York Town Square

Remember the old York County story about brewer Hannes’ bout with an aged hermit?
It seems that Hannes produced a beer that stopped headaches, created a good appetite and abolished constipation.
Now the old hermit, Hannes’ neighbor, had seven pairs of old leather breeches.
The hermit, thinking Hannes’ brewing vat was there for laundering purposes, took advantage of this fortuitous situation.
He washed away — all seven pairs came out clean.
“But heavens above!” The Gazette reported. “(T)he story came out, and Hannes lost the title of Doctor, and his famous small-beer acquired the name of breeches-water.”
That story (“Back to the Future”) led off York Town Square post No. 1, one year ago today… .

In the more than 200 posts since, we’ve written about wide-ranging York County topics: Elephants ferrying across the Susquehanna; an unsolved story of a runaway locomotive; a 71-year-old guidance counselor who still plays basketball every day; and a short profile of the village of Potosi.
The most recent post explored the long-running tradition of love at the York Fair.
But heavens above, there’s a lot to write about.
And I’m always open to suggestions about topics to explore. A good portion of the posts tie into local news or suggestions from readers.
We’ll leave this anniversary post with sage advice from York County history dean Jim Rudisill. (See more at post “Yorkblog leads to reverse publishing. “) It explains one hope for this forum — that readers will become students in understanding this intriguing county in which we live:
History is really “His Story,” the story of people, and ends in a “y.” “Why” is the most important question historians can ask.
A “C” history student can answer “who and where.” A “B” student can answer “who,” “where,” “what” and “when.” An “A” student can answer the first four and “why.”