It was an ordinary day. Standing in front of the old Bowman Technical School which was located on the corner of North Duke and East Chestnut Streets in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Had my camera in hand and was trying to take a few photographs of the building that looks much the same as it did when my dad was a student at the school in the early 1940s. Seems that time has been standing still at the former watch making school years after the last student jeweler, watchmaker and clockmaker learned the trade. I walked up the front steps and looked into the front window of the old school. I imagined a chalkboard still hanging in front of a classroom while a rooftop observatory, where students could check the accuracy of their timepieces against stars, might still remain. Seems that the building's long dormancy may be coming to end. Local Brent L. Miller Jewelers & Goldsmiths recently purchased the 147 N. Duke Street property where Brent graduated from in 1976. The same school from where my dad graduated. There have been many times that I have stopped in front of the place and looked in the windows. My church, St. James Episcopal, is at the opposite corner of the block on N. Duke Street and when I was a member of the boys choir, my friends and I would often look in the windows of the property to see what they might have been working on at the time. I'm so glad that Brent L. Miller bought the property and will save it from another type of business. The buiding's previous owner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, a former student of mine at Manheim Township High School, had received plenty of offers to do all types of things with the building, but Steve rejected those offers because he didn't want the preservation of the interior to change to something other than watchmaking. He was hoping to find someone to preserve the history of the building. Bowman traces its history to 1877 when Ezra Bowman opened a retail store with a clock shop. Bowman learned the trade from a Swiss watchmaker his father hired as a tutor. At that time in the United States, learning the watchmaking trade didn't happen very often. Mr. Bowman began giving instruction when he began taking on students at his shop on E. King Street. He had learned the trade from a Swiss watchmaker his father had hired to teach it to his son. The growth of the school at Duke and Chestnut began in 1912 where nearly 100 students could be accommodated. Bowman's retail shop, which often hired the school's graduates, operated out of the first floor of the school building. Bowman offered three courses to its students: watchmaking, engraving and jewelry work. The courses took 18 months to complete. I'm not sure which courses my dad took, but he could fix just about any watch or clock after he had graduated from the school. When Dr. Diamantoni purchased the building, Brent Miller asked if he could buy the antique jewelry cases that are still in the building in downtown Lancaster. Luckily, the doctor refused to take them from the building. Now, with the purchase of the downtown building, Mr. Miller will have the jewelry cases to go along with the entire building he has just purchased. After taking a few recent exterior photographs, I talked with a fellow who was standing in front of the store at Duke and Chestnut. He said he worked there and was helping in fixing up the interior of the building. He said they had hopes of not changing anything on the first floor of the building. It's historical setting will remain intact. Let's hope he knew what he was talking about. I managed to step inside the front door to take a look at the beautiful old time store. I didn't take any photographs since I felt that would be too intrusive, but the interior is just amazing. As I stood there looking at all the cabinets and interior ornaments, I could almost see my father standing behind one of the cabinets helping one of the customers. Thanks dad for all the stories you told of your time while going to Bowman's Technical School. My memories have been enhanced while standing there, looking around the first floor of the beautiful building. I only hope they can preserve all the times past! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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