Harrisburg Avenue Tobacco Historic District
Why it's listed
Four brick tobacco warehouses built between 1874 and about 1881 stand on a triangle of land east of North Mulberry Street and on the west side of the street in northwest Lancaster City. Buildings A, B and C were erected by C. August Bitner, who ran a fast freight line between Lancaster and Philadelphia, and they sat beside a Reading & Columbia railroad siding. Building D, a double warehouse with a gambrel slate roof, was built by G. Falk about 1881 and later divided between two owners. The warehouses use common-bond brick over stone foundations, with segmental-arched windows, corbelled cornices and raised basements. Building A was raised from two to three stories and given a flat roof, and Building B gained a restaurant-style front in the late 1970s. The buildings were leased to leaf tobacco firms through the early twentieth century, and the group is regarded as an intact example of this industrial building type in the city.
Significance in brief: The district is significant as part of one of Lancaster City's major late nineteenth and early twentieth century industries, the processing and storage of cigar leaf tobacco. Its buildings show the range of roof forms available within the tobacco warehouse type of the period, including end-gabled, gambrel and flat roofs. It is also an intact group of warehouses whose locations were tied to nearby railroad lines.
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 90001393, listed September 21, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Harrisburg Ave. at N. Mulberry St., Lancaster |
|---|---|
| County | Lancaster County |
| Listed | September 21, 1990 |
| Reference number | 90001393 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | C. 1874-1940 |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Building A is a warehouse, Building B is a pizza shop, Building C is used by a candlemaking business, and Building D is used for storage. |
| Acreage | 1.3 |
| Within district | Lancaster City Historic District |
| Coordinates | 40.04657, -76.31226 (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 90001393.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q15223089
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.