The "Architect of the Red Rose City: Part I" Story

C. Emlen Urban

It was an ordinary day.  Trying to find information about a few of the buildings in downtown Lancaster, PA when I came across a very interesting fact.  Seems that almost all of the important buildings in downtown Lancaster, as well as many houses and businesses throughout the city, were all designed by one person, C. Emlen Urban.  Watt and Shand Department Store, The Griest Building, Southern Market, The Woolworth Building ...... are just a few of the many places that line the streets of Lancaster.  E. Emlen Urban was born on February 26, 1863 in Conestoga Township, Lancaster County.  He graduated from Lancaster's Boys High School in 1880 and then apprenticed for 18 months as a draftsman at the E.L. Walter architectural firm in Scranton, PA. After his stay in Scranton he moved to Philadelphia and the firm of Willis Hale before returning to Lancaster in 1886.  He designed many of Lancaster's notable buildings embracing architectural styles as diverse as Queen Anne, Beaux-Arts and Colonial Revival.  His architectural style bridges between the Victorian Era and the Modern Age.  His designs touched every aspect of city life, ranging from banks, schools, hotels, market houses, industrial buildings, private residences and Lancaster's first skyscraper, The Greist Building.  It wasn't until I started to look at a few of the residences that I realized that he designed the home that my Aunt Doris and Uncle Paul lived in at one time.  My aunt lived for many years on North Pine Street with my nannan (grandmother).  She worked at a wholesale food distributor and would take the bus to work every morning.  The bus stop was around the corner from her home, directly in front of 537 West Chestnut Street, one of the homes designed by Mr. Urban years before and now home to Paul S. Bertz.  Over the years she got to know Mr. Bertz, who was a widow with three young children, and eventually married him gaining an instant family.  I as well gained an uncle and three cousins at the same time.  I can remember very well the dark-wooden spiral staircase as you entered the home as well as the really neat library to the left when you entered.  Shelves lined the walls that carried what seemed like thousands of books to a young boy like myself.  Often wondered if he ever read all of the books, but being a CPA I'm sure he did.  The kitchen was small and narrow, but was eventually widened when my aunt and uncle added a greenhouse to the rear of the residence.  A really neat carriage house with an apartment above it was at the rear of a very small back yard.  Still find it hard to believe that one of the greatest architects of the day built the home that I had such a good time in as a child.  One of Mr. Urban's most remarkable buildings that he designed was the Lancaster Southern Market building which he designed in 1886 at the age of 25.  Wow, I try to remember what I did when I was a young man of 25.  Urban was married to Jennie Olivia, had two children, daughter Miriam Grace and son Rathfon Merril, and lived in Lancaster, retiring from his business to his home at 1009 Buchanan Ave.  Urban died in 1939 at the age of 76.  My story certainly can't end at this point, so I will show you some of his works with a very brief description of the buildings.  After viewing all the architecture, I'm sure you will be amazed that one person could have designed as many of the buildings of Lancaster, PA as he did.  I have chosen only a small collection of his work, but will still divide it in half and show half tomorrow.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This is the property where my Aunt Doris and Uncle Paul resided at one time with my three cousins.  It was designed by Mr. Urban in 1894 and was located at 537 West Chestnut Street in Lancaster, PA.  It was known as the William Wohlsen Mansion.  It was a three story house built with dark pressed bricks and had a high hipped roof with cross gables and a tall corbelled brick chimney.  It had a wrap-around porch with a scrollwork pediment above the front steps.  The iron fence at the pavement is original to the house.  To the rear of the house is a large carriage house with second floor apartment.  

This was the personal residence of C. Emlen Urban located at 1009 Buchanan Avenue in Lancaster. It was designed in 1914 and is a 4,000-square-foot house on a corner lot facing Buchanan Park which he occupied from 1914 until his death in 1939.  It features a conservative Colonial Revival style of architecture.  The ground floor is stone with stucco on the second level.  On the left is a one-story sun-porch that is now screened.  This is a much more conservative style as compared to his lavish commercial buildings.

1025 Marietta Avenue was the residence of J. Calvin Shutte.  It was designed in 1906 and is a three-story brick house designed to reflect an Edwardian eclecticism that borrowed from the Tudor Revival style.  There is a side porch on the east elevation and a porte cochere (carriage covering) on the west side.

This property is known as "Roslyn."  Not sure why, but it is located at 1035 Marietta Avenue and was designed in 1896.  It was designed and built for Peter T. Watt, founder of the Watt & Shand Department Store in downtown Lancaster.  Built in the Chauteauesque style, the rich stone exterior has an asymmetrical form with stepped gables, round turrets, six chimneys and a portico facing North President Avenue.  The following photo shows the name and address on the entranceway.

930 Buchanan Avenue was designed in 1921 and is a Tudor Revival home that features stone walls on the first floor.  The center entry door has a front gable that projects from from the second level and has two dormers the flank it on either side.  The walls on the second-floor are half-timbered against a stucco finish as in traditional tudor style.  The following photo reflects on the plaque that I found next to the front door.

The final residence that I will post is a photo of the Milton S. Hershey Mansion at 222 South Queen Street from around 1890.  This building was demolished to make way for a grocery store.  It was the home of the founder of Hershey Chocolate Company and owner of Lancaster Caramel Company which was within walking distance of this home.  The house features a combined Queen Anne, Shingle and Eastlake styles.  There was also a brick carriage house at the rear facing Beaver Street.

Just had to include this photo since it is the Parish House of my church, St. James Episcopal, which was designed in 1904 and sits at 119 North Duke Street.  It is of Georgian Revival style and it was rare for Urban to use this style on non-domestic structures.  It was dedicated in 1904 and blessed by the Episcopal Bishop but not consecrated so it could remain a secular building.  Today it is used for church offices, Sunday school classes and the daily morning meal for the homeless of Lancaster.

Thought I would end today's photos with what used to be the first and only skyscraper in Lancaster, The Griest Building.  Lasted for 80 years as the most prominent building to visitors of the city.  Fourteen stories, it pales in comparison to big city buildings, but defined the northwest corner of Penn Square.  The steel-frame building at 8 North Queen Street was designed in 1924 using Beaux Arts and Italian Renaissance Revival styles.  Tomorrow will feature schools, commercial buildings and a few churches.