YorksPast

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Memorials Archives

Research into the often-asked question: “Why is a Graveyard along Eastern Boulevard at Stone Ridge Road?” revealed a surprise. It was generally known, that the graveyard accepted burials from churches, which stood directly across Stone Ridge Road. However the burial ground origins go back further; to at least 1830 when

Rick van Vliet shared a 1946 letter his father received from Frank Zercher, the father of Sgt. Robert W. Zercher of York, PA; a downed American WWII airman who was aided by the Dutch Resistance. Rick’s father, Willem F. van Vliet, was a member of the Dutch Resistance, which aided downed Allied airmen by keeping them out of harms way in Holland; not easy, as Dutch civilians were being subjected to the terror of forced labor by the German military.

In 1872, the Northern Central Railway established a picnic area near Howard Tunnel. During summer seasons, scheduled and special steam trains transported organizations to and from these Tunnel Grounds; which were improved year-after-year into a first-class one-day destination for groups with a minimum of 20, however up to as many as 600.

Bill Eaton has an interest in the present location and the wording on a Memorial Plaque originally affixed to the scoreboard installed by York-Hoover employees at Memorial Stadium in York. Within collections of the York County History Center, a 1948 article, with photos, was discovered in “The York-Hoover Herald,” a monthly publication by and for the employees of York-Hoover Corporation, which answered many of his questions.