YorksPast

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Railroads Archives

This is one of the slides in the October History Night presentation about stations, stops, and stories of “Rails through Springettsbury.” The circa 1939 roadwork photo provided several questions in the queue of one-on-one discussions later in the evening. This post provides expanded answers and additional illustrations to clarify those

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.

The October 13, 2021, History Night in Springettsbury Township will feature the Codorus Creek, which forms the northwest boundary of the township. Stephen H. Smith will provide the presentation, exploring the Codorus Navigation Works. Ruins from those Works were discovered and photographed by Mike Spyker. Township residents and the local

The J. David Allen photo is one of his many aerial photos shared during the initial Springettsbury Township History Night. “Aviation in Springettsbury” was the topic of that event on July 14th; where my presentation covered 40-years of aviation stories related to the township, and township resident Dave Heltzel shared

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.

Robert Fraser submitted photos of a 1937 Batch Ice Cream Freezer, which was manufactured by YORK Ice Machinery Corporation, at their plant in Canton, Ohio. The freezer is still used at Erikson’s Ice Cream Stand in Maynard, Massachusetts; because it makes better ice cream, compared to that made in modern freezers. Robert’s submission was the tipping point in writing about the Canton Plant; which became YORK’s third major manufacturing facility in 1927.