Archives and Special Collections  

Class of 1921

North Beaver Street, York, Pa.

Commencement Progam

June 12, 1884

Institutional Lineage and
Development of
York College of Pennsylvania

York College’s roots run deep in the history of York, Pennsylvania, going back to a preparatory school affiliated with the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist. The school incorporated as the York County Academy in 1787 and came to occupy a building on North Beaver Street.

In the 19th century, a second preparatory school was founded by Samuel Small and colleagues. Its facilities were located at the intersection of Duke Street and College Avenue.

Over the years the York Collegiate Institute extended its grade coverage from high school to the elementary grades.
In the 1930’s the Academy and the Institute merged into a jointly operated school, utilizing the Institute’s facilities.

In the early 1940’s, it was decided to add a junior college program, which grew rapidly after the conclusion of World War II. The junior college soon supplanted the K-12 program, and outgrew the downtown facilities. A new campus on Country Club Road was acquired in 1960. Senior college status was attained in 1968, and York College of Pennsylvania was born.

The College has grown to be a comprehensive regional institution of some 5,300 students, with extensive residential, athletic, and cultural facilities and a broad range of majors and programs


George W. Waldner, Ph.D.

President of York College of Pennsylvania

1991 - 2013

Aerial View of Campus, 1975

Karen Rice-Young

717.815.1439

kriceyou@ycp.edu

The first York Collegiate Institute

building, ca. 1873.  

Architectural drawing of second building, 1886

The York Collegian Staff

1943

Student Newspaper

April 14, 1972