Lancaster Historic District

Lancaster Historic District covers the oldest parts of central Lancaster, including the Adamstown area around Church Street and Howard Avenue. The town was laid out in the 1730s, and James Hamilton sold building lots from 1742 on, requiring each owner to erect a brick or stone dwelling of at least 16 feet square. The district contains a few surviving 18th-century houses of log, stone and brick, along with Georgian brick houses from the same period. Most of its buildings date from the mid-to-late 19th century and include brick row houses from about 1880 and townhouses with Classic Revival entrances, arched alley passages and corbelled cornices. Its significance rests on the surviving 18th-century fabric and the 19th-century townhouses that reflect Lancaster's growth as a trading, industrial and agricultural center. Notable associations include the Treaty of Lancaster in 1744 and the one-day session of Continental Congress in 1777.