Old Uptown Harrisburg Historic District

Old Uptown is a residential district of duplex and row houses in north Harrisburg, lying on the low flood plain near the Susquehanna River. Most of its buildings were erected between 1895 and 1905, with contributing houses dating from 1885 to 1930. Benjamin Engle, a lumber dealer and real estate salesman, built most of the blocks between Second and Third Streets and Reily and Kelker Streets, using a common floor plan with varied facade treatments of turrets, bays, fish-scale shingles and stained glass. North of Kelker Street, Gettys and Girvin built rows of four to ten nearly identical Queen Anne houses in a simpler late style. The district was built for merchants, professionals and white-collar workers during the city's rapid population growth. Its consistent architecture and high degree of preservation are the main reasons for its recognition.