YorksPast

Edwin B. Myers and his wife Anna Iaegar Myers purchased a 138-acre farm (Tract #1 in aerial photos) in Springettsbury Township, York County on June 24th 1901; they named it Meadowbrook.  They made extensive modifications to the farmhouse, creating their Meadowbrook Mansion in the Georgian Revival style.  This mansion presently stands as Christmas Tree Hill along Whiteford Road.  Many remember it as the Meadowbrook Inn & Tavern or as the Avalong Farms Mansion.

After the initial farm purchase, Edwin Myers went about expanding the acreage of Meadowbrook Estate.  The subject of this post is the progression of tracts of land added to his estate; as shown in the side-by-side aerial photos.  Other posts in this series or related posts include:

• What will be the Fate of the Cow Weathervane?
• Meadowbrook Estate in Springettsbury Township, Part 1; Edwin B. Myers, his Family and his Businesses
• Historic Courthouse Columns built into Meadowbrook Mansion
• Meadowbrook Tavern Menu loaded with neat stuff

 

This series of posts on Edwin Myers and Meadowbrook Estate primary utilizes records from the York County Archives (Estate Records), the York County Recorder of Deeds (Land Records), the York County Heritage Trust, Ancestry.com (Census Records), Prospect Hill Cemetery Records (Where many of these Myers are buried), Prowell’s 1907 York County History and Donehoo’s 1928 Pennsylvania State History.

Edwin Myers began purchasing tracts of land adjacent to or near his Meadowbrook Mansion two years after purchasing the 138-acre farm on which the mansion and barns sat; see Tract #1 in the aerial photos.  Edwin Myers’ purchases are summarized as follow:

Tract … Year Purchased … Acres … (Deed Book & Page):

• Tract #1 … 1901 … 138-acres … (12Q pg.105)
• Tract #2 … 1903 … 101-acres … (13E pg.399)
• Tract #3 … 1903 … 2-acres … (13L pg.111)
• Tract #4 … 1904 … 58-acres … (13U pg.558, #1)
• Tract #5 … 1904 … 128-acres … (13U pg.558, #2)
• Tract #6 … 1904 … 6-acres … (13U pg.558, #3)
• Tract #7 … 1910 … 25-acres … (17K pg.402)

The 1938 aerial photo was taken March 19th 1938 and is from Penn Pilot’s collection of Historical Aerial Photos of Pennsylvania.  Early historical aerial photos are a great aid in aligning tracts of land after plotting the metes and bounds from the land deed.

Edwin Myers’ 458-Acre Estate nearly stretched to Tilden, or more commonly known as Longstown.  Edwin B. Myers died from pneumonia on May 5th 1916.  If Edwin had lived a few more years, when estates of deceased neighbors became increasing available, he likely would have bought more tracts to connect and expand his estate properties.

In the void following the death of Edwin Myers, a new wealthy York businessman stepped in to begin to acquire property from those estates neighboring Edwin’s land in Springettsbury Township.  Mahlon Haines made the first of his many purchases of land, in what would become Haines Acres, during December 1917.  Who knows, if Edwin Myers had lived a few more years, he might have beat Mahlon Haines in buying the land on which Haines Acres sits. 

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