury’s Restaurants were also outside York County
- Animals Run Wild at YORK FAIR
- The Mighty Atom entertained at the YORK FAIR for over Five Decades
- Ask Joan some history questions
- Assorted notes on Bury’s and Playland
- Reader reveals Bury’s secret recipe
- Such Good Food at the York Diner
- York Diner moves to the Suburbs
- Menu-Ette linked to York Diner and Playland
- TRUCKTOWN and the Truck Town Restaurant
- Chicken & Waffles at Ye Olde Valley Inn
- Naming of Three Mile Run waterway in Springettsbury
- Huntleys Hamburgers along Memory Lane
- Who remembers Fish & Chips along Memory Lane
