Results tagged “Hartman building” from York Town Square

When the Confederates entered York, they would have been greeted by a scene similar to this with the Hartman building towering over York's Centre Square. The building, referred today as the Futer Bros. building, is being renovated. But the market sheds are long gone. Background posts: York's western gate: One image says so much, Farm vs. factory tension relieved by overnight raid and Late June has seen pivotal moments in York County history.

Since the year 2000, more than a dozen books have been written that address, in full or in part, York County's role in the Civil War.

Research was limited before that.

But one writer deserves credit for kicking off the current popular Civil War enthusiasm in York County, complete with stories of the Civil War hospital, the burning of the Wrightsville Bridge, the surrender of York, Jeb Stuart's ride through the countryside, among many other events.

His name is Gerald Austin Robison Jr., and he was writing about the Civil War in 1965 when it was not a popular local topic... .

Marta VanZandt, co-owner of Morgan Jewelers, shows off a York Safe and Lock strongbox in the downtown York business. The store is closing, the third such shop to close in the past two years. Background posts: Buildings reveal a bit about York and York Safe restoration 'once in lifetime' project.

As late as 1968, the book "Greater York in Action," boasted that Futer Bros. Jewelers, on York's Continental Square, housed two floors of quality gifts.

That business was located in the Hartman Building, for years the tallest building west of the Susquehanna River. The building had recently been chopped from six stories to three, but what it lost in height, it had gained in appearance, the York Area Chamber of Commerce book stated.

Futer Bros., in York's downtown since 1932, closed that store in 2006... .

This building in York scraped the sky higher than any other in the mid-1800s. Bottom, John Hartman built a six-story building on the square's southeast corner in 1850. Today, the Hartman Building stands, although three stories shorter. It's known as the Futer Bros. building and has recently been sold. At the bottom of this post, William C. Goodridge's five-story emporium was built on the northwest corner of York's square in 1847. There's some evidence that John Hartman made his building taller to outdo Goodridge, a former-slave-turned-businessman. Background posts: Buildings reveal a bit about York and 'I still have my memories ... of the bustling downtown York business district'. (Lewis Miller drawing courtesy, York County Heritage Trust.)

The Futer Bros. jewelry business reflects the decline of retailing in York's downtown.

The longtime Continental Square business operates a Springettsbury Township store. That suburban store's business has been doing most of the sales. It didn't make good business sense to keep operating two stores.

So the owners closed the downtown store about a year ago and recently sold the building.

As reflected in the following York Daily Record story, the new owners' plans are indefinite, but one goal is to restore the look of the building to its original appearance: ...