Jed Reinert is part of the digital team at LNP | LancasterOnline. He writes about Lancaster County history and nostalgia, and can be reached at jreinert@lnpnews.com.
- April 20, 2021
- 72°
About Jed Reinert
![Learning the etiquette do's and don'ts for a business lunch, circa 1996 [Lancaster That Was]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/aa/4aae86b2-9bd1-11eb-9bf7-df3a73393a6b/6074bc6b5e29a.image.png?crop=544%2C306%2C6%2C28&resize=544%2C306&order=crop%2Cresize)
Excerpts and summaries of news stories from the former Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News that focus on the events in the county’s past that are noteworthy, newsworthy or just strange.
One hundred and nine years ago this month, an allegedly unsinkable ship - the largest, most luxurious steam liner ever built - struck an iceberg and sank, leaving nearly 1,500 of its crew and passengers dead.
![Infamous murders of Lancaster County: The Laurie Show case was in the headlines for years [LNP archives]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/d3/dd34d17c-c6ba-11e5-a255-fbbc21689af9/56abb74e35642.image.jpg?crop=1051%2C591%2C13%2C207&resize=1051%2C591&order=crop%2Cresize)
In the early 1990s, Lancaster County was shaken and captivated by two murders that took place almost exactly one year apart.
![Four veteran brothers reunited in 1946; the Grateful Dead played F&M in 1971 [Lancaster That Was]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/31/b3154c46-971b-11eb-959f-6f24b3cc5098/606ccd08d5965.image.png?crop=1096%2C617%2C0%2C155&resize=1096%2C617&order=crop%2Cresize)
Excerpts and summaries of news stories from the former Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News that focus on the events in the county’s past that are noteworthy, newsworthy or just strange.
![Infamous murders of Lancaster County: The summer 1980 search for Evelyn Fisher [LNP archives]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/82/b826d5ec-d024-11ea-88d5-9fc28af50730/5f1efe2f81f34.image.png?crop=1404%2C790%2C103%2C0&resize=1404%2C790&order=crop%2Cresize)
On the afternoon of Thursday, July 31, 1980, 14-year-old Evelyn Fisher left her parents' New Holland home wearing a white T-shirt with yellow stripes, blue jeans and faded blue-and-white sneakers.
![Local Olympic hero Barney Ewell died 25 years ago [Lancaster That Was]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/ba/7ba2f02c-917d-11eb-bc6e-9b65f82b181f/60635ff9979c3.image.png?crop=528%2C297%2C0%2C109&resize=528%2C297&order=crop%2Cresize)
Excerpts and summaries of news stories from the former Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News that focus on the events in the county’s past that are noteworthy, newsworthy or just strange.
![Infamous murders of Lancaster County: In 1979, the Swarrs were robbed and left to die [LNP Archives]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/7b/47b89db0-506f-11eb-9706-533a339f6475/5ff63adbf10e2.image.png?crop=537%2C302%2C37%2C0&resize=537%2C302&order=crop%2Cresize)
Infamous murders of Lancaster County: In 1979, the Swarrs were robbed and left to die [LNP Archives]
Horace and Mary Swarr were octogenarian siblings who lived together in a house on West Walnut Street in Lancaster.
![Here's what a 'futuristic' police computer system looked like circa 1971 [Lancaster That Was]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/3e/53e22a46-8cda-11eb-a64e-f76b71d96420/605b98424b3f4.image.png?crop=676%2C380%2C0%2C214&resize=676%2C380&order=crop%2Cresize)
Excerpts and summaries of news stories from the former Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News that focus on the events in the county’s past that are noteworthy, newsworthy or just strange.
![Infamous murders of Lancaster County: The Baker killing captivated the public in 1950 [LNP archives]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/e/ed/eed7f12a-1d2c-11eb-a814-ff3b0370eca6/5fa03b36c0a33.image.png?crop=626%2C352%2C0%2C256&resize=626%2C352&order=crop%2Cresize)
Infamous murders of Lancaster County: The Baker killing captivated the public in 1950 [LNP archives]
The case of Marian Baker's murder began with a missing persons report.
!['Lancaster's Walt Disney' helped build Florida's Spongeorama tourist attraction [Lancaster That Was]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/bd/1bd042e0-8673-11eb-8eb3-830e3e8408e5/6050db700cb82.image.png?crop=836%2C470%2C0%2C161&resize=836%2C470&order=crop%2Cresize)
'Lancaster's Walt Disney' helped build Florida's Spongeorama tourist attraction [Lancaster That Was]
Excerpts and summaries of news stories from the former Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News that focus on the events in the county’s past that are noteworthy, newsworthy or just strange.
![Infamous murders of Lancaster County: The 'silk stocking' case was national news in 1939 [LNP archives]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/e/fc/efc0ae1a-1d2c-11eb-9b5c-ef658c6c7b1c/5fa03b384c004.image.png?crop=390%2C219%2C0%2C144&resize=390%2C219&order=crop%2Cresize)
The 1939 murder of Lucille Smith of Lititz didn't involve a months-long manhunt, or a mystery revealed in tidbits to readers of the daily newspapers. But it still garnered national attention.
![Park City opening continued in 1971, victory garden planting continued in 1946 [Lancaster That Was]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/a4/4a4e53a4-81c4-11eb-86a0-67f5776741ef/6048fed280217.image.png?crop=1104%2C621%2C0%2C54&resize=1104%2C621&order=crop%2Cresize)
Excerpts and summaries of news stories from the former Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News that focus on the events in the county’s past that are noteworthy, newsworthy or just strange.
