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State historic preservation specialist to lead tour of Red Lion’s architecture

Red Lion’s new year is traditionally ushered in with the raising of a huge cigar, reminding folks of the area’s past might as a cigar manufacturer. The fiberglass cigar, held by a lion character, weighs 100 pounds and is 8 feet, 3 inches long. The borough’s cigarmaking history is certain to be a topic of discussion in a tour of its streets on Tuesday, June 30, 2009. (See photos below of Red Lion’s cigarmaking culture of the past.) Background posts: It couldn’t happen in York County? Women were trampled in Depression-era labor unrest and York County cigars: ‘They contained a vast amount of nicotine’ and Red Lion’s Ebert Furniture: From bedroom suites to gunstocks.

A guided walking tour through Red Lion, sponsored by the Kaltreider-Benfer Library, is set for 6:30 p.m. June 30… .

For oral histories on Red Lion’s – and York County’s cigarmaking past, click here to see the York Daily Record/Sunday News’ online “Remember” series. (Submitted photo.)
Bryan Van Sweden, a historic preservation specialist from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, will lead participants through “Architectural Clues to Your Community’s Past.”
The program includes a demonstration on how to interpret building by spotting their architectural clues.

Workers in Red Lion roll cigars. Check out the ‘Remember’ story on cigarmaking for more on J.C. Winter. (Submitted photo.)