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Telegraph Building (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)

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Telegraph Building
The former Harrisburg Telegraph Building as illustrated on a 1910 postcard
Location214-216 Locust St., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Area0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built1909-1910
ArchitectCharles Howard Lloyd; Coder & Miller
Architectural styleChicago, Italianate
NRHP reference No.78002387[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 3, 1978
Removed from NRHPJune 27, 1986

The Telegraph Building was an historic, American commercial building that was located in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It served as the headquarters of the Harrisburg Telegraph, a Republican evening newspaper that was established during the 1800s.[2]

History and architectural features

Built between 1909 and 1910,[3][4][5] this historic structure was designed in the Italianate style by prominent Harrisburg architect Charles Howard Lloyd. Reminiscent of the Chicago school-era of early skyscrapers, Lloyd's design was heavily influenced by the work of architect Daniel H. Burnham.[6]

Structurally, the building consisted of front and back sections. The front, which housed the offices of the Harrisburg newspaper that gave the building its name, was a seven-story steel frame structure with light brick walls and concrete floors that were covered with hardwood. Its interior featured a central terrazo-floored hall, which ended at the north wall and separated the sections. It was here that the elevators, stairwell, and public restrooms were located. The building also had an innovative central vacuuming system.[7] Its electrical fixtures were supplied and installed by the Dauphin Electrical Supplies Company.[8]

The rear section was a darker, red-brick, five-story structure with wood-paneled floors and latticed steel columns. It featured large open spaces with wooden trusses that supported the roof and offered access to a freight elevator.

The building site had previously been home to the Shakespeare Hall, an 1822 structure that had been designed by John Wyeth and used by the Harrisburg Telegraph's staff. By 1909, rising circulation required construction of a new building."[9]

The Telegraph Building formally opened to the public during an open house on April 28, 1910. A five-foot, five hundred-pound Seth Thomas Clock on the roof illuminated the newspaper's name, "Harrisburg Telegraph."[10] The newspaper's publishers also purchased a new, twenty-passenger Pullman Sight-Seeing Car that they dubbed the "'Seeing Harrisburg' Car," offering trips from the new Telegraph Building to historic points of interest and entertainment venues throughout the city.[11]

News editors and reporters occupied the publication's new building from its opening until 1948, when it was sold to The Patriot-News. Charles Howard Lloyd also used the building as the site for his offices.

Later years

This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978,[12] and was also included in the Old Downtown Harrisburg Commercial Historic District.[13]

Razed five months later in order to create a parking lot, it was delisted in 1983.[14]

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System – (#78002387)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  2. ^ "Telegraph Home Made Brilliant for Thousands." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, April 29, 1910, pp. 1 and 4 (subscription required).
  3. ^ "Building Boom Keeps Up; Permits Today Are $119,500." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, May 3, 1909, p. 1 (subscription required).
  4. ^ "Contractors Make Record on New Telegraph Building." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, December 16, 1909, p. 1 (subscription required).
  5. ^ "Cornerstone of Telegraph's New Home Will Be Laid This Afternoon with Simple Ceremony." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, September 22, 1909, p. 1 (subscription required).
  6. ^ "Telegraph Home Made Brilliant for Thousands," Harrisburg Telegraph, April 29, 1910.
  7. ^ "The New Telegraph Building" (advertisement). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, October 15, 1909, p. 13 (subscription required).
  8. ^ "Electrical fixtures." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, April 29, 2010, p. 5 (subscription required).
  9. ^ "Cornerstone of Telegraph's New Home Will Be Laid This Afternoon with Simple Ceremony," Harrisburg Telegraph, September 22, 1909.
  10. ^ "Telegraph Home Made Brilliant for Thousands," Harrisburg Telegraph, April 29, 1910.
  11. ^ "The Telegraph's New 'Seeing Harrisburg' Car Arrives; Automobile Rides for Everybody." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, April 16, 1910, p. 1 (subscription required).
  12. ^ Beers, Paul (2011). City contented, city discontented : a history of modern Harrisburg. Midtown Scholar Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-9839571-0-2. OCLC 761221337.
  13. ^ Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (January 6, 2022). Pennsylvania Telegraph Building: Withdrawn. File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Pennsylvania, 1964 - 2013.
  14. ^ Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (January 6, 2022). Pennsylvania Telegraph Building: Withdrawn. File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Pennsylvania, 1964 - 2013.
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