The spirit of ’76 grabbed hold of the country. It was the bicentennial anniversary of the United States, and just like the upcoming 250th anniversary of the nation in 2026, it would be a year long celebration.
Special license plates, stamps, 2 dollar bills and bicentennial quarters all made the year feel special. I wasn’t alive then, but growing up and finding a bicentennial quarter or getting a 2 dollar bill still seemed special for years after the fact.
Historical Association
It was a special year, so a special group was formed: the Goldsboro Historical Association. This group had 24 people:
Nancy Gross, Barb Hamsher
Gayle Schlosser, Dennis Hamsher
Fred Sanders, Coral Jones
Jessie Sanders, Evelyn Jones
Armond Weirich, Mildred Miller
Beth Newhouser, Theda Brubaker
Judy Richards, Betts Fisher
Ed Richards, Ray Kriner
Dot Richards, George Hartman
Sheldon Betz, Emma Cornman
Harry Jenkins, Glenn Schlosser
One of the things that they started to do was to interview the elders of the town in order to document the history of Goldsboro. Jessie Sanders recorded these interviews on cassette tapes, so she could later take the information and include it in a special project that they were working on. Here is one of those interviews of Wilbur Willis and his wife Minnie.
Wilbur Willis was born in 1892 in Goldsboro, was a founding member of the Goldsboro Fire Company, worked at the Bair Cigar Factory in Goldsboro, was a member of the Goldsboro Odd Fellows and also the Goldsboro Jr Mechanics, the tax collector for Goldsboro, and worked at the International Paper Company in York Haven where he retired from.
Mr. Willis wouldn’t live too much longer after this interview, he passed away in October of this same year.
Jimmy Carter Visits
1976 was an election year. And although I haven’t researched extensively, I think it’s reasonable to say that Presidents and presidential candidates didn’t make campaign stops near rural Goldsboro. The closest they would come would be Harrisburg.
So to have a presidential candidate make a campaign stop at a barn just up the road from Goldsboro, probably had never happened before.
The farm belonged to Rosemary and Geary Huntsberger that splits Valley Rd in Fairview Township.
About 400 people or so were there to listen to the stump speech from the Governor of Georgia and peanut farmer.
Everyone got a chance to be up close and get a handshake if they wanted.
Later that fall Carter would beat President Gerald Ford to win the national election. He would win the state of Pennsylvania and its delegates, maybe because he won the hearts of a lot of farmers.
Arts and craft Show
The first of hopefully many events to come that were sponsored by the Goldsboro Historical Association was an arts and crafts show.
People came from all over to check out the exhibits and to have a fun summer day.
There were train rides, bands performing on a stage, and of course food. It was a great lead up to the upcoming Fourth of July.
It was a successful day, and also made a little bit of money for the Goldsboro Historical Association for some upcoming projects.
Freedom Train
Central PA got a treat over the Fourth of July, it was a visit from the touring American Freedom Train that had been traveling America for the last year.
The Freedom Train was kind of a museum on rails. It had a number of attractions for people to see, including the Freedom Bell (a replica of the Liberty Bell), a lunar rover, and numerous other historical artifacts on display across multiple cars.
The Goldsboro Historical Association couldn’t take credit for this, but it really did become a small event for Goldsboro and Cly. On Thursday evening July 1, crowds of spectators lined both sides of Goldsboro’s railroad tracks anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Freedom Train. The train was about three hours behind schedule, but people were still anxious to see it.
When the train finally arrived at about 7:30 PM, everyone’s cameras started clicking. It made a five minute stop in Goldsboro before going on to the New Cumberland Army Depot.
The train was stationed at the New Cumberland Army Depot for several days, and you could purchase tickets to go in all the cars and see the exhibits.
The month of July would end with another community event, with food, fun and games. Just like the earlier Arts and Crafts Show, the money from food purchases would go into the Goldsboro Historical Association fund for upcoming projects.
Bicentennial Cookbook
The Goldsboro Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary got into the celebratory action, and went around town and gathered people’s favorite recipes, and put them together in a cookbook.
As you flip through the pages, one thing you’ll notice is there are a lot of cakes and deserts.
Today, a few people in the community still refer to this cookbook, and other cookbooks like it from other communities nearby. They are starting to get a little hard to find, so if you see one you should pick it up.
square refurbishment
Even though the bicentennial of the country had passed by in July, Goldsboro still had a little more celebrating to do.
During World War II, an honor roll and memorial monument was built in the middle of the traffic circle in the square in Goldsboro. It listed the names of everyone currently serving in the war, and it also would eventually include the name of one man who died in that war, Edwin Wertz. This monument was dedicated on October 31, 1943.
Over the years the monument needed a little cleaning up, and some upgrades. They removed the white V’s from the sides, and added lights to shine on the flag at night.
The refurbishments were paid for by the Goldsboro Historical Association, out of the funds that they had raised during the year, like from the Arts and Crafts Fair.
A speech was made by Borough Councilman, Earl Cornman, during the ceremony.
“Fellow Citizens, as a member of the Borough Council, I am honored to dedicate, on behalf of the Council and the Bicentennial Committee, this new flag pole and Honor Roll. I’m sure you will all agree that they add much beauty to our square, and I ask that all of us, both young and old, do our best to protect that beauty…”
This is Your Life
On that same day after the memorial re-dedication, a Bicentennial Fun Day took place. Old fashioned games for the kids were held on the lawn of the Fire Hall. And what else would go well with that, but a chicken corn soup supper, of course.
In the evening, everyone went into the fire hall and were treated to a program of short skits called “This is Your Life, Goldsboro!“ People were treated to a fashion show, with clothes from the 1800’s up until the present day (the 1970s), including number of women who showed off their wedding dresses from over the decades.
One of the other skits was a recreation of the first Goldsboro borough council meeting, which was significantly less roudy than they are today.
The evening closed with a weiner roast and hayrides. It was a great day for the community.
The Life & times
The culmination of a year of research and gathering photos and information led to the Goldsboro Historical Association’s greatest contribution to the town, a written history of Goldsboro. It included historical information from a number of sources, including interviews from longtime residents like Wilbur and Minnie Willis from earlier in the year.
Only 500 copies were made, but that was sufficient for the population of Goldsboro that had right around 500 total residents in the mid-1970s (including kids), but people in neighboring communities would also be interested.
They never were able to sell all 500. A few stacks kicked around for a number of years. Today you can find one every once and a while on Ebay or at a local antique store or something. They typically go for around $30-50, if you can get the winning bid.
After 1976 ended, unfortunately so did the Goldsboro Historical Association. It merged with the Goldsboro Recreation Association to become the Goldsboro Community Association. The reason was that both groups had essentially the same people in them, so it made sense for practical reasons just all meet once instead of to have multiple meetings.
But that original Goldsboro Historical Association had a really good run, in a really good year for America.
My heart is filled with joy over the many memories from the bicentennial events in Goldsboro. I was getting ready for my senior year in HS. What a wonderful time we had celebrating our town and our country’s 200th birthday. I am blessed to have grown up surrounded by such kind and loving people. For the most part, our town was one big family. A place where no one was a stranger and everyone felt safe and supported.