Engleton

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 has traditionally been known as "Engleton" which lies between N. Second and N. Third Streets and between Reily and Kelker Streets. This neighborhood developed so rapidly between 1893 and 1901, consuming 12 blocks in only eight years, that it resulted in absolute consistency in style and materials to the extent that the neighborhood can be viewed as one comprehensive architectural entity. This development, and subsequent neighborhood namesake, was the result of local lumber dealer and real estate salesman Benjamin Engle who, in 1893, teamed with Clinton Hershey, a surveyor and civil engineer, to form the firm of Engle and Hershey. With lumber yards first located on the Southwest corner of Susquehanna and Granite Streets, Engle, the principal of the firm, set about designing and building groups of houses all in brick expressing both the queen Anne and Italianate architectural forms in a symmetrical and alternating patterns. After 1901, others built farther northward to Maclay Street, although of different plans and styles, the cumulative effect of which led to the overall area being designated the Old Uptown National Register Historic District. Engleton remains the heart of this District, well preserved to this day as an intimate and attractive Harrisburg neighborhood. , Top Photo , Northeast corner of N. Second and Reily Streets c. 1900. , Map , Section of 1901 City Atlas showing cohesiveness of Engleton neighborhood shaded in red. , Bottom Photo , West side of the 1500 Block of N. Second Street c 1900.