YorksPast

This illustration includes some of the key early founders and leaders of York Corporation. A talk on the early years of York Corporation will be presented Thursday August 17, 2017 at the meeting of the Greater Dover Historical Society.

The meeting starts at 7:00 PM and is held in the social hall of Calvary Lutheran Church on the square in Dover. Address is 9 North Main Street, although the church parking lot is accessed via City Hall Drive running behind the church. Enter the church at the doors in the lower building.

In the talk, I will discuss the early history of the York Manufacturing Company, established along Penn Street in York during 1874. Learn how this maker of washing machines and water wheels grew to become the driving force behind the development of artificial ice as York Ice Machinery Corporation. From there the company went on to pioneer some of the first air conditioning systems, leading to world recognition of the YORK name for air conditioning and refrigeration.

An index of links to related YorksPast Blog posts follow:

York Manufacturing Company Founders

• Founders and Leaders of York Corporation
• S. Morgan Smith’s Success Washing Machine; Origins of the York Manufacturing Company
• What did these 107 Yorkers have in common, during July 1872, for inclusion in a listing on Front Page of The York Gazette?
• S. Morgan Smith, patentee Success Washing Machine, at 436 West Market Street in York
• S. Morgan Smith learns a valuable lesson about patents; at the hands of McGinnes & Carter
• Jacob Loucks; Family History of a Founder of the York Manufacturing Company
• Jacob Loucks learned the Paper Making Trade near Hunt Valley, Maryland; P. H. Glatfelter followed in his footsteps
• Jacob Loucks affiliations with Four Paper Mills make him Relatively Wealthy; prior to providing Start-up Cash for York Manufacturing Company
• Oliver J. Bollinger brought Manufacturing Experience to the York Manufacturing Company in addition to contributing his patent on a Turbine Water Wheel
• Oliver J. Bollinger and his initial Patented Bollinger Turbine Water Wheel
• O. J. Bollinger & Co. plus S. Morgan Smith and Jacob Loucks form the York Manufacturing Company in 1874

Early Company History

• Congress in 100% Agreement; Not a Single Dissenting Vote in the House or Senate
• Patriotic Parade of York Mfg. Co.; Leaving York Mfg. Plant on West York Street to Possibly Join York’s 1913 GAR Parade, i.e. Commemorating 50th Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg
• Classic YORKCO Ads from 1930s; Part 1: Preserving The Records of a Nation
• Classic YORKCO Ads from 1930s; Part 2: World’s Largest Cooling System for Air Conditioning Purposes
• Classic YORKCO Ads from 1930s; Part 3: The University of Air Conditioning
• Classic YORKCO Ads from 1930s; Part 4: Order your own Weather, York Air Conditioning

Grantley Plant

• Johnson Controls leaving the Grantley Plant may be only partially correct
• History of YORK’s Grantley Plant, Part 1; Borg-Warner, Patriot Tech Center
• History of YORK’s Grantley Plant, Part 2; Sequence of Seven Industrial Owners on this parcel prior to YORK (Johnson Controls)
• Yorkco’s Grantley Plant located on an 80-acre 1880s Estate called “Oakland”
• History of YORK’s Grantley Plant, Part 3; 1938 Aerial View & Looking For People who worked at McGann Manufacturing in 1943
• McGann Manufacturing Company in Spring Garden Township; Harold L. Smith during WWII

Company History after 1935

• Historical Talk about YORK Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
• Work Underway on Johnson Controls Shrewsbury Development Center & YORKCO Talks

General Interest

• YorksPast 200th Post; and The 10 Most Viewed Posts
• Eliot Ness cracks the York Safe & Lock Company; YorksPast 300th Post and the new list of 10 Most Viewed Posts
• Reading the Headlines: A Quick Index to All YorksPast Posts