| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — 333 Market Street |
| | At 341 feet in height, 333 Market Street represents the pinnacle of Harrisburg's robust skyline and is not only the city's tallest building, but also the tallest of any building located between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Built in 1977 as part of the first generation of new development in Center City under the Harristown Urban Renewal Plan, 333 Market Street followed shortly after the construction of Phase I of Strawberry Square in fulfilling the strategy of locating expanding state office . . . — Map (db m6686) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Bellevue Park |
| | The centerpiece of improvements to Harrisburg's marvelous park system, launched in 1902, was the "Crown Jewel" of Reservoir Park situated at the city's summit. Adjacent to this summit, flowing to the south, were the open fields of an old farm named Belle Vue, acquired by German-born Christian Haehnlen in 1856, and later bequeathed to his son, Jacob, who built there a summer retreat in 1876. The home was in turn inherited by Jacob's son, Louis, who established a well-known grapery and wine . . . — Map (db m6889) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Bishop McDevitt High School |
| | Standing picturesquely upon a slope rising to the summit of Reservoir Park and at the apex of Market Street's climb from Center City is Bishop McDevitt High School, primary parochial secondary school serving the City of Harrisburg and the Harrisburg East Shore. The School's roots are traced to the Catholic Diocese's first high school, which opened in 1918 at Cathedral Hall, now known as the CYO Building, at North and Church Streets behind Saint Patrick Cathedral. By 1925, dramatically increased . . . — Map (db m6888) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Breeze Hill |
| | Quietly nestled at the corner of 21st Street and Bellevue Road is a true historic landmark: the home of the internationally recognized founder of the American Civic Association and modern-day American Rose Society, J. Horace McFarland (1859-1948). It was here on the original 2.4-acre "pie-shaped" lot that one of the most widely known gardens in America was established. The energies of McFarland in bringing national attention to Harrisburg's City Beautiful plan, in advancing the cause of scenic . . . — Map (db m6893) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Broad Street Market |
| | The Broad Street Market consists of the oldest continuously operated market houses in the United States. By the advent of the Civil War, Harrisburg began to develop north of North Street onto the newly subdivided lands of William Verbeke, John Forster and John Fox. This growth generated the demand for a new farmers market, in addition to the original markets situated in the middle of Market Square since the end of the 18th Century. Thus was formed The West Harrisburg Market Company which in . . . — Map (db m6795) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Camp Curtin |
| | Harrisburg's Civil War importance as a transportation center and state capital became strikingly clear upon the fall of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in April of 1861 when President Abraham Lincoln and Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin issued a call for volunteers to take up arms against the Confederacy. New recruits would converge on hastily established Union camps from which troops would be dispatched. The largest of these camps throughout the entire course of the War, . . . — Map (db m6489) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Capitol Park |
| | The deliberations during the first decade of the 19th Century through which Harrisburg prevailed in achieving State Capital status were in part spawned by the donation by John Harris, Jr., in 1785, of four acres of the oldest portion of Capitol Park to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when the plan for Harrisburg was laid out that year. Topographically, Capitol Park is still reminiscent of its early days as a knoll which at that time rose from the wheat fields and swampland of the Susquehanna . . . — Map (db m6696) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — City Island |
| | This 63-acre Susquehanna River jewel and major tourism and recreational destination has lured human occupations not just since Harrisburg was founded and throughout the ensuing centuries but also by prehistoric native Americans beginning at least 9,000 years ago. This key land mass, set within the river, served as the convergence of ancient trails and would later establish the city's prominence as a transportation center. The Island contains archaeological treasures of the Susquehannocks and . . . — Map (db m7098) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge |
| | The coming of the railroad to Harrisburg in 1836 led to the construction of the first bridges to span the Susquehanna, since the building of the Camelback Bridge in 1817, which planted the seed for what would become the city's trademark of distinctive river crossings. The Cumberland Valley Railroad was one of several infant railroads, prior to being consolidated with the Pennsylvania Railroad in the mid 19th Century, to emanate from Harrisburg, helping to make the city become one of the . . . — Map (db m6593) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Dauphin Deposit Bank Building |
| | The structure across the street is the oldest bank building in the Harrisburg Metropolitan Area and stands as an icon to the financial institution that helped to fuel the City's growth since the 1830's. Survivor of several Economic Panics, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and two World Wars, the banking operations in this building were guided from 1840 to 1945 by three generations of one of Harrisburg's most influential families, the McCormick's, and also by the Cameron's. The bank and . . . — Map (db m6632) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Eagle Hotel and Bolton Hotel |
| | On the site directly across the street stood the Eagle Hotel, a three-story brick structure opened by George Buehler in January of 1812. It was here that Charles Dickens stayed when touring America in 1842 during which time he authored "American Notes" and in which he praised the hotel's proprietor. The Eagle Hotel was enlarged under the new ownership of the Bolton family in the early 1860's when it was renamed the Bolton Hotel. At that time, a series of neighboring townhouses that had earlier . . . — Map (db m6750) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Engleton |
| | By the end of the 19th Century, Harrisburg's distinction as State Capital, transportation center and nucleus of industry unleashed development energy to keep pace with the pressing need for housing in the rapidly growing city. Builders emerged to construct homes block-by-block in recently subdivided lands located closer to the municipal boundaries of 1860, the year that Harrisburg was incorporated as a city. One of the best preserved "snapshots" of this development activity can be seen in what . . . — Map (db m6254) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Federal Square |
| | One block northeast of Harrisburg's Market Square is located a place that became known by the end of the 19th century as Federal Square, the block bounded by N. Third, Locust, Court and Walnut Streets. Since 1877, this block has been the site of the U.S. Government's presence in Harrisburg. By act of Congress that year, funds were authorized for the construction of Harrisburg's first stand-alone and fully complemented post office facility. Earlier, Harrisburg's post offices had been located . . . — Map (db m6695) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — George J. Heisely Residence and the National Anthem |
| | In the building at the northwest corner of N. Second and Walnut Streets lived George J. Heisely (1789-1880) who was a Harrisburg mathematical instrument and clockmaker. Heisely had joined the First Regiment of the Pennsylvania Militia's First Brigade during the War of 1812 when a call was made for the defense of Baltimore in September of 1814. Heisely was accompanied by fellow regiment volunteers Ferdinand Durang and brother Charles Durang while encamped just outside the city. Francis Scott Key . . . — Map (db m6624) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Governors’ Row |
| | This fine collection of historic Front Street townhouses is the single most important row of homes that can be associated with the lives of early Pennsylvania Governors. The original houses on the block; Federal in style and dating to 1812 were designed by Stephen Hills, architect of the old Pennsylvania Capitol, that was completed in 1822. Two of the original homes at 23 and 27 n. Front Street, survive. The other three, at 17, 21 and 25 N. Front Street, either were replaced or enlarged upon . . . — Map (db m6374) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Grace United Methodist Church |
| | This church, built between 1873 and 1878, can be said to have saved Harrisburg from losing its status as the Capital of Pennsylvania. Since 1809, efforts were made to return the Capital from its temporary location at Lancaster to Philadelphia where it was prior to 1799. Philadelphia loyalists tried unsuccessfully to effectuate this move when Harrisburg was chosen as the Capital in 1810. They tried again in 1816 when the appropriation to build the first Capitol Building was approved, as well as . . . — Map (db m6727) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Grand Opera House |
| | On the southeast corner of N. Third and Walnut Streets stood the Grand Opera House, erected in 1873 at a cost of $160,000, by the Masonic Fraternity and designed by architect Frank E. Davis. Serving also as the Harrisburg Masonic Temple, lodge rooms were located on the upper floors and a theater, which was separately leased for cultural events, was situated below. Here Harrisburg's cultural life was taken to new heights as a place where nationally renowned theatrical and musical productions . . . — Map (db m6748) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Harris Switch Tower |
| | By 1929, Harrisburg's growth as a freight and passenger rail hub in the eastern United States necessitated the introduction of new rail interlocking technologies to guide the convergence of high volume locomotive traffic through the city. At that time, over 100 passenger and 20 freight trains per day passed through the yards of the Pennsylvania Railroad here on fifteen tracks. The widening of the Market Street subway in 1926 and completion of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Bridge in 1930 . . . — Map (db m6849) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Harrisburg Cemetery |
| | Here is established Harrisburg's oldest and largest Cemetery and final resting place of many noted individuals of national, state and local importance in all walks of life. Chartered in 1845, the Cemetery was created just outside the limits of the then-Borough of Harrisburg on the rural bluff of what would be later known as Allison Hill. It became evident that a new cemetery, properly situated as a tribute to Harrisburg's by-gone generations, was required to fulfill the need to relocate graves . . . — Map (db m6851) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Harrisburg Hospital |
| | Harrisburg Hospital, the city's first public hospital, opened in the former South Ward School building in 1873, beginning a course that today makes Harrisburg a major health and research center. The school faced Mulberry Street (now vacated) which paralleled the Cumberland Valley Railroad line allowing emergency access for the infirmed who traveled there by rail. The first main hospital building, which was added to the west side of the school and faced S. Front Street, was completed in 1884. . . . — Map (db m6600) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Harrisburg Public Library Dauphin County Library System |
| | Founded in 1889, the Harrisburg Public Library became a national model of 19th Century efforts to bring the world's information to community residents, a role that continues today. Its first home was at 125 Locust Street in a building erected by James McCormick, Jr., which still stands. McCormick lived around the corner at 101 N. Front Street, just across Walnut Street from the side yard garden of the Haldeman Mansion at 27 n. Front Street. It was here that Jacob Haldeman's daughter, Sara . . . — Map (db m6346) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Hilton Harrisburg and Towers |
| | When it opened amidst regalia and fanfare in the fall of 1990, the Hilton Harrisburg and Towers reclaimed Harrisburg's traditional role as Central Pennsylvania's primary destination for the lodging and conference industry. Although plans for a major new hotel were advanced as early as 1974, it was not until the mid-1980's that concreted efforts were made, under the leadership of the City of Harrisburg, to muster the resources required to engage in such a major undertaking. the northeast . . . — Map (db m6556) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Historic Midtown Market District |
| | Just prior to the Civil War, Harrisburg's northern development reached only as far as North Street, although its northern boundary extended to Herr Street under an annexation to the original Borough in 1838. In 1860, Harrisburg was incorporated as a City with its newly annexed territory extending all the way to Maclay Street. That same year, as neighborhoods were expanding up to Verbeke Street, the original stone building of the Broad Street Market opened. The Market became the catalyst to the . . . — Map (db m6794) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Hope Fire Station |
| | Directly across this street stands the Hope Fire Station, oldest fire station in Harrisburg and one of the oldest in the U.S. It was originally owned by the Hope Fire Company, which was organized in 1814, and which built this building in 1871. Distinctive through its Italianate architectural design with tall arch-headed windows and corbelled exterior brickwork, the building remains a symbol of the classic neighborhood fire station of the 19th Century. The Hope Company, which was a volunteer . . . — Map (db m6740) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Italian Lake |
| | As early as 1903, reference was made to a strip of ground at the "head of Second Street" above Division Street which would become part of the comprehensive parks improvement plan advanced by landscape architect Warren Manning of Boston at the start of Harrisburg's City Beautiful Movement. Known even then as Italian Park, the land was a wooded wetland fed by springs and was a popular place for outings as were other sylvan areas just outside the city limits prior to the establishment of the . . . — Map (db m6485) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — J. Donald Cameron — (1833 - 1918) |
| | U.S. Senator, 1877-97. Secretary of War under Ulysses Grant, 1876-77. President, Northern Central R.R., 1863-74. Son of Simon Cameron. His mansion here, acquired 1870, had many visitors and was the scene of major political and business decisions. — Map (db m6299) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — J. Donald Cameron Mansion |
| | During the midst of the Civil War fury in 1863 would rise this magnificent residence, situated directly across this street, which was purchased in 1870 by J. Donald Cameron (1833-1918), son of Simon Cameron. The elder Cameron had served as President Lincoln's first Secretary of War during the early years of "The Rebellion," and was the organizer of one of the most powerful and lasting state political machines in U.S. history. Son J. Donald continued the Cameron legacy as Secretary of War to . . . — Map (db m6297) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — James McCormick Mansion |
| | This house was built in 1869 by James McCormick, Jr. (1832-1917), a noted banker, industrialist, community leader and member of one of Harrisburg's oldest families. His father, James McCormick Sr., was one of the early Presidents of Dauphin Deposit Bank (now Allfirst Bank). James Jr. succeeded his father in this role as did his son Donald m. McCormick, resulting in the family having leadership roles in the bank for over a century from 1840 to 1945. the house is one of the best surviving . . . — Map (db m6344) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — John Harris Sr. Grave Site |
| | Here lies John Harris, Sr., father of the founder of the City of Harrisburg, who emigrated from Yorkshire England in the early 18th Century to share in the opportunities of William Penn's new world. First locating in Philadelphia, Harris made his living by removing tree stumps to open new streets in that city. There, through his friendship with Edward Shippen, Esq., first mayor of Philadelphia, he met his wife-to-be, Esther Say. The Harrises moved to Chester County and then to Bainbridge, . . . — Map (db m6596) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — John Harris/Simon Cameron Mansion |
| | Here is situated the stone residence of John Harris, Jr. (1727-1791), the founder of Harrisburg, which he erected at the end of the French and Indian War in 1766. In 1785, the Borough of Harrisburg was laid out in the house's front parlor by Harris and his son-in-law, William Maclay. Upon Harris' death, the house passed to his sons, first to David Harris and then to Robert in 1805 who resided there until 1835 when it was sold to Thomas Elder, a local attorney. After Elder's death in 1853, the . . . — Map (db m6594) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Keystone Hall |
| | Although Harrisburg was designated State Capital in 1810 and has had a State Capitol Building since 1822, it was not until just prior to the Civil War in 1858 that an official Governor's residence was procured. prior to that time, Pennsylvania Governors obtained their own residences, mostly on Front Street from which the affairs of the Office were conducted. The first Executive Mansion stood at 111 S. Second Street, just south of Chestnut Street, and was occupied by only two Governors: William . . . — Map (db m6289) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Kunkel Building |
| | This building was erected in 1914 as the home of the Mechanics Trust Company, a Harrisburg bank that later went "bust" during the Depression. the Bank was one of many of the era that made Harrisburg the region's financial center, a role the city has expanded in the present day. It also served as one of Harrisburg's first high-rise office buildings, contributing to the early 20th Century urbanization of City Center. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the building is . . . — Map (db m6657) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Lochiel Hotel and Colonial Theater |
| | This building was erected in 1835 in the Greek Revival architectural style and was originally known as the Wilson Hotel. Such notables as Daniel Webster and singer Jenny Lind stayed here. It was a nationally known favorite of 19th Century political figures. Major Marcus Reno (U.S. Army, 7th Cavalry) of Little Big Horn fame frequented this establishment. In the late 1800's, the building was "Victorianized" through the creation of the mansard roof and window trim embellishments and was renamed . . . — Map (db m6656) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Market Square |
| | Here is situated the nationally renowned historic and contemporary urban hub of the City of Harrisburg and the Greater Harrisburg Metropolitan Area. Laid out as the center focus of John Harris, Jr.'s plan in 1785 when Harrisburg was a launching point for Western pioneer excursions and a trading center, Market Square has witnessed ongoing transformations driven by a town on the move. Originally occupying low swampy land, the Square was configured and improved to allow for the erection in 1792 of . . . — Map (db m6592) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Market Square Presbyterian Church |
| | With its roots dating to 1794 and having evolved from the earlier Paxton Presbyterian Church east of the city in what would become Paxtang, the Presbyterian Church of Harrisburg originally met in rooms of the old jail, on Walnut Street, and in the first Courthouse, on Market Street. The congregation's first church building was erected in 1809 on the northeast corner of S. Second Street and Cherry Alley just a block to the south of the present building. Rebuilt in 1842, the Church continued to . . . — Map (db m6576) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Mira Lloyd Dock Residence |
| | Perhaps the single-most important event that would trigger the public's embrace of Harrisburg's City Beautiful movement was the speech given on the evening of December 20, 1900, to the Harrisburg Board of Trade by social reformer and environmentalist Mira Lloyd Dock (1853-1945). Dock, who was born and raised in Harrisburg, formed a collaboration in the 1890's with noted Harrisburg printer and horticulturalist, J. Horace McFarland, to spearhead a new environmental consciousness, which . . . — Map (db m6257) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Mount Pleasant Press - The J. Horace McFarland Company |
| | Located in this building at Mulberry and Crescent Streets was what became known as the "Switchboard of America," the printing business and national clearinghouse operation of J. Horace McFarland (1859-1948), one of Harrisburg's most famous national figures during the first half of the 20th Century. McFarland, who went into the seed catalogue printing business as a young man in the 1880's, moved his operation to this site in 1889. McFarland was devoted to the sensitive stewardship of the natural . . . — Map (db m6850) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Mulberry Street Bridge |
| | The linkage of downtown Harrisburg with the emerging Allsion Hill at this location was established in 1891 with the opening of the original Mulberry Street Bridge. Hailed at that time by Harrisburg civic leader J. Horace McFarland as "the day Greater Harrisburg was born," the bridge, which replaced a dangerous railroad grade crossing, represented an early success of what at that time could have been considered "regional consolidation." Prior to the opening of the bridge, Allsion Hill was viewed . . . — Map (db m6659) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Old Dauphin County Courthouses |
| | Two Dauphin County Courthouses occupied this site at the intersection of Market St. and what was originally known as Raspberry Street, later appropriately renamed Court Street. John Harris, Jr.'s original plan for Harrisburg set aside this land for use by the County, which was created from a portion of Lancaster County in 1785 and named for the Crown Prince of France to recognize French support in the American Revolution. As the new county seat, Harrisburg was actually named Louisburg for . . . — Map (db m6652) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Old Dauphin County Prison |
| | The second Dauphin County Prison stood on the southeast corner of Walnut and Court Streets. Completed in 1841, it replaced a log structure erected circa 1792 at the time that the first Dauphin County Courthouse was built directly behind this property on Market Street. In 1899, the Prison was enlarged through the addition of a third story and expanded exterior walls by employing similar gothic and castle-like architectural features to that of the earlier prison building. Although the Prison's . . . — Map (db m6749) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Old Harrisburg Academy/Dixon University Center |
| | Founded in 1784 by John Harris Jr., through profits generated by his Ferry across the Susquehanna, the Harrisburg Academy erected this riverside campus in 1908. The school was officially incorporated through an Act of the State Legislature in 1809 and would become a preeminent private educational institution for boys within the region. The Academy was first located at the John Harris/Simon Cameron Mansion and later at the William Maclay Mansion and Academy annex building at Front and South . . . — Map (db m6479) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Old Pennsylvania Railroad Station |
| | Harrisburg grew from its earliest days due to its strategic location as a gateway to western expansion, becoming one of the most important inland centers of U.S. transportation and trade. The development of rail lines along the same routes as the earlier canal systems converged in downtown Harrisburg. The original portion of the present station was opened November 23, 1887 at 8:00 p.m. Constructed of pressed laid brick in red mortar, Hummelstown Brownstone and terra cotta trim, the building . . . — Map (db m6687) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Parish Church of St. Lawrence (Former) |
| | The prominence of Harrisburg's State Street, between the Capitol and the Susquehanna River, is enhanced by the presence of two Roman Catholic edifices. While the Cathedral of St. Patrick, closer to the Capitol, helps to capture the grandeur of the Capitol's domed neoclassicism, the former Parish Church of St. Lawrence, closer to the river, evokes serenity through its pure and elegantly crafted architecture of the European Gothic, the execution of which can be considered one of the finest in . . . — Map (db m6731) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Parson John Elder House |
| | Although the original Borough of Harrisburg and its oldest neighborhoods comprise the area now occupied by the Central Business District, the city's oldest structure is ironically located at its eastern end amidst 20th Century development. This location, however, is understood when realizing that the house, built in 1740, was the home of Parson John Elder, early Presbyterian minister of the nearby Paxton Presbyterian Church in Paxtang. Considered the oldest Presbyterian Church building in . . . — Map (db m6887) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Pennsylvania Canal |
| | The rise of Harrisburg's importance and distinction as one of the major transportation centers in the eastern United States was launched on March 14, 1827, by the laying of the cornerstone at the eastern end of Walnut Street downtown for the construction of Lock #6 of the Pennsylvania Canal. The completion of New York State's Erie Canal in 1824 prompted the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to explore the development of a transportation system to open up the interior of the state by linking . . . — Map (db m6831) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Pennsylvania Governor's Residence |
| | The Pennsylvania Governor's Residence is located at a spot so stunning that it captures the essence of the Commonwealth's beauty through sweeping vistas of the Susquehanna at a point where the state's piedmont greets the blue mountains of the great ridge and valley. The Governor's home replaced two palatial stone-constructed houses, designed in the Queen Anne and Italianate styles, in the first decade of the 20th century. These homes represented the early 20th Century pinnacle of Front Street's . . . — Map (db m6249) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Pennsylvania State Archives and The State Museum of Pennsylvania |
| | Established in 1903, the Pennsylvania State Archives was originally a division of the Pennsylvania State Library which was housed in the Old Executive Office Building (now the Matthew J. Ryan Legislative Office Building) located just south of the Main Capitol Building. There they remained until 1931 when the Library moved to the newly completed Forum Building. Through recognizing that the Archives was not a library per se but the depository of valuable one-of-a-kind records, the Archives was . . . — Map (db m6745) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Present State Capitol Building |
| | Upon the destruction of the Old Capitol Building in 1897, the sense of loss was quickly replaced by a new spirit of community advancement for which the construction of a new Capitol Building would act as catalyst. in order to continue the operations of state government, a plain and unadorned interim Capitol, designed by Henry Ives Cobb, was hastily erected on a "shoe-string" budget on the same site as the old. Public criticism of this building resulted in the establishment of the Capitol . . . — Map (db m6723) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Reily Hose Company No. 10 |
| | The explosion in the growth of Uptown Harrisburg in the last two decades of the 19th Century required the construction of a new fire station, the first to be located north of Reily Street. On July 11, 1885, the Reily Hose Company was organized and operated from a stable on Wood Street, located between Fifth and Sixth Street. A month later it officially became part of the City's fire station system and received the designation as "No. 10." In 1889, recognizing the need for a larger facility, . . . — Map (db m6797) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Reservoir Park |
| | This land, the largest park in south-central Pennsylvania, and which crowns the city's summit, contrastingly complements Harrisburg's magnificent riverfront. Originally known as Prospect Hill because of its lofty vantage points, the name was changed to Reservoir Park when the first reservoir to be constructed here opened in 1874. Earlier, Harrisburg's principal reservoir was located just north of the Old Capitol on North Street. The addition of a standpipe on the Old Waterworks at Front and . . . — Map (db m6853) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King City Government Center |
| | This building, the only municipal headquarters building in the world to be named after the civil rights leader, was built for and has served as Harrisburg's City Hall since June, 1982. As part of its efforts to revitalize Center City Harrisburg, municipal government made the commitment to erect this structure that stands as a symbol for being a catalyst to the growth and improvement which has subsequently occurred both downtown and city-wide. the building represents the third generation of . . . — Map (db m6605) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Riverfront Park |
| | Harrisburg's distinction of having one of the most beautiful inland waterfronts in America is attributed to the growth and conservation of Riverfront Park. Through the foresight of John Harris, Jr., the founder of Harrisburg, 6.2 linear acres along the Susquehanna River were set aside for boat landing purposes at the time the original borough was laid out in 1785. Four parks were created from this land during the 19th Century; Harris Park between Paxton and Mulberry Streets, Lincoln Park from . . . — Map (db m6401) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Saint Patrick's Cathedral |
| | The magnificent Renaissance Revival-styled Seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg is the second to rise from this prominent State Street property. Completed in 1907, Saint Patrick's Cathedral replaced its more modest predecessor, which was erected in 1827 and enlarged and remodeled over the years. By 1868, the growth of the Roman Catholic population in Central Pennsylvania, particularly spurred by the influx of the Irish who worked on the canal system, resulted in the papacy decreeing . . . — Map (db m6728) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Simon Cameron School |
| | Although Harrisburg's northern boundary when incorporated as a city in 1860 reached as far as Maclay Street, it would not be until the early 1890's that development widely occurred above Reily Street. Local homebuilder Benjamin Engle launched the first major subdivision in this area, a Queen Anne and Italianate-styled community known as "Engleton," between Reily and Kelker Streets and N. Second and N. Third Streets. With this sprawling new neighborhood came of course, the demand for an . . . — Map (db m6796) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Bridge |
| | The master plan for the development of the Pennsylvania Capitol Complex was expanded at the close of World War I to include the erection of a colossal bridge which would memorialize those who fought in that War. Such a bridge would punctuate the formal symmetry of the main Capitol building and the four flanking neoclassically-styled office buildings that would evolve by the close of the 1930's. Prior to that time, State Street on Allison Hill descended sharply into the City;s industrial . . . — Map (db m6829) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — St. Michael’s Lutheran Church |
| | The evolution of the English and German-speaking Lutheran congregations in Harrisburg resulted in the establishment of a number of churches that has helped to enhance the city's fabric of sacred architecture and history. From the oldest site at which religious services were conducted in Harrisburg, at Chestnut and S. Third Streets where the German Reformed congregation built Salem Church in 1822, would emerge the Zion Lutheran congregation which built its original church on Fourth Street in . . . — Map (db m6730) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — State Arsenal |
| | As early as the days of John Harris in the mid-18th Century, Harrisburg has well provided for the storage and distribution of military munitions and supplies. Even prior to the completion of the first state capitol building in 1822, an arsenal was erected in 1817 on Capitol hill just south of where the original brick statehouse would rise. This building served through the end of the Civil War and was particularly important when General Robert E. Lee threatened an invasion of Harrisburg in the . . . — Map (db m6852) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Strawberry Square Phase I |
| | Phase I of Strawberry Square represents the birth of downtown Harrisburg's revitalization and renewal activity that commenced in the mid 1970's and was pursued with fervor in the 1980's and since. The demolition of the renowned Penn-Harris Hotel at N. Third and Walnut Streets in 1973 came to symbolize Harrisburg's worsening economic condition and depressed state of affairs. The Hotel was an elegant 400-room facility that hosted major national and international figures and celebrities. The . . . — Map (db m6747) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Strawberry Square Phase II |
| | This block of historic buildings traces a glimpse of Harrisburg's 19th and 20th Century retail development. Restored as Phase II of the Strawberry Square shopping complex in the late 1980's and part of the Old Downtown Harrisburg Commercial Historic District, these buildings range in varying styles and periods with the earlier development falling along N. Third Street with its quaint restored storefronts, and the later more intensively developed edifices on Market Street. Buildings of note . . . — Map (db m6655) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Sunken Gardens |
| | Throughout the 19th Century, lumbering on the Susquehanna River was a major industry. Logs were cut from the forests in the northern part of the state and floated down river to sawmills at Harrisburg and points further south. a popular place where the loggers stopped to recreate was the "Hardscrabble" neighborhood, located between Herr and Calder Streets on the west side of Front Street. Here thrived boat liveries and related businesses catering to the river trade. However, with the decline of . . . — Map (db m6285) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Sylvan Heights Mansion |
| | "The Acropolis of Harrisburg" is a way in which to describe this Greek Revival, temple-like edifice that rests on a mound of retaining walls jutting from Allison Hill. Although these walls are relatively recent, built when the structure was converted to the home of Harrisburg's YWCA in 1998, the building has always been a curiosity in architectural style and unusual bluff-edge setting. Its original portion was built by John H. Brant )1810-1882), who came to Harrisburg around 1830. Brant . . . — Map (db m6830) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Technical High School & Old City Hall |
| | Erected in 1910 and designed by noted Harrisburg architect Charles Howard Lloyd, this building served as the main boy's high school of the City of Harrisburg. Known as the Technical High School, the building replaced, on the same site, the Lancasterian School, later known as the DeWitt School, which was the oldest public school in Harrisburg having opened in 1830. "Old Tech" graduated many of Harrisburg's finest citizens who went on to form the "Tech Golden Legion" of devoted alumni. the . . . — Map (db m6691) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Calder/Olmsted/McCormick Mansion |
| | The origins of the mansion at 105 N. Front Street can be attributed to William Calder, Jr. (1821-1880), Simon Cameron's business partner, banker and manufacturer. Calder's father had been a preeminent Harrisburg stage coach operator and helped to establish Harrisburg's importance as a transportation center as the nucleus of early route development throughout the U.S. northeast. Calder Jr. was co-founder and president of the Harrisburg Car Works, president of the First National Bank of . . . — Map (db m6341) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Civic Club of Harrisburg |
| | This building, one of only two to survive on the west side of Front Street and ensconced within the idyllic setting of Riverfront Park, was erected between 1901 and 1903 by William Reynolds Fleming as a single family home which he named "Overlook." Fleming was one of the founders of the internationally known and Harrisburg area-headquartered engineering firm of Gannett Fleming, Inc. Designed in the half-timbered, English Tudor style, the house was willed to the Civic Club of Harrisburg upon the . . . — Map (db m6329) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Claster Building |
| | This building was erected in 1920 for the offices of the Pennsylvania Public Services Commission and was one of the first buildings in downtown Harrisburg intended to be leased for state offices. Originally known as the Claster Building, having been built by local merchant Henry C. Claster, the structure replaced the "footprint" of the earlier Board of Trade Building erected on the same site in the 1890's as Harrisburg further evolved as a major industrial, commercial and financial center in . . . — Map (db m6604) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Crowne Plaza |
| | The current era of hostelries in Harrisburg can be defined as having begun in 1965 with the construction of the Holiday Inn Town, now The Crowne Plaza. Prior to that time, the Harrisburger and Penn-Harris Hotels, at Third and Locust and Third and Walnut Streets respectively, were the city's two principal hotels, both facing Capitol Park. The Harrisburger would close by 1968 and the Penn-Harris demolished in 1973. the Holiday Inn town prevailed as the first newly constructed lodging facility . . . — Map (db m6561) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Stephen & Cathedral House |
| | Although the Founder of Harrisburg, John Harris, Jr., was a member of the Church of England, it was not until 1826 that a permanent Episcopal church building was erected here. Consecrated on St. John's Day, 1827, by Bishop William White, who was First Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, and Chaplain of the Continental Congress, what was known as St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church retains to this day its original Gothic Revival-styled exterior. . . . — Map (db m6333) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Harrisburg Cotton Factory and The Central YMCA |
| | Founded in 1844 in London, England, by George Williams, the Young Men's Christian Association quickly grew in the United States with Harrisburg, in 1854, being one of the first eight cities in the nation to establish a chapter. Located at various sites in the downtown during the last half of the 19th Century, the YMCA erected its first headquarters building in 1902 at the southwest corner of Second and Locust Streets. By 1931, the "Y" had outgrown that building and a year later completed the . . . — Map (db m6732) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Johnston Building & Menaker Building |
| | 1906 was a banner year in Harrisburg for the construction of major buildings. The new State Capitol Building was completed that year and two "book-end" office structures were developed on Market Square. One was the eight-story Union Trust Building at N. Second and Strawberry Streets, dubbed as Harrisburg's first skyscraper. The other, first known as the Johnston Building, is located here at S. Second and Blackberry Streets. Originally only four stories in height, the Johnston Building was built . . . — Map (db m6560) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Jones House |
| | On this site, the southeast corner of Second and Market Streets on Market Square, stood the Jones House, a mid-Nineteenth Century Hotel, which later evolved into the larger Commonwealth Hotel and later, the Dauphin Building. It was here that Abraham Lincoln stopped on February 22, 1861, en-route to his inauguration in Washington DC. The President-Elect greeted and spoke to city residents in the Square and went by carriage to the State Capitol Building to address the Pennsylvania Legislature as . . . — Map (db m6550) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Marcus Reno Residence and Governors’ Home |
| | In the house at 223 N. Front Street lived two 19th Century Pennsylvania Governors, William Bigler (1852-1855) and James Pollock (1855-1858). Also here resided U.S. Army Major Marcus Reno, the controversial survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn, site of "Custer's Last Stand." Jacob Haldeman, early Harrisburg industrialist and founder of the Borough of New Cumberland, built the Federal-styled house circa 1841-1845 for his daughter and son-in-law, Robert Ross, who has risen through the ranks . . . — Map (db m6330) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Obelisk |
| | The soldiers and sailors of Harrisburg and Dauphin County who gave their lives during the Civil War were commemorated with the 1866 start-up of construction of the Obelisk in the center of the downtown intersection of N. Second and State Streets. Potentially inspired by the Capitol Mall setting of the Washington Monument, under construction at the same time in the District of Columbia, the Obelisk was positioned midway and symmetrically between the Old State Capitol Building and the Susquehanna . . . — Map (db m6729) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Old Executive, Library & Museum Building |
| | By the late 1880's, the Old Capitol Building erected in 1822 was becoming limited in space due to the inevitable expansion of state government. A public debate ensued as to whether a new Capitol should be erected, although many had a sentimental attachment to the old building and its Federal architecture, which had seen so much history throughout the 19th Century. As a compromise, a new building, to house the State Library and the display of the Commonwealth's cherished Civil War battle flags, . . . — Map (db m6746) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Old Waterworks |
| | The development and evolution of Harrisburg's early public works infrastructure is captured through the unique Riverfront Park setting of the Old Waterworks, the original stone portion of which was constructed in 1841. At that time water was pumped by this facility directly from the Susquehanna River to the City's first reservoir located just east on North Street where the Commonwealth Keystone State Office Building now stands. The distinctive octagonal base of the stone structure on Front . . . — Map (db m6736) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — The Peanut House — (The Zimmerman House) — 1812-1991 |
| | On this site for nearly 180 years stood a two and a-half story brick building with ties to local, state and national history. Initially the home of early settler John Frey, the house was sold in 1817 to a noted clockmaker, Frederick Heisley, whose son George is linked to the National Anthem. George Heisley, during the War of 1812, was a member of Pennsylvania's First Regiment. At the siege of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, September 1814, he reportedly provided Francis Scott Key with music for the . . . — Map (db m6574) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Tracy Mansion |
| | The notable Tudor Revival-styled edifice situated at the southeast corner of N. Front and Muench Streets well exemplifies the grand Front Street mansions of the early 20th Century that would rise north of Forster Street. The house was built in 1917 for David E. Tracy (1867-1923) who was one of the founders in the 1890's of the Harrisburg Pipe and Pipe Bending Company and who is memorialized by Tracy Hall at Harrisburg's Bishop McDevitt High School. Although the company's initial business was . . . — Map (db m6250) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Underground Railroad |
| | Harrisburg's prominent role in the advance of the Union cause leading to the Civil War was particularly evident by its sympathy in harboring former slaves who had escaped servitude from the South. As early as 1836, the Harrisburg Anti-Slavery Society was founded. So influential was the group that it brought noted reformers William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas to hold a rally at the Dauphin County Courthouse in 1847. During this period, Harrisburg became a key station in the "Underground . . . — Map (db m6688) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Union Trust Building |
| | Touted as "Harrisburg's First Skyscraper," the Union Trust Building was completed in 1906 and exemplified the beginning of Center City's 20th Century upward growth, particularly as spawned by the completion of the new State Capitol Building that year. It marked the growth of the city as a major financial center, a role that has expanded in present day. This building and the Capitol were both erected by the same general contractor, the Philadelphia firm of George F. Payne & Co. rising an . . . — Map (db m6607) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Walnut Place |
| | Located just across N. Fourth Street from Strawberry Square is Walnut Place, a slice of old downtown Harrisburg comprised of a series of late 19th and early 20th Century restored buildings and storefronts. Pictured here is the Rodearmel/German House, situated on the southeast corner of N. Fourth and Walnut Street, and a neighboring structure, both erected circa 1855 as single-family homes. the corner property's first floor was later converted to a drug store as shown in this photo when this . . . — Map (db m6694) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Walnut Street Bridge |
| | This bridge, completed in 1890, is the oldest surviving structure to have spanned the Susquehanna River and is one of the largest multi-span, truss bridges ever fabricated by the nationally significant Phoenix Bridge Company. It is also the oldest metal span bridge of its type in the U.S. and is one of the most visible bridges in the country to preserve the technology of the company's patented Phoenix column. Originally known as the "People's Bridge" because of its lower fee to cross, the . . . — Map (db m6372) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts |
| | Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, which opened September 9, 1999, is the successful culmination of decades worth of community effort to develop a major performing arts and science center in downtown Harrisburg. The resources which were brought to bear at the local and state levels and in the public and private sectors resulted in the first facility of its type in the United States where education, science and the performing arts take place under one roof. Whitaker Center occupies the . . . — Map (db m6654) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Wildwood Lake Sanctuary |
| | Here at the base of Blue Mountain and within the City of Harrisburg's northern tier lies the 212-acre Wildwood Lake Sanctuary, the last vestige and magnificent preserve of the Susquehanna flood-plain wetlands which at one time were common prior to the filling of land for the development of Harrisburg. As early as 1901, the emerging plans of Harrisburg's City Beautiful Movement called for the establishment of a great park at what had been traditionally known as Wetzel's Swamp, a park that would . . . — Map (db m7101) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — William Maclay Mansion |
| | Situated across this street is the home of William Maclay (1737-1804); statesman, surveyor, lawyer, the Country's first U.S. Senator and son-in-law of John Harris Jr., the founder of Harrisburg. It was Maclay and Harris who laid out the plan of Harrisburg in 1785 with the northern boundary, ironically, at South street. North of this point was located Maclay's farm and land known as Maclaysburg situated between the River and the hill where the Old Capitol would be constructed in 1822. Maclay's . . . — Map (db m6291) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Zembo Shrine Temple |
| | The growth in the activities and membership of the Harrisburg Masonic Shriners had by the end of the 1920's, resulted in the demand for a grand new facility. The emergence of Italian Lake Park, William Penn High School and the establishment of Polyclinic Hospital on N. Third Street had aesthetically transformed the northern end of Harrisburg into a place of prestige and beauty. To punctuate this beauty would be the rise of the Zembo Shrine Temple, between 1928 and 1930, the design of which . . . — Map (db m6482) |
| Pennsylvania (Dauphin County), Harrisburg — Zion Lutheran Church |
| | "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" was the familiar political slogan of the 1839 Presidential Campaign. The Campaign began when William Henry Harrison and John Tyler were nominated as the Whig candidates for U.S. President and Vice President in this church, now altered from its original appearance. The Whig Convention here made Harrisburg the smallest city to ever host a U.S. presidential convention. Both men won and both eventually became President. The congregation of Zion Lutheran Church has been . . . — Map (db m6662) |
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