York Town Square

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Then & Now: How York County has changed from York City to the outlying areas

This York County Heritage Trust photo from the 1960s shows a newly minted Interstate 83 in the background and a two-lane Route 30 in the foreground. That’s the San Carlos barn, at right. This is an example of the type of photographs that will be featured in an upcoming Heritage Trust exhibit. (That exhibit was featured for many months and has since given way to ‘Front Porch to Front Lines’ and a soon-to-be-opened Civil War exhibit.) Also of interest: Red Lion, then and now: ‘Welcome to a popular page on our web site’ and On Second Saturdays: ‘It’s really cool that the Heritage Trust started this program’ and Postcards tell story of York County community.

The York County Heritage Trust received the Route 30 photograph, above, as part of recent donation of a series of pictures.
And an article in its publication “Trust Talk” gives clues pointing to the time the photograph was taken… .


That’s Loucks Mill Road to the left and a two-lane Route 30 runs past San Carlo’s Restaurant, right. The vehicles suggest the 1960s.
The publication states:
“The restaurant dates to 1940 and is located in a former dairy barn. In 1969, with the building of the Route 30 bypass, approximately one-third of the south end of the barn was removed. The only original portion remaining is the main dining room, enhanced with its original fieldstone walls.”
The roof of the Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge is visible in the distance, “Trust Talk” states, and signs in the center of the photograph tout Interstate 83, a gas station and signs for Gulf, Agway and Wiest Motor Company.
Here’s an additional thought:
If one understands Interstate 83 finally opened in 1959 and the Route 30 bypass went through in 1969, you can conclude this photograph was taken sometime in the intervening decade. (The Wright’s Ferry Bridge opened in 1972, completing the new route between York and the Park City Mall.)
“See how York County has changed over the years,” a Trust release states, “from York City to the outlying boroughs.”

To see two views of the Interstate 83/Route 30 intersection from a different view, see: How one spot in York County, Pa., tells much about what’s going on around there.

Edited, 3/14/12, 3/23/13