Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory

The situation

Historian Jamie Noerpel & Archivist Domi Miller are conversational. They’re fun. They’re passionate about local history. Without flinching, they take on challenging stories about York County’s past. Their base is the northeastern York County village of Newberrytown. That’s where they live. And they move to sites around YoCo to talk about their native county. They are the co-hosts of Hometown History.

Jamie, a teacher, holds a doctorate in American studies, blogs about local history and culture and operates this digital site, WitnessingYork.com. Domi, a federal court archivist, holds a master’s degree in library science and local history and moderates the Preserving the History of Newberrytown Facebook group. She is a re-enactor in the 87th Pennsylvania.

Here are some of the goals driving Jamie and Domi and “Hometown History,” complete with a YouTube channel and podcast.

• To introduce next generations of York County residents to York County history.
• In so doing, present the history of all people in a way that has weight and is winsome
• To test, refine and practice a conversational way of storytelling about history.

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In Season 4, Episode 1 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi explore a 1750s stone house in West Manchester Township, in a show titled “Peter Wolf House restored: ‘We need to wake up before the only history we have is in a book.’

Description: West Manchester’s Jan Watt is living the dream in her restored West Manchester farmhouse – the Peter Wolf House. “It’s almost like I see it new every day,” she told the YDR several years ago. That, despite the view of a gas station from her bedroom window and the rumble of cars speeding by, as the YDR reported some years ago. The old farmhouse that Watt and her husband, Steve March, have restored – and are restoring – is surrounded by a Rutters (and soon a Wawa), a warehouse, a car dealership and its former barn, now a commercial site. The Peter Wolf House, thus, tells a story of York County and its transition from a key role in an agricultural community to standing in a mishmash of commercial and residential development. And yet, this testament to York County’s farming past rises tall today thanks to the perseverance of its owners.

Episode 1, was livestreamed in the Retro York and Preserving the History of Newberrytown Facebook groups at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 17. The show was streamed at Peter Wolf House, West Manchester Township. Because of space limitations, there will be no live audience.

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In Season 4, Episode 2 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi explore a 1750s stone tavern and house in Spring Grove, in a show titled “The Hoke House In Spring Grove Is Getting Ready For Its Move.”

Description: The Hoke House is one old property that was THE hottest frontier spot during the 18th century. People lived here. They gossiped here. They built York County here. Built around 1750, the Hoke House first functioned as a tavern that lasted into the next century. In this episode, Jamie and Domi focus on the building’s role during the Revolutionary era.

Episode 2, was livestreamed in the Retro York and Preserving the History of Newberrytown Facebook groups in late January. The show was streamed at the Hoke House, West Manchester Township.

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In Season 4, Episode 3 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi explore a stone tavern in northwestern York County’s Dillsburg in a show titled “The Dill Tavern brings back the booze, but with a history twist.”

Description: Dill Tavern in Dillsburg dates back to the 18th century when taverns joined mills, stores and churches at the core of social life. In this episode, Jamie and Domi trace the stone structure’s history back to when the first glasses of whiskey were sold up to today with the opening of a “new” distillery.

Episode 3, was livestreamed in the Retro York and Preserving the History of Newberrytown Facebook groups in late January. The show was streamed at the Dill Tavern/Eichelberger Distillery, Dillsburg.

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In Season 4, Episode 4 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi explore York County history books and reading in a show titled: “Hometown History’s Jamie and Domi tout these York County history books as must reads.”

Description: In 2003, Eric Ledell Smith looked at the local history enterprise in York County, writing in a statewide journal that York County was experiencing a “renaissance” of history writing. In the 20 years since that assessment from this noted Pennsylvania historian, York County has amassed a wealth of local history research in thoughtfully written books and digital platforms. These works about York’s past have surfaced the best of what it means to be a York countian, without inflating our reserved personality that has always represented us so well. These books have illuminated moments where we have fallen short as a county without deflating our indefatigable community spirit that seeks to make things better. “A room without books,” an ancient philosopher said, “is like a body without a soul.” In their February “Hometown History” episode, Jamie Noerpel and Dominish Marie Miller will tell how shelves ever filling with books about York County’s past have strengthened our souls and deepened our community understanding. And they will talk about their favorites. To paraphrase another sage, we are planning a future by casting away the planting of cut flowers and putting into the ground those that will grow long roots in our rich limestone soil.

Episode 4 was livestreamed before a live audience at Red Land Community Library, Yocumtown, at 6 p.m., Feb. 15.

In Season 4, Episode 5 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi explore the Codorus Creek and planned improvements of this important York County waterway in: “Some see it as a foul canal, but Codorus Greenway will turn the creek into a park.”

Description: Codorus Creek in York has graduated from its “Inky Stinky” class, but few would call it a winsome waterway, with those high banks and scant creekside access. The Codorus Greenway project is seeking to rehab the creek and make it a city recreational showpiece. Plans call for more creek access to fish or boat, places to sit along its bank and a new trail on the west bank to offer the same recreational fun provided by the York County Heritage Rail Trail on its east bank. That park and trail also will connect west end neighborhoods with the downtown and with each other, giving a way for many to walk or bike to work. This project will broaden the way people view and use a one-mile stretch of the creek in York, transitioning the waterway from flood control alone to an enjoyable park and trail system that will still keep the city and its people safe in heavy rains. Simply put, plans call for the Codorus canal, as it’s been called, to be remade into a promising park. Jamie Noerpel and Dominish Marie Miller will talk about this greenway project and take a deep dive into the use – and abuse – of the stream in history and efforts over time to clean it up.

Episode 5 was livestreamed before a live audience at Logos Academy, 250 West King Street, York, at 6 p.m., Feb. 15. Details: (7) Hometown History: Some see it as a foul canal, but Codorus Greenway will turn the creek into a park | Facebook

In Season 4, Episode 6 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi explore the Welsh quarrymen of the Delta/Peach Bottom area in: “Peach Bottom Welsh quarried slate to make roofs that seem to last forever.”

Description: In the 1840s, the Welsh came to the Delta-Peach Bottom area to quarry slate, as they had in Wales for generations. The quarries boomed for 75 years and then declined from the World War I era to World War II, but the Welsh influence remains today. When high school students from Wales visited Delta in 2023, some felt that they were in their native country. Some found their hometowns inscribed on tombstones in Slateville Presbyterian Cemetery. “The Welsh cracked the stone in one direction,” the region’s primary history book states, “and split it in the other to make roofs that seem to last forever.”

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The story of the Delta/Peach Bottom region is a story of “and.” It’s about a ridge filled with slate and a river home to eagles above and fish below. It’s about slate used as outdoor building material and green marble quarried nearby for indoor use. It tells of Welsh quarrymen and before them English and Scots-Irish and African Americans, and today commuters from Maryland and Amish farmers from Lancaster. It’s set in one of the most remote places in York County and the mid-Atlantic region and houses nuclear and gas-powered generating plants. It’s about a region that includes Pennsylvania and Maryland and the Mason-Dixon Line splitting Delta and Peach Bottom and Cardiff and Whiteford. That’s a lot of complexity and history in a rural region that some might view as plain and simple.

Episode 6, a discussion about the Welsh, their quarry work, their culture and their lasting influences, was streamed at 6 p.m., April 18, from the Welsh quarrymen’s village of Coulsontown. It was livestreamed on Facebook via Retro York and Preserving the History of Newberrytown.

Description: A century ago, many roads led to the borough of York Haven. Canal Road was one, and the early highway to Harrisburg was another. A trolley line connected York with York Haven. The Conewago flowed into the Susquehanna at York Haven. The town hosted first grist milling and then a major paper mill. An early American canal – Canal Road’s namesake –  cut through to allow water craft to circumvent the falls in the Susquehanna near the town. Much of the industry has departed leaving a town with good bones and one that is in search of investment. But it has gained some muscle: The NeyChip History Center will tell about this historic borough’s rich past and help envision possibilities for its future.

Episode 7, a discussion about York Haven and its new History Center was streamed prior to the May 18 open house at the York Haven Library. It was livestreamed on Facebook via Retro York and Preserving the History of Newberrytown.

In Season 4, Episode 8 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi explore the work of iconic York County sculptor Lorann Jacobs from Indian Steps Museum, holder of one of her artpieces, in “A tell-all with Lorann Jacobs and the creation of York County’s iconic sculptures.”

Description: Sculptor Lorann Jacobs started creating art when she was just a teenager. Her work is featured everywhere – Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum, the homes of York County’s well-known philanthropists and the sidewalks of York. And she sculpted an art piece for southeastern York County’s Indian Steps Museum – the location of Hometown History’s episode 4.8. Walking through York County with Lorann Jacobs, Hometown History’s Jamie Noerpel and Dominish Miller will visit the various monuments created by Jacobs. Jamie and Domi will tell the historical significance of the sculpture, and Jacobs will share some of the insider secrets of her creation of some of York County’s most iconic sculptures.

Episode 8 was recorded at Indian Steps Museum on June 1, before a live audience. It will not be streamed.

In Season 4, Episode 9 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi explore the Battle of Hanover, a Pennsylvania cavalry clash on June 30, 1863 in “The Confederate occupation of Hanover.” This is adapted from an earlier episode filmed in Hanover, “Hanover puts its own stamp against Confederate onslaught,” Nov. 19, 2022.

Description: Hanover Area, by intention or not, has long fashioned itself as an outsider in York County. Indeed, some in that southwestern region sought to form their own county in the early 1800s. In the Civil War era, Hanover on again operated against the grain. Hanoverians voted Republican in a sea of Democratic, anti-Lincoln townships. When the Confederates came calling the first time, in late June 1863, leaders bravely faced off with words against the enemy in the town square – passively or aggressively or maybe a little of both. In contrast, York’s leaders sought out the Confederates to surrender their town that same day. When Confederate Jeb Stuart sent in the cavalry, the town was at its peaceful best, feeding hungry mounted men dressed in blue. When the ensuing battle left 300 casualties, untrained townspeople treated the most painful and severe saber and point-blank pistol wounds.

Episode 9 was recorded at Indian Steps Museum at 6:30 p.m., July 1, before a live audience at Seminary Ridge Museum, Gettysburg.

In Season 4, Episode 10 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi explore the do-it-yourself projects that people are undertaking in a day in which a strapped government sometimes can’t undertake community improvement. This episode is titled: “Do it yourself projects, York County style.”

Description: Not long ago, Hometown History’s Dominish Marie Miller learned of once-welcoming blue-and-gold Keystone Markers rusting in a Newberry Township storage. In their day, these two vintage roadside markers announced the village of Newberrytown as a place worthy of notice. Domi approached township supervisors about repairing these cast-iron monuments, and they agreed. Domi gained other partners and the project commenced. One rehabbed marker has gone up in Newberrytown and another will soon be hoisted into place. This is just one do-it-yourself project that is part of a movement that is gaining momentum around York County. In this day of strapped government budgets, county residents are taking the initiative – beautifying and signing an overlooked monument in a city park, cultivating community gardens on weedy vacant lots and unearthing sunken graves in old cemeteries. Both Jamie Noerpel and Domi Miller, hosts of the August episode of Hometown History, will tell about do-it-yourself projects they catalyzed: Domi, the Keystone marker initiative, and Jamie, securing a monument to mark York City Cemetery, the potter’s field in North York. And they’ll look deeply at other volunteer efforts in this show streamed from the Blue Sky Tavern in Yocumtown, about 3 miles from the newly marked village of Newberrytown.

Episode 10 was recorded at 6:30 p.m., Aug. 15, before a live audience at Blue Sky Tavern in Etters.

In Season 4, Episode 11 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi will talk about York’s Continental Square: “In the middle of everything: York’s Continental Square’s central role in York County’s story.”

Description: York’s Continental Square has been in the center of things since before the mid-1750s when the 45-foot by 45-foot York County Court House went up in its middle. Initially, the square was aptly called Centre Square, and it became York County’s heart as the place that the region’s main east/west and north/south routes crossed. Indeed, changes in and around the square helped spell out different chapters in York County’s story – its phases in importance of government, agriculture, industries, retailers and, today, creatives and recreationists. Jamie Noerpel and Dominish Marie Miller tell the ins and outs of Continental Square and tie it to the 275 years in which it has served as the hub of the county of York. This show is presented as part of York County’s 275th anniversary.

Episode 11 was recorded before a live audience at 6 p.m., Sept. 26, at Shine Music Foundation at 2 E. Market St. on York’s Continental Square. It was streamed in Retro York and Preserving the History of Newberrytown Facebook groups.

In Season 4, Episode 12 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi talk about York County’s murder of the 20th century, the Hex Murder and subsequent trials of 1928 and 1929. “

Description: The Hex Murder of 1928 has rightly scored the tag as York County’s crime of the 20th century. You have three guys, including two teens, killing a farmer in a remote part of the county in the days before Thanksgiving. The trio went to Rehmeyer’s Hollow to break what they believed was a malevolent spell that Nelson Rehmeyer had cast on them. Something went awry, and they killed Rehmeyer, a benevolent practitioner of the Pennsylvania Dutch practice of powwowing that combined folk religion with healing rituals. Their subsequent murder trials gained international attention when witchcraft came out in testimony and embarrassed the York County community. In the end, the work of the York County judicial system brought justice, calmed a community on edge and prompted the beginning of the end of powwowing as a common local healing practice.

Episode 12 was recorded before a live audience at 6 p.m., Oct. 23, at the Burning Bridge Tavern in Wrightsville. It was streamed in Retro York and Preserving the History of Newberrytown Facebook groups.

In Season 4, Episode 13 of “Hometown History: Jamie and Domi’s YoCo Backstory,” Jamie and Domi will take part in York County History Storytellers evening “Stories Under the Stack” at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 4, at the York County History Center, 121. North Pershing Ave., York.

Description: York County History Storytellers are on a quest to help make sense of York County’s long, complex and compelling story. We’d love for you to join a type of evening campfire under the York County History Center’s stack that is full of revealing tales that are compelling and painful and funny and truthful.

Please join York County History Storytellers, who will talk on the theme: “Stories under the Stack.” Tickets can be purchased for $10 via the York History Center website.

Episode 13 will be part of the annual live storytelling evening at the York County History Center. Jamie and Domi’s part of the evening will be posted on YouTube.

The witness

Hometown History: Season 1, show notes.

HH: Season 2, show notes.

HH: Season 3, show notes.

HH: Youtube channel

HH: Podcast

The questions

One of Jamie and Domi’s goals is to engage the next generation. They’ve found that, if local Facebook audiences are any indication, at least half are above 50 years in age. To fuel local history interest in those south of 50, these videos, with podcast, are meant to reach a broader audience, interesting people of all ages in York County history. However, this is just the first step. How else can we get our kids and grandkids into history?

Related links and sources: Episode 1: Interesting parts of Peter Wolf House aren’t visible to motorists (ydr.com). Episode 2: Relocated York houses: Can you move an entire house? Yes, but it isn’t easy (ydr.com). Episode 3:Exploring north of the Conewago: ‘There are really 4 York Counties’ (ydr.com). Episode 4: Black & Latino history studies: Logjam breaks in York County – Witnessing York. Top photo, Blue Sky Tavern in Newberry Township, the Jamie and Domi’s Hometown History’s home base.