This summer community youth can make their mark on York County history.  The York County Heritage Trust and Hayman Studio have partnered to present a photo contest for the upcoming exhibit Through the Lens: A Photographic Look at York County Today, which will be displayed in conjunction with the Trust’s current 10^th anniversary photographic exploration, Then and Now: A Historical and Modern Visual Tour of York County, Pennsylvania.  Students are encouraged to spend the summer capturing their favorite images of York County since selected entries will be the focal point of the exhibit.

Once the contest has concluded, photographs have been selected, and the exhibit has been created youth will have had the opportunity to impact history by showcasing York County “now.”  However, this visual journey will one day provide a tour of York County’s past, helping the Trust’s current 10^th anniversary exhibit to come full circle while commemorating the 60^th anniversary of Hayman Studio.

Official Contest Rules & Details

Official Contest Entry Form

Then and Now: A Historic and Modern Visual Tour of York County, Pennsylvania

All things change with time and the York County Heritage Trust's current temporary exhibit at the Historical Society Museum explores just that!  Join the York County Heritage Trust as we celebrate change in York County with displays and artifacts, historic photographs, maps, and prints juxtaposed with current images and objects.  See how York County has changed over the years from York City to the outlying boroughs.  Then and Now celebrates the York County Heritage Trust’s 10th Anniversary and the history of York County and the historical organizations within it.  The exhibit will run until November 27, 2010.

Marvelous Milk: From the Farm to the Table

Marvelous Milk: From the Farm to the Table, an interactive exhibit, allows children of all ages to milk a life-sized model of a dairy cow while learning how milk gets from the farm to the kitchen table.  The exhibit features a milk bottle dating activity; weighing interactive; reading area; video about the history of Rutter's Dairy; and quotes and tidbits about York County's dairy farming traditions.  Come learn and enjoy the fun at the Agricultural and Industrial Museum's newest exhibit.  Do not forget to try your hand at milking the cow.  Marvelous Milk was sponsored by Rutter's Dairy.

Current Exhibits at the York County Heritage Trust sites

Agricultural and Industrial Museum

Housed in a former factory building, the Agricultural and Industrial Museum has over seven large galleries filled with exhibitions that examine the agricultural, industrial and transportation history of York County.  Throughout the Agricultural and Industrial Museum’s agriculture and industry galleries, visitors can enjoy an in-depth look at the history of many industries and home-grown companies that made York County an international name in manufacturing. 

The newest exhibit at the Museum features the D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Company.  The exhibit follows the history of the company from 1871 when David Franklin Stuaffer purchased a steamed cracker bakery at 128 South George Street until 1990 when a Japanese firm took over the company.

Two large galleries at the Agricultural and Industrial Museum include Air, Land, and Water: Transporting People and Products in York County.  One can view a Conestoga Wagon, 1937 Aeronca K Airplane, York City Trolley Number 123, and Switcher Number 2287.  Through these and other displays featuring carriages, bicycles, canals and automobiles, visitors are able to experience the impact improved-transportation methods had on York County from the 1700s through today. The Hall of Giants features a 30’ high A-Frame Ammonia Compressor built in 1904 to refrigerate a meat packing plant. 

Popular exhibits at the museum include a three-story tall 1830s grist mill with an operating water wheel that is turned on for visitors and tour guides.  Don’t stand too close though, because you might just get wet.  Also featured at the museum is an introductory Defending America’s Freedom exhibit currently on display.  This exhibit mainly focuses on World War II and the York County residents who served both at home and abroad.  Artifacts from World War II being exhibited relate directly to the York Plan and the role the Marine Corps, Army, Army Air Corps, Women’s Army Corps (WACs), Navy, and Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES) played in the war.Items from the Spanish-American War, Civil War, World War I, and Desert Storm are also displayed. 

Go to our Visitor Guide to read more about the museum

Bonham House

Through the exhibits at the Bonham House, visitors are able to learn what life was like for the Bonham family, as well as other upper-middle class families from the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  Home to the Bonham Family from 1875 – 1965, this three-story Victorian home showcases a great deal of Horace Bonham’s paintings, which include portraits, landscapes and genre scenes, as well as actual furniture and other belongings common to the time period.

Colonial Complex

The York County Heritage Trust’s Colonial Complex consists of three historic buildings and one reproduction building that teach visitors about York’s history from 1741- 1830.  The Golden Plough Tavern, built in 1741, presents the significant role taverns played in the community as a hotel, restaurant and source of news.  The Golden Plough Tavern highlights life for a working class family during the founding of the City of York.  The General Gates House (c.1751), standing adjacent to the Tavern, reflects the year 1778 when General Horatio Gates occupied the house while the Continental Congress met in York.  The rooms within the General Gates House are used to contrast the life of a working class family with that of an upper class general.  The Barnett Bobb Log House (c.1812), which was moved to the site, exhibits family life in the1800s for a lower class weaving family.  Across the street, stands the reconstruction of the Colonial Court House, which highlights the stay of the Continental Congress and the important decisions that were made in York.

Fire Museum

Stationed in the historic Royal Fire House, the Fire Museum exhibits more than 200 years of fire-fighting history in York County.  Visitors step back in time as they move throughout the fire house apparatus room, harness room, lounge, pool room, meeting room and dorm to view a horse drawn fire carriage, an array of vintage fire trucks, firefighter uniforms, photographs and much more within the three-floor historic building. 

Historical Society Museum

The Historical Society Museum has more than 10,000 square feet of exhibitions which focus on an overall history of York County from the county’s founding through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars through today.  The interactive Rutter’s Discovery Center for Children opened at the Historical Society Museum in July, 2007.  The exhibit showcases the period between 1890 and 1920, which is one of great change as the United States developed into a global power.  1890 through 1910 is seen through the eyes of two fictional children as they go through their day at home and school, while working, and during their leisure time.  The Discovery Center is aimed at children 8 – 12 years old and allows them to learn in a hands-on manner what life was like for a child between 1890 and 1920.  Visitors can play with toys, wash clothing with a hand-cranked washing machine, attend a one-room school house, and much more. 

The Historical Society Museum also showcases a Pfaltzgraff Exhibit that features 175 years of Pfaltzgraff history including jugs, crocks, pitchers, a poultry feeder, bean pot, water cooler and flower pots; York County quilts; decorative arts exhibits; A Place to Call Home featuring exhibits on York County at work, worship, and play; and A Street of Shops which allows visitors to view a York County apothecary, cabinetmaker, log cabin, printer, and toy shop.

Go to our Visitor Guide to read more about the museum