The "Lancaster: City Of Locksmiths" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at old photographs of the city of Lancaster and discovered that Lancaster was home to 16 padlock manufacturers starting in 1879 when Edward T. Fraim, Parker K. Fraim and Miller W. Fraim, known as the Fraim Brothers opened Keystone Lock.  They established their lock company, also known as E.T. Fraim Company, on Park Ave., in the north-east section of Lancaster City.  

The Fraim Lock Company on Park Ave. in Lancaster, PA

 By the late 1800s they claimed to be the largest manufac- turer of locks under one roof in the world. About 1890 Parker and Miller left the company and formed Lancaster Silver Company.  E.T.'s sons Walter and Samuel entered into business with their father and took over the original busines when E.T. Fraim died in 1917.  Then in 1920 Samuel bought out Walter.  Within a year Walter purchased an interest in Slaymaker Lock, thus forming Fraim-Slaymaker Lock Company.  

One of Fraim Co.'s padlocks.

 Keystone Lock, the original name for Fraim Lock, was acquired by Safe Lock and Hardware Company in 1955.  Lancaster's largest and best-known manufac- turer of padlocks was Slaymaker Lock Company, located on North Water Street and later South West End Avenue.  Samuel R. Slaymaker founded the company in 1888 and developed a way to mass-produce high-quality padlocks at a reasonable price.  

Slaymaker Lock Co. on South West End Ave. in Lancaster.

 My wife's father, Charles Baker, was a life-long employee at Slaymaker where he was Personnel manager until his death in the late 1990s.  I had the chance to visit the company a few times when they were located on South West End Avenue.  Other well-known lock companies that called Lancaster home were Reese Padlock, General Lock Co., William F.H. Amwake, W.P. Wirth, Samuel B. Bitzer, Wm. W. Shallus, George C. Gompf, Grey Iron Casting Co. Ltd., Union Lock & Hardware, D.F. Buchmiller, Safe Pad Lock Works, Frederica C. Werner, Excelsior Lock Co. and various offshoots of some, if not all, of the previously mentioned companies.  So, what was the draw that made Lancaster the lock capital of the world?  Seems Lancaster had all the necessary natural resources and the nearby market.  

Slaymaker Lock Co. padlock.

 All the lock bodies were cast of brass which was made in the Lancaster area.  And, the Pennsylvnia Railroad was the largest in the country and happened to run through the center of the city of Lancaster.  Eventually Slaymaker, as well as just about every other padlock maker, called it quits.  In 1986 Slaymaker sold their building in Lancaster.  One of my former photography students, Eric Forberger, opened his commercial advertising and editorial photography studio on one of the floors of the old Slaymaker Lock Company.  I have made a few visits to his studio to see what he can do and found his studio amazing.  Although padlocks are no longer being made on South West End Avenue, taking photos of them still take place.  The history of the building still lives on in time, keeping the making of locks alive in a new way.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "The Island Of Tintamarre" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting on Orient Beach looking Northeast toward the small island known as Tintamarre.  It is an 80 acre island that at one time had it's own King, Navy and airline.  

This map shows the island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten
with the small island of Tintamarre to the top right.

It is situated to the East of the Orleans quarter of St. Martin, the French side of the two country island known as St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  Carol and I had a boat ride a few years ago where we got to see the back side of the island which still has some woodland on it, but is no longer inhabited.  The coast line of this small island is the most abundant in fish in the surrounding area and you can still find an plenty of limestone on the island.  The island is known locally as "Flat Island".  At first it was said that the French took possession of the island from the English, but then passed it to the van Romondt family.  The first to come to St. Martin was Diederik Johannes van Romondt who arrived from Holland in 1801.  He served as governor of Sint Maarten from 1820 to 1840.  The last known member having the van Romondt name was Diederik Christian who died at the age of 76 in 1948 at Mary's Fancy, his estate in Dutch Cul de Sac on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten.  

The beautiful island of Tintamarre.

Diederik Christian move to the Isle of Tintamarre, which he owned, in 1902 due to a dispute over property taxes in Sint Maarten.  It was reported by a French journalist in 1913 that he was The King of Tintamarre.  After that he began to receive letters from Paris, Italy and Germany from women who wanted to be lifelong partners with him so they could be Queen of Tintamarre.  I'm not sure if that ever worked out or not.  Many of the people who worked for him on Tintamarre were from the nearby island of Anguilla.  Here he raised 60 to 70 head of cattle and about 540 sheep, grew fine island cotton and made cheese and butter which was renowned throughout the West Indies.  In 1931 he sold the island to Louis Constant Fleming, a merchant and mayor of Marigot, the capital of St. Martin.  It was said that during WWII Tintamarre was a place for submarines to recharge their batteries.  In 1945 an airport with a 500 meter dirt runway was developed by the French along with a protected lagoon suitable for "flying boats".  

A pontoon plane landing near the island.

Soon Tintamarre became the base of a regional airline, CAA Stinson Trimotors ("Sompagnie Aerienne Antillaise").  There was a brief "Golden Age" for this tiny island with its 20 inhabitants and its airport.  That was until March 22, 1947 when a disastrous night take-off from the unlit airstrip killed a pilot.  Then on May 22 of the same year a plane crashed into the sea between Tintamarre and St. Barths which killed two. 18 days later, during a night take-off, three more people were killed.  Didn't fare well for air travel to or from the island.  On September 1st of 1950, a hurricane put an end to the old CAA airplanes that still sat on the island.  The last traces of the dirt airstrip were erased in the 1956 and 1960 hurricanes.  

Boats carrying nude bathers arrive for exploration of the island.

The only activity that takes place on the island today is when the "Nude Cruise" from St. Martin arrives and the naked patrons explore the island looking for traces of it's history when Mr. D.C. van Romondt was the King and was romanticized by journalists.  They just may find a few screws or bolts from one of the CAA airplanes or a hoof from one of the goats that roamed the hills of the island years ago or maybe a stone or two from one of the old buildings that at one time sat on "Flat Island".  Carol and I have seen the island up close from boats, but have never stepped foot on the island.  Beautiful place, but I guess it's use as a site for a town has passed years ago.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "How Can This Happen To The Oldtimers Of Lancaster?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Opened an email sent to me by an unsolicited site titled "Story For Me...be informed".  

Online website whose name sounded interesting to me.

Normally don't open mail that I don't recognize, but the title of the site seemed interesting; so, I clicked!  Story that it revealed was titled "5 Top Places To Retire in 2019".  Interesting!  It was this past October that U.S. News & World Report published a similar story and listed my hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania as the #1 place in the United States to retire.  Lancaster is known as the "Garden Spot of America" and the idyllic rolling green hills is a big draw for those who have lived their entire life in a large noisy environment.  Lancaster offers a great balance between natural and commercial spaces as well as a variety of colleges and tech schools for those who choose to go back to school.  Lancaster also has a variety of health care systems to cure just about every malady an old person might develop.  Well, after clicking on the email and bypassing a variety of ads, I opened the No. 1 place to retire in 2019 as per the site "Story For Me...be informed".  Any guesses?  Yep...the No. 1 place to retire is...Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  You have any idea how scary this may be for all the old people who have lived in Lancaster all our lives!  Many of us are preparing our homes to place them for sale so we can move into one of our many retirement homes we have.  But, during the past few years, the list is growing at each retirement home which means that you have to get your name on the waiting list which may take a year or more before you can enter the retirement community of your choice.  And, we don't have just one or two communities.  We have over 20!  And each one has a waiting list!!  I hope this will be the last online list that tells everyone to move to Lancaster when they retire.  The new list says that Lancaster seems to be on the top of the list of Best Places to Retire due to increases in housing affordability, the overall happiness of its residents and access to health care.  This formal capital of Pennsylvania is located between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.  

Photo of Lancaster that accompanied the story.  I have
lived in Lancaster all my life and I'm not sure where this
photo may have been taken!  Not a good choice of photo
to try and sell a place as a place to retire.  But, that's OK!

The only good thing about this new online list of best places to retire is the fact that the photo that accompa- nied the story looks like the worst place in the city.  It shows buildings with paint smeared on them, a building that looks as it is may be burned and a busy and crowded skyline.  Now who would want to move to a place like that?  I'm hoping that's what people will think.  The 2nd thru 5th choices all have great photos to go along with the recommendations.  But, you know...that's fine with me.  Our streets are beginning to get congested and the time to get to and from work is getting longer.  People...this just isn't a good place to retire.  You can take that from me who has lived here all my life.  And, don't believe anymore magazines or websites that tell you anything different.  Stay away!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Revisiting Lancaster's Water Works" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Cleaning up the desktop on my MacBool Air and found over a dozen old photographs of Lancaster's Water Works on the eastern edge of the city.  The Water Works was along the Conestoga River near the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge that crossed the Conestoga.  At one time I enjoyed many a summer day swinging on a large rope over the Conestoga and landing near the waterfalls nearby.  A little over two years ago I wrote a story about the bridge and waterworks and illustrated the story with about a half-dozen photographs I had found.  Since that time I have found quite a few more photographs while researching stories to share on my blog.  Some I found at the Lancaster County Historical Society while others I found on Facebook pages devoted to Lancaster and surrounding towns.  Rather than just file them away I thought I would post them today to show you just how beautiful an area that the Water Works sits on along one of Lancaster's most picturesque rivers.  I'll try to give you some information on each if I happen to have anything more that just the image.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This is a painting I found that shows Lancaster's Water Works under the Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge.  The artist and date of the painting I could not find.

Not much of the Water Works can be seen in this photograph, but the arched railroad bridge over the Conestoga River looks amazing.

This snow scene is a reminder of the snowstorm we may experience in the next few days in Lancaster County.  Here the train cars are blowing the snow off the side of the bridge.

A few fishermen stand along the river while the Water Works can be seen under the arches of the bridge in this sepia photograph.

The Water Works is at the bottom left in this photograph with the river meandering along the left side of the photograph.

This was the original Water Works along the Conestoga River.  This only photograph I ever saw of the old Water Works.  It sat across the river from the current Water Works.  There is still some of the foundation left from this photo.  In this photo we are looking toward the New Holland Pike with the new Water Works behind us.  This plant used sand filter to purify the drinking water while the new plant treats the water with clorine.   

Just a beautiful reflection on the river of the Water Works.

PS - And in case you missed the story from two years ago, here are the other photos I posted.

Bather gather along the side of the bridge to swim in the Conestoga River.  The Water Works is to the right rear.  This photo was from the late 1950s when I too swam in the river.

Another photo showing a train on the bridge with the Water Works beneath it.

Another photograph showing all the cars parked along the bridge with bathers preparing to enter the river.

This postcard is titled "Railroad Bridge and Water Works, Lancaster, Pa.

This photo was taken in 1972 when Hurricane Agnes flooded the Conestoga River in Lancaster, PA.

The "Scary Headline Needs To Be Taken Seriously" Story

It was an ordinary day.  The headline in the morning Lancaster, PA newspaper read "Tradition At Stake".  Could have meant just about anything since the city of Lancaster is one of the oldest inland towns in the United States.  But, as I read the story I knew what was being suggested in the article was going to be very, very hard to pull off.  Story said that there had been a State study that had explored moving dairy and livestock farming to Western Pennsylvania.  

Beautiful Lancaster County farmland

Yeah, right!  Their reasoning was that it would relieve environ- mental stresses mounting in Lancaster County and central Pennsylvania.  Seems that the Chesapeake Bay is suffering from all the manure that is entering the bay due to runoff from all the farms that line the tributaries that empty into the Susquehanna River.  It is killing the Bay!  Seems that the western counties of Armstrong, Indiana and Westmoreland have ample room for livestock farms and to spread manure safely.  Only problem at present is the lack of agricultural services and poor roads.  Wonder if they realize that another problem might be the fact that Lancaster County is one of the biggest hubs of Amish farms and these are the farms that they might want to move west.  

Many Lancaster County farms are dairy farms

But, it looks as if the federal government may set tougher regulations on water quality limits for the Chesapeake Bay which may lead to a downsizing of the livestock industry in the Susquehanna watershed.  The EPA might be aiming more restrictive federal regulations at farmers and the three listed counties are in the Ohio River watershed and have not been targeted for nutrient reductions.  But, if dairy and livestock farms are moved to western Pennsylvania and pollution begins to affect the Ohio River, don't they think that will create the same problem as we have now in the Susquehanna watershed?  The state Department of Environmental Protection recently made a presentation to farmers in Lancaster County about the controls they will establish over stream-cleanup measures.  

Another beautiful Lancaster County farm

They may make Lancaster County farmers get federal discharge permits and local communities, including the city of Lancaster, may have to further rein in storm-water runoff.  More regulations will create a bigger hardship for farmers that struggle with water cleanup.  If goals aren't met, the next step would be to close down some of the livestock farms and move them to western Pennsylvania.  But, DEP believes that it is possible to have well-managed, profitable farms as well as clean local waters within the Susquehanna river watershed.  Let's hope that someone can give support to all those in need in Lancaster County.  The last thing we want is to have all our Amish neighbors have to move across the state.  Certainly, the newspaper headline had to scare some of them into realizing they need to do something to correct the pollution problem.  And, the Amish do read the paper!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.   

The "Lancaster, Pennsylvania In Black & White With A Tinge Of Sepia" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Searching some of my favorite websites on early Lancaster, Pennsylvania for photographs I might have missed in the past.  I found a few that I though I would share to show you what the city I am part of looked like before my birth in the mid-1940s.  Before I begin with the photographs I thought, for those who may not be daily readers of my blog, I would give you just the bare history of what at one time was called Hickory Town.  Lancaster was named by native John Wright for the House of Lancaster in England.  It's symbol is the red rose and was part of the 1681 Penn's Woods Charter of William Penn.  The town was designed by James Hamilton in 1734 and incorporated as a borough in 1742 and incorporated as a city in 1818.  It was the capital of the United States for one day, September 27, 1777, when the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia during the American Revolutionary War since it had been captured by the British.  Lancaster was the capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812 when it was moved to today's capital city of Harrisburg.  Lancaster is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, inland cities in the United States with the mighty Susquehanna River as it's western border.  The photos I will post today are from the late 1800's until the mid-1900s.  Color photography overlaps the same era, but to me black and white tells the history of the city of Lancaster much better.  Enjoy.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - click on images to enlarge them.

The Fulton Opera House as seen in 1870.

F.W. Woolworth opened his first Department store in 1879 in Lancaster.

In 1899 Woolworth built Lancaster's first skyscraper complete with rooftop garden.

M. T. Garvin & Company Department Store came to Lancaster in the early 1900s.

This black and white shows the Court House on far left, Central Market in the center and the Hirsh Brother Penn Hall Clothing House in the late 1800s.

Lancaster's Southern Market in 1919.

Buch's Drug Store in 1940.

Kay Jewelry Store in 1910.

National Biscuit Company on Church Street in the early 1900s.

Train leaving the downtown station on Chestnut Street in 1911.

First Lancaster Post Office in downtown in 1917.

This is Queen Street in downtown Lancaster in 1927.  In the rear you can see Lancaster's newest skyscraper, the Griest Building.  It had just been built two years before the photo was taken.

A delivery of Sprenger Beer heads through the center of town.  This photograph is from the 1890s.

Looking East on West King Street.  The monument in the square can be seen in the distant center of this photograph.

One of Lancaster's most famous department stores, Watt & Shand, stands to the right.  It opened in 1879 with a series of additions made to it over the following 100 years.  

Lancaster Paint and Glass Company at 235 North Prince St.  Year not identified.

200 block of W. King Street with year not identified.

The St. Joseph School of Nursing in 1925.

Sam Lazarowitz selling the Lancaster Daily News on the square in 1942.  Notice his change belt which all newsboys wore.

This is a business card from the 1930s advertising Foster & Cochran Department Store. 

Train yard at West Lemon and Water Street.

This is one photograph that I had the chance to see recreated many times as a child.  It shows Santa Claus climbing the fire ladder to the top of the Watt & Shand Department Store on the square in downtown Lancaster.  My wife's high school band, for which she played clarinet, ushered Santa to the square for his ride to the top of Watt & Shand.  The bottom few floors of the Griest Building can be seen on the left.

Grand Movie Theatre on N. Queen Street taken in 1936.

One final photograph taken while standing in the center of Lancaster looking West.

The "Leaving Room For One More Band!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My youngest son, Tad, did it again.  A week or so ago he emailed a YouTube video to my wife showing the musician "Disturbed" singing his rendition of Simon and Garfunkle's "The Sound of Silence".  I was blown away with the guy.  Loved his tonal range and his powerful voice.  But, once again, Tad emailed another video to Carol which featured the group Clutch.  

Clutch!

This video was called "Hot Bottom Feeder" and told the story of making crab cakes!  Yep, a video on how to make crab cakes from blue crabs caught in the nearby Chesapeake Bay.  Found out that the group Clutch hails from German- town, Maryland.  The band members met while in high school and consider themselves a Frederick County band that was formed in 1991.  Band members are: Neil Fallon on vocals, rhythm guitar and keyboards; Tim Sult on lead guitar and back-up vocals; Dan Maines on bass and back-up vocals; and Jean-Paul Gaster on drums and percussion.  Clutch has been one of Tad's favorites since they first began and knows most of their work.  The band's first live DVD, Full Fathom Five, was released in 2008.  If you go online you can see the vast amount of work they have produced since the band began, but for me, "Hot Bottom Feeder" is what drew me to check out some of the songs they have recently made.  I must admit I am a true blood rock 'n roll fan as well as a "Parrothead", so it would be hard for me to change to heavy metal, but I must admit I did enjoy "Hot Bottom Feeder".  Check out the Clutch rendition which follows.  Your foot just has to be tapping out the beat from start to finish.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.