The "The New Guy On The Block: Part I" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sunny with a slight breeze as I drove south on Prince Street in downtown Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania.  Winter seems to be releasing its chilly grip, so Carol and I decided we would head to Northeast, Maryland to drop off a few of my just finished  stained glass Hawaiian shirts at Kathy's Corner Store where I sell my altered Polaroid prints.  As we passed the Eicholtz 

Posey Iron Works at 560 S. Prince Street in Lancaster, PA.

 Elementary School in the 500 block of S. Prince I reminded Carol that my mom went to school there as a child.  In another second or two we passed the old Posey Iron Works building at 560 S. Prince Street which is now known as Lancaster Ironworks and is a renovated apartment building.  

My dad holding me in front of
617 S. Prince. Click to enlarge.

I passed the building many times in the mid-1940s while riding in a baby carriage when I lived with my mom at her parent's home at 617 S. Prince Street while my dad served in the U.S. Army during WWII.  Carol and I enjoyed our day, eating at the Bayard House in Chesapeake City, Maryland.  After returning home I thought I would "Google" Posey Iron Works to see what I could find out about the place.  Posey Iron Works was constructed in two sections, in 1910 and 1916.  It featured a grand staircase, wood paneling, concrete flooring and a steel substructure.  It operated until 1983, manufacturing pipe, piling steel and wrought iron for industry.  Its pipes were used to dredge the Panama Canal as well as supplying the Army and Navy with metal during both World Wars.  According to newspaper records the building was designed by Lancaster architect Henry Y. Shaub.  Ah, someone other than renouned Lancaster architect C. Emlen Urban.  

J.P. McCaskey High School in Lancaster, PA.

Since I had my "Google" page open, I took a look at Henry Y. Shaub.  Seems Mr. Shaub was born in 1887, 24 years after Mr. Urban.  Henry was influenced by the work of E. Emlen Urban and Mr. Shaub also made significant contributions to the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Henry attended Franklin and Marshall Military Academy, Bordentown Military Academy and Carnegie Institute of Technology. 

Groff Funeral Home on West Orange St. In downtown Lancaster.

In 1909 he began working for several Lancaster, Pennsyl -vania architects until beginning his own firm three years later.  Some of Henry's major achieve- ments have been The Posey Iron Works, J.P. McCaskey High School (Lancaster City's public high school), Lancaster County National Bank, Groff Funeral Home, his family's Shaub Shoe Store and one of his biggest achievements, Lancaster's Young Women's Christian Association building on the northwest corner of East Orange and North Lime Streets in downtown Lancaster.  

A black and white of the original YWCA Building.

The YWCA building was a tremendous accomp- lishment for Henry Y. Shaub, but the story of the property on which the YWCA now sits is just as interesting.  Tomorrow I will tell you that tale!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Lancaster Architect Henry Y. Shaub

The family's Shoe store on N. Queen Street in downtown Lancaster,

The Lancaster YMCA Building as it appears today.