York County

Last week's playful foray into the roasting of this blog by ChatGPT seems to have amused many of you as much as it amused me, and I'm glad. It helps me stretch out my dwindling list of markers that much farther. There are, of course, more than two thousand of 'my' markers here in Pennsylvania, so I still have plenty more to cover - I'm just running out of my supply of markers I've collected. I haven't had opportunities to go marker-hunting since October or so. But Zenkaikon is now only a month away, so I'll be able to grab markers between my home and Lancaster, and since we were able to get our hotel room for an extra night, we can take a leisurely route home afterward and get some that are a bit more out of the way.

In the meantime, though, there are still a few weeks in which blog posts need to be made. So without further ado, let's take a look at the circumstances which ultimately gave us scenic York County.

The marker stands at the intersection of
West Market Street and North Pershing
Avenue in the city of York

The story of York County technically begins in 1741, when the Penn family directed that a settlement called York be created. It was established west of the Susquehanna River, along the Codorus Creek, and at the time it was in Lancaster County - one of the three original counties laid out by William Penn himself. Now, as to why it was named York, there seems to be a difference of opinion. Some say it was named for the city of York in England, which was the seat of the Yorkist side of the Wars of the Roses and known as the White Rose City. This makes sense, because our York is also known as the White Rose City, just as our Lancaster is known as the Red Rose City. However, some sources claim that the city was named in honor of the Duke of York. This is a title which is sometimes given to a younger son, usually the second-born, of the sitting monarch of Great Britain. What I find peculiar is that at the time the city of York was established, and indeed for several years afterward, there was no Duke of York! 

It seems, now that I've nosed into the matter farther, that there's an element of truth on both sides. The settlement of York was named for the White Rose City in England, but the county of York was named for James II of the House of Stuart, who had died in 1701, and whose title from birth had been Duke of York and Albany. Apparently he was an early patron of the Penn family.

Over the next few years, the frontier settlement grew, both York itself and the land surrounding it. On August 19, 1749, the official decision was made to lop off the portion of Lancaster County on the west side of the Susquehanna and make it a separate county, sharing the name of its county seat. Within a few decades, the community's name had been changed to Yorktown. Why they changed it, I can't say; people just liked it better that way. (Enjoy the earworm.) No, seriously, it seems that the settlement had grown so much that it was familiarly known as the Town of York, and thus came to be called Yorktown. That was the name it bore when the little ruckus known as the American Revolution got started in 1776. 

In September of 1777, the Continental Congress received word that the British were coming to seize control of Philadelphia, and since they were kind of guilty of treason, their lives were in imminent danger. They grabbed the Declaration of  Independence and fled the city, taking a roundabout route which eventually brought them to the city of Lancaster; they spent one day there, September 27th, before deciding that they'd be safer if the somewhat treacherous Susquehanna River sat between them and anyone who might be hunting them. So across the river they went, and for the next nine months, the official capital of the fledgling United States was situated in Yorktown. They met in the original courthouse; the building pictured here is a reconstruction, standing on the banks of the Codorus just like the original. Together with the Golden Plough Tavern, the General Gates House, and the Bobb Log House, it forms what is known as the Colonial Quarter. York is also where the Articles of Confederation were ratified and the phrase "the United States of America" was first put into use. The city is often regarded as the first true capital of the United States, although there is some debate about whether this is accurate.

The history isn't limited just to the city of York, of course. Wrightsville, a community in eastern York County, played an unexpected role in the American Civil War. When they received word that Confederate troops were on the march and planning to use their bridge to cross the Susquehanna and besiege Lancaster County, the patriotic citizens made a daring choice: they set the bridge on fire. The southern forces, unable to cross the raging waters without a bridge, changed their plans and instead began their fateful march in the opposite direction - toward Gettysburg, in Adams County. I'm sure most if not all of you know the rest. Historic Wrightsville maintains a detailed diorama which shows the bridge burning for our modern understanding, so if you get the chance, do check it out.

Speaking of Gettysburg, my longtime readers might remember when I wrote about the Wills House, where President Abraham Lincoln stayed the night before the national cemetery was dedicated. History and railroad enthusiasts can visit the community of New Freedom and board the Northern Central Railway, which operates year-round and offers the chance to ride the very same railway tracks which brought Lincoln from Washington, D.C. into Gettysburg to be a guest at the Wills home.

The York County History Center (pictured here) is a priceless treasure trove of resources. One of their subsidiaries, the Agricultural and Industrial Museum, has multiple hands-on exhibits which explain just how significant the farms and industries of York County have been over the centuries to the growth of the United States. In particular, they were a vital asset to the Allied Forces during World War II, providing much-needed supplies for the fight.

Pennsylvania is known as the snack food capital of the country, and with good reason. But did you know that many of our most well-known snack foods are produced in York County? I didn't. Snack companies found in the county include Utz Quality Foods, Snyder's of Hanover, Martin's Potato Chips, Gibble's Potato Chips, and Wolfgang Candy. 

York County celebrated its 275th birthday last year, and I'm barely even brushing the surface of what makes it so unique and important to Pennsylvania and the country. Fortunately, someone has already done a lot of the work for me - Jim McClure, of the York Daily Record, crafted a detailed timeline of county history in honor of the big birthday celebration, and it's absolutely worth the read. See if it gives you the same feeling that it gave to me, which is that I can't wait to go back to York County and experience more of its offerings for myself.

---

Sources and Further Reading:

Official website of York County

Official website of the City of York

Official website of the York County History Center

Explore York, PA

McClure, James. Never to Be Forgotten: A History of York County, Pa. Independently published, 2024.

York County at the Historical Marker Database

---

Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.