[Photos: Lape Brothers Photography]
A woods fire erupted Thursday afternoon near the Breezy View Overlook at Chickies Rock County Park in Lancaster County, prompting a significant response from area fire companies.
The blaze was reported shortly after 1 p.m. in the wooded area around the park.
A digitized edition of the front page of The Columbia Spy from April 16, 1853 reveals the preoccupations, commerce, and moral culture of mid-19th century small-town America.
A front page of The Columbia Spy, a weekly family newspaper from Columbia, Pennsylvania, dated exactly 173 years ago today, is shown above. Printed by Brown & Greene and devoted to “Literature, Science, Morality, Education, and General Intelligence,” the issue paints a vivid portrait of life several years before the Civil War.
Patent Medicines Dominate the Ads
Much of the paper’s commercial space is given over to patent medicine advertisements, reflecting a booming industry that preceded modern pharmaceutical regulation. Holloway’s Pills are promoted through testimonial letters claiming cures for disordered livers, rheumatic fever, dropsy, and gout. Alongside them, Dr. Houghton’s Pepsin — billed as “Another Scientific Wonder” — promises relief from indigestion and dyspepsia, with a pointed disclaimer: “No Alcohol, Bitters, or Acids.”
Moral and Religious Reflection
True to its mission, the Spy devotes considerable space to devotional content.
An essay addressed to skeptics invokes Bacon, Newton, and Locke as defenders of the Christian faith, while a German-translated meditation on contentment uses a thirsty bird and a foraging bee as lessons in gratitude. A father’s parting advice compares the faithful life to a patient sailor working with wind and tide until he reaches his destination.
Humor and Community
The paper also finds room for levity — a judge laments two laborers whose legal dispute cost three times the disputed sum, and Dr. Irving famously silences a restless congregation by sitting down mid-sermon to “wait until the chaff has blown off.”
Priced at $1.00 per annum, The Columbia Spy blended patent medicine advertising, moral instruction, local commerce, and gentle humor — a distinctly Victorian American mix in which science, religion, and community were still being actively negotiated.
[This article is AI-generated.]
A York County man died in a motorcycle crash Saturday in Columbia Borough, according to the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office.
Amos Stoltzfus, 78, of Wrightsville, was operating a trike-style motorcycle when he crashed near the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and South 12th Street around 6:15 a.m. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, the coroner’s office said.
Police found Stoltzfus on a sidewalk where he was treated by emergency medical personnel before being taken to Lancaster General Hospital where he died of his injuries.
The coroner’s office ruled the cause of death as multiple blunt force trauma and the manner of death as accidental.
The Zoning Hearing Board of the Borough of Columbia will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building at 308 Locust Street to consider variance and special exception requests from two applicants.
In the first case, Yamil M. De Jesus is seeking a special exception to establish a place of worship at 40 N. 4th Street, a property zoned Downtown Commercial. The applicant is also requesting variances from two sections of the Borough Code — one governing the minimum lot area required for a place of worship and another covering the required number of parking spaces.
The second application involves 148 Church Ave., where property owner Jeffrey Sugden is requesting a series of variances to allow development of a single-family home on the High Density Residential-zoned property. Sugden’s requests target code requirements for minimum lot size, side yard setback, and minimum lot width, along with the required number of parking spaces.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting.
[Source: Columbia Borough legal notice issue published in LNP/LancasterOnline on April 13, 2026]
FMJ Real Estate LLC conveyed 144 S. Sixth St. to Nathaniel W. Perry for $205,000.
Daniel M. Armold conveyed 522 S. 10th Street to 522 S. 10th LLC for $131,000.
Overstreet Christopher, Overstreet Sarah conveyed 238 S. Fourth St. to Gobran Guirguis for $130,000.
Valley View Capital LLC conveyed 162 S. Fifth St. to Hutchinson James, Hutchinson Elizabeth for $220,000.
Stoltzfus Steven Lee, Stoltzfus Lillian, Stoltzfus Lillian Rose conveyed 430 Avenue K to Union Grove Enterprise LLC for $245,000.
Wagner Marlena Therese, Markey Marlena, Markey Nathan conveyed 152 N. Seventh St. to Natnael Thehaye for $250,000.
This week’s photos of Columbia
Click on photos to see larger, sharper images.
JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY
Cops and dogs . . .
.JPG)
*****************
Raven Ridge brought their birds to Columbia Crossing on Saturday . . .
*****************
This surveyor, sporting an Amtrak jacket, was working on the 100 and 200 blocks of Walnut Street for a couple of days. Surveyors were also on the Veterans Memorial Bridge. A project to revamp the first two blocks of Walnut is slated to begin in about two months. A major rehabilitation project for the bridge is scheduled to begin in 2027.
*****************
A train cab out for a ride
.JPG)
Air-drying the laundry
Man at work
When you can’t decide what lane you’re in, just go for the middle.
There’s a guy drilling into the bridge.
New store on the first block of North 4th
Tiny tulips
New display at Columbia Curiosities
*Two more doggos*
These two were running loose the other day until police caught them and returned them to their owners.
Yes, it’s crumbling.
Here’s the evidence.
Visitors on the 300 block of Chestnut
Several people assembled at a pre-bid meeting at the former McGinness property on Tuesday.
Part of the old canal system . . .
*****************
Scene of a fatal motorcycle crash
Public works vehicle logo
Out for a trot
[Photo by Sharon Lintner]
Half-hidden bunny at Columbia Crossing
A lone explorer at the former McGinness property
Men at work at the Von Hess building
Flowers and more flowers . . .
Thanks to Lancaster historian Randy Harris, the Civil War bridge piers – along with a nearby lock of the old Pennsylvania canal – have been recognized as an authenticated site on the National Underground Network to Freedom run by the National Park Service. Unfortunately, some people defaced this pier. Many stones are missing, also.
Sunset clouds
###
Dan Sahd
[Columbia Spy file photo]
Dan Sahd, co-owner and team leader at Sahd Metal Recycling in Columbia, will receive the Small Businessperson of the Year award. The award will recognize Sahd as an individual whose vision, innovation and leadership drive not only the growth of their company but also strengthen the economic and social fabric of Lancaster County.
Columbia Spy 