One-hundred forty-five years ago, York was a town in crisis. Over 6,000 battle hardened Confederates occupied York on June 28, 29, and 30, 1863.

Today, many of the buildings from that era remain. Here's a quick guide to some of those buildings, adapted from my book, "Civil War Walking Tour of York, Pennsylvania," available from the Museum Shop of the York County Heritage Trust:

Historical Society Museum
250 East Market Street

A great place to begin your tour. Check out "The Civil War Comes to York County" exhibit, see original Lewis Miller prints, and find the latest in Civil War book offerings at the Museum Shop.

Michael P. Small House
249 East Market Street

Today the Schintz Studio, this building was once home to General Small, who issued provisions to Lee's defeated army at Appomattox.

Charles Billmeyer House
225 East Market Street

Billmeyer was a partner in the Billmeyer and Small Co., manufacturers of railroad cars. Confederate General Jubal Early threatened to burn their car shops.

David E. Small House
153 East Market Street

Also known as Martin Library's Brownstone. Small was the other half of the Billmeyer and Small partnership. He also served on the Committee of Safety that negotiated the occupation of York with Confederate General Jubal Early.

Bonham House
152 East Market Street

Headquarters for the York County Heritage Trust's Victorian and Civil War Living History Program. Bonham was an artist and attorney. During the Civil War, he served as revenue assessor, appointed by Abraham Lincoln.

Judge Fisher House
124 East Market Street

Judge Robert Fisher was the judge for York and Adams Counties, and during the Confederate occupation Fisher stood up to General Early to prevent him from burning the courthouse records, The judge's wife, Mary, was a nurse at the U.S. Army Hospital on Penn Common and spent a week on the Gettysburg battlefield helping the wounded.

Philip A. Small House
59 East Market Street

Philip A. Small was a prominent businessman and a member of the Committee of Safety. His mills were occupied by Confederate brigades from Virginia and Louisiana. Small's daughter, Cassandra, wrote letter chronicling this occupation from this building, which is today known as the Lafayette Club.

York County Court House
28 East Market Street

The courthouse that stood during the occupation was replaced in 1898; however, the columns, pediment, and cupola from the earlier courthouse remain. General Early made the courthouse his headquarters during the occupation, and it was in the courtroom that Early made a list of demands upon the citizens of York.

Centre Square
Intersection of George and Market Streets

Centre (Continental) Square was vastly different 145 years ago, though the Golden Swan Tavern and newly-exposed Hartman Building (formerly Futer Bros.) remain. Georgian John B. Gordon led his 1800-man strong brigade through the streets of York, and took down a 35-ft. flag that hung in the Square. After Gordon's brigade departed, General William "Extra Billy" Smith gave a humorous speech to the citizens in gathered in the Square.

Odd Fellows' Hall
102 South George Street

Known today as Washington Hall, this building served as barracks, an armory, and a back-up Army Hospital throughout the course of the Civil War.

Penn Common
West College Avenue

Today known as Penn Park, the public common housed a large Army Hospital from 1862-1865, treating over 14,000 wounded. A tablet marks the layout of the hospital, and the Soldiers & Sailors monument pays tribute to all who served during the war.

Dr. Henry Smyser House
30 South Beaver Street

Dr. Henry Smyser was a surgeon at the U.S. Army Hospital. He was familiar with war medicine, having earlier served as Physician to the Czar in the Russian Crimean War.

National House
53 West Market Street

The building of today showcases its appearance in 1863 when Early's Division occupied York.

Dr. Alexander Blair House
59 North Duke Street

Dr. Blair was the executive officer of the U.S. Army Hospital on Penn Common. Prior to the arrival of the Confederates, Blair evacuated many of the wounded to safety in Columbia, Lancaster County. Blair married Cassandra Small one year later.

William Goodridge House
123 East Philadelphia Street

Goodridge was a freed slave who became a prominent businessman and notable agent on the Underground Railroad. After John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, Goodridge helped the only free black to participate and escape, using his network to help Osborne Perry Anderson to safety.

There you have it, a short walking tour of Civil War sites in downtown York! The tour should take you about 90 minutes. Education and excercise: what better way to spend the July 4th holiday this year!

Posted in 19th Century City architecture

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Change came again to the “Square” in 1815 with the expansion of the first courthouse. This “expansion” didn’t change the building footprint at all, but allowed for more usable space on the second floor. Cross-gables were added on the north and south of the building, allowing more headroom on the second floor. In addition to the new gables, the building also received a large new cupola, allowing for installation of a town clock with four faces. From existing drawings, it appears that the cupola had a lookout and bell, which would further classify it as a belfry. (In common usage, many of us would simply refer to it as a clock tower.)

This project created the appearance of a more substantial building in the town square. By now there were three structures in Centre Square: the courthouse, State House, and a market shed, the east end of which is pictured in this 1830 William Wagner view. The graphic depicts the buildings as viewed from the southwestern quadrant of the Square. The red brick building to the right of the State House (on the southeast quadrant) is the Golden Swan Tavern, which still stands today. Also note the large half-round window in the courthouse gable as well as the prominent pedimented entrance, which is believed to have been added in the 1790s.

Posted in 19th Century City architecture Continental Square

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In celebration of the Halloween season, here’s a bit of dark history from York’s past.

Today the site of the York County Judicial Center, the southeast intersection of North George Street and Philadelphia Street was once the site of the Pennsylvania House hotel and later the Hotel Penn. According to newspaper accounts of the day, a horrific event occurred in the Pennsylvania House.

The year was 1872 and Barnum’s Museum, Menagerie and Hippodrome was in town. They set up a massive canvas tent that held 5,000 people. The tent was located where the Soldiers & Sailors monument stands today and was overflowing with people eager to see such spectacles as the bearded child, the armless woman, the man in miniature, and the strange and brainless being, among others. Rather than retell the story, it is best to read it firsthand from the York Daily from Wednesday, May 15, 1872:

DEATH OF THE CANNIBAL DWARF A HORRID SCENE Cannibalism in our Midst.

Barnum’s Museum, Menagerie and Hippodrome met with quite a loss yesterday in the death of the notorious Cannibal Dwarf, which occurred at the Pennsylvania Hotel, in this place. The little Fiji exhibited symptoms of indisposition several days ago, and the Manager, Mr. W.C. Coup, sent “the General” as he is called, to New York, to be cared for by Mr. Barnum’s family physician. But the little savage becoming restless in the absence of his associates, he was returned to the company. Like all of his race he had a native horror of shoes and clothing, and even in the wet, cold days that came upon the company in New Jersey, the Manager was unable to force shoes upon the General, and make him dress with sufficient warmth. Yesterday the man in charge noticed that his fingers were constantly in motion, while he muttered continually the only word he ever pronounced intelligibly “Fiji.” He refused everything like food or nourishment, and apparently thought of nothing but his native island. Dancing or violent gesturing of any kind was always a source of great merriment to “the General,” but now the keeper could not provoke even a smile. The miniature being was dying and while his keeper was doing his best to cheer him up and make him take his medicine, he rose up in bed, muttered “Fiji” in a whisper and fell back dead. His three native companions, who up to this time were wholly indifferent, now exhibited all the symptoms of genuine grief. They howled incessantly, and such fearful physical contortions were probably never before witnessed in a civilized community.

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In the span of 25 years, William Goodridge went from a young slave in Maryland to one of York’s most prominent businessmen. He grew from barber to entrepreneur, expanding his business, purchasing new properties, and starting new ventures. For a brief time he even operated a barber shop in Philadelphia.

One of his business ventures was the Goodridge Reliance Line of burthen (freight) cars, which operated from York. These cars were capable of transporting almost any freight, and eventually ran as far west as Pittsburgh and as far east as Philadelphia.

But beyond his success in business, Goodridge became quite successful in another, more clandestine endeavour: the Underground Railroad.

His properties were stations, and he was both a stationmaster and conductor, meaning that he provided shelter for runaway slaves as well as a means of transport to get them one step closer to freedom.

He lived at 123 East Philadelphia Street, in a home that still stands today. Below the kitchen is a root cellar with exposed dirt walls. It was in here that the escaped slaves were hidden. The root cellar was accessible via a trap door in the kitchen floor that was covered with carpet. Long after Goodridge left York and passed away, his children told local historians of the hiding place, which was “found” in an 1897 renovation project by noted architect Reinhardt Dempwolf. There is also at least one narrative from an escaped slave that identifies the cellar in the Goodridge House as a hiding place. Furthermore, the National Park Service has researched and authenticated the site as part of their Network to Freedom program.

Posted in 19th Century City architecture Underground Railroad

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One of the benefits of my day job with the Nutec Group is that I sometimes have the opportunity to become involved with local projects of historic significance. Such is the case with the home once owned by William C. Goodridge. For five years I’ve served on the task force working to transform the house into an Underground Railroad museum. Crispus Attucks, the local non-profit working to improve the quality of life in the southeast neighborhoods of York City, and beyond, is spearheading the exciting project.

Who was William Goodridge? He was born into slavery in Baltimore, Maryland in 1805 or 1806. Because he was a slave, his exact birth date is not recorded. His mother and grandmother had been owned by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, signer of the Declaration of Independence and one of the wealthiest Americans in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. (If you saw the movie National Treasure, Carroll was featured in a flashback as the last surviving signer.) Goodridge’s mother was sold to a prominent Baltimore physician.

Posted in 19th Century City architecture Underground Railroad

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The 1898 York County Court House is making news again, but not for any notorious trial. A contingent representing York County recently returned from San Antonio, TX and the American Public Works Association national conference. They were there to accept an award for the renovation of the courthouse and conversion into the York County Administrative Center. The project was recognized as a “Public Works Project of the Year” in the Historic Renovation category for projects in the $10 million to $100 million range. The award application was prepared by project architect NuTec Design Associates, Inc. on behalf of the County, contractor Wohlson Construction, and local chapter of the American Public Works Association.

This award focuses a national spotlight on York and the efforts of many to combine York’s historic architecture with the needs of a modern society and vibrant community.

Posted in 19th Century Beaux Arts City architecture Government Buildings

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Recent news reports have noted that the United States Postal Service will be vacating their facility on South George Street. York City government has expressed an interest to acquire the building and renovate it for use as a new City Hall. But the building on South George Street is not the only one downtown to have housed the Post Office. At the intersection of West Philadelphia and North Beaver streets a prominent red-brick Romanesque building stands on the northeast corner. Today, many people know it as the Lighthouse Youth Center. Others remember when it was a Masonic Temple. The reality, however, is that it was actually constructed by the federal government for use as a Post Office and government office building.

From “Postcard History Series: York”:

Constructed in 1895 on the northeast corner of Philadelphia and Beaver Streets, the “Federal Building” was built for a cost of $80,000. In addition to housing the Post Office, the United States Revenue Department was located on the second floor. Prior to the erection of this building, the York Post Office had been located at nine different sites.

Posted in 19th Century City architecture Government Buildings

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