The "A Sure Bet" Story

An oil tinted photograph of 533 S. Prince.

It was an ordinary.  Standing in front of 533 South Prince St. in the city of Lancaster.  Now, this area of the city isn't new to me, since my mother and I lived a block away in the 600 block with her mom and dad when my dad was in the service.  Used to ride in the baby buggy past 533 all the time when my mom took me to Central Market in downtown Lancaster, but don't remember too many of those trips.  Even posted a photo of my Aunt Lois, my mom's surprise sister, and me in the playpen on the front porch of 617 S. Prince, but that still doesn't jog my memory that much.  Really doesn't matter anyway, since my story deals with a house at 533 that I probably didn't even know existed back them.  

533 S. Prince St. as it appears for sale today.

The house I'm taking a photo of today has a unique history to it.  It was built in 1873 because of a bet.  Matter of fact it was built in 10 hours by 100 guys working for Benjamin Mishler.  After winning a bet that he could build a house in 24 hours, the distilled alcoholic beverage manufacturer and self-promoter took the ten hour bet and won.  Can hardly believe that it is still standing today.  Not only that, it looks to be in very nice shape and is currently for sale.  Any takers on a piece of Americana?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.