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

It was an ordinary day.  Standing at the corner of Orange and Lime Streets in downtown Lancaster, PA taking photographs of the grand YWCA building that was designed by Lancaster's own architect, Henry Y. Shaub.  Though the YWCA looks to be located on Orange St., it actually has an address of 110 N. Lime Street.  

The original Shippen House at Orange and Lime Streets.

But, before the YWCA occupied that spot, the building that stood at that location was known as the Shippen House.  The Shippen house was briefly the residence of one of 18th century Lancaster's most important people, Edward Shippen III.  The large two-story limestone house was built in 1751.  The actual piece of land was at one time owned by James Hamilton, son of well-known American lawyer Andrew Hamilton who was a governmental figure in colonial Philadelphia.  

Grand staircases on both sides of the entrance.

He served as Deputy Governor of the Province from 1748 to 1854 and again from 1759 to 1763.  The land later passed to Thomas Cookson, Joseph Galloway and Jasper Yeates.  It was in 1779 that Edward Shippen IV purchased the property and house for his father Edward Shippen III.  Before Mr. Shippen III came to the city of Lancaster, he held various offices in Lancaster County including the primary role of chief magistrate.  He was known to have founded the oldest community of the Cumberland Valley, Shippensburg, when he obtained the patent to the land from the heirs of William Penn.  12 Scots-Irish families came to the site and built cabin homes along Burd's Run.  The village was named after Mr. Shippen who at one time was the mayor of Philadelphia before moving to Lancaster, PA.  

The main entrance is on the Lime Street side.

He also was one of the founders of the College of New Jersey (a.k.a. Princeton).  Edward III's residence at the corner of Orange and Lime Streets was one of the city's landmarks.  Another bit of information about Mr. Shippen was his granddaughter, Peggy Shippen, was the wife of General Benedict Arnold, who betrayed the Continental Army by defecting to the British during the American Revolutionary War.  The house was also home to the Reigarts and the Shroders after Mr. Shippen moved from it.  In 1908 the trustees of the Shippen School purchased the Shippen House and another building at 120 N. Lime.  The Lime Street address was used as a school while the old Shippen House was used as a dormitory for the school's teachers.  

View from the corner of Lime and Orange.

On the evening of February 21, 1910, the mistress of the Shippen House for Girls invited a large company to commemorate the anniversary of George Washington's birth.  Music and literary exercises filled the evening's program.  Four years later the property was purchased by the Young Woman's Christian Association for $30,000.  They used the Shippen House as their headquarters before it was demolished and a new building was started.  The Shippen House had a grand history to it and razing it was very controversial in the city of Lancaster.  The only remnant that remains of the original Shippen House is a Pennsylvania Historical Plaque in the front yard of the YWCA the reads: Site of house occupied, 1751-1781, by Edward Shippen; lawyer, judge, Chairman Committee of Observation, and grandfather of Peggy Shippen Arnold.  

Historical sign telling the history of the
Shippen House.  Click to enlarge.

An earlier occupant was Thomas Cookson, first Burgess of Lancaster Borough.   The YWCA held an architecture contest for the building of the building.  Local architect Henry Y. Shaub was one of two who won the competition.  The building was begun in 1915 and completed and dedicated in 1918.  To this day the YWCA has provided programs with a mission of eliminating racism and empowering women.  The building's architectural style is Colonial Revival or Georgian Revival and was made of Flemish bond red brick with a stone base and features large fanlight windows over the doors.  Tomorrow I will finish my story about architect Henry Y. Shaub with a tale about the school where I learned to read and write.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.