{"nrhp_refnum":"89001050","name":"Eby Shoe Corporation","other_names":["Fleet-Air Corporation"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"136 N. State St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ephrata","county":"Lancaster County","state":"PA","lat":40.180572821000055,"lon":-76.17435593299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-08-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-unit complex of brick factory, warehouse and office buildings for the Eby Shoe Corporation on an industrial and residential site in Ephrata, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, built from the 1900s to 1976. The core factory buildings date from c. 1900, 1919 and 1923.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the complex exemplifies shoe manufacturing in the Lancaster area in the early 20th century, and that the company was the largest employer in the boot and shoe industry in Lancaster County in the late 1920s and late 1930s. It is described as the largest and best preserved industrial complex of the first half of the 20th century in Ephrata, with notable heavy timber and early steel-frame construction.","narrative":"Located in Ephrata, the Eby Shoe Corporation complex comprises a group of brick factory, warehouse and office buildings on a mixed industrial and residential street. Harry Eby established the company in Lititz and moved operations to a former tobacco warehouse in Ephrata in 1914. Building B, a three-story brick factory, was constructed in 1919 by contractor Harry M. Gerhart, and Building C, a four-story brick building with steel framing and brick piers, followed in 1923, reportedly the first steel-frame building in town. A Georgian Revival business office from the same year is attached to the complex. During the 1920s and 1930s the company was the largest shoe employer in Lancaster County, with 406 workers recorded in 1928 and 407 in 1935. The complex is regarded as the best surviving example of early twentieth-century factory design in Ephrata. The company closed in 1985 after bankruptcy and the buildings have been vacant since.","period_of_significance":"1914-1938","architect_builder":"GERHART, HARRY M. (contractor for Building B)","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival (business office)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant since the company ceased operation in 1985; the complex is described as in fair to excellent condition.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:37.281483-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/89001050.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001050/c1128ef0d8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001050/c1128ef0d8-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eby_Shoes_Blg_B_LanCo_PA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eby_Shoes_Blg_B_LanCo_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995485","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eby_Shoe_Corporation_buildings","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5332135"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lancaster-county/eby-shoe-corporation-89001050/"}