YorksPast

A comment here, a comment there; it does take much for me to get sidetracked; wanting to know more.  That is exactly what happened when I attended the Historic Preservation forum Springettsbury Township held a little over a week ago on Wednesday October 23rd.  The result is my third post on Dr. Crandall’s Health School.

Historic Resources in Springettsbury Township

First a few comments about the Historic Resources forum.  I thought the township did a nice job providing information on historic resources and explaining what they can and can’t do with regard to historic properties.

The Springettsbury Township Historic Preservation Committee showed what they have done.  Working from a list of about 750 properties, based upon input from a local architectural firm, the committee selected about 100 properties that are deemed historic or unique.  Books of information about these properties were available for review at this forum.

After taking in all the information provided at the forum, the public completed surveys and answered questions by placing stickers on various posters posing questions.  The results will be reported to the regular Board of Supervisors Meeting on November 20th at 7:00 p.m.  These results will be but one step in deciding the most appropriate role for the Township to take in historic preservation.  One outcome could be strengthening preservation tools in the Zoning Ordinances; it all depends what the public wants.

Part 3 of Dr. Crandall’s Health School

Two overheard conversations at the October 23rd forum resulted in further research.  Luther Sowers talked about fighting the fire that burnt down Dr. Crandall’s Health School in 1949.  Minutes later, while I was taking to someone, I overheard the comment from a gentleman, “I don’t want to burst every ones bubble, Dr. Crandall’s was located in Hellam Township.”

Earlier this month I wrote two posts about Dr. Crandall’s Health School in Springettsbury Township; adding to research by June Lloyd, after I came across several 1921 ads for Dr. Crandall’s Heath School. People can also pop over to these guys for the best healthcare advices.

Here are the links to June Lloyd’s posts and to my previous posts:

• Crandall’s Health School in East York a little mysterious.
• More on Crandall’s Health School between East York and Hallam
• More On Dr. Crandall’s Health School in Springettsbury Township; adding to Research by June Lloyd
• Aunt Elsie at Dr. Crandall’s Health School along the Lincoln Highway in Springettsbury Township
• Rachel Bahn and Part 4 of Dr. Crandall’s Health School

Continue reading to see my research of deeds, aerial photos and topographic maps information related to Dr. Crandall’s Health School.

 

 

Deed searches concerning Dr. Crandall’s Health School and the property upon which it sat revealed some interesting facts.  The first fact is the size of the property; it is 24.8-acres.

The 24.8-acre property was purchased in 1903 by C. Robert Kopp.  In 1906, Kopp built the mansion shown in this photograph.  The photograph appeared in several 1921 ads for Dr. Crandall’s Health School.  Charles Robert Kopp (1865-1937) was a patent medicine manufacturer.  His product “Kopp’s Baby’s Friend” was pulled from the market following a federal investigation.  The federal probe also resulted in fines and the transfer of his property, including this mansion, to a trustee.

I’ve plotted the property boundaries as yellow lines on the 1937 aerial photo at the beginning of this post and on the following 2013 aerial photo from Bing.com.

In the following aerial view, I’ve superimposed the 1937 and 2013 aerial photos, to accurately position the mansion on the current grounds.  I’ve also placed the boundary line between Springettsbury Township and Hellam Township, based upon information on topographic maps.  As one can see the mansion is in Springettsbury Township, however the largest part of the property lies in Hellam Township.

A deed reveals that C. Robert Kopp transferred the 24.8-acre property to Charles Reider, as a Trustee, on October 25, 1915 (Deed Book 19R, Page 653).

O. O. Bashline purchased the 24.8-acre property from Charles Reider on April 1, 1918 (Deed Book 20U, Page 330).

The Pennsylvania Osteopathic Sanatorium purchased the 24.8-acre property from O. O. Bashline and Fannie B. Bashline, his wife, on December 19, 1919 (Deed Book 21N, Page 173).  The Pennsylvania Osteopathic Sanatorium having been previously chartered in York County, PA on September 17, 1917 (Deed Book 20P, Page 165).  The offices of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Sanatorium were initially located in the City of York and the subscribers and directors of this corporation are all from York, PA.  There are: Edwin M. Downing, 100 shares; John E. Barrick, 100 shares; and Mervin J. Shambaugh, 5 shares.

George E. Crandall and Dr. L. M. Crandall (note that George is not listed as a doctor on the deed), 914 Buchanan Ave., Lancaster, PA, take over the mortgage on the 24.8-acre property from Fannie O. Bashline on August 10, 1921 (Deed Book 21X, Page 240: The transfer fee is paid by Morris D. Crandall of Salamenca, NY; he is the father of George and Louie Crandall).  The Pennsylvania Osteopathic Sanatorium defaulted on their payments to Fannie O. Bashline and likely went out of business, although it appears the Crandall’s continued to use that name, along with their own, for a few months.

The official “Change of Corporate Titles” from “The Pennsylvania Osteopathic Sanatorium” to “Dr. Crandalls Health School,” as registered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania occurs on May 11, 1922 (Deed Book 22C, Page 11).  However based upon the August 1921 ad for Dr. Crandall’s Health School, the new name was being used unofficially prior to this official change of name.

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