Springdale Historic District

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Springdale Historic District is a district in York, bounded by South George Street, Lombardy Alley, South Queen Street and Rathon Road. It was listed in the National Register in 2001 and covers about 55 acres, with 199 contributing buildings and one contributing site. Houses here reflect styles including Colonial Revival, Craftsman and Spanish Eclectic.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A and C, with local significance in architecture and in community planning and development. Its period of significance runs from about 1888 to 1950, anchored by Grier Hersh's 1923 transfer of nineteen acres to the Yorktown Land Company.

Physical character

Walls are brick, weatherboard, stucco over stone, or stone and frame, under slate, terracotta or metal roofs. Distinguishing features include decorative gable trusses, parapet gables, steep gambrel roofs, cupolas with weather vanes and stone balustrades.

Historical context

Charles A. Barnitz bought ten acres around 1823, and the Hersh family later acquired the Peacock Hill and Gotwalt farms in 1863 and 1868. Hersh inherited control of Springdale in 1876 and enlarged the family mansion in the 1880s. First Baptist Church was built in 1927, by which time the city had annexed Springdale. New construction continued through the Great Depression from 1930 to 1941, and the mansion, rehabilitated as a private residence in 1945, was demolished in 1954. The Springdale Neighborhood Association formed in 1977, and the Unitarian Society of York bought the site in 1999.