Historical landmarks Many of Lancaster's landmarks are significant in local, state, and national history. •
Central Market – built in 1889, it is the oldest continuously run farmers' market in the United States. • Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church – built in 1879, the church's congregation aided
freedmen migrating to the North for opportunities after the
American Civil War. Their congregation had earlier aided fugitive
slaves fleeing the
South before the war, using their former church as a station on the
Underground Railroad. • Cork Factory Hotel – built in 1865 as Conestoga Cork Works. Later the buildings making up what is known today as Urban Place were home to Armstrong Cork Factory and Kerr Glass Company. Rezoned in 2005, Urban Place has been adapted as 49 loft-style apartments, 115,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, the Cork Factory Hotel, and Cap & Cork Restaurant. •
Fulton Opera House – the oldest continually running theater in the United States, it is one of three theaters designated as
National Historic Landmarks (the others are the
Walnut Street Theatre in
Philadelphia and the
Goldenrod Showboat in
St. Louis, Missouri). •
Hamilton Watch Complex – former factory and headquarters of the
Hamilton Watch Company, which in 1957 sold the world's first battery-powered watch, the Hamilton Electric 500. •
Historic Rock Ford – built in 1794, this was the home of General
Edward Hand,
adjutant general to
George Washington during the
American Revolutionary War. Since 2021, the John J. Snyder, Jr. Gallery, located on the second floor of Historic Rock Ford's red barn, showcases Lancaster decorative arts from the 18th and early 19th centuries. •
J. P. McCaskey High School – built in 1938 during the
Great Depression, it is designed in the
Art Deco architectural style. •
Historic St. Mary's Church – built in 1854, this church has served the German-speaking Catholics of Lancaster since 1741. •
Lancaster Arts Hotel – Built in 1881, this building was the Falk and Rosenbaum Tobacco Warehouse. In October 2006, the warehouse reopened after adaptation, as Lancaster's first boutique hotel for the arts. It has 63 guest rooms (including 12 suites); an organic restaurant, John J Jeffries; and an on-site art gallery. It is registered with the Historic Hotels of America. •
Lancaster County Prison – built in 1849, it was styled after the
Lancaster Castle in England. •
Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster, Pennsylvania - built in 1908–1909 in what is now the Historic District of Lancaster, it is unique among the buildings by
C. Emlen Urban and contains stained glass by
Franz Xaver Zettler (designed by Swiss-American architect Woldemar H. Ritter) and by
Charles Connick. •
W. W. Griest Building – listed on the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places since June 25, 1999. It was built in 1925 in the
Beaux-Arts style using granite, limestone, terra cotta, synthetics, and asphalt. The building is named after
William Walton Griest, a former Pennsylvania
representative. It is the second-tallest building in the city. •
Wheatland – the historic estate of
James Buchanan, the 15th
President of the United States.
Art and museums The city of Lancaster has art, craft and historical museums. The
Demuth Museum is located in the former home of the well-known painter
Charles Demuth, who had a national reputation in the 20th century. Additional museums include the Lancaster Museum of Art and the Philips Museum of Art on the campus of
Franklin & Marshall College. Art students at the state-of-the-art
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design present their works at the academy's gallery, which is open to the public. LancasterARTS, a non-profit organization founded in 2002, promotes contemporary arts and crafts. Lancaster city has a thriving art community. Gallery Row on the 100 block of North Prince St. features a block of art galleries, and the city proper has over 40 galleries and artists' studios. The galleries host a "First Friday" each month, extending their business hours to exhibit new artwork and new artists to the public. The Lancaster County Quilts and Textile Museum, completed in 2007, celebrates the art of the hand-sewn quilts and other textile items produced by women of the region's Amish and Mennonite communities. The museum was closed in 2011.
Stevens and Smith Historic Site is located within the Vine Street lobby of the
Lancaster County Convention Center. The site includes the preserved home of U.S. Senator
Thaddeus Stevens and his companion
Lydia Hamilton Smith. The underground portion of the site includes a recently discovered
Underground Railroad feature: a converted water cistern used in the antebellum years to hide fugitive slaves on their way to freedom. In Lancaster County, the
Landis Valley Museum in
Manheim Township has exhibits that interpret the county's history and culture, especially as a center of ethnic German Amish and Mennonite culture.
Music and entertainment The
Lancaster Symphony Orchestra has been performing since 1947. The
Fulton Opera House is one of the oldest working theaters in the United States.
The Ware Center hosts live theater, concerts, and performances. ==Sports==