The "Lancaster: My City - Part II; The 21st Century" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Searching my desktop file titled Soldiers/Sailors Monument looking for photographs and postcards that can tell the story of Lancaster, Pennsylvania's historical monument that stands in the center of the city at the crossroads of the oldest inland city in the United States.  Lancaster was founded in 1730, and with the advent of photography in the early 1800s, many photos can be found of the early years of Lancaster if you search hard and long enough.  That's just what I did since I began writing this blog and have used a few of those photos in earlier stories, but also have quite a few that I have never shared with you.  Yesterday I posted a few that recorded the monument from early photos until the end of the nineteenth century.  Today I will begin with photos from the early 1900s up to a few years ago.  Many of the photographs and postcards are not dated and I have estimated the date based on store fronts and the year of the vehicles in the photos.  May have a few out of order, but if I can't figure it out, I doubt you will know anyway.  Hope you enjoy what I have had the chance to see on an almost daily basis during my life in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

1906 postcard showing the Watt & Shand department store to the left of the monument.  The old car in the center of the postcard helped me estimate the date of this image.  Remember to click on the images to enlarge them.

This postcard was dated 1907 on the reverse side.  It was taken from the area where the monument stands looking down West down King Street, one of the intersecting streets in the center of town along with Queen Street.  On the far right of the image would be Lancaster's City Hall.

Early 1900s showing the F.W. Woolworth 5&10 cent store in the distance on what is North Queen St.  Woolworth is the yellow building with the high corner towers.  The trolley and clothing in the photo helped me date the postcard.

This postcard is looking east on King Street from the monument.  Again, the cars helped me guess that this probably was taken circa 1918.  Notice the Policeman standing in the directional unit in the front of the postcard.  I never saw anything such as that during my lifetime.

My guess for a date for this photograph would be 1930.  Town is crowded and busy with all the trolley's around the monument.  This too is looking north on Queen Street with the Woolworth store in the background.

I guess this to also be 1930 and shows Watt & Shand decked out for a holiday with flags all around the building.  Clothing and vehicles can also help date the postcard.  In this postcard Watt & Shand is now it's final size stretching to the right as well as to the left.

This black and white photograph has a date of 1932 on the rear of it.  It also has the Watt & Shand Department Store featured in the photo.  Another crowded day with heavy traffic.

Penn Square in 1936.  This postcard was a black and white photograph that was hand-colored.  It looks east.

This postcard was dated 1937 on the postmark.  On the far right top is an advertising sign with Pensupreme Ice Cream on it.  Penn Dairies began in 1929 in Lancaster.  This is a view looking north on Queen St.  I'm puzzled why the Woolworth building doesn't have the tall pillars on the top of the building in the background.  There are no buses in the photo, but the tracks still remain.  I guess the green enclosed unit in the center-right is a Police platform for traffic control.  

The monument would be on the far right in this photograph.  The building on the right side is the Greist Building which was Lancaster's first skyscraper which was build in 1925.  I guess that the photograph is circa 1939. 

Photograph of the Watt & Shand Building taken from the Greist Building.

A photograph taken about the same timeframe showing a woman and boy in traditional Amish or Mennonite garb.

"Welcome home Our Heroes" says the sign over the Service Star on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Penn Square in 1945.  Red, white and blue bunting is also visible on Old City Hall and the Griest Building in the background.

This postcard is titled "The Square, Lancaster, Pa." and is probably in the mid-1940s.  It shows a trolley car and once again you can see the F.W. Woolworth building on North Queen Street.

This I believe is a photograph from the local newspaper showing the removal of the trolley tracks in the center of Lancaster.  The monument can be seen to the right-center of the photo.  The date of this photo is 1947.  I was born in 1944 and have no recollection of the trolley running in the city of Lancaster.  I lived to the south of the city and my mother would bring me to market which is to the left on the photo.  I was too young to remember much about the city at this time.

The  monument can be seen in this color photo looking east.  Cars and truck helped me identify that the photo was taken around 1950.

1950s photo looking east with an Amish man in the foreground.  Lancaster's Central Market would be to the left front of the photo and the man may be a farmer who was working at the market.  There are streetlights that can be seen in this photo.

A 1957 postcard showing the Greist Building on the right with Central Market in the center of the photo, behind the Greist Building.  Behind the monument is what at one time was City Hall and in this photo is the Heritage Center.

Taken in 1969 on a snowy evening in the center of town.  The Christmas lights behind the Policeman in the foreground are decorations on the monument as well as the Watt & Shand building.

About 2000 and shows the monument in the left-center of the photo.  This is looking north on Queen Street and the Woolworth building had been removed years ago.

This photo was taken from Lancaster's newest skyscraper, The Marriott Hotel.  The shorter Greist Building is in the background and Central market is next to it behind The Heritage Center.  In the foreground can be seen the monument. The photograph was taken last year and is the final photograph in my story on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.