lancasterheritage.com

Grand Events in the City of Lancaster

wnagle — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:00:10 +0000

The Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum unveils a premiere venue for wedding and special events in the City of Lancaster. The museum is housed in a grand Beaux Arts bank building originally owned by the Lancaster Trust Company, a once prosperous community bank that failed during the Great Depression. Constructed in 1912, this building stood empty for much of its life. In 1982, Lancaster developer Owen Kugel restored the building to its original beauty.

Photo Credit: Karlo Photography

Notable for the Beaux-Arts style main banking room with its 64-foot barrel-vaulted ceiling and molded stone wall panels, and for the board room, inspired by the Elizabethan period with its leaded glass windows, chestnut paneling, and ceiling decorated with Jacobean strap work. Exhibits in the building’s High Gallery, showcase Lancaster’s design heritage, and feature pieces from the Heritage Center’s permanent collections.

To book your grand event call 717.299.6440. Click here to download our Quilt & Textile Rental Fact Sheet 2012.

Photo Courtesy SCV Imagery

Endowment for the Future Care of our Museum Collections

wnagle — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:27:35 +0000

The Heritage Center of Lancaster County, in partnership with the Lancaster County Community Foundation, is pleased to announce the establishment of a new endowment for the perpetual care of our museum collections.

The Lancaster County Heritage Funds have been established for the benefit of the preservation, curatorial care, exhibition, study and storage of the museum collections of the Heritage Center of Lancaster County.

An ever-growing endowment will enable us to provide support for the organization as we work toward our goal of establishing perpetual funds for the care of our historic objects of Lancaster’s material culture. These funds will provide for the long-term maintenance and preservation of our museum collections and will assist in providing a home for the artifacts in Lancaster County.

Endowed gifts are held in perpetuity. A named endowment at the LCCF is created through the establishment of permanent funds that are professionally invested and managed. The LCCF invests the initial gift and distributes a portion of the average annual investment return back to our organization for activities related to our collections.

A donor who makes an endowment gift today may be confident that it will continue to support its intended purpose in the future.

What happens to our endowment if our organization goes out of existence?

In the case of endowments held by the Lancaster County Community Foundation, the principal of our funds will be protected, and charitable earnings will be redirected to the most closely similar cause that can be found in our community.

Click here to visit the Lancaster County Community Foundation’s website for more details, and make an online contribution today!

The Heritage Center of Lancaster County Declares 2012 a Year of Transition

wnagle — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:09:57 +0000

The Heritage Center of Lancaster County is committed to engaging our community to explore new ways to preserve our historic museum collections and in the future to make them more accessible to more people.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS REGARDING OUR TRANSITION

We greatly value the trust that has been placed in our organization throughout the past four decades, and seek your continued time and patience as we engage the community in conversation and collaboration to chart our course for the future. Should you have questions regarding our transition, please contact us at info@lancasterheritage.com.

Sharron V. Nelson

Board Chair

The Heritage Center Museum Galleries Closed in 2012

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:00:17 +0000

Our museum galleries will be closed in 2012, as the City of Lancaster makes plans to restore this historic building. The downtown visitor center, Historic Lancaster Walking Tours & retail stores will remain open during renovations.

The extensive Lancaster City Historic District was recognized as a nationally significant historic district in 2001 and includes nearly 14,000 historic resources making it one of the largest National Register districts in the United States. Standing in the center of this district, on Penn Square, are the historic buildings of the Heritage Center of Lancaster County. Constructed in the 1790’s, these buildings served as the center of government and agricultural commerce for America’s first inland city, and are the only remaining structures in the center of town that date to this post-Revolutionary period.

The Heritage Center’s “Old City Hall” is designated as one of the most significant buildings in the Lancaster City Historic District, and is one of the most important extant Georgian buildings in the city. Built in 1795-1797 this building served as the county’s public offices, the Pennsylvania State Capitol (1800-1812), US Post Office, Lancaster City Hall, and since 1974, as the Heritage Center Museum of Lancaster County.

The adjoining Masonic Lodge, now home to the permanent exhibition galleries for the museum, was constructed in 1798-1799. Open arches on the ground level of this structure formed Lancaster’s first permanent public market house, and transformed the original market place into more of an enclosed square. The agreement with the Borough of Lancaster to build a lodge hall on top of pillars over the town market was probably the first instance of “air rights” in the United States.

In 1823, James Buchanan, the nation’s 15th President, served as Grand Master of this Masonic Lodge. Buchanan, along with abolitionist Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, and Jasper Yeates also argued cases in county court, conducted in the lodge hall. City residents who visited the post office and transacted business in the Old City Hall included: American modernist Charles Demuth, retailer F.W. Woolworth and chocolatier Milton Hershey.

The 100-year role these buildings played in the continuity of Lancaster’s 280-year market tradition is also significant. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the land that would become the City of Lancaster was owned by Andrew Hamilton. On May 15, 1730, Hamilton and his wife deeded three lots for three specific uses — a courthouse, a jail, and a market house – to be clustered around the town square, originally called Centre Square, and later Penn Square. The distinctive character and long life of this market is uniquely connected to the agricultural lifestyle of Lancaster’s Plain Sect (Amish and Mennonite) people and their deep cultural roots in this region. In 1999, the Library of Congress recognized the unique significance of Central Market, one of America’s oldest and last surviving public markets, as a Local Legacy to our nation.

The Heritage Center buildings have served as the backdrop and gathering place for events, persons, and cultures of national significance for more than 200 years. Today the Heritage Center of Lancaster County preserves and operates these historic buildings as an interactive museum center, interpreting the enduring stories, architecture and heritage of these people – both famous and common – for the benefit of future generations.

PCA&Ddesignathon and the art of Letterpress

wnagle — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:04:40 +0000

THIS JUST IN…Click here to check out our team’s designs!

The Heritage Center Museum is excited to partner with the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design in PCA&Ddesignathon 2011. Students & faculty pull an all-nighter as they take a look at the art of our 1920’s Letterpress printshop with a line of wearables and collectible souvenirs for visitors to Lancaster City.

The 24-hour Designathon at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design is one example of how the Lancaster, Pa.-based College provides valuable community services to area non-profits and to the community-at-large.

The third annual edition of the Designathon will begin on Friday, February 25 at 6 p.m. and conclude twenty-four hours later with a presentation by PCA&D students to their “clients” on Saturday, February 26 at 6 p.m. in the college’s atrium.

Design projects range from logo design to Web sites, brochures, annual reports, and playbills.

Clients who will receive creative work in 2011 include Assets, Ephrata Performing Arts Center, Heritage Center Museums, Lancaster Area Habitat for Humanity, Neighborhood Services, and Welsh Mountain Medical and Dental Center.

Graphic design students at PCA&D – alongside dedicated faculty members — will once again lead the Designathon. These students are members of the AIGA student chapter at PCA&D.

Check out PCA&D’s website for details!