It was an ordinary day. Checking out some of the many notes and photos I have been saving since I began my blog a few years ago. Found out I have an inventory of notes and photographs that took me from center square in downtown Lancaster until I reached Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology which is about one mile East from the square to the school. Though you may be interested in taking a trip with me so you too could observe all the history that is the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. My trip's description will take a few stories, since attempting to do it all in one story is a bit too much. So, follow along with some of the historical sights that I get to see each and every time I travel from Center Square, east to the Little Conesstoga River. So.... I will begin the first of my stories with a visit of the historical center city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania at Center Square and heading East, out of the city! Other stories will follow in the coming months.
East King Street, extending from Penn Square about eight blocks east, to Reservoir Park, can be explored in a leisurely hour-long stroll beginning at Lancaster's commercial hub and culminating at the City's eastern boundary with Lancaster Township. These eight blocks span three centuries of Lancaster's history. When the plan for Lancaster's streets and property lots was first laid out in 1730, East King Street was then known as High Street, referring in the English tradition to a main thoroughfare. The road was part of the "King's Highway" that connected Lancaster with Philadelphia, at a time when Lancaster was the county seat. Two centuries later, East King would become part of the "Lincoln Highway," established in 1913 as one of America's first transcontinental automobile roads reaching from New York to San Francisco. The architecture along East King Street reflects three centuries of social history. The street has over the years featured a wide variety of building types, including modest rowhouses, fashionable one-of-a-kind residences, major commercial buildings, small neighborhood storefronts, hotels and taverns, breweries, a Victorian markethouse, a prison, firehouses, a church, gas stations, small industries and factories. The block culminates with a city park that once contained a major reservoir, and a trade school founded in 1905 from the legacy of congressman and abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. The western blocks, closest to the nucleus of Penn Square, contain some of the earliest buildings, several dating from the late 1700s. The eastern end of King Street remained largely rural and undeveloped through the end of the nineteenth century. During Lancaster's Victorian-era boom, the City's residential areas expanded as the population grew. By the 1850s, the blocks west of Shippen Street were densely built, with development continuing east to Plum Street. As you progress east along East King, note the increasing prevalence of late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century buildings.
 |
14, 16 and 18 East King Street: Demolished Trio |
A trio of three-story brick buildings at this site were demolished in 2017, replaced by an addition to the Marriott Hotel. A Victorian building at 14 East King Street featured an ornate facade with tall arched windows and iron trim. The building at 16 East King was constructed in 1822 and housed the Heinitsh Drug Store from 1841 until 1924. The former residence at 18 East King Street was remodeled circa 1910 and contained clothing stores through the 1930s. Just off Penn Square, this first block of East King Street boasted numerous professional offices and retail stores selling varied merchandise, including shoes, hardware, fruit, groceries, china, furniture, wine, carpets, jewelry and dry goods.
 |
| Lancaster County Courthouse |
43 East King. This grand civic building succeeded two smaller brick courthouses situated in the center of Penn Square, originally known as Centre Square. (The Soldiers and Sailors Monument was erected there in 1874.) The oldest section of this monumental cut-stone building was constructed between 1852- 1854 in the Roman Revival style popular for civic buildings. A temple-like entry faces East King Street, and a statue of Justice holding scales sits atop the central dome. The cupola contains a clock with four dials, facing north, south, east and west. A rear wing was built in 1896, and the low front wings were added in 1923. The modern annex at 50 North Duke Street was constructed in 1974. Three prominent architects worked on the nineteenth-century portions of the building: Samuel Sloan of Philadelphia, James Warner of Philadelphia (who also designed Central Market), and Lancaster's own C. Emlen Urban.
 |
Curb Markets First block of East King Street In addition to the indoor activity at Central Market, "curb markets" once flourished along East King Street. Buggies lined the streets and vendors displayed their produce on the steps of the Courthouse. The curb markets were discontinued in 1929 for public safety reasons, as automobiles competed for space with trolleys and farm wagons on narrow city streets. Today, the Courthouse steps are used as a public gathering space to launch political campaigns and hold vigils and protests. |
46-52 East King built for the Farmer's Trust Company in 1929 and designed by Lancaster architect Melvern R. Evans, this bank building reflects the Georgian Revival style of the early twentieth century. The facade of this brick building features three dormers on the mansard roof, set behind a cement balustrade. Two large windows flank the center entry door, which is topped by a decorative cement swag.
105 East King - The Buck Tavern operated on this site as early as 1765, and later served as the Leopard Hotel until the property was purchased by Samuel R. Weber in 1903. The current building was constructed about 1912 as the "Hotel Weber" and later became the "King Douglas." The building continued to function as a hotel through the 1980s.
110-112 East King The oldest sections of this building were likely constructed in the early 1760s. The arched dormer windows with applied keystones reflect the building's eighteenth-century origins, while the bracketed cornice beneath the roof stems from nineteenth-century remodeling efforts. The row of shopfront-residences at 106 through 124 East King all predate 1810, representing the largest group of buildings from this period still surviving within the City of Lancaster. More will follow in the coming weeks!
It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy
No comments:
Post a Comment