{"nrhp_refnum":"78002489","name":"York Dispatch Newspaper Offices","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15 and 17 E. Philadelphia St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"York","county":"York County","state":"PA","lat":39.97345338100007,"lon":-76.72784477499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-03-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-bay, four-story Italianate Revival cast iron and brick commercial building on East Philadelphia Street in York, York County, Pennsylvania, used as the office of the York Dispatch newspaper. It was erected in October 1887 by George L. Mesker of Evansville, Indiana.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a rare example of cast iron commercial architecture in a location outside the major cast iron centers. Its front facade of cast iron and pressed metal carries extensive ornamentation and is in excellent condition despite the material's susceptibility to rust. It is also tied to the history of the York Dispatch, which became a major influential newspaper in the state.","narrative":"Erected in October 1887 by George L. Mesker, a builder of cast iron commercial buildings in Evansville, Indiana, this four-bay, four-story Italianate Revival structure stands on East Philadelphia Street in York. Its front facade is made of cast iron and pressed metal, allowing extensive ornamentation, with decorative pilasters on the upper floors, a dentilled frieze, bracketed cornice, medallions and urns. The ground floor has cast iron supports and doorways. The brick body of the building consists of two sections joined by a later overhead walkway, with segmental two-over-two windows set under radiating brick arches. Cast iron construction allowed builders to produce ornate buildings quickly and cheaply, a method more often used in cities such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia. The building was occupied by the York Dispatch in 1904, a newspaper founded in 1876 by Hiram Young that grew into a major influential paper in Pennsylvania. Its surviving condition is regarded as unusually good for cast iron work.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"George L. Mesker (builder)","architectural_style":"Italianate Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"The building is in excellent condition according to the document.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.283563-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/78002489.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002489/c14f6fcdcf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002489/c14f6fcdcf-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:York_Dispatch.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:York_Dispatch.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998852","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Dispatch_Newspaper_Offices","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8055438"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/york-county/york-dispatch-newspaper-offices-78002489/"}