|
PUT A LID ON IT: The Canning
Industry in Southern York County, Pennsylvania The lecture explores the history of the canning industry in
southern York County, Pennsylvania. The canning industry, which dates back to
the military campaigns of Napoleon, became an important part of the economy of
Pennsylvania and southern York County in the late 19th century. This
presentation examines the introduction and rise of the canning industry in
southern York County, which is closely linked to the introduction of the
Stewartstown and Maryland and Pennsylvania railroads, and to the introduction of
automated canning machinery and technological innovations such as the
“Sanitary” can. Canning houses provided opportunities for area farmers,
allowing them to sell their entire crops under contract and opened employment
opportunities to men and particularly women during the early 20th century.
During the World Wars, canned goods from southeastern PA made their way around
the world to feed U.S. troops; during WWII, German prisoners of war at the camp
in Stewartstown helped to harvest produce for canning and worked in some of the
canning houses. Revealing “Patterson’s Pleasure”: A Late 18th-Century Log
Farmhouse This lecture by Dr. Donald W. Linebaugh, Professor in the
School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at the University of Maryland,
presents research into the James Patterson property and farmhouse located near
the intersection of the Plank Road and Route 24. The house, an important early
survival from the founding of Stewartstown, was recently destroyed to make way
for a new housing development. James Patterson, a Revolutionary War officer, built a house and barn on the property in the 1780s and lived on and farmed the land until his death in the late 1830s. Patterson was a farmer and distiller who assembled a farm that totaled over 600 acres at one point. The property and house transferred to Edie Patterson, James’s son, in the late 1830s and Edie owned it until 1879. Edie was also a farmer and distiller and built the hotel and tavern at the corner of Plank Rd. and Route 24. The next owner was Edie’s son James G. Patterson who also continued to farm and established a successful nursery operation. The property left the Patterson family about 1880 when the property was purchased by H. B. Scott, the former minister at Stewartstown Presbyterian Church. Scott’s wife sold the property to the McElwain family in 1923 and they controlled the property into the 2000s.
Utilizing a forensic architectural approach, Dr. Linebaugh discusses the property’s history and the evolution of the 2-story, log farmhouse. The log house was clearly modified in the mid-19th century, when a central door and stair was added, the front façade was reorganized in a symmetrical fashion, and the interior was plastered. Also in the 19th century, a 2-story, stone ell was added to the rear of the house that contained a kitchen below and a bedroom above, reached by a tight winder stair. In addition to the farmhouse, the property included an early smokehouse, a large barn, a hay barn, corn crib, pig house, and a springhouse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-DB0QH3aq4 https://www.witnessingyork.com/mapping-meaning/preserving-documenting-demolishing-york-county/ The John Hyson House and
Family:
Cheaper by the Dozen (+ 2)
This presentation entitled "Cheaper by the Dozen (+ 2): The John Hyson House
and Family" was be given by Dr. Donald Linebaugh on Wednesday, October
11, 2023, at the Stewartstown United Methodist Church. The
early 19th-century John Hyson farmhouse, located in East Hopewell
Township, was
demolished this past year following the construction of a new house. Dr. Linebaugh documented
the house
with photographs and measured drawings as the structure was torn down.
The
house is one of several Hyson family properties along a one-mile
stretch of
Round House Church Rd., including the two Hyson Schools, the Robert B.
Hyson
House (John's brother), the Archibald Hyson House (destroyed by fire)
(John's
brother), and the Hyson Mill. John (b.
1820; died 1892) and Margaret Miller Hyson (b. 1827; died 1910) raised an amazing brood of 14 children in the
house, all
of whom survived into adulthood and all of whom attended the nearby
Hyson
School. The children, 9 girls,
and 5 boys,
were born between 1848 and 1873. The
Hyson House was a two-story vernacular frame farmhouse with a rear ell
addition. The structure was constructed using heavy "German" framing
typical of the period, and the rear addition seems to have been added
in the
late 1850s to early 1860s, likely to accommodate the couple's rapidly
growing
family. Based on several design characteristics, the house was likely
built by
John's brother, local carpenter Archibald Hyson. Archibald built many
farmhouses (Shaw Orchard Farm, Trout-Linebaugh Farm), churches
(Lutheran
Church, Shrewsbury), and schools (Hyson, Trout, and possibly Mt.
Pleasant)
across southern York County.
Dr.
Linebaugh will examine the architectural history of the structure and
explore
the work of builder Archibald Hyson within the context of farms and
farmhouses
in the area. He will also consider the multiple Hyson family properties
and the
family's deep connections to Hopewell (later East Hopewell) Township.
https://youtu.be/tBy1FrClK-U "THAT'S ALL FOLKS": The Rise and Fall of the
Ramsay Theater
By Donald W. LinebaughWith its opening in 1920, the Ramsay Theater brought the
"silver screen" to Stewartstown. This program will explore the
theater's history and its impact on Stewartstown and the surrounding area. As Ramsay kept up with new film trends, showing silent movies like "Double Speed," then talkies such as "Little Women," followed by Technicolor films like "Gone with the Wind," the theater delivered the magic of the movies and connected the community to the national imagination. Stewartstown Area Historical Society, 1984-2024: Forty Years of Serving the Community"
Event: Stewartstown Lions Club Meeting
Speaker: Donald W. Linebaugh, Professor UMD, Vice President SAHS
https://youtu.be/xlo5oOSyYL8 |