Shrewsbury Historic District

Shrewsbury is a borough of roughly 1800 to 1930 buildings on an elevated plain in southern York County, laid out along a north-south main street lined with closely spaced two-and-a-half-story houses. The town was established in 1794 by Baltzer Faust at a crossroads on the York and Maryland Line turnpike, which was chartered in 1806 and completed in 1809 and followed the older Patapsco Road to Baltimore. Standardized 66 by 264 foot lots were arranged along the road, and the town became a transfer point for farm produce moving south to markets. Its main street has changed little since the early twentieth century and is regarded as perhaps the first mid-nineteenth century streetscape of any small town in the county. The district is listed for its community planning, transportation and architecture. Buildings include the Greek Revival Oddfellows' Hall of 1853, the Romanesque Revival Lutheran church of 1874, and a Beaux Arts bank of 1908.