Griest Building

Griest Building

Griest Building William E. Fischer, Jr.
Photo 2 of Griest Building Photo 3 of Griest Building
1924, C. Emlen Urban. 8 N. Queen St.

The metropolitan ambition of Lancaster is evident in this skyscraper for the Conestoga Traction Company that hinted at an ever more urban future. Like Frank Furness in Philadelphia, whose designs surrounded the west side of Center Square, C. Emlen Urban similarly controlled Lancaster's center. Adept at adapting to the changing mode of the day, he followed the conventions of the classical tower with an articulated first floor and mezzanine, a rising shaft of nine stories with two crowning as the capital as if the building were a giant column. Urban designed the nearby Hager Department Store (1911) at 25 W. King Street in a similarly modern mode.

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