Urban Renaissance Downtown Lancaster

To truly appreciate the city of Lancaster, you’ll need to take a walk. No doubt, you’ll become absorbed by the architecture and history that make it so special.

Last summer, I was fortunate to participate in a C. Emlen Urban walking tour that was led by Gregg Scott, an architect who is an authority on all-things Urban. The noted architect (Urban) designed such buildings as Watt & Shand, Hager’s, the Griest Building and Southern Market, as well as schools, churches, private homes, hotels, corporate facilities and monumental gateways to parks and cemeteries. In 1899, Urban supervised the construction of the grand Woolworth Building (designed by the New York firm of Schickel & Ditmars), which stood on the first block of North Queen Street until 1950. He maintained his office in the building for 37 years and designed all of its additions and renovations. According to Gregg, you name the architectural style and Urban could execute it.

THE GROUP MET at the corner of College Avenue and West Chestnut Street and slowly made its way to North Queen Street. It made for a fascinating morning. Traveling along West Chestnut Street on foot provides an altogether different experience, as you are given the opportunity to study the details that make the homes – several designed by Urban – so distinctive. Also of note is the Stevens School (now home to residences) that was designed by Urban.

NOW THAT I “know” Urban better, I wonder what Penn Square would look like without the façade of the Watt & Shand building that wraps around the Marriott Hotel. The first phase of the landmark store was designed by Urban and completed in 1898. Over the years, it grew to encompass seven other buildings on East King and South Queen streets.

The Hager Building, which dates to 1911, was another of Urban’s projects and represents his initial venture into modern design. Fortunately, it, too, was saved/adapted, as its upper floors hold residences, while the ground floor has become commercial space. Lancaster’s first skyscraper, the Griest Building, was designed by Urban in 1925. Southern Market, which was designed by Urban in 1888, nearly met its demise on several occasions. Today, it’s a beautiful food hall whose vendors offer visitors a taste of the world.

AS FOR SOME interesting

Lancaster history, did you know that Andrew Ellicott tutored Meriwether Lewis on surveying techniques at the Sehner-Ellicott-von Hess House on North Prince Street prior to the Lewis & Clark Expedition? It represents one of the city’s many historic buildings and warehouses that have been saved and readapted to serve other purposes. Appropriately enough, it now serves as the home of the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, which annually honors preservation, restoration and adaptive-reuse projects with C. Emlen Urban awards.

By the way, if you feel like taking an “Urban” walk, the Trust has compiled a C. Emlen Urban Architectural Tour Book that can be purchased online at hptrust.org

Photographed October 28, 2022