Keystone Building
Why it's listed
Built in 1875 as the State Printing Office, this six-story brick office block with a basement stands in downtown Harrisburg, one half block south of Market Street. Its design follows the tripartite arrangement then popular, with Italianate touches in the bracketed wood cornice and the scrolled concrete window moldings and lintels. The building housed state printing, binding and lithography work, and later the Star-Independent newspaper, which moved in on June 5, 1897. In 1917 the interior was gutted and rebuilt with a structural steel frame and 12-inch reinforced floors, while the five-course brick walls were kept. The nomination regards it as probably Harrisburg's first high-rise, predating the USF&G Building of 1905. Its street level remains close to its original form, which is uncommon for office buildings of this age that have plate glass storefronts.
Significance in brief: The building is noted for its 1875 Italianate-influenced tripartite design and for its ground floor, which retains its original appearance despite use as a store. The nomination also cites its association with the state printing and newspaper publishing businesses of the 19th century, and says it was probably Harrisburg's first high-rise.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 79002217, listed September 7, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 18-22 S. 3rd St, Harrisburg |
|---|---|
| County | Dauphin County |
| Listed | September 7, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79002217 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architectural style | Louis Sullivan Tripartite design with Italianate influences |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Altered; remodeled in 1917 into an office building and later renamed the Keystone Building; ground floor used as a store. |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Within district | Old Downtown Harrisburg Commercial Historic District |
| Coordinates | 40.26026, -76.87988 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 79002217.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6398450
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.