York Town Square

Hanover, Pa.’s, Warehime-Myers Mansion is part of the “Made in America Tours” taking place in factories and notable buildings around York County this week. This view comes from the upstairs looking down. For more on this landmark and a sister mansion, see: Two ornate mansions that Hanover Shoe built. (See additional photographs of other tour sites below.) Also of interest: York area full of memory-spawning landmarks and Lighthouse marks site of landmark Dover Township soft pretzel stand and Those old brick, Victorian-era factories? Housing proposed for another big York-area complex.

York marketers have tagged York as the First Capital of Golf, Muscletown U.S.A., the First Capital of the United States, Softball Capital of America and, most recently, the Factory Tour Capital of the United States.
Meanwhile, consultant Roger Brooks has put forth a campaign that brands York as “Creativity Unleashed,” drawing on how craftsmen and artisans have contributed to innovation in industry and the arts. Then, there’s the “Revolutionary York,” theme that’s been out there for some time.
That’s a lot of brands.
There remains an unresolved identity issue about how York County should present itself to the world… .

A bite into a Smittie’s pretzel provides a taste of York County’s culinary best.

This question comes up in a week in which the Made in America Tours are planned around York County. This initiative from York County Convention & Visitors Bureau initially received the Factory Capital of the United States brand but has expanded beyond factories to sites bearing local history and/or that are products of American craftsmanship. So the heavily promoted Factory Capital brand is giving way to a Made in America brand.
This should not take away from an expansion of interesting sites to visit this year in the Made in America brand. While the macro branding issue needs to be resolved, the details of the tours are encouraging.
This York Daily Record/Sunday News story lists some of the additions to this year’s slate.
Also of interest:
Columnist Gordon Freireich advocates a brand incorporating York County’s Victorian-era architecture: ‘Time for York to break shackles of Colonialism’
More online
York County’s Made In America Tours run Wednesday through Saturday.
To check out all the tours, their contact information and times, visit www.factorytours.org.
What’s your favorite York County factory/Made in America tour?
Weigh in at www.ydr.com/exchange in the ‘Countywide and statewide discussion’ forum.

A recent post showed archaeological work on the Dill’s Tavern from the outside. Here, researchers work on the Dillsburg tavern’s inside. The tavern is part of this week’s “Made in America Tours.”
Archives:
– You can always search for York Town Square posts on Google. For example, search for yorktownsquare and Dillsburg and you get this.

*Photographs courtesy of York Daily Record/Sunday News.