Columbia PA 300

08/31/2026

On this day in 1892, the Columbia rail yards close the books on one of its busiest months ever. That August, 2,928 trains passed through the borough, encompassing more than 74,000 loaded freight cars and over 43,000 empty ones.

08/30/2026

A little night music from Columbia’s own Reg Kehoe and the Marimba queens. Hershey's Frank DiNunzio on bass (he's an animal!)...

It's just strange.I don't hold copyright on images or music. Just...

08/30/2026

On this day in 1900, Columbia Hospital admits Frank Snell, a Georgia man visiting his cousin in Columbia. Snell is injured while returning from a bicycle ride in York County when the fork of the wheel of his penny-farthing snaps on a steep hill in Hellam.

08/29/2026

On this day in 1917, a disaster is averted at the Columbia Opera House when manager Doyle Burlingame puts out a fire on stage created by a magician scheduled to appear later that night. By the time the Keystone Chemical Engine Company arrives, Burlingame assures firefighters that everything is under control. Dissatisfied, Joe Houk—Chairman of Public Safety—aims a fire extinguisher at the stage. Burlingame grabs the nozzle and redirects it at Houk, and everyone enjoys a good laugh as he receives a carbon tetrachloride shower.

08/28/2026

On this day in 1901, seven-year-old Jimmy Reisinger suffers fatal injuries while attempting to board a slow-moving freight car in Columbia. After losing his footing, he falls beneath the wheels, crushing one of his legs and tearing open his abdomen.

08/27/2026

On this day in 1884, Columbia’s baseball team announces a five-game series with the Dauntless Club of Mt. Joy. Two games each will be played in Mt. Joy and on the Stove Works grounds in Columbia, with a fifth scheduled for Lancaster. The two teams are part of a three-way rivalry that includes the Lancaster Ironsides, whose lineup features Jake Goodman, one of the great sluggers of early baseball.

08/26/2026

On this day in 1900, the bell at the Opera House awakens Columbians in the pre-dawn hours after two fires are discovered—one in a brick stable on Avenue J and another in a wooden structure nearby at the foot of Locust Street. They are the latest in a string of suspected arsons in the borough.