Sunday, February 24, 2019

About Town 2/24/19



This week's photos from around and about Columbia
(Click/tap on photos for larger, clearer images)


Dressed for the weather

 LED creeping in the historic district

There it is, creeping.

 Reflections on Columbia

 Brickwork at the Market House

 Hubcaps

 Missing plate

 Shop there

 Service center

 Peeling and flaking paint.
The Codes Department needs to cite the Public Works Department.

 Scarf bombing

 Hats hangin'

 More so

 Violators will be persecuted. Henchmen do the dirty work.

 Big hole in the ground. Now what?

 New Knox in town


 OUT OF SERVICE overtakes 17 COLUMBIA for the lead.

 Why do people do this?

 Vigilant vulture

 Code violation

 Goose tracks - evidence of a wild goose chase?

 Heroes temporarily under snow

 Door to Door Service

 So ya wanna be a rural carrier?

 The bank financed the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge that was burned in the Civil War, the piers of which still remain at Columbia River Park. The Federal Government owes $170 million dollars (in today's money) for the destruction of the bridge, but don't count on getting it any time soon - or ever. Congressman Joe Pitts tried it in 2003.

According to https://yorkblog.com/ 
In 2003, Rep. Joe Pitts took up the cause. By then, with interest, the claim had grown to $170 million dollars. According to the Star News, August 31, 2003, he joked that he would push Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to include payment for Columbia’s lost bridge in reparations to rebuild war-damaged bridges in Iraq “just for fun.” However, White House Office of Management and Budget spokesman Trent Duffy replied that the claim had expired and added, “The bridge might have to be counted, with bravery, as Columbia’s contribution to liberty.”

Stephen Smith, once an indentured servant, eventually earned enough to buy his freedom and then established a lumber and coal business, making him one of the wealthiest African-Americans in Columbia. Smith invested $9,000 into the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge that was burned in the Civil War. A claim was filed with the Federal Government, but the money was never repaid, as noted in the previous caption.

 Stephen Smith was ordained as a minister in the Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church on South 5th Street, shown above.

 Smith was ordained in 1831, but this church building was not built until 1872.

 And rebuilt in 1921

 Front view of the church

 The memorial plaque for Stephen Smith is in the lower left.

Just in time for Christmas - next Christmas

Edgar Allan Poe made $5 per column writing for The Columbia Spy

Edgar Allan Poe

As we posted earlier, Edgar Allan Poe wrote for the original Columbia Spy in a series of columns titled "Doings of Gotham." In the book An Old Turnpike Road, author Jacob L. Gossler recounts that the Columbia Spy paid Poe $5 per column, each of which was a letter on the goings-on of people in New York and Philadelphia.

Of the amount, Gossler recalls:
"We thought this a moderate compensation, but it was really extravagant in comparison with, as we afterwards learned, the salary of ten dollars per week that he received for editing the Magazine, which, at the time, after the North American Review, was the most popular, and considered the highest literary authority, in this country."
At the time of his association with the Spy, Poe already had a worldwide reputation, and his poem "The Raven" had just been published to great acclaim. The Spy's editors therefore thought publishing Poe's letters would garner greater attention for the newspaper.

According to Chris Vera, president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, Gossler's book is rare due to the limited printing for friends and family, although the Society has a copy in its collection.

A digital copy can be found HERE.


Saturday, February 23, 2019

Mount Bethel to hold Victorian Hair Weaving Workshop


Victorian Hair Weaving Workshop

Sunday March 10 at 1 p.m.
Mount Bethel Cemetery Cottage
700 Locust Street
Columbia, PA

Step back into the Victorian Era and Create your own Hair Flower

The workshop will teach participants how to construct a customary Victorian hair flower, used to commemorate the dead. Supplies will be provided to complete a simple flower. If you elect to bring your own swatch of hair, it must be at least 10 inches in length and the diameter of a pencil and placed in a zip lock bag. You may opt to make your hair flower into a pin or display it in a glass or wooden box (available for purchase). Start your family heirloom today!

About the instructor: The workshop will be led by Civil War re-enactor Lucy Cadwallader, from York County. While researching her hobby, Lucy became interested in Victorian hair art and mourning customs. For thirteen years Lucy has been perfecting the art of hair jewelry; human hair intricately woven into bracelets, earrings, rings, and necklaces. Hair flowers were created into wreaths and proudly displayed in Victorian parlors. Lucy has made and repaired hair wreaths, she also owns a vast collection of original Civil War jewelry artifacts.

The cost is $35 per person. Advance registration is requested.
Contact
Jane Moore
(717) 575-9760
jmoore1115@gmail.com

[Source: Press Release]