Where do you go for one-stop queries about York County, Pa., history?
John Robinson of York New Salem believes the community needs a Web site or resources that people can query with questions and at least get pointed in the right direction.
Well, we might not have a single entity with expertise to point people in the right direction, but York County has something better. We have two agencies with expertise:
With questions on architecture or buildings – what I call hardware – go to Historic York.
Queries about people, events or genealogy – software – go to York County Heritage Trust.
Of course, you can get information on people at Historic York and architecture at the Heritage Trust, but this is a good way of remembering specialties.
As I get such queries, I privately or via this blog try to point people in a direction.
Here are some responses to questions posed by our friend from York New Salem:
Q. At a local auction, they sold a plane (the kind used to shave wood). It was one of those “thin” metal type, which usually have a number of extra blades with it. This one did not have the extra blades. (It was not one of those wider, or thicker block-type planes). Even so, it sold for $50. The unusual thing about this plane, though, was that in the metal it was embossed (not debossed, or stamped in) “Pullman Co. York, PA.” Was this made by the same company that made the Pullman Automobile? Or was it made by a company that made planes FOR the Pullman Automobile Co.? Or was there another Pullman company, possibly unrelated, that made tools in York, PA? I have a friend who owns a Pullman automobile, and he says it couldn’t have been made by the Pullman automobile company.
A. I’d ask Fred Rosenmiller, local expert on Pullmans. He’s listed in phone book under Rosenmiller Realty. Also, I’d check the York County Heritage Trust file on Pullmans to see if they contain catalogues that might help. My guess is that it was a way for Pullman to mark its tools in the same way that Holiday Inn marks its towels.
