The "Canals And The Era Of Water Transportation: Part I - Lancaster County's Beginning" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Pulled a book from the bookshelf that I hadn't used for quite some time titled Old Lancaster: Historic Pennsylvania Commonwealth written by Lancasterian Frederic Klein and illustrated by Charles X. Carlson. I have used this book from time to time while writing about the history of Lancaster and enjoy viewing the artwork of one of America's best artists.  I came upon a few pages that talked about the canal systems that connected Lancaster to the Susquehanna River and the advantages of commerce and trade that resulted from that canal.

A pen and ink drawing by Charles X. Carlson illustrating the
canal that ran from Reigart's Landing to the Safe Harbor.

In 1825 the Conestoga Navigation Company completed a seventeen-mile long canal with six locks that connected the Conestoga Creek (later called the Conestoga River) from Reigart's Landing, which was located at the foot of East King Street, to Safe Harbor on the Susquehanna River.  It was felt that this canal would give Lancaster all the advantages of a seaport town and carry freight, coal, lumber and grain faster and more efficiently than the Conestoga Wagons that were currently being used.  The "Edward Coleman" made the first trip down the canal in 1825.  I'm sure their were many in attendance as it made it's way from what is now called Bridgeport to the mighty Susquehanna.  But, the canal suffered quite a few problems and setbacks.  Spring floods seemed to be a constant threat to the few dams along the canal and the cost of maintaining the canal caused change in ownership from time to time.  Then in 1837 the "Lancaster and Susquehanna Slackwater Navigation Company" opened their new operation with a gala cruise down the canal.  The cruise included a band, banquet and toast after toast along the way.  The canal was in operation from 1826 to 1865 and remnants of a few of the dams along the canal still remain as well as one of the nine lock-dam combinations which is located in the Conestoga River Park at Safe Harbor. A year after the Lancaster to Safe Harbor was completed, the Pennsylvania state legislature approved $300,000 for constructing a canal along the Susquehanna's eastern shore to bypass rapids and shallows and make the river navigable throughout the length of the canal.  Six years later the Pennsylvania Canal was begun and a year after that, in 1833, it opened to traffic.  It started in Columbia, Pennsylvania, which is slightly more than 20 miles west of Lancaster, PA, and stretched 40 miles north to the junction of the Juniata River.  In 1836 another canal was begun that was to run from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, a small town directly across the Susquehanna River from Columbia, PA to Havre de Grace, Maryland.  That canal opened in 1839 and the 45 mile canal completed the journey from the Chesapeake Bay to the Juniata River along the Susquehanna River.  Tomorrow I will post postcard pictures as well as photographs that I have found or taken that will show you what the Havre de Grace to Juniata River canal looked like.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "A Baker's Dozen Of SXM" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Finally placing my photos from trip last April to St. Martin/Sint Maarten in a file to store for eternity on my auxiliary hard drive.  Going over them with my wife and she favored a few which I never thought to share with anyone.  So, you will get a chance to see them before I file them away until ... well, until I decide to view them again.  Hope you will find a few of them worthy of viewing even though you weren't on vacation with us.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

A lonely Frigate soars skyward.

Flowers of all colors line the garden of our rental villa.

Two Monarch butterflies in the island Butterfly Farm.

The harbor in Philipsburg. 

... and a few more.

Looking to the rear of our villa pool.

Viewing the planes landing at the airport.

... and yet another flower.

An Atlas month coming out of its cocoon.

Shopping in Philipsburg.

First grasshopper I have seen in years ... anywhere!

A lone Sugarbird calls for a mate to share the sugar.

On our return flight.  The coating on the plane's window gave the color to the photograph.

The "Lancaster's Manufacturing Success" Story

Lancaster Malleable along Manheim Pike in Lancaster, PA

It was an ordinary day. My friend of over 65 years, Jerry, had just emailed me some information about a few photos I had sent to him asking if he knew any information about the photos.  The photos were from a foundry that he could see from the front porch of his house on Manheim Ave.  

The layout of the casting company.  Jerry lived to the
left of the railroad tracks which can be seen on the left.
Remember to click on photos to enlarge them.

I lived about a block from his house and but didn't know much about the work that was done in the foundry near his home.  Place was called Lancaster Malleable Castings Co. and was built in 1910.  At the time Lancaster, Pennsylvania was the fourth-largest manufacturing city in Pennsylvania.  Watch companies, silk and cotton mills, automobile factories and iron and steel mills were some of the many industries that boosted Lancaster to that position.  

Train along siding dumping coal to be used in the furnaces.

Lancaster Malleable was a newcomer to the mixture in 1910.  At first it was known as Lancaster Foundry Company which manufactured grey iron castings, padlocks and harness hardware.  Six years later the company began to produce malleable iron castings which are not as brittle as grey iron.  This was done by using a hand-fired melting furnace.  

These are core machines used for making cores.

Eventually they stopped making grey iron castings. For years the company cast parts for leading manufac- turers of mining, construc- tion, trucking, farm, hardware and electrical equipment throughout eastern United States.  Lancaster Malleable operated a complete pattern-making and repair facility and performed machining and finishing operations on many of the cast products they produced.  

Pouring molds with the molten metal.

The foundry was on the other side of the Pennsyl- vania Rail- road tracks from Jerry's home, fronting on what is known as Manheim Pike or State Route 72.  From the Manheim Pike side of  company we could see the furnaces melting the metal and see the sparks and molten metal run as they poured their molds.  Deliveries and pick-ups were made to the rear of the facility where it backed up to a siding along the main line of the railroad.  What I enjoyed the most about the place was the fact that they owned Stump Field which was about half a block from the factory on Fruitville Pike.  Stump Field was home of Lancaster's Red Roses which was a "B" level team in the Eastern League of Professional Baseball until they stopped playing at Stump Field in 1961. The field still exists and is still used for recreational baseball games.  The Lancaster Malleable Casting Co.'s plant was demolished years ago putting quite a few employees out of work.  The property sat vacant with a few of the concrete slabs from the original building all that remain of one of Lancaster's finest foundries.  Information as to why the plant closed is not available online. So, another childhood memory has passed away as if it never existed; at least physically.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This is a sample of the work that could be done at Lancasater Malleable Castings Company.  I suppose these were sample or souvenir ashtrays that were made for customers.  The age of the product can be gauged by the fact that it is an ashtray which may be a rare find at an antique shop. Photo below is the bottom of the ashtray.

Parts of the foundation of Lancaster Malleable can be seen to the right in this photograph.  In the distance are homes along Manheim Ave.  One of these homes was the home that my friend Jerry lived in until he got married.

The "My Die-Cast Birthday Present" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just arrived at my brother's house in nearby Ephrata, Pennsylvania to share a bowl of the chicken corn soup he recently made.  A few minutes after arriving he called me into his first-floor office and handed me a long, skinny, white cardboard box which had PenJoy Company printed on the box in red letters.

Logo of the Company who made my present.

"Happy Birthday!" he proclaimed with a big smile on his face. "But, my birthday isn't for a couple of weeks yet," I told him. "I couldn't wait that long. I just got this and thought I'd give it to you now," he replied. Steve has given be some pretty neat birthday presents in the past couple of years and I was excited to open it. No wrapping paper, but still exciting as I removed the lid and found a neat 1:64 scale die-cast metal truck. He knows I have several die-cast corvettes in my office and thought I would enjoy the truck.

My birthday present from my brother Steve. The PenJoy
Company is a leader of 1:64 scale die-cast metal trucks in
the world.  The trucks are made in the USA, with their
facility in Lancaster, PA.  Some parts of the trucks are cast
in Decorah, Iowa while others are made in nearby York, PA,
but the main factory is in my hometown of Lancaster.

What made it so neat was the logo scrawled across the trailer; Rocky Springs Carousel - Lancaster, PA. Rocky Springs had always been my favorite amusement park while growing up. Loved riding the carousel as well as all the other rides as a child and graduated to the big wooden rollercoaster, The Wildcat, as a teenager.  The antique carousel was handcrafted by the Dentzel company in 1923 and had 48 animals and two chariots.  The carousel was 55 feet in diameter, 26 feet high and weighed about 100,000 pounds. The music on the carousel was recorded in France from a Gavioli band organ. Over 150 original selections entertained the guests who rode the carousel. It operated at the Rocky Springs Park from 1924 until the park closed in 1987, then moved to Lake Lansing Park in Lansing, MI, and then on to Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, TN in 1990. Then in 1999 the carousel left Dollywood and currently is in storage, waiting to see if it will be returned to Lancaster once again. Lancaster had raised a large amount of money for it's return, but the location where it will be located is still in doubt.  Anyway, I now have a neat birthday gift with one of my childhood favorites on it to help me remember my youth. Thanks once again Steve. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Lancaster's Premier Skyscraper" Story

The entrance into the Griest Building. Click on photos to enlarge.

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of the old Watt & Shand Department Store in downtown Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania taking a photograph of Lancaster's first skyscraper on the other side of Penn Square.  Not the type of skyscraper like The Empire State Building in New York with its 102 stories, but the Lancaster type which was 210 feet tall with 14 stories.

The Griest building in the background.

Officially known as the W.W. Griest Building, but also known as the Lancaster Federal Building and PP&L Building due to these two businesses having offices in the building, it was designed by famous Lancaster architect C. Emlen Urban and built in 1924-1925.  It was named after William Walton Griest, an elected Republican Congressman who also served as a member of the Lancaster County School Board, chief clerk in the county's commissioner's office and as a member of the State Tax Commission.  Mr. Griest was a supporter of and endorser of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922.  The Italian Renaissance Revival style building had a steel frame faced with granite, limestone and terra cotta.  The 66 foot by 55 foot building has 3,600 square feet per floor with a 12th floor that once housed a 300-seat auditorium with a green and gold fresco ceiling.  

This is the Marriott taken from in
front of the Griest Building.  I tried to
make it look as small as I could!

Wish I had been able to find photos of the auditorium, but I was unsuccessful.  40 years ago a 53 foot tall tower was added to the top of the building.  In 1999 the building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.  But, with those dimensions, the W.W. Griest Building is no longer the tallest skyscraper in Lancaster.  Our only other skyscraper, the building I am standing in front of to take my photo, now known as the Lancaster Marriott, which was renovated as a hotel and convention center and enlarged to 19 stories in 2009, holds that title.  The facade for the Watt & Shand building was also designed by Mr. Urban with the new Marriott addition blending nicely with the original architecture.  Being that I have lived in Lancaster all my life, and no matter how tall any new building may be, the Griest Building is still Lancaster's premier skyscraper and will always be just that.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This photo of the Griest Building also shows Lancaster's famous Central Market tower in the center behind the Greist Building, Lancaster first City Hall next to the market tower and Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the center of the square.

This photograph shows the framework for the Griest Building.

An old postcard of the Greist Building.

Photo taken from the Marriott.

And, a second photo of the Griest Building taken from the 19th floor of the Marriott in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

    

The "Two Trees That Made A City" Story

Corner marker in Lancaster, PA, the Red Rose City.

It was an ordinary day.  Standing at the intersection of West Chestnut Street and North Mulberry Street in downtown Lancaster taking a photo of the cross-sign.  Two unassuming city streets that carry the names of two of the most important city streets as far as helping develop the city of Lancaster.  

Tomb of Thaddeus Stevens.

At the intersection of Chestnut and Mulberry is located the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery in which Thaddeus Stevens, known as the Commoner, is buried.  But, both streets are much more than that.  When the Stehli Silk Mill came to Lancaster, PA in the late 19th century, raising silkworms and making silk were major industries in Lancaster.  

Fruit hanging from the Mulberry Tree.

Thousands of Mulberry trees were planted in Lancaster and Lancaster County for feeding those silkworms.  Mulberry Street in the city of Lancaster was lined with these trees.  Mulberry trees thrive in warm temperate regions so Lancaster was a good place to grow the trees.  The white mulberry tree is the only variety of mulberry tree that silkworms will eat their leaves, so that was what was what was grown in Lancaster.

Silk worms eating the leaves of the Mulberry Tree.

Domesti- cated silkworms are entirely dependent on humans and can no longer occur in the wild.  The moths, which cannot fly, lay their eggs on the Mulberry leaves and the worms hatch after 14 days.  The worms feed on the leaves and molt as they grow.  After molting four times, the larvae enclose themselves in a cocoon of raw silk produced by their salivary glands.  Inside the cocoon, a silkworm transforms into a pupa that emerges as a moth in about three weeks.  

The nuts developing on the Chestnut Tree.

The moths reproduce and die within five days, but in this time the female manages to lay from 200 to 500 eggs to continue the life cycle.  The cocoons are dipped in boiling water to kill the pupa and help unravel the thread.  Each cocoon contains a single silk thread that is about 300 to 900 meters, or 1,000 to 5,000 feet long.  Raising silkworms became a major industry in Lancaster until new fabrics were developed and Stehli closed in the mid-1950s.  Since then Mulberry Trees have been on the decline in Lancaster.  

The "fruit" or nut of the Chestnut tree breaks through it's cover.

As for Chestnut Street in the city of Lancaster ... Chestnuts began to be found in this area of North America about 9,000 years ago due to a warming trend in nature; sound familiar?  The Indians who inhabited Lancaster County and the European invaders who came to this area were able to exist due to the Chestnut tree.  The trees produced not only nutritious nuts, but rot-resistant wood for building houses.  I'm sure many Chestnut trees lined the street that bears its name until about 100 years ago when an imported airborne pathogen began to kill all the Chestnut trees in Lancaster County.  It now seems that there is a social movement that is going to try to restore the American Chestnut tree by breeding these trees so they are resistant to disease.  How they will do that is a mystery to me, but then I'm not a scientist.  Perhaps a hundred years from now the Chestnut tree will once again sustain life and create lumber for housing once again in Lancaster County, especially along Chestnut Street.  One can only wonder about the future, but for now, it seems that the Chestnut and Mulberry trees have little influence on the city of Lancaster as they once did.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.    

The "Blanche Nevin Comes To Life In Metal" Story

The 2016 Lancaster Red Rose Coin Club Medal

It was an ordinary day.  That time of the year once again when the Lancaster Red Rose Coin Club releases it's commem- orative medal.  The coin club was founded in 1958 and is a very active club with over 200 members.  I was introduced to the club a few years ago by my friend Dale who was the President of the club at the time.  Dale has since moved out of the state and is no longer a member.  This year a bust of Lancaster female sculptor Blanche Nevin is featured on the medal.  Blanche was born in Mercersburg, PA in 1841 and moved to Lancaster when her family moved here in 1855 so her father could become the President of Franklin & Marshall College.  Blanche eventually studied art in Philadelphia, the Royal Art Academy in Venice and at Carrara, Italy and spent much of her adult life writing poetry and creating sculptures.  

The horse drinking fountain

One of her sculptures, that of Revolutionary War General Peter Muhlenberg, stands in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection.  She has other sculptures in prestigious collections throughout the United States.  A few years ago my grandson and I took photos of the two sculptures that she has made for the city of Lancaster, PA.  At the intersection of West Orange Street and Columbia Ave. stands a sculpture of a fountain where horses could stop and drink and on the other end of town in Reservoir Park on East King Street is the "Lion in the Park" sculpture that she did in 1905. The coin club medal is the 51st annual coin produced and I have written about a few other medals in the past.  The medals have been issued in fine silver (60) and in bronze (110).  A set of one in silver and one in bronze goes for $70 while a single bonze medal sells for $17.  

The "Lion in the Park"

I used to collect coins as a child, but as many other hobbies, I lost interest in it.  Often thought what might have happened had I continued my coin collection into my adult life.  But, I haven't lost any sleep worrying about it!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "A New Breakfast Stop" Story

Waiting for breakfast at Augie's

It was an ordinary day.  Waiting outside Augies Restaurant on 9th Street in Ocean City, New Jersey to get a table for breakfast.  For years my family has been staying at a condo across the street from Augies for our yearly vacation in Ocean City, but we never considered having breakfast there until this year when my son-in-law, Dave, said that he entered "Restaurants in Ocean City" on TripAdvisor and Augies came up #3.  Had great ratings so we decided to give it a try.  

Located in the lower level of the Coral Sands Hotel.

The restaurant is actually located under the Coral Sands Hotel and I guess it never occurred to us that it would be a great place to eat breakfast.  Well, we finally were called for seating and we entered the restaurant and were seated at two large round tables.  The interior was homey and featured a traditional seashore theme as do most restaurants along the shore.  

Interior of the restaurants.

The menu featured Inter- national Omelettes, Specialty Omelettes, Jersey Fresh Omelettes, Tratitional Omelettes, Frittatas, Eggs and Scramblers, Waffles, Hot Cakes, French Toast, Breakfast Burritos and the one item that caught my eye ... Senior's Breakfast.  Now, if I'm eating at one of the restaurants that features my favorite, cake donuts, I'd probably be able to consume half a dozen with a glass of milk for dunking, but I don't need an omelette that has zucchini, squash, broccoli, mushrooms, green peppers and marinara sauce mixed in with three large eggs or a waffle filled with walnuts, raisins, apples and whipped cream.  

My son-in-law's breakfast omelette.

The Senior Breakfast which featured two eggs and two hot cakes was all I needed; that and a glass of orange juice, especially since I still had a donut or two left over from yesterday back at the condo that I had plans to pop in the microwave and dunk in a cup of milk.  The food arrived and we all enjoyed the conversation and nourishment and left knowing we had a new annual stop for breakfast which was only a minute walk from our condo.  And, I could see why it received the high rating on TripAdvisor.  Great food, courteous and quick service and a nice atmosphere.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Postal Memories From The Past" Story

Postcard that had been mailed in 1910

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at a book I had purchased a few years ago at a "yard sale" titled Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Post Cards.  Wasn't long before I came across an old post card that read under it … "Lancaster's ornate Moorish and Renaissance Revival City Hall was originally built as the Post Office."  The postcard had been mailed in 1910.  As I studied it I realized the building was across the street from St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Lancaster on North Duke Street.   Sometimes parked in front of it when I went to church at St. James.  I never knew it to be anything but Lancaster's City Hall, but as I looked at the old post card, I realized it was built originally as the post office.  

Another old postcard of the 1930 Post Office

Did some more reading and found that the Post Office that I knew was opened 20 years later on the first block of West Chestnut.   Thought I should take a photo of what I knew to be the Post Office during my lifetime so I headed downtown.  The building in front of me, as I snapped a photo opened in 1930 and was where my father's father, my grandfather Joseph, died in an accident when a mail package fell from above him and killed him.  

My recent photograph of the 1930 Post Office.

This building was built of Indiana limestone and is 15 bays wide and two stories tall with a one-story rear wing.  The design for the building came from the Office of the Supervising Architech, an agency of the United States Treasury Department that was responsible for designing federal buildings from 1852 to 1939.  The location of this building used to be where the Lancasterian School Building once stood.  Today it's only a branch building with the Postal headquarters now on the Harrisburg Pike, west of the city.  

One of the main entrances into the 1930
Post Office.  I can remember entering these
doors with my mom many times to buy
stamps and mail letters.

At one time there were a row of stores and offices across the street from this Post Office on Chestnut St. where a jewelry supply house known as Meiskey's was located.  The same store where my father worked after returning from WWII.  Tough to imagine working every day in a spot where you could look out the window and see where your father died years before.  This building now serves as a branch office of the US Postal Service as well as home to a few local businesses. It was sad to see the Post Office move to a more convenient and larger location, but the second Lancaster Post Office will always remain in my mind as the place where my mom and I visited for stamps and to mail packages.  Time goes on, but history is never outdated in the minds of those who lived it.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "I'd Be Lost Without My Grandkids" Story

Granddaughters Courtney on the left
and Camille on the right.

It was an ordinary day.  Just got off the phone with my granddaughter Courtney.  Had to call her to ask a question about the operation of my Smart Phone.  Seems she is the smart one in the family and can answer all my tech problems I may have with my computer or phone.  As I sat staring at the little screen on my phone, seeing if I could remember how she told me to take a panorama photograph, I wondered if she would know how phones from my childhood worked.  Would she be able to dial a number on a rotary phone?  Then I thought about some of the other low-tech items that are now high-tech and wondered how she would fare if I: (1) asked her to roll up the window in the car or (2) go to a record store with me or (3) tape a show and rewind it for me or (4) hand me the clicker for the TV.  Got me thinking about the evolution of the tiny device I was holding in my hand.  Is time passing me by too fast?  Would she even know the name Alexander Graham Bell?  You know … the guy who invented the telephone while attempting to invent a machine that would transmit sound by electricity.  Did you also know that he refused to have a telephone in his study, fearing it would distract him from his scientific work.  Do you also remember his famous first words when talking for the first time on his phone … "Mr. Watson, come here; I want you."  He also invented the iron lung and helped bring Thomas Edison's phonograph to commercial practicality and experimented with hydrofoil boats and airplanes.  My guess is that he would have invented the Smart Phone had he been born in a different era.  And, I'm sure he still wouldn't want a phone in his study for fear it would distract him.  Heavens, my granddaughter has her phone glued to her hand at all times for fear she will miss a text, tweet, or whatever.  As for her old tampah, as I am called, I'm going to have to call her back on my landline after I finish writing this story, since I have misplaced my Smart Phone and forgot the number.  I'll have her call the number and listen for the ring in the house so I can locate where the Smart Phone has disappeared to. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.