The "So, You Want My Opinion?" Story

It  was an ordinary day.  Talking with friends about rumors I have heard and read concerning the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Lancaster, my home for 73 years now was originally called Hickory Town, but was renamed Lancaster after the English city of Lancaster by native John Wright.  Its symbol, the red rose, is from the House of Lancaster which also used the red rose as its symbol.  Lancaster is one of the six oldest towns in the United States and was the capital of the United States for one day on September 27, 1777.  It was part of 1681 Penn's Woods Charter of William Penn and was laid out by James Hamilton in 1743.  Lancaster was capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812 when the capital was moved to its current location in Harrisburg.  

The current Lancaster County Prison built in 1851.

In 1851 the current Lancaster County Prison was built on the edge of the city, styled after Lancaster Castle in England.  The prison remains in use today and was used for public hangings until 1912.  Now, for the news that I have recently heard about as well as read about in the Lancaster Newspaper.  

Lancaster County's current Courthouse 

Seems that rumors have spread of a tunnel underneath the city of Lancaster that led from the Lancaster County Courthouse to the prison which is over three-quarters of a mile away.  That tunnel was picked by newspaper readers to be discussed in the newspaper's "We the People" series.  Well, I knew right away what was going to happen.  Many people think that the prison located six blocks away from the current court house must have a tunnel connecting them.  

Lancaster's original 1739 Courthouse which stood
at the center of the city.

No way!  Maybe connected by a sewer line or even water lines, but not a tunnel.  So, the newspaper did some checking and a city official said no one in the court house had ever heard of a tunnel.  That also was confirmed by the President Judge of the court house.  So Marianne, the daughter of friends of mine, who works at the Lancaster Historical Society, was asked and she said she knew of vaults for cold storage under the streets near city breweries and of the sewer system and the storm drain system, but she wasn't sure of a tunnel from the court house to the prison.  

An artist rendering of the original 1739 Courthouse.

You may remember reading here about a tunnel that existed from the prison to the market house in the nearby city of Columbia, but nothing about a tunnel in Lancaster.  My guess is the rumor about the tunnel may have to do with a totally different court house and a totally different prison which many people may not have known about or have remembered from Lancaster City's history.  It was in 1739 that a large brick courthouse, one of the oldest in America, was built in the center of the city of Lancaster.  It was a two-story building with a courtroom on the first floor and council chambers and storage rooms on the second floor.  The courthouse had lead, hand-made, glass panes and a shingled roof with a steeple and belfry which held a hand-cast bell atop it.  

The 1852 Courthouse at East King and N. Duke.

In the fall of each year Lancasterians gathered at the courthouse to elect officials.  It was in 1744 that my church, St. James Episcopal, held its first organizational meeting there.  Then, on June 15, 1774 citizens met to protest Britain's passage of the Boston Port Bill.  During the meeting a resolution censuring the British Parliament was adopted.  Nothing was resolved from this meeting so on July 9th, citizens once again gathered at the Courthouse where George Ross led the meeting that expressed loyalty to the King of England, but denied their right to tax the colonies.  

Original 1763 jail on North Water and West King Streets.

On January 14, 1775 Lancas- terians met at the Courthouse to elect delegates for a general convention in Philadelphia.  On April 25th of that year news of bloodshed, which started the Revolutionary War, was received at the Courthouse.  

The Paxton Boys broke open the doors to the jail
and massacred the Indian men, woman and
children who were being held in protective
custody at the jail. They then burned the jail.

The most famous event ever held in that Courthouse was on September 27, 1777 when Lancaster was our National Capital when members of the Continental Congress, fleeing the British in Philadelphia, met to discuss the nation's business.  The following day, Congress headed to the west to nearby York, PA.  In June of 1784 the Courthouse burned to the ground.  The spot stood vacant until 1884 when the Soldier's and Sailor's Monument was erected on the site.  As far as the first jail in Lancaster, it was built in 1763 at the intersection of  West King Street and North Water Street, about a block from the Courthouse.  

Fulton Hall was built using the jail's foundation.

The same year Pontiac's War broke out which caused widespread settler suspicion and hatred against Indians.  On December 14 the Paxton Boys attacked the remaining peaceful Conestoga Indians who had asked for protection at Lancaster's jail.  All Indians in the jail were massacred and the buildings in the jail were burned.  Then in 1852 Fulton Hall was built using the lower portion of the jail for its foundation.  I had a chance a few years ago to visit the basement of what is now Fulton Opera House and see the wall that was at one time part of that prison.  Now, my theory about the tunnel rumor is:  There existed a tunnel at one time that ran from the 1739 Courthouse, down West King Street to North Water Street and into the 1763 jail located on Water Street.  That sounds much more believable than a three-quarter mile tunnel.  But, no one asked for my opinion, did they?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

One of the original door hinges can be seen in this photograph I took a few years ago.

The outside of the rear wall of the original prison holds Fulton Hall, now known as the Fulton Opera House.

Current Fulton Opera House.