York Town Square

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Robotic smart carts? Harley bikes roll before they spin: Linked in with neat York County history stuff – June 5, 2011

Harley-Davidson is consolidating its sprawling 1.5 million-square-foot York operations into a single plant. OK, that plant is 600,000 square feet, but is still sprawling. Overhead and floor-level assembly lines that moved bikes on conveyer belts are also gone, with motorcycles under assembly moving via robotic smart carts. Work areas along the way are equipped with large screens. Bike assembly has gone hi-tech. For more see, the York, Pa., Daily Record/Sunday News story: ‘At Harley, a whole new way of doing things.’ The last day for the public to tour the old building, where bikes have been made since the 1970s, is Tuesday, June 7. Also of interest: York workers traditionally have made big, heavy things and York County chainsaw artist about Harley carving: ‘I had an inspiration for the bike and America’ and All Made in York posts from the start.

Neat stuff from all over … .
Lynne Fleming Leach is looking for some information on her family:

“I am trying to find information about my father’s family which was from York area, PA. The family name is Fleming. I think they operated a livery service/company in York sometime in 1800s into 1900s.
“Also, my father’s mother [my grandmother] was also from York area. Her maiden name was Heltzel. Her father’s name was William Heltzel. He operated a business in York. Any information will help.”

If you have information, contact Lynne or comment below… .


Another query: Angela Ruder is looking for information on her new York County home:

“I moved to York from Texas last year.
“I wanted to look deeper into the history of our pretty little home. It was built in 1855 by Augustus Shenk.”
Can you please make a suggestion of where I might begin my search here in York?

If you have information on Augustus Shenk, contact Angela.
Meanwhile, Historic York is the first place to look for information on historic homes. I explain more in this post.
Blog post of the day: Old pump and slate water box recall the Battle of Gettysburg.
Forum of the day: Exchanger Jimmy Bear has put up a thread on the WPA and other Depression-era agencies for discussion.

The annual street rod invasion, a staple of the York area since 1981, has gone green. The street rods are departing town today.
Archives
All York Town Square posts from the start. Then use “find” function on browser to search for keywords.
– Of course, you can always search for York Town Square posts on Google. For example, when you search for yorktownsquare and Jefferson borough, you get this.