Lower Paxton Township Historical Commission

12/01/2022

Capitol Motel- 115 attractively furnished rooms with color TV and air conditioning. Coffee shop, dinning rooms and cocktail lounge. On Route 22 four miles east of Harrisburg PA

11/04/2022

Waiting for the trolley near the Charlton Church circa 1918

10/04/2022

The Historical Commission will host a Business Meeting on Thursday, October 6, at 6 pm at the Municipal Center.

There will be no historical presentation this month.

Please be on the lookout for future posts about our 2023 presentations!

08/03/2022

There will not be a presentation at our August meeting this Thursday. The commission will be holding a business meeting only and it will begin at 6 instead of 6:30

07/05/2022

06/23/2022

CCNB at the north east corner. Shell (?) station on the south west corner. Intersection of Union Deposit rd and East Park Dr (Scenery to the north)

06/23/2022

How many of you visited Denny's for a Grand slam breakfast or banked at Commonwealth National Bank?

06/02/2022

It's Meeting Day!

Today's meeting is a general business meeting only, no presentation this evening.

04/16/2022

When thinking of President Eisenhower many think of him being from Kansas, which is true, yet the Presidents’ early roots come back to Pennsylvania and specifically to Dauphin County and Lower Paxton Township. This presentation will trace his family ancestral roots back to his original immigrant Great-Great-Great Grand Parents who settled in “Lancaster County” in 1741, in what today is Fredericksburg, Lebanon County. From there we will follow his ancestors as they purchase farms and build homes in Lower Paxton Township in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s; the home of Ike’s Great Grandfather, Frederick Eisenhower, still stands in the township and will be featured in the presentation. Finally, we’ll follow the growing Eisenhower family as it expands into northern Dauphin County, where Ike’s Grandfather’s house still exists. The family leaves Dauphin County and moves to Kansas in 1878 and the rest is American history. Please join us for this rare opportunity to connect our local history with a President of the United States. Who knows (we do), you might be living on Ike’s ancestral land! Who knows (some do), you might even have a family ancestral connection of your own!

04/15/2022

This spa was located on Jonestown road beside what is now Aldi's

04/04/2022

We can't wait to see you this Thursday for our April presentation!

"Lower Paxton School Heritage: History & Stories of the Past"

Municipal Center
6:30 pm

All are welcome!

04/04/2022

Intersection of Prince St, Houcks Rd and Jonestown Rd. You can see Kiddie City and the Capital Motel. There was still a lot of open fields in the area.

03/23/2022

Our Commission is always looking for artifacts from the Harrisburg Drive-in. We were excited to find this piece

02/07/2022

Come join us in March for our in-person presentation

01/31/2022

Pete Wambach's had a sports bar with Associated Press Teletype to bring you up to date news and sports, a Press club (for men until nine and ladies accompanied thereafter) and a family delicatessen. Pete also broadcasted his WCMB daily show from the Celebrity Room. His family told us that the Colonial Park Mall was originally to be built along Jonestown Road and he felt it would offer much needed exposure from the road. Unfortunately the contracts were signed prior to learning the mall was changed and would be built where it sits today.

01/20/2022

Lower Paxton Jr High faculty from late 60s or early 70s. My father Regis Doyle is third from the right last row.

01/20/2022

Lower Paxton Faculty. A young Mr. Brightbill sits in the middle of the front row. Mr. Brightbill was principal of CD HS for many years after serving at LP

01/20/2022

From the early 50s. The players for Lower Paxton HS Fogelsonger, J. Pogue, C Judd, M Gain, G McLane, Hinkle, J Gardner, J Bertch, Lenker, R Miller, D Hetrick, Thorne, R Hahn, H Shuller, J Boyanowski, Keiser, R Crispen, R Schreffler, F Jacobson, C. Winters, G Eshelman, J Chronister, R Stoner

01/20/2022

Program for a Public Speaking Contest Lower Paxton High School April 1947. First prize is an amazing $7.50 Second $5.00 and Third $2.50

01/11/2022

The Commission is happy to announce our next three presentations. The first will be held March 3 and will discuss Hodges Heights. Robert Thomas will do this presentation and special guest Linda Cammack who is a longtime resident of Hodges Heights will offer some of her stories

April 7 Gary Crissman will discuss Lower Paxton School District and the jointure which created Central Dauphin School District. Part of the discussion will be about Rev. Elias Phillips who was very involved in the new district and E. H. Phillips was named after him. We hope to have time for the audience to share some of their own stories.

May 5 Robert Thomas will discuss the relationship of President Dwight D Eisenhower and Lower Paxton. Yes he has ancestors who lived in our area and are buried in our township

We hope you can join us in person (fingers crossed!) If not all of our presentations will broadcast on the cable channels that carry the township meetings. Also they will be recorded and put on our Youtube channel.

Thursday 6:30 PM held at 425 Prince St

11/13/2021

In 1927 the proprietor of the garage, Percy Hood, died at the age of 43 from complications during surgery. This piece looks like it was from a car that was sold by the garage

11/02/2021

4610 Jonestown Rd which is now Tires Plus. I need to give credit to Got Gas? The Book for posting these photos

10/29/2021

In April of 1826 the Rev. John Winebrenner was voted out of the Wenrich's church as their minister. Rev. Winebrenner continued on his own to preach to those that would listen. Eventually after preaching on his own at homes and school houses his followers wanted a permanent place of worship. Land was purchased and a building was erected. The church was dedicated Christmas day in 1827. The church was the original home for The First Church of God. Enders Insurance building is now located where the original church stood.

10/17/2021

Our hearts go out to the Dauphin and Middle Paxton Historical Society for their loss due to a fire hours after they celebrated Dauphin's 250 anniversary. One article said they might have lost 85% of thier collection. These are items that cannot be replaced.

10/16/2021

History is so much fun because you learn when you peel back the layers of time. Thank you Daryl Stackhouse for showing me the portion of the painted wall at St Thomas Church. Today we use wallpaper but in the 1800s to early 1900s they painted the walls with a design

10/15/2021

From the book Got Gas? This is a picture of Stein's gas station 6460 Old Jonestown rd

10/06/2021

Hard to believe this was 81 years ago!

10/05/2021

This is it! "Our every desire is to please you - not only with food and service, but with our surroundings as well! If you like logs - knotty pine - a huge stone fireplace and cheery atmosphere - This Is It!" Restaurant - Service station - Log cottages Telephone 56368

09/27/2021

Throwback Monday rembering when the Colonial Park Mall would have a weekly flea market

09/20/2021

This is how crowded the parking lots would get when malls were the place to shop on Black Friday. This is a picture of the Colonial Park Mall on November 25, 1988.

09/20/2021

The Colonial Park Mall ready to open up for the day on March 17, 1989

09/18/2021

The old clubhouse at Hunters and Anglers

09/09/2021

This farm house is on Blue Ridge Avenue, and is still there, minus the chimney etc. The photo is from around 1910-1912; and the bearded gentleman is John Shoop. Mr. Shoop is at the farm with Dr. John A. Fritchey Jr., on the left, and Thomas James Fritchey, MD, the infant in his lap. Thomas was Dauphin County coroner for years.

09/08/2021

Maurice Acri's was an iconic restaurant in the day. It was located on the property that is now El Rodeo

09/08/2021

Thank you to the Colonial Park Rotary for your donation towards our project at the Wenrich Cemetery.

09/06/2021

This picture of the Ricker Farm was taken right before it was demolished around 1952 and the "Brick Jungle" was built. The Brick Jungle is the development between Locust Lane to Colorado Ave and between Houcks Road and Prince Street. The barn that is pictured is on the land that is now the Baptist church between Mauretania Ave and Virginia Ave

08/01/2021

Our Commission had the honor to participate at Bike a Better Path yesterday. Here I am with my daughter who is one of their board members. Congratulations on a successful day and thanks for letting us have a booth

07/19/2021

Save the date!!

The Lower Paxton Township Historical Commission is excited to present Dr. Rodney Ross, author of Harrisburg in World War II, on Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 6:30pm. Join us at Heroes Grove to hear how Harrisburg contributed to the national war efforts! Learn how our efforts attracted celebrities, manufacturing was affected by shortages, and local businesses rallied to support rationing efforts. Nearly 540 area service members lost their lives in the war, leaving Harrisburg to honor their legacy for generations. Dr. Ross will share the trials of life on the homefront in Harrisburg during wartime. Some of those trials were told first-hand to Dr. Ross by his father, who was a police officer in Harrisburg during the war and shared many little-known stories with his son.

We welcome you to email photos of Lower Paxton residents, past and present, who served in World War II ([email protected]). Please include name of resident, military branch, rank and dates of service in your email. We will include these photos in our display for the presentation. Please spread the word about this wonderful event!

Upcoming events:

Come visit LPTHC members at the Friendship Center on Saturday, July 31st from 9am-5pm for “The Bike A Better Path Foundation” Summer Family Fun Event.

LPTHC members will have an information booth at the township’s Night Out for Public Safety on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at George Park from 5-8pm.

07/14/2021

Photos from LP Remembered's post

07/14/2021

The township used to require you to have a license for your bike. They changed over the years and eventually the license was just a sticker instead of this metal rendition from the 50s