Where did the trolley in West Manchester’s Trolley Road come from?
York County’s native plants/Ghost signs/Gettysburg security
Why is Trolley Road in West Manchester Township named Trolley Road? The answer is so obvious you might not even think about it. Trolleys followed that road, or did until the Dover line was abandoned in 1932, according to ‘West Manchester Township, 200th Anniversary.’ The book said trolleys moved from Continental Square in York, and crossed Old Loucks Road. From this location near Wallace school, they rolled through Shiloh and along Broad Street. They turned west of Poplars Road and left the township at Little Conewago Creek. They then traveled along Brookside Avenue to Brookside Park and then to Dover. (See photograph with the camera pointed the other way below.) Also of interest: Transportation of workers fueled York County’s trolley system.
Neat stuff from all over … .
York countian Betsy Shaw’s emails are always packed with interesting information.
She wrote this week about a York Sunday News column/blog post focusing on the need to recognize a black militiaman killed in depending Wrightsville against Confederate attack in late-June 1863:
“I certainly agree that there should be something in memory of the African-American man who was killed in the Wrightsville trenches and may or not be buried there.
“This will seem an odd start but here’s a brief intro to my dad (1905-1999) who was born on a farm in the lower end of Lancaster County, a few miles below Quarryville. When he was 6 or 7 an elderly neighbor who was a Civil War vet & active in the G. A. R., asked my grandmother if the kid could ride along to Quarryville to the Post there. That was OK and next thing the boy was totally hooked on the Civil War. When he was 15 Dad & a buddy walked and hitched-hiked from Quarryville to Gettysburg & spent a few days looking around – that reinforced his interest -and he stayed hooked for the rest of his long life.
“Back to Wrightsville – I remember that he thought it likely that the man’s body was removed as soon as possible after the Confederates had left town. His guess was that men from the Tow Hill section of Columbia rowed over and took him home. Columbia had a significant Black population – a lot of men worked as laborers in the rolling mills & elsewhere, but there were also several comparatively well-to-do people who owned property and businesses. Anyway, if that’s how it happened, he reckoned that burial would have sooner or later been at Zion Hill Cemetery near the 5th St. & Linden St. corner.
“BTW the Columbia Juneteenth observance will be on Sat., June 15; there’ll be a march on 5th street from Mt. Zion AME Church up to Zion Hill Cemetery.
“My dad knew a great deal about the war in general & I wish that I remembered more of all the little details I heard about local things – but so it goes.”
York had slaves: Yes, it’s easy to forget that slavery was alive and well in York County in and around 1800. Yorkblogger and York Sunday New columnist June Lloyd take a look at this peculiar institution.
Security in Gettysburg: The explosions in Boston have been heard in Boston. Gettysburg 150 officials are discussing security.
Ghost signs: They’re everywhere, they’re everywhere. Check out this slideshow of ghost signs that are slowly fading into the sides of buildings around York County.
Native plants: Those were here before settlers and birds and bees like them. Read more: If you plant them, they will come.
Blog post of the day: Buffy’s World features a link salad ranging from the Lafayette Club auction to phone memories to York County Libraries app
The trolley prism leaves Trolley Road and heads into some underbrush and woods on its way to Dover, the terminus of the line in its heyday. Also of interest: Clang, clang, clang went the trolley.
Also of interest:
Conewago Crossing near Manchester busy spot for years, Part I, Part II, and
Hanover trolley bed work seen as ‘springboard to accelerate future phases of the trail’
Photos by Robert E. McClure III
