Readers Choose Top 10 Posts during October 2016
Near the beginning of every month, I’m sharing with my readers the top 10 posts from the previous month.
This single graphic, features illustrations from all top 10 posts; however giving greater space to the higher ranked posts.
Synopsis and Link to each October Top 10 Post
These are your favorites during October 2016:
1—Highest Summit in York County should be Named. “The highest summit in York County should have a name,” was a remark I received several weeks ago while volunteering at the York County History Center. The comment was the result of a discovery of my post Pigeon Hills debunks Red Lion Myth. In that post I provided a sorted list of York County summits over 1000-feet; as pulled off of topographic maps. Of the six summits with the highest elevations; only the highest summit, at 1412-feet elevation, is not named. Maybe it should be.
2—Gilbert Sisters in Big Hats. A 1909 photo of Gilbert sisters in big hats came to mind when considering a Millinery illustration for a future post about York County’s first female airplane passenger Edith M. Hitchcott; a second generation Milliner in York. A Milliner is a creator and dealer in women’s hats. In our family the Gilbert Sisters picture is known at the “Big Hats Photo.” The Gilbert Sisters are three of my Great-Aunts; i.e. they are the sisters of my Grandmother Iva Gilbert Smith.
3—Motter’s 1914 photos of Wright Flyer at Hilton Field. During a June weekend in 1914, a Wright Brothers Model B Flyer took off repeatedly from Hilton Field carrying York County’s first airplane passengers; one at a time. The flights were at a newly constructed airfield, on property of George F. Motter, in rural Dover Township. George F. Motter shared a dozen photographs of the activities from that 1914 weekend, at Hilton Field, with The Gazette and Daily in 1935.
4—Coal Baron built Mansion in Springettsbury. 10/29/16 West Virginia coal baron John Laing built a retirement mansion in Springettsbury Township. It still stands today; on the northwest corner of East Market Street and North Vernon Street. In 1906 Laing purchased six adjoining lots, two big lots plus four standard lots, to create one mega-lot with 120-feet of frontage along East Market Street and 250-feet deep, stretching back along North Vernon Street. John Laing retained noted local architect John A. Dempwolf to design the building still standing at 2025 East Market Street.
5—Camp Ganoga and the Susquehanna Trail. York County’s Boy Scouts Camp along the Big Conewago Creek, was known as Camp Ganoga. When I posted about Zion View and the Susquehanna Trail, a reader commented that she first met her husband when men from the Civilian Conservation Corps at Camp Ganoga attended a dance at Zion View. Learn more about the history of Camp Ganoga and how the Susquehanna Trail impacted it.
6—York County’s First Airplane Passenger was Charles Eastlack. On June 19th 1914 a Wright Brothers Model B Flyer took off from Hilton Field, in Dover Township, carrying York County’s First Airplane Passenger, Charles Eastlack. The Wright Brothers manufactured about 100 of their Model B Flyers between 1910 and 1914. It was their first passenger-carrying airplane; capable of carrying one passenger, nestled side-by-side, between the motor and the pilot.
7—Readers Choose Top 10 Posts during September 2016. Near the beginning of every month, I’m sharing with my readers the top 10 posts from the previous month. These were your favorites during September 2016.
8—Location of Hilton Airfield along Dover Trolley Line. Jim Wiest supplied some neat insight about Hilton Airfield and Hilton Trolley Station in Dover Township. I was able to narrow in on the location of the airfield by meshing Jim’s memories with historic topographic maps showing the Dover Trolley Line.
9—Dempwolf drawings of Laing Mansion. John A. Dempwolf’s original drawings for the Springettsbury Township retirement mansion of West Virginia coal baron John Laing are in the Collections of the York County History Center. The first floor includes: a living room, a parlor, a library, a dining room, a kitchen and a pantry. The second floor includes six large bedrooms and three complete baths. The Dempwolf drawings are not dated, however newspaper articles confirm they were created in 1906. The Springettsbury Township building still standing at 2025 East Market Street.
10—Hoover Worn Drive Truck debuts at 1916 York Fair. Hoover Wagon Company advertised “Do Not Fail To See The HOOVER WORM DRIVE TRUCK at the York Fair—Main Building Annex. BUILT IN YORK.” This York Daily ad appeared during the York Fair 100-years-ago, i.e. in 1916; when the fair was held in early October. The appearance at the fair marked the debut of the first Hoover Truck built entirely in York; since the companies’ automotive line previously involved purchasing a Ford chassis and added a Hoover commercial body. This post contains a trade publication review of Hoover’s newest product, along with illustrations.
This chart tracks the level of my YorksPast readership. Thank you to the multitude of readers that e-mail me with comments, suggestions and finds; you’re created a wonderful backlog of subjects for me to post. Your continued feedback is very much appreciated.
Links to the Top 10 Posts for the 12 most recent months:
- During September 2016
- During August 2016
- During July 2016
- During June 2016
- During May 2016
- During April 2016
- During March 2016
- During February 2016
- During January 2016
- During December 2015
- During November 2015
- During October 2015
