YorksPast

The past two Sundays I visited The Stewartstown Historical Society to gather location details for my YorksPast series that is providing a location and source index for pre-1950 York County schools.  In doing so, I was treated to a preview of many of the pictures that will be included in their talk on Wednesday September 12th.

Roger Wilson will be moderating a talk that will cover over 40 one-room schools in Hopewell Township, East Hopewell Township, North Hopewell Township, Fawn Township and several Boroughs within these townships.  Doug Winemiller has been meticulous in his attention to detail in organizing a host of interesting pictures and maps that has been assembled for this talk.  This is a must-see talk for everyone interested in one-room schools.

 

The talk will take place this Wednesday September 12th at 7:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall of the Stewartstown United Methodist Church, 26 South Main Street in Stewartstown.  Among the pictures being presented are several rare interior photos from one-room schools.

If you have not already done so, also consider visiting The Stewartstown Historical Society Museum, 17 Mill Street in Stewartstown.  They are open every Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 PM.

My visit to The Stewartstown Historical Society satisfied my interest in one of the three Brenneman’s one-room schoolhouses in York County.  I had known about the Brenneman’s School in York Township and the Brenneman’s School in Lower Windsor Township for some time.

The existence of the Brenneman’s School in North Hopewell Township was a recent discovery.  Through various sources, Doug Winemiller was able to pin-point Brenneman’s location in North Hopewell Township along the west side Rt. 24 near Cross Roads.  The schoolhouse was located north of the intersection of Rt. 24 with Shangri-la Road and Faraway Drive.

The Brenneman’s School in North Hopewell Township was not on the 1876 Map of York County.  This school was listed in Gibson’s 1886 History of York County.  Therefore the school was built between 1876 and 1886.  The 1915 York County Map prepared by the Pennsylvania Department of Highways indicates the location of the school.  I have added the relevant road names to a section of the 1915 map.

The Stewartstown Historical Society has much better pictures of virtually all of the schools they will be presenting in their talk.  The original of this photo of Brenneman’s Schoolhouse of North Hopewell Township was very water damaged; Doug Winemiller spent a lot of time restoring the photo to this state.  The schoolhouse entrance faced towards Shangri-la Road.  Adults are in the picture; therefore this photo may have been taken at a graduation or some other function.

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