Old Downtown Harrisburg Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Also known as: See Also:The Colonial Theater Building; Kunkle Building; Old D
Why it's listed
Along Market Street and the adjoining blocks of Third Street and Chestnut Street, Harrisburg's downtown contains commercial buildings from the 1830s to about 1940. The district grew up around the intersection of Market and Third Streets, close to the county courthouse, which stood in the middle of the 200 block of Market Street from 1792 until 1948, and the state capitol complex. Lawyers, banks, newspapers and printing firms clustered there, along with hotels and department stores. Surviving buildings include the Telegraph newspaper office, the City Bank building of about 1872, and the Kunkle Building. Bowman's, Pomeroy's and Rothert's department stores were built after the state capitol project began in 1906. Woolworth's, completed in 1939, shows Moderne styling. The district is considered important for the way its buildings record the commercial development of the state capital and for the businesses it housed over more than a century.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to preserve the commercial core that concentrated the legal, financial, communications and retail businesses of the city and state capital. Its buildings show an architectural history of commercial design from the Greek Revival of the 1830s to Art Moderne, including work by the city's principal architects. The businesses housed there, including major banks, newspapers and department stores, shaped the commercial and economic history of Harrisburg.
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 84003198, listed March 22, 1984. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly Market St. from 3rd to 4th and 3rd St. from Walnut to Chestnut Sts., Harrisburg |
|---|---|
| County | Dauphin County |
| Listed | March 22, 1984 |
| Reference number | 84003198 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architect / builder | Miller I. Kast (architect, Bowman's and Pomeroy's department stores); Charles H. Lloyd (architect, Rothert's Furniture Store); Lawrie and Greene (architects, Pomeroy's c.1940) |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Italianate, Richardsonian Romanesque, Art Moderne |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Commerce, Law, Architecture, Communications |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Several buildings are noted as altered, deteriorated or intrusive, and some facades have been covered or remodelled in later decades. |
| Acreage | 9.5 |
| Coordinates | 40.26092, -76.88016 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
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 84003198.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.