Thomas Mifflin (1744-1800) will always go down as an important man in Pennsylvania's history. Mifflin starts his career serving on the Continental Congress before and after the Revolutionary War. At one point he was also the presiding officer of the Continental Congress and the first president of it to be officially recognized by Great Britain. Thomas Mifflin also played a role in the Revolutionary War. He was the army's first Quartermaster General and was eventually promoted to the rank of Major General. Perhaps his most memorable posts include the 7th and final President of Pennsylvania and the distinction of being the first Governor of Pennsylvania. Thomas Mifflin now rests as marked on the map at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster City.
The present Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania was constructed from 1761-1766, and was the tallest structure in the city at the time and remains the oldest church in Lancaster and one of the oldest in the state. Its beginnings date back to 1729, when a German congregation started building houses around the Native American village that would become Lancaster. The first church was completed in 1738, but by the 1760s, the congregation required more room. By 1785, hundreds of members were being confirmed, baptized, and attending mass at the church. In 1853, minor renovations were made to the new church, and a parsonage was constructed adjacent to it, on the site of the former church’s construction.
The unsung hero of the 1860s was Thaddeus Stevens (1792 -1868) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Congressman Stevens, chairman of the powerful House of Representative’s Ways and Means Committee, made it possible for President Abraham Lincoln to win the uphill struggle of passing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, ending slavery. A native of Vermont, he chose Lancaster in 1842 as the place for his law practice. He would use this building at 45 South Queen Street as his main residence / law office until his death in 1868. Another resident of the property was Stevens' live-in housekeeper and confidant, Lydia Hamilton Smith, and her children. The Historic Preservation Trust led the initiative to save and restore the Thaddeus Stevens house as part of the new Lancaster County Convention Center. Sadly, since 2009, the restoration efforts of the Stevens / Smith House have been put on hold due to lack of funds. LancasterHistory.org has now taken over the efforts to restore and save the property.
A necessary service in the life of most male members of society, regardless of race, was a haircut, and sometimes a shave. This stop on the tour recognizes that there were some equalizing factors that helped integrate African Americans into the fabric of society as a whole. Thaddeus Henry's Barbershop was one such business that capitalized on the need for this basic service.
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is located in Fulton Bank quadrant of Penn Square in Lancaster, PA. It pays tribute to the Lancastrian Union soldiers killed in the Civil War. It also pays tribute to the men and women that served in America military conflicts. Created on July 4th, 1874, the monument is a 43 foot tall Gothic revival memorial.
The Lancaster Central Market in Lancaster, Pennsylvania was established in 1730 during the time of the city’s planning, and is the country’s oldest continually operating market. The structure on the site was built in 1889 and has had few alterations since that time. Many of the stands in the market are operated by the same families who have been in the market for generations, although in the 70s and 80s, many left due to the loss of agricultural regions to retail and housing development. In 1995, Lancaster Central Market was designated as one of the “Great Public Places” in America.
Fulton Opera House, located on 12 North Prince Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was built in 1852 by Christopher Hager, a town merchant and civic leader. The Italianate-style building got its name from Robert Fulton, the county’s steam engine pioneer, and became the center for numerous community gatherings in Lancaster, from theatrical performances and concerts to mass services and public lectures. Before it became the theatre it is today, it was first the location of Lancaster’s pre-Revolutionary jail: the location of the 1763 Conestoga Indian massacre. Today, it is one of just eight theatres in the United States to be recognized as a National Historic Landmark, and houses numerous performances each year.
Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County Courthouse was built 1852-1853, with the court first being established in 1729, the same year the county was formed. Originally, court proceedings were heard in a local tavern, before the first courthouse was built in Penn Square 1737-1738. That first courthouse was home to prominent men and meetings such as 15th President James Buchanan, the Continental Congress, and Pennsylvania’s General Assembly. When the building burned down in 1784, a new one was built in 1787, but soon became too small for a growing population in Lancaster. The present location was chosen for the courthouse upon its construction around 1852-1853, and still remains standing as the location of the city’s court today. In 1978, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Thomas Henry Burrowes was trusted by the public and served as the fourth president of the Pennsylvania State University and served as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He also was the State Chairman of the Anti-Masonic Party. There is a road going through State College that is named after him because he was well admired by the students that he taught at the Pennsylvania State University.
Lancaster's St. James Episcopal Church was built in 1820 for a congregation that was founded in 1744 by missionaries from the Church of England. During the Revolutionary War, the church was closed because of its loyalty to the Church of England and reopened after the war as a separate American branch of the English Church. In the early years of the congregation, services were held at the old county courthouse. In the same year that this building was completed, Black members of the congregation left to establish their own church. In addition to the separation of races, members of the congregation were required to pay a “pew rent” to worship at the church, a practice that was not dropped until 1929. The present church is built with the steeple from the original church’s construction in the 1750s, and since its founding has made history in the state in terms of religion and education via members of the clergy and parishioners. It is also home to a cemetery with over 200 years of history.
This tour stop highlights the important contributions of African Americans to the economy of a community. As an established businessman with a reputation for hard work, William Payne contributed to the quality of life across the spectrum of society in Lancaster. William Payne's and Thaddeus Henry's successes were important indicators of the economic advances being made by African Americans in the region.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This short tour makes a loop around several blocks within the heart of Lancaster with stops at a variety of monuments and buildings in the center of the city that date back to Lancaster's beginnings.
