“Clockmaker began York’s Railroad Heritage” is the title of a Phineas Davis talk, which has been presented seven times. Comments following each talk always resulted in additional research, which has continually fine-tuned the story. Suggested additions were also made; such as the story of black machinist William Wood, who worked
The rest of the story about Gotwalt’s Mill, at the S-curve in Camp Betty Washington Road, is told in this post. This mill is also referred to as Rider’s Mill and more commonly Bowser’s Cider Mill. The Olde Mill Cabinet Shoppe presently occupies this old mill structure in York Township.
Don Farr submitted a photo of a bell manufactured by Baugher & Bro., of York, PA. The manufacture of bells was a specialized foundry trade and research suggests 150-years-ago Baugher & Bro. might be the first York County foundry to produce bells. The bell has a mouth diameter of 19-inches
I’ll share stories about the Barshinger Family of Barshinger’s Mill at a meeting of the Red Lion Area Historical Society on October 28, 2021. The presentation will take place at St. John’s UCC at 7:00 p.m.; enter into the rear of the church, off of the rear parking lot. Address
Abraham Pfeiffer established Pfeiffer’s Brewery in York, Pennsylvania, during 1857. Pfeiffer’s could be the first of a string of breweries located at the northwest corner of King and Queen Streets. At the onset the Civil War, Pfeiffer’s brewery operations were moved to Violet Hill, along the Baltimore Pike in Spring
Dan Trimmer inquired about a story often shared by an uncle; who, while working at the York Motor Company in 1929, claimed to have repaired a flat tire on the car of Henry Ford. Newspaper reports do place Henry Ford in York County, Pennsylvania, on June 7, 1929; where he visited several places, including the York Motor Company. In June of 1929, Henry Ford was on an automobile journey across Pennsylvania; from east to west, primarily on the Lincoln Highway.
Within the collections of the York County History Center are a few photos and a much larger group of negatives of a previously unidentified product of the S. Morgan Smith Company. The introductory photo is one component of that unidentified product; it shows S. Morgan Smith Company machinists inspecting a large rotor core being finished on their 42-foot boring mill. This post provides the sources that identify the overall product as a massive axial-flow air compressor; a key component in a Supersonic Wind Tunnel, which was one of NASA’s earliest development facilities.
Thirty years before President Ronald Reagan visited the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle plant in Springettsbury Township, York County, PA, he visited the General Electric plant in York, PA; then as director-producer-and host of the “General Electric Theater” television program and President of the Screen Actors Guild.
The S. Morgan Smith Company, in York, Pennsylvania, was a prime contractor for manufacturing hydraulic-pneumatic catapults for launching Navy planes from the decks of aircraft carriers during World War 2. The catapult model, they produced, was capable of reliably launching 9,500-pound airplanes in 73-feet to a speed of 61 knots. Praise for manufacturing the catapult very much dominated the presentation of the Army-Navy “E” Award this company received on August 19, 1944.
Innovations of the S. Morgan Smith Company focuses on technological advances coupled with the history of the company and its successors during the Twentieth Century. As a companion to the excellent book “Re-Inventing The Wheel. The Incredible Story of S. Morgan Smith, Minister, Inventor, Industrialist,” by Stephen Nicholas, with Terry Downs, this Innovations Lecture shares stories and facts about the S. Morgan Smith Company that are not common knowledge.