York Town Square

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Susquehanna, waterways Archives

This York County, Pa., building and its smokestack have brought up all kinds of stories, often spooky, over the years. It’s now used as a crematorium. So where does this building stand? Btw, what was its original use?

The York, Pa., Daily Record’s Jason Plotkin’s photos from above the Norman Wood Bridge are telling for several reasons. With a Susquehanna River bed like that, it’s obvious why the river over the centuries could not be navigated – or at least navigated by flatboats only in certain rainy seasons. It’s also why canals had to be put in on both sides of the river so that farmers and merchants could get their goods to market on the Chesapeake Bay.