York PA

Statistics & Facts

The population of York is approximately 42,192 (1990).
The approximate number of families is 18,407 (1990).

The amount of land area in York is 13.48 sq. kilometers.
The amount of surface water is 0.144 sq kilometers.
The distance from York to Washington DC is 74 miles. The distance to the Pennsylvania state capital is 23 miles. (as the crow flies)
York is positioned 39.96 degrees north of the equator and 76.73 degrees west of the prime meridian.

York city served as the first capitol of the USA in 1777 and 1778
The first national Thanksgiving was declared in York in November 1777

For all the history and great old buildings in the area there is very little way to photograph the buildings to show their beauty. Above ground wires, cables, signs and stop lights abound. Much of the city has been desciminated by the downsizing/rightsizing/unsizing or better phrased the wage adjustments being made by corporations in the US hit the East Coast long before rolling across the country to the Midwest, southwest and far west. It shows most in the many small cities like York that prized their history and older homes that were once kept in great condition. With the lower wages the income necessary for upkeep dryed up much like the wood frames and wooden siding that made the homes prized in the past.

So here I am trying to get a picture of a steeple whose lightning rod/cross is being painted (note the ladder at the peak. Too many wires, signs and lights to get a good shot but at least I tried.


At first I thought someone was selling a rock but on closer it was a downtown office being offered. It's a great location for an Attorney across from the Courthouse. If you decide to rent or lease this property please see that I get an appropriate finders fee by telling Dave that Paul sent you.


Some of the old buildings are pretty cool if you want a city apartment this would be a great spot.


I like the touches we used to put into buildings, the bricks, the ornate but uncluttered trims and the cylindrical corners. It would be called wasted space or too labor intensive these days. Maybe we just don't care to be moved by creative designs any longer.


But then again some do realize the adventure of apartment loft living and move in to create a world within the world of old York.


Well I did a little research and found a great place for Stromboli type Calzones and it's called Marcello's Downtown Pizza. So I got a small Stromboli which is at least a foot long and probably closer to 15 inches long and and half a foot wide. It was filled with 4 kinds of meat, bell pepper, onion and mozzarella cheese. It was a magnificent sandwich and I still have half of it left for a midnight snack.


Most of the northeast is very patriotic and York is no exception with American Flags flying on every street corner in the city center,


Around the corner and part of the brick building shown earlier there is a tower, not cylindrical like the corner but squared and peaked like the turret of a castle.


Drawing back you can see both and a courtyard in front of the building with a really inspiring statue of an eagle.


Looking south from Marcello's you can see a Lutheran church under renovation and a cool wrought iron fence.


Of course being close to Lawyer Row there is the usual upscale coffee bar but since it's back east it's not a Starbucks it's a local business (a lesson California needs to learn) so the money stays local and the product and services are not "cookie cutter" nation wide clones.


Some of the downtown is prospering but still much of it has seen better days.


Still on the drive back to my hotel I took some shots of the interesting structures you can only find back East.


I even got this one with only one wire blocking the view.


So wouldn't you love for this to be your home - the only drawback is it's a funeral home. I noticed in many towns back east that some of the most beautiful homes were now converted to give loved one's a send off in the home they always dreamed of owning.


Quote of the Day ~ "I love abandonments. When I was little my grandparents had a cottage. It sat empty for most of the year when nobody was staying there. So it had this smell to it. I loved that smell. I have found that abandonments have the same smell only stronger. Also, abandonments have a sad beauty about them. They are falling apart, paint peeling, dust on every surface, falling into nothingness alone inside." ~ Trixie Sparrow a member of an online forum called Infiltration responding to the question "What so special about Urban Decay?"