Giving Tours of Downtown Mechanicsburg

Posted on November 5, 2026

The Mechanicsburg Museum Association, which I have been a volunteer at for 15 years, has provided me with print outs of the history of many of the buildings on both East and West Main Street and a part of North Market Street. It also provides a glimpse of the people who lived in some of these buildings and the businesses that helped the town prosper in its early years. I recently gave my first tour, and I hope to give more of them to my friends soon. I am also hoping to provide a personal tour of the Gettysburg Military Park.

I wanted to give a virtual tour in this blog. I think I will start out with the history of the American House Apartments at 26 North Market Street. The American House was built by John W. Horshman in the late 1860’s. The interior was decorated with tin ceilings of ornate Greco-Roman and floral patterns. In 1893, a two-story brick building was added to the south side of the hotel. In 1896, incandescent lamps were installed throughout the interior. In 1906, the room rate was two dollars a day. In 1996 the building was converted to senior housing including sixteen one-bedroom apartments.

The next three buildings I will talk about are part of the Mechanicsburg Museum Association. This museum was formally the Passenger Station of the Cumberland Valley Railroad. The Passenger Station at Two Strawberry Alley was built in 1867 at a cost of $12,600. There was a ticket office and two waiting rooms, one for men and one for women inside. A tower was added in the 1880’s and later removed in the 1920’s. The Borough of Mechanicsburg purchased the Passenger Station and the Stationmasters house in 1976. The station was renovated by the borough for its office and the borough continued there until 2003. In 2005, the Mechanicsburg Museum purchased the station and the Stationmasters house. The station was restored and it is now used as its office and exhibit area. It is also used for special events related to the history of Mechanicsburg and is open to the public. The Stationmasters house right next to Passenger Station was built by the Cumberland Valley Railroad (CVRR) in 1886 for $5,044. The first Stationmaster was George Zacharias, and the house was used as his office and a home for his family. The family consisted of his wife, Mary, son Frank, and a daughter Gertrude. George’s brother who worked as a telegraph operator for the railroad also lived there and shared a room with Frank. George was responsible for the passengers and the freight as well as the operation of the town’s telegraph. After the building ceased to be housing the railroad agent, it became the Office of the Adams Express Company. The house was restored to the period in which George was the stationmaster by the Mechanicsburg Museum in 1976 and can be visited by the public. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

What I know about the future of the Mechanicsburg Museum Association is that this information comes directly from our Museum Director Steve Zimmerman. Possibly by the end of 2026, the museum will acquire two new buildings. One of the buildings is the Union Church on East Main St in town and the second building will be the old Washington Fire Station right next to the Union Church. There are no definite plans for either building yet. We have to wait for the Mechanicsburg Fire Department to move into its new headquarters on the corner of South York St and Simpson Street. In the town history there were three fire stations; one was the Washington station, the Citizens, and the Hook and Ladder #1 which today is the Jo Jos Pizza Restaurant.

Before I forget, I want to talk about the three major railroads that helped to build the town. First, was the Historic Cumberland Valley Railroad that was around before and after the American Civil War, then after the Cumberland Valley ceased operations, it became the Pennsy or the Pennsylvania Railroad. When that stopped operating, it became Conrail for the many years that I lived here but ceases to exist now. For the last few years, it has been the Norfolk Southern Rail line which is Headquartered in Enola, PA near the state Capital of Harrisburg.

I could go on and on about the history of more buildings in this town and also the many people who lived in town who had some way of helping to build it. From the railroads to the wagon wheel factories to feed mills to today’s modern town. Also, this town has four different cemeteries. We have two cemeteries that those who lived here since the town was founded and incorporated are buried in are the Mechanicsburg cemetery and the Chestnut Street Hill cemetery. The third is the historical Lincoln Cemetery for African Americans who lived here. The last cemetery, Union Civil War Soldiers Cemetery, was rediscovered by some boy scouts while cleaning up the land. There is so much rich history in Mechanicsburg. I have papers that discuss the history of the buildings in town and the people who lived here in depth. I can give tours to people who are interested in learning about the town that I call home.