Lancaster Historic District (Boundary Increase II)

Along the 200 block of East King Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, most houses are two or three stories tall, built of red brick and set directly on the sidewalk without setbacks, forming a continuous streetscape. The houses reflect Victorian eclecticism from the second half of the nineteenth century, with bracketed and pressed metal cornices, marble and brownstone steps, and nineteenth-century ironwork. The block was lightly settled in the eighteenth century and developed mainly between about 1790 and 1840, when tradesmen and artisans lived in log and frame houses. Between about 1840 and 1900, affluent professionals and merchants built larger homes here, and the Peter Reed House at 230 East King Street survives as a rare brick house of the earlier period. The former Eastern Market, completed in 1883 to designs by John Evans, is the only Second Empire market in Lancaster and its tower marks the vista along the street. The block is also significant for its distinct character compared with the adjoining 300 block.