The "The Cool Town With A History: Part VIII - Strolling Along Main Street" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Walking along Main Street in Lititz, PA admiring the architecture from a different time in history.  Many of the beautiful buildings in the first few blocks of East Main Street were built in the 1700s or 1800s.  I tried to document the year of construction and a bit about each of the buildings that I photographed today.  Follow along on my journey with me as I take you on a tour of the "2013 Coolest Small Town in America."  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Albert Glatz opened the first Tobacco Shop in Lititz, Pennsylvania around 1765.  Albert's first store was eventually relocated to this building in 1868.

This house was built in 1762 and was the seventh private home built in Lititz.  It was referred to as the Werner House which refers to the original owner, John William Werner who was the town cooper (barrel maker), bleeder (blood-letter) and tooth-drawer (dentist).  

Standing at 68 East Main was at one time the home of Andrew Albright, a respected gunsmith who created Pennsylvania rifles.  The Pennsylvania rifle was the preferred weapon among settlers moving over the Allapachian Mountains.  It later became known as the Kentucky rifle.  Today this building is the Lititz Post Office.

This was the Sturgis Hotel which was built in 1867 to serve the needs of the wealthy that visited Lititz.  In 1895 the third story was added.  In 1935 the building was purchased by Harry Chertcoff who turned it into a movie theatre.  Today it is the home of the Gypsy Hill Gallery. Click on it to enlarge it and you can read the name of the original hotel across the top of the building.

Erected in 1877, this shop was later the home of the Sunbeam, a monthly magazine and forerunner of the Weekly Express newspaper, later renamed the Lititz Express.  The owner, John G. Zook also sold bicycles from the store.  The papers were later relocated to the rear of this building at 22 East Main Street.

This stone building was built in 1762 at 120 East Main Street.  It housed a general store run by Christian Fenstermacher who came from Philadelphia in 1764 to run it.  About 25 years later it became the property of the Moravian Church and was renamed the Congregational Store.  Today it houses a real estate office as well as serving as a private home.

This stately brick house was known as The Pilgerhaus which was built in 1754.  It was built by George Klein as a two-story stone home which was used as a dwelling for ministers and congregational meetings.  It also housed the Congregational Store until it moved across the street to the house pictured above.  This building was also the first hotel in Lititz until 1764 when the hotel was moved to the corner of Broad and Main Street.  The following year it became the home of David Tannenberg, the famous organ builder.  His workshop was directly behind this building where he constructed 45 organs until he met his death while installing an organ in York, PA in 1804. During the Revolutionary War about 200 sick and wounded soldiers from Gen. Washington's Army were cared for at the Brothers House in Moravian Church Square and the doctors who cared for them were quartered in the Pilgernhaus during that time.  In 1862 the Rev. Julius Beckler replaced the two-story stone Pilgerhaus with the current three-story brick building except to the rear of the house where the stone first and second floors can still be seen. 

This building, built in 1854 and known as Wolle's Store is now  called The Moravian House -  Antiques and Country Treasures.

This beautiful stone home located at 207 East Main Street was built in 1790 according to a small plaque on the front of it.  I can find very little about the home, but it still reflects the history of the original town of Lititz.