Your walking tour of downtown Ephrata will begin at the Ephrata Railroad Station on the north side of Main Street just east of the intersection of Main and State Streets. Free parking is available in the lot near the station with entrances on East Main St. and North State St. From the Railroad Station the tour proceeds east on the north side of Main Street for about two blocks before crossing to the south side of Main Street and proceeding west for three blocks. Finally the tour crosses back to the north side of Main Street and goes east again for a little more than a block where it returns to the Railroad Station.
	Address: 16 East Main Street (East of the Royer Building) What's There Now: Ephrata Chamber of Commerce & Downtown Ephrata, Inc. History: The Reading and Columbia Railroad began freight and passenger service through Ephrata in 1863. This station, built in 1889, is typical of railroad architecture and expressive of the role of railroads in community life. At one time, there was a 3-sided platform that extended to the rail tracks for passenger and commerce loading and unloading. Note the historic caboose behind the railroad station. This building is a Lancaster County Historic Preservation Trust site.
	Address: 24 East Main Street What's There Now: Celebrations History: Formerly the home of I.G. Sprecher and Sons, Lancaster County's oldest full-line hardware store. Sprecher's opened in this site in 1868; the store became a family business in 1878 and was operated by descendents of I.G. Sprecher until the store's closing in 2000. The present building was built in 1911. Note the leaded glass transom and original brownstone piers on each side. Upon entering the building, please note the original decorative tin ceiling and open-caged working elevator.
	Address: 28-30 East Main Street What's There Now: Michelle's Gallery & Boutique, Marine Recruitment Center History: The present building was built in 1938-39 by Harvey F. Weit to house his stationery and newspaper business; the Weit family occupied an apartment on the second floor. This building replaced a mid-19th century frame building that housed the residence and business of Ephrata saddler Albert Bowman. Prior to its demolition, the eastern portion was the residence of Bowman's daughter and the western portion was occupied by Kreider's Jewelry Store, and later by E.L. Snyder's appliance store. The present building incorporates design elements of the Classic Revival Style. It's Palladian windows and classical form feature greatly reduced ornamentation. This property has been renovated recently as a leased retail/office space for multiple businesses.
	Address: 32-34 East Main Street What's There Now: Douple Insurance Agency, Christine Weinrich's Beauty Salon History: Dating from about the third quarter of the 19th century, the building originally housed the J.W. Yost liquor store. In more recent years, Burkhart and Drezner dry cleaners and men's clothiers occupied the building. The original front porch has been enclosed with the storefront windows. The building has a mansard roof with an interesting use of differing profile wood shingles on the bay projection the tower.
	Address: 36-40 East Main Street What's There Now: Forget Me Not Gifts History: Built in the early 1860's as the residence of Dr. Gideon Fahnestock, the building was dramatically altered in the late 19th century. The western portion of the building became a storeroom while the eastern portion housed the "Grand Theater," home to many of Ephrata's early 20th century high school commencements. By the mid-1940's the theater's name was changed to the "Roxy." It was destroyed by fire in 1955.
	Address: 46-48 East Main Street What's There Now: Madelyn's Closet, Mixed Martial Arts History: Constructed in 1866 as a two-story residence by A.B. Sheaffer, the building was drastically enlarged in 1869 with a two-story addition on the building's east side and a full third story with a mansard roof. Upon the completion of the 1869 renovations, Levi Sensenig opened the "Ephrata House," a bar and hotel in the building. The original Victorian style was painted in the dark tones popular at the time. The dormer and rear addition were made about 1900 with much of the original woodwork and detail now covered by aluminum.
	Address: 54-56 East Main Street What's There Now: Martin's Studio of Photography History: Built in 1866 as a residence for Ephrata lawyer and Justice of the Peace, William K. Selzer, this basic Queen Anne has seen many renovations and might best be termed a "regional" design because it borrows elements from several styles and incorporates them into the overall design. For example, a classical tone shows in the pillars on the porch and the vine decoration on the Queen Anne turret and windows that were added on about 1900. Queen Anne is the most picturesque and one of the richest styles. It originated in England in the 1860's and was a combination of styles with an undercurrent of Japanese influence. It was introduced in America at the time of the 1876 Centennial. General characteristics include a complex roofline with prominent gables, clustered brick chimneystacks, ornamental use of wood shingles, and fretwork motifs. Queen Anne windows were generally double hung with decorative patterns on the upper half often in patterns of colored squares around a major pane of clear glass, Amber, bottle green and cranberry red were popular. Mass produced spindles and fanciful columns adorned porches and had the upside-down look that flare at the top with decorative brackets.
	Address: 102-104 East Main Street What's There Now: Abundant Treasures History: This building is one of the oldest in downtown Ephrata. Richard R. Heitler, a printer, surveyor and justice of the peace, built the house in 1820 and enlarged it in 1833. In Heitler's time, the house stood on a tract of about twenty acres and was described as "a fine, well cultivated little farm."
	Address: 108-110 East Main Street What's There Now: Nationwide Insurance History: Erected in 1884, the building was the second home of the Ephrata National Bank. The bank remained at this site until its present building at 31 East Main Street was completed in 1925.
	Address: 124 East Main Street What's There Now: D&E Communications, Inc, Lily's, Main Theatres-Grand & Roxy History: The Brossman Business Complex, constructed with an art deco styled interior, stands on the site of the original Main Theatre. The original marquis can still be seen. This building was dedicated to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. William Brossman and Bertha Brossman Blair. Mr. Brossman founded the Denver and Ephrata Telephone Company (now D&E Communications) in 1911 while Mrs. Blair served as its president from 1956-1985 The original theater marquis was salvaged and is now seen on the exterior of the building. In addition, the original box office structure now serves as the "new" box office! Please continue your tour by crossing Main Street at the Lake Street traffic light then turn west to 123 East Main.
	Address: 123 East Main Street What's There Now: Prudential Insurance, Law Offices of Appel & Yost History: The building, built in the mid-19th century, was the home of Edwin S. Royer's liquor store for the greater part of that century. In the mid-20th century, the building became know as the "Weidman Building" since the late Irene Royer Weidman, a prominent Ephrata resident and philanthropist owned it. This building has Federal Style architectural overtones.
	Address: 109 East Main Street What's There Now: Jackson Hewitt Tax Service History: The Burkholder Building. George Wise added a three-story brick addition in the 1870's to his residence at 105 East Main Street, which became 107-109. He operated a brickyard and was responsible for many of the brick buildings on Main Street. Note the distinctive Italianate theme in the addition. The pitched roof and dormer are not original. The building later became the home of sign painter J. P. Burkholder and his wife Alice who operated millinery store on the first floor. In the 1960's this building was home to Hecker's Record Shop-the place to buy the latest 45's!
	Address: 51 East Main Street What's There Now: Dr. Pete Suhrbier History: This building was built about 1868 as the home and drug store of Edwin Konigmacher. In March 1881 the Ephrata National Bank opened for business in the former drug store. For many decades of the early- to mid-20th century, the building served as the home and dental office of Dr John Baum.
	Address: 43-45 East Main Street What's There Now: Ephrata Pizza Italian Restaurant History: Built about 1864, this building became the home of the Sener family who operated the Sener Lumber Company on the land to the west of the building between the building and he railroad tracks. In the early 20th century, the Ephrata post office was located in the west end of the building and for a period of time the offices of the Denver and Ephrata Telephone Company were located on the second floor.
	Address: 39-41 East Main Street What's There Now: T-Nails History: Built in the late 1930's or early 1940's by Ephrata jeweler J.R. Wertsch, this building features the unique exterior application of sheet metal adorned with medallions. Although commonly used on interior surfaces for decorating, metal applications on the exterior are not abundant in Lancaster County.
	Address: 31 East Main Street What's There Now: Ephrata National Bank History: This structure, built in 1925, is a pleasing example of Beaux Arts design, so named for the students who studied at the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts in France. Generally used for public buildings of a grand scale, the Beaux Arts style has intricate ornamentation. It's massive limestone base and pillars evoke a sense of strength and security befitting a bank structure. If time permits, take a walk into the lobby for a look at the colored stained glass skylight and the original bank vault and its massive round door!
	Address: 21-27 East Main Street What's There Now: Ephrata Flea Market History: Businessman Jacob Keller erected this structure in 1873-74 that became known as the "Keller Block." The building, a double partitioned building, was built with two stories on its eastern half and three stories on its western half. A third story was added to the eastern half of the building at a later date and was removed following a devastating fire in the late 1960's. Keller operated a cigar factory on the third floor of the building; one of over 200 cigar factories in the town in 1889. In 1897, Jonas Herr acquired the western half of the building and operated his department store there until 1927. In 1928 Herr leased the first floor of the building to the J.C. Penney Company who occupied the building until the early 1990's. The corner of Main and State Street is known as Ephrata Square and divides the town into an East Main Street Section and West Main Street section. Please cross at the traffic light to West Main Street to continue your tour.
	Address: 2-12 West Main Street What's There Now: Edward Jones Investments, Funnest Toy Store Ever History: Known as the "Wissler Building", this structure was named for Alvin Wissler who owned the building in the 1940s. In 1808, John and Polly Gross demolished a two-story tavern built on this site in about 1750 to construct the Eagle Hotel. The hotel was a stagecoach stop and probably the location of the first post office with John Gross as Ephrata's first postmaster. In 1808 when this building was erected, the Gross family owned all four corners of the square, and prior to the establishment of the post office in 1816, this area was known as "Gross's Corner." At that time, as well as in the 18th century, when speaking of "Ephrata", an individual would be referring to the present day Ephrata Cloister, the historic site located at 632 West Main Street. Andrew Baker purchased the Eagle Hotel property at a public auction in 1878. He added the third and fourth floors and a mansard roof to the original structure in 1886 in an obvious attempt to emulate the Victorian Italianate architecture so popular at the time. The fourth floor was used for various social activities. At the time these additions were build, consistency in domestic architecture was no longer felt to be essential. Fanciful additions were built to accommodate the new indoor bathrooms to make the existing building more fashionable. The Mansardic style of architecture is also called Second Empire because of the design inspired by Napoleon III, the second Emperor. It flourished from about 1855 to 1885. Influenced by the French architect Francois Mansart, the attic space is transformed into usable space by breaking the roofline into one very steep pitch and one shallow pitch. Dormer windows were added to the mansard roofs, which could be concave or S-shaped. These structures were solidly built, usually of masonry or stucco and often featured ornate hooded windows and substantial ornamentation on doors and windows.
	Address: 16-18 West Main Street What's There Now: Sheldon's Christmas Shop, Althouse's Barber Shop History: The Baker-Groff Building was built in 1891 by Andrew W. Baker, proprietor of the Eagle Hotel and owner of a coal and lumber business in Ephrata. This superb Victorian was built in the Second Empire style. Outstanding features include wood trim, mansard slate roof with colored designs, leaded stained glass windows and unique attic windows. The front of the dwelling was constructed of green marmalite stone from Pocopson, Chester County; the sides and rear are of brick manufactured in Ephrata.
	Address: 20 West Main Street What's There Now: Sheldon's Gallery & Frame Shop History: This beautiful Italianate building was the first Ephrata home of Andrew W. Baker and was built for him and his wife, Mary, by his father-in-law, Jacob Longenecker. Note the classic low-pitched roof, console brackets, window embellishments and lovely porch, which are all characteristic of Victorian construction. The popularity of the Italianate style coincided with Ephrata's development and is a prominent part of the Borough's streetscape. If time permits, enter the building to view the grand staircase.
	Address: 22 West Main Street What's There Now: Performance Personnel History: The former Farmers First Bank building was erected in 1914 on the site of the original 1899 bank and an adjoining residence. The building exhibits the clean lines of Classic Revival architecture. There is less ornamentation with symmetrical design and embellishment. Ornamented pilasters and stonework add to the dignity of the original construction in spite of the building's 1958 remodeling.
	Address: 40 West Main Street What's There Now: J&A Furniture Company History: Previously the residence and shoe store of A. S. Shafer. In 1885 the townsfolk wanted to have an entertainment hall near the center of the village. The third floor of this building was chosen and named "Fisher's Hall" after Charles Fisher who built carriages at the rear of the property. Upon Mr. Fisher's departure, Mr. Reuben Bitzer purchased the site and it became know as "Bitzer's Hall". It was originally an Italianate structure of three stories with a lean-to porch. Cross to the north side of Main Street at Church Street to continue your tour.
	Address: 103 West Main Street What's There Now: The Groves Retirement Home History: Built in 1889 as the home of Dr. Isaac N. Lightner, this unique Gothic Revival has strong vertical lines that are enhanced by fancy drip moldings. Note the interesting wooden spindle trim on the window frames and mullions. Elaborate scrolled bargeboards trim the roofline and a two-story tower features a double bay window, a fancy shingled roof, and original colored glass squares.
	Address: 29-31 West Main Street What's There Now: Wine & Spirits Shoppe History: Built in 1909 by Hiram Nessinger as the "Central Theater," the building is now owned by Ephrata Lodge 665, F. & A. M. who acquired the theater building following a devastating fire in 1932.
	Address: 17-27 West Main Street What's There Now: G.R. Klinefelter Insurance Underwriters History: The center building of this three building complex was built in 1872 as a residence by Oliver Strohl. The building during the greater part of the 20th century housed H. L. Cox's Drug Store whose ceramic sign still exists inlaid into the sidewalk. Note the original manhole covers with glass inlays on either side of the "Cox" sign. The building to the west was the residence of the Shirk family who erected a small frame barbershop between their home and the Strohl residence. All three buildings were built circa 1870 and two are connected with an underground tunnel. Original woodwork still exists on the units and a mansard dormer, a very attractive porch, a good tower, and bracketed cornices still survive.
	Address: 5-9 West Main Street What's There Now: Parkhill Jewelry, Lifehouse Christian Bookstore: John Gross, the proprietor of the "Eagle Hotel," built this structure in 1833 as his new residence. Ephrata's post office was located in this building for many years during the early-to-mid 19th century. The "1797" date stone found between the second story windows was added, according to a descendant, by Mrs. William K. Fishburn who along with her husband owned the building in the early 20th century. Tradition states that Mrs. Fishburn wished her building to pre-date the 1808 date stone on the "Eagle Hotel." In the 20th century, the building was commonly referred to as the "Fishburn Building." The first floor façade was drastically altered following a devastating fire in the mid-1960's
	Address: 1-3 West Main Street What's There Now: Mitchell A. Sommers Law Offices, J. Marconi For Hair History: Known as the "Mentzer Building" and designed by Lancaster architect Clifton Evans, this superb Italianate structure was built in 1889 by Allen W. Mentzer. He used the first floor of the building to house his general merchandise store and rented the other floors to various concerns including fraternal organizations, etc. The building housed Ephrata's high school for a brief period in the winter of 1891-92. The outstanding brickwork has corbelled brick (stepped-out) work and carved faces in the arches on the third floor. The woodwork on the porch shows Japanese influence in the balustrade. The windows are heavily hooded and are shorter on the third floor. Finials cap the flat roof. If you gaze upward for a moment and look closely, you will notice several gargoyles staring back at you from the cornices of this building...a rare architectural find indeed in a downtown such as Ephrata's! Finally, cross State Street at the traffic light to East Main Street to complete your tour.
	Address: 2-10 East Main Street What's There Now: Royer Pharmacy, China Taste Restaurant History: The Royer Building, built in 1937-38, houses one of Ephrata's oldest businesses, Royer's Pharmacy. It is an excellent example of Art Deco construction from the smooth masonry and curved plane to the streamlined, futuristic look. The windows are arranged in pronounced vertical bands, the roof is flat, and the embellishments include a geometric band. Art Deco buildings generally featured thin sashes, casement windows, and glass blocks in the inset panels. When viewing this building at night, notice the backlit "Royers" sign.very Art Deco!