YorksPast

Stephen H. Smith will be sharing some historical stories about Yorkshire as the lead speaker in a walk through that Springettsbury Township community on Saturday September 23, 2023 at 3:00 PM. The walk begins at the Yorkshire Elementary School parking lot on Maywood Road. My comments will serve as an introduction to Yorkshire residents sharing their memories during this stroll through Yorkshire.

Brenda Neff is the organizer of this walk and the Yorkshire Memories Facebook page has been providing the details, and will give up to the minute info in case the walk has to be postponed due to inclement weather. The rain date is the following Saturday; September 30, 2023. Please RSVP to Brenda at: blndln@comcast.net if you have not already done so via Facebook, so we have enough maps for everyone.

The Yorkshire History Walk route has been selected to provide a good mix of architectural variety and history, while avoiding heavily traveled roads. Sidewalks have been selected as much as possible, however please be careful, since there is the occasional uneven sidewalk. Also be aware of light traffic on the roads not having sidewalks.

When the initial Yorkshire History Walk was conducted in June of 2017, it was a hot day; resulting in an abbreviated tour. The tour this year will be conducted heavily within Yorkshire proper, i.e. stops 1 through 9. The highlights of features west of Mills Street will be shared while at stop 9.

The first 288-lots, of the Yorkshire development, were laid out by Robert B. McKinnon, and approved on May 3, 1924. A realtor’s office in York, known as Diehl on the Square, was the sales agent in the first weeks of Yorkshire development advertising. However when a big Yorkshire lot sale was staged at the end of June of 1924, The Conrad Realty Company of Harrisonburg, Virginia, was the selling agent.

During the last big day of the sale staged by Conrad Realty Company, the full-page local ads noted The Spring Garden Band would be giving a concert during the afternoon’s sale and a new Hudson automobile was to be given away. However based upon the low deed activity and not a mention by the local papers in the sale’s aftermath, it appears that sale was a flop.

When Mahlon Haines purchased 318-acres of adjoining properties during October and November of 1924, to create his Yorkshire Ranch, all the unsold lots in the Yorkshire development were part of the sale.

Click on this LINK for a yorkblog.com Full View of the photos and illustrations in this post.

Links to related posts:

Earliest plans for Yorkshire on the Lincoln Highway

Mahlon Haines’ Yorkshire Ranch

Edna Dimmerling mystery evolves in Yorkshire

Yorkshire Schoolhouse and initial Springetts Fire Hall