City Sites to See

Lancaster County Courthouse

One of several buildings in Lancaster to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Lancaster County Courthouse is also a National Historic Landmark. Designed by Robert Mills, America’s first native-born architect and designer of the Washington Monument in the nation’s capital, this handsome edifice is still in use today.

Lancaster County Jail

Its design also credited to Robert Mills, the Lancaster County Jail is on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated a National Historic Landmark. Completed in 1823, the downstairs cells were intended to hold debtors, a practice that soon waned. During the Union invasion of 1865, soldiers under General Sherman tried unsuccessfully to burn the jail.

L&C Railroad Museum

As industry replaced agriculture, railroads replaced rivers as transportation arteries. The Lancaster & Chester Railroad was originally built to haul products from the Springs Cotton Mill to market. Today, the station houses a railroad museum and the nation’s only up-fitting operation where retired rail cars are tailored to the tastes of celebrities and others who prefer to travel by land.  Click here to visit the L&C Railroad Museum website. (803-286-2100)

Old Presbyterian Church

A testament to Lancaster’s early Scotch-Irish heritage, the Old Presbyterian Church dates back to 1862 and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The cemetery holds graves that date back as early as 1836, including those of veterans of conflicts as early as the War of 1812. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Springs House

Across Gay Street from the Lancaster Jail stands a home purchased by Col. Leroy Springs in 1888. During the Union occupation, the members of the S. B. Massey family watched from the home’s porches as the soldiers threw lighted turpentine balls onto the roof of the jail in an attempt to burn it. Currently, home to Lancaster County Council of the Arts and the Community Playhouse (803-285-7451) and to See Lancaster (803-286-1145).

Kilburnie

One of many historic homes to survive in the Lancaster area, Kilburnie was built in the late1820’s by a local dentist, Dr. Joseph Lee. Today, this architecturally significant structure has been moved to the outskirts of Lancaster and meticulously restored as a bed a breakfast.  Click here to visit the Kilburnie website. (803-416-8420)