YorksPast

Old aerial photos are great, especially when a personal association exists.  The circa 1948 aerial photo at the end of Jim McClure’s post on Wednesday has such a connection with me.

My first reaction when I saw the circa 1948 Longstown Aerial Photo was “is our farm within view in the upper left corner?”  My Dad, Harold L. Smith, owned a 27.5-Acre farm along Old Dutch Lane from 1961 to 1966.  Our family spent four summers living on that farm; when I was between 13 and 16 years old.  I remember many a bicycle ride on the interconnecting, mainly dirt, roads between the various farms and orchards in the field of view of the McClure posted aerial photo.

We would also regularly ride our bicycles along the roads to the neighborhood Seitz’s Grocery Store, which sat on the southeast corner of the intersection.  Back in the early 1960s, traffic was very light on these roads and at that intersection.  Now days, I avoid driving through that intersection because of the congestion; and I would never attempt to ride a bicycle along the roads leading to that intersection today.

The York County Archives has Aerial Photos for several time periods other than those available on the Penn Pilot web site.  I utilized the Archives’ 1964 Aerial Photo, since that fell within the time period when we lived on the farm.  Comparing landmarks between circa 1948 McClure posted aerial photo and Archives’ 1964 aerial photo, I placed the yellow field of view lines.

My question about the farm was answered: our farm is not within view in circa 1948 McClure posted aerial photo.  Continue reading for a list of questions that grew out of this exercise and see what the field of view looks like today.

 

 

This is what the field of view from circa 1948 McClure posted aerial photo looks like today.  This 2013 aerial photo shows the same image area as the Archives’ 1964 aerial photo, at the beginning of this post.

When we lived on the farm, I recall that the road at the Longstown intersection was Windsor Road and that Cape Horn Road branched off of this road further south at the right hand curve.  Does anyone else remember this?

Looking at maps on the Internet, I found at least one that still shows Windsor Road at the Longstown intersection; although majority indicate Cape Horn Road.  ADC Map Books show Windsor Road at the Longstown intersection.  This section of road is a common boundary between York Township and Windsor Township; could it be that each township names their half of the road differently?

As a side observation to the Windsor Road search, I noticed Tilden more often on current maps, as opposed to Longstown.  Note that the 2013 Bing.com map even uses Tilden.  Tilden was the name of a post office at this intersection for a short time over 100 years ago (1891 to 1903).  When we lived in the area in the 1960s and frequented the neighborhood Seitz’s Grocery Store, I don’t ever recall the mention of Tilden; it was always Longstown.

Here is another street name query that I want to throw out for reader reaction.  Dad purchased our farm along Old Dutch Lane from Wilmer Leicht.  I understand the Leicht family, at one time, owned other farms in the general area.  The Leicht pronunciation sounds like Light.  I give these facts because I’ve heard on several occasions, the surname Leicht is the reason all the streets in the development to the north of the farm end in “light.”  Have any of my readers heard this, or any other explanations?

Related posts include:

Windsor Township Barn was a store for Country Folks

Reading the Headlines: A Quick Index to All YorksPast Posts