York Town Square

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This chart shows S. Morgan Smith’s legacy – three York County, Pa., companies that operate today. Voith Hydro, American Hydro and Precision Components trace their roots to Smith, directly or indirectly. Smith was there at the beginning of a fourth company before leaving to found S. Morgan Smith: Johnson Controls, formerly York Corporation, Borg-Warner and York International, among others.

That’s Spring Grove’s St. Paul’s Lutheran Church behind the scaffolding. The repairs are underway to address safety concerns at the 105-year-old church. The brownstone was losing some chips, which created the concern. Charles H. Glatfelter’s ‘York County Lutherans’ lists the current building, dedicated in 1909, as the second Lutheran building in Spring Grove. The first was dedicated in 1880.

Everett, Pa., is 70 miles from Gettysburg, and add on another 10 miles to Snake Springs Gap. So this bearing sign the familiar ‘Gettysburg Campaign’ title is long way from where the big battle took place in July 1863. This marker indicates how far the alarm of Robert E. Lee’s campaign of 1863 spread. And as usual when a big event occurs, York County touched this point in the mountains of western Pennsylvania, however gently.

The cornerstone of York, Pa.’s, Zion Lutheran Church was laid in 1850. The reason for building the church? English was fast becoming the language for services in Lutheran churches in York County. St. Paul’s had separated from the mother church, Christ Lutheran, in 1836 over that issue. Zion formed as an English-speaking part of Christ Church’s congregation in 1847. The congregation worshipped at this site behind the York County Courthouse until 1989, when the congregation moved to Manchester Township and closed its longtime home. Here, a group looks at Zion Lutheran’s former sanctuary for possible Christian ministries use.

Matt Bupp sent in this very clear aerial image of the old King’s Mill/Schmidt & Ault/Smurfit-Stone site along the Codorus Creek. He estimates that the photo was taken in the 1950s. The complex is now owned by York College of Pennsylvania, which just unveiled a redone sign showing the Schmidt & Ault logo, plus high water marks from the 1933 and 1972 floods. This photo shows the 1812 manor house on the site. York College of Pennsylvania officials say they have no plans to renovate either that historic structure or the old mill.

This cannery is identified as the New Park Canning House, operated by Louis P. Colgan in the 1920s. York County, Pa., had many such businesses, and some operate today. It was southern York County’s bountiful agricultural products, vast orchards and large canneries that prompted the U.S. to send German prisoners-of-war to that region in World War II. The Stewartstown Historical Society is looking for information on southern York County canning houses for an upcoming program.

Picturing York shows a familiar landmark, a before-and-after photograph of the National Guard Armory on North George Street in York, Pa. Check individual photos plus a special slider that lets you explore the old armory, then and now: National Guard. Notice the flood control work that has been done to the bank of the Codorus Creek in these two scenes.