The "The Story Of Cabbage Hill: The Biggest Bash In Lancaster City's History!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an online story on "Cabbage Hill of Yesteryear" Facebook page that was written by Jim Gerhart telling the tale of the greatest expression of civic pride ever to take place in the Lancaster, PA neighborhood of Cabbage Hill since it was first developed.  The story was about a huge street festival on newly paved Manor Street, which was held on June 15-16, 1923, which raised over $6,000 to benefit a newly developed city park on land in the triangle between Third, Rodney and Crystal Streets.  About 10,000 people attended the festival on Manor Street which had been in terrible condition for many years, but now had a new coating of concrete.  It all began in early August of 1922 when work crews began to excavate the street.  The local trolley company, Conestoga Traction Company (CTC), helped with the work by moving the trolley tracks from the side of the old street to the center of the newly constructed road.  Wasn't long before the cold weather set in and work had to be halted for the winter.  Manor Street was a mess and impassable in many locations.  But, in early April of 1923 the work crews began construction again with hopes of the work being completed in mid-June.  Manor Street is located in the Eighth Ward of the city of Lancaster and on Friday, May 25 the Eighth Ward Community Association met to begin plans to celebrate the opening of the newly paved Manor Street.  Meetings followed on May 31 and June 7 and scheduled the big bash to begin on June 15-16.  Any monies raised during the event was to be donated to the outfitting of Rodney Park which had just been acquired by the city of Lancaster.  Playground equipment and surrounding sidewalks for roller-skating would be needed at the park.  The association members took to the streets of the Eighth Ward to see how much interest there would be to help support having a festival.  The interest was so great that the committee decided to make it not only a festival for the opening of Manor Street, but to a Cabbage Hill Celebration and Festival.  26 committees were developed for the big event with a chairman and three to five other members.  Christ Kunzler of Kunzler's Meat Market on Manor Street was in charge of the Hot Frankfurter committee.  Leo Hauck, who was a renowned boxing champion, whom I wrote about in the past, was the head of the Sports committee.  A few other committees were the Dancing, Flowers, Candy, Prizes, Ice Cream, etc.  Nothing was overlooked for this big event!  But, to the chagrin of most in the Cabbage Hill area, there was no Beer committee.  Perhaps the fact that the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) was in effect had something to do with it.  Prizes began to be donated for the winners of different events planned.  Pennsylvania Congressman William Griest donated a new Ruud water heater and the CTC donated a new Clark Jewel gas range.  Hamilton Watch Company and Armstrong Cork Company donated money as did many others.  Finally, Manor Street was finished on time and the festival was good to go.  Flags and bunting lined both sides of the street as did colored lights and dozens of booths that had been built by residents and decorated with flowers.  Friday, June 15th had two large banners strung across the street at the ends of Manor Street with one at West King and one at South West End Ave.  The day was in the 80s with a few clouds when the leaders of the Eighth Ward Community Association, along with 500 school children, left the intersection of Manor and Dorwart Street and paraded to City Hall in downtown Lancaster where they met Mayor Frank Musser and other city officials and they all headed back in a parade to the intersection of Manor and West King Streets where a fence barrier had been erected.

 The Mayor was presented with a new axe and with one stroke he broke through the ceremonial barrier, officially opening the newly paved street.  I can just imagine the roar of noise that filled the sky in Cabbage Hill.  Following was a welcoming song by a group of children and then a switch turned on colored lights that lit Manor Street.  The Star Spangled Banner was played, a speech was given by the Mayor and everyone paraded the length of Manor Street while cheering.  The festival was underway!!  Music, dancing, amusements and even boxing made for a festive festival.  The American Legion Band played Roaring Twenties music.  Cabbage Hill was alive with excitement for two summer evenings.  By the time midnight rolled around on Saturday evening the festival was over.  It was a huge success with over 10,000 Lancastrians attending.  Over $6,000 was raised for the park.  It was the opinion of most of the city of Lancaster that Cabbage Hill was not a fully accepted part of the city, but after this grand bash, there was no question that they had finally gotten their due.  They did themselves proud!  And, it probably will never be duplicated ever again!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

PS - On Saturday, October 5 this photograph appeared in LNP Lancaster, PA newspaper.  The SOWE (A group of residents and former residents who formed a group known as South West and were, or are now, a part of Cabbage Hill Section in the Southwest section of Lancaster) recreated the sepia photograph you see above.  As you can see, the SOWE area of the city of Lancaster is still a vibrant part of the Lancaster Community.