York’s Historic Architecture

From early Colonial taverns and ornate Victorian homes to the postmodern office towers of today, York’s streetscape features almost every style and era of American architecture. In the city where the Second Continental ongress governed the fledgling United States, a virtually unparalleled diversity of architectural styles–from early Colonial and high Victorian to Neoclassical and contemporary–has been cultivated and preserved. Every facade in York tells a story, and with the town’s long and varied history, those buildings erected by early German settlers and later industrialists tell the stories of both America and this central Pennsylvania community. With exacting detail, local architecture expert Scott Butcher explains why York has been blessed with such an architecturally rich heritage and why current efforts to preserve it are so important.