YorksPast

Second Saturdays is a free lecture program offered by the York County Heritage Trust, providing an entertaining yet educational Saturday morning for the community.  The lectures are held the second Saturday of each month and begin at 10:30 a.m. at a featured Trust site.

The November 9th, 2013, program will be held at the Agricultural & Industrial Museum.  Free parking is available in the lot directly across the street from the museum entrance at 217 West Princess Street in York, Pennsylvania.

From York Manufacturing Company to York Ice Machinery Corporation: The First Sixty Years

The speaker is Stephen H. Smith, a design engineer who worked at York International Corporation for 33 years.  He retired several years ago to research and write books full time; his second career.  Last year he used his knowledge of local history to start this blog; YorksPast.

New posts on YorksPast are routinely posted five days a week; typically Monday through Friday.  YorksPast recently marked its 300th post.

In the talk, I will discuss the early history of the York Manufacturing Company, established along Penn Street in York during 1874.  Learn how this maker of washing machines and water wheels grew to become the driving force behind the development of artificial ice as York Ice Machinery Corporation.  From there the company went on to pioneer some of the first air conditioning systems, leading to world recognition of the YORK name for air conditioning and refrigeration.

After the program a museum guide will provide a demonstration of a York Manufacturing Company A-Frame Ammonia Compressor on display at the museum.  This is a HUGE compressor; look closely at the photo, you’ll see a man standing at the lower left.  York International Corporation donated the compressor to the York County Heritage Trust in 2000 and provided $100,000 to restore it.

York Manufacturing Company built this compressor in 1904, at their plant along Roosevelt Avenue.  This A-Frame Ammonia Compressor operated for over 70 years at Cudahy Packing Company in Wichita, Kansas.  The compressor was part of a system that produced ice and refrigeration to preserve meat products; it operated into the 1970s, when it was retired from service.  The unit, 15-1/2 feet wide, 26-1/2 feet long and 25 feet high, weighs 72.5 tons.  A small electric motor is used to mechanically move the massive parts during the demonstration.

An index of links to related YorksPast Blog posts follow:

York Manufacturing Company Founders

• Founders and Leaders of York Corporation
• S. Morgan Smith’s Success Washing Machine; Origins of the York Manufacturing Company
• What did these 107 Yorkers have in common, during July 1872, for inclusion in a listing on Front Page of The York Gazette?
• S. Morgan Smith, patentee Success Washing Machine, at 436 West Market Street in York
• S. Morgan Smith learns a valuable lesson about patents; at the hands of McGinnes & Carter
• Jacob Loucks; Family History of a Founder of the York Manufacturing Company
• Jacob Loucks learned the Paper Making Trade near Hunt Valley, Maryland; P. H. Glatfelter followed in his footsteps
• Jacob Loucks affiliations with Four Paper Mills make him Relatively Wealthy; prior to providing Start-up Cash for York Manufacturing Company
• Oliver J. Bollinger brought Manufacturing Experience to the York Manufacturing Company in addition to contributing his patent on a Turbine Water Wheel
• Oliver J. Bollinger and his initial Patented Bollinger Turbine Water Wheel
• O. J. Bollinger & Co. plus S. Morgan Smith and Jacob Loucks form the York Manufacturing Company in 1874

Early Company History

• York Manufacturing Company; nearly largest factory in York County during 1899
• Steve Jobs & Apple Computer connections to YORK
• Historic Corliss Steam Engine right here in York, Pennsylvania; Part 1, Steam Flow
• Historic Corliss Steam Engine right here in York, Pennsylvania; Part 2
• Thomas Shipley and other Shipley connections to YORK
• Bube’s Brewery purchased 1893 Ice Machine made at YORK’s Penn Street factory
• Congress in 100% Agreement; Not a Single Dissenting Vote in the House or Senate
• Patriotic Parade of York Mfg. Co.; Leaving York Mfg. Plant on West York Street to Possibly Join York’s 1913 GAR Parade, i.e. Commemorating 50th Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg
• Classic YORKCO Ads from 1930s; Part 1: Preserving The Records of a Nation
• Classic YORKCO Ads from 1930s; Part 2: World’s Largest Cooling System for Air Conditioning Purposes
• Classic YORKCO Ads from 1930s; Part 3: The University of Air Conditioning
• Classic YORKCO Ads from 1930s; Part 4: Order your own Weather, York Air Conditioning
• At home with William S. Shipley
• Colossal gardens planned for Shipley Mansion near summit in Wyndham Hills
• YORK Ice Machinery building repurposed as Hercules Apartments
• 1930s YORK Freezers still make the best ice cream

Grantley Plant

• Johnson Controls leaving the Grantley Plant may be only partially correct
• History of YORK’s Grantley Plant, Part 1; Borg-Warner, Patriot Tech Center
• History of YORK’s Grantley Plant, Part 2; Sequence of Seven Industrial Owners on this parcel prior to YORK (Johnson Controls)
• Yorkco’s Grantley Plant located on an 80-acre 1880s Estate called “Oakland”
• History of YORK’s Grantley Plant, Part 3; 1938 Aerial View & Looking For People who worked at McGann Manufacturing in 1943
• McGann Manufacturing Company in Spring Garden Township; Harold L. Smith during WWII

Company History after 1935

• Historical Talk about YORK Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
• York County Company built USA Luge Team’s Secret Weapon
• Planned Closure of South George Street for Olympians to give Luge Demonstrations
• Not Enough Snow & Olympic Pins
• York International & the Olympics
• Work Underway on Johnson Controls Shrewsbury Development Center & YORKCO Talks

General Interest

• YorksPast 200th Post; and The 10 Most Viewed Posts
• Eliot Ness cracks the York Safe & Lock Company; YorksPast 300th Post and the new list of 10 Most Viewed Posts
• Reading the Headlines: A Quick Index to All YorksPast Posts