Caption in Gazette and Daily (March 25, 1955, pg.23) begins: "MOVING OLD LANDMARK--The home at 2301 East Market St., once a state police barracks, is being moved to the rear of the lot by new owners in order to make room for a service station."
House move reveals Lincoln Highway marker
A conversation about a house move in the East York development of Springettsbury Township surfaced a memory of the location where a Lincoln Highway concrete marker stood in that neighborhood. An illustrated sequence of events tells the tale of verifying that recollection, plus deducing when and why the marker was removed.
The Spring issue of Springettsbury Township News was received this past week. At Eastern Market on Friday, a gentleman approached me noting he saw the article announcing my presentation “Neighborhoods in Southwestern Springettsbury” planned for the April 8, 2026 History Night Event. He suggested I include a unique East York incident that he personally witnessed; the moving of the house at 2301 East Market Street.
While he described the house move, I recalled a YorksPast post of a month ago about Boy Scouts installing Lincoln Highway concrete posts in 1928. I asked if he remembered seeing such a marker in the vicinity of the 2301 East Market Street house when it was moved. His reply was, “No, that marker was along the north curb of East Market Street, between Russell and Royal Streets.”
Per an article in The Gazette and Daily on Friday August 31st, 1928 (page 14), Troop 36, was given the task of installing Concrete Post [82] at the East limits of East York; which I had always suspected was describing 2301 East Market Street, i.e. just east of Royal Street in Springettsbury Township.
The 2301 East Market Street site consists of lots 1 and 2 in the East York development plan of 1903; i.e. at the northeast corner of East Market and Royal Streets. In 1955 the house on that site was set on wheels, turned 90-deg. CW, and moved to a new foundation in lots 3, 4 and 5. The new address for that house became 15 North Royal Street. I now have an eyewitness that a Lincoln Highway concrete marker was along the north side curb of East Market Street, between Russell and Royal Streets.
About twenty percent of the initial lot buyers in the East-York development were women; either married, widowed, or single. Marianna W. Hess purchased lots 1 & 2 in 1910 and added lots 3, 4 & 5 in 1920 from John Longstreet’s Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Company. Marianna was the wife of George W. Hess, who operated a furniture factory and furniture dealership in York.
Creating supersized lots by purchasing one or more adjacent lots was nothing new in the East York development. Many considered John Longstreet’s lot sizes too small. For example Longstreet’s Section 2, bounded by Market, Russell, and Royal Streets contains 23 planned lots. Buyers combined lots, such that now only 12 properties fill that section.
Howard W. Gray opened the Gulf Service Station at 2301 East Market Street on December 6, 1957. The photo of the station, in the ad, is from another Gulf Service Station opening.
The following photo shows Howard W. Gray’s Gulf Service Station at 2301 East Market Street in the East York section of Springettsbury Township. The top of former house on this site appears behind the service station. Moving the house in 1955 and creating the commercial lot for the 1957 service station was part of an arrangement by Mary MacIntosh Dry Cleaners, which opened in 1956, to have a Royal Street back-entrance between the service station and the house.
I wondered if a Springettsbury Township Police Polaroid might provide a photo of the Lincoln Highway marker. The following police Polaroid was taken August 17, 1965, facing west along East Market Street. It shows the pumps section of Gray’s Gulf Service Station and directly behind the lower GULF sign is Royal Street.
Below I’ve zoomed in on the section of the police Polaroid taken August 17, 1965, facing west along East Market Street. It focuses on the north curb of the street, between Royal Street and Russell Streets. The yellow arrow points to the possible Lincoln Highway concrete marker close to the curb in the grass patch between curb and sidewalk; although by no means conclusive proof.
Lincoln Highway concrete markers close to the road often fell victims to strikes by car or truck. If the marker is not in the 1965 photo, a vehicle hit is a possibility for its disappearance between 1955 and 1965.
The following 2026 Google Street View faces west along north side of East Market Street; from the Royal Street intersection. Due to road widening in the 1970s to accommodate Market Street turning lanes into Memory Lane and Haines Road, the grass patch between the curb and sidewalk was eliminated from about Russell Street eastward. That might be when PennDOT, or somebody else, removed the Lincoln Highway Concrete marker.
Click on this LINK for a yorkblog.com Full View of the photos in this post.
Links to related posts include:
Uncovering Stories of Lincoln Highway marker sites
Boy Scouts installed Lincoln Highway posts
Lincoln Highway marker at Big Hand Tourist Camp in Springettsbury
Reading the Headlines: A Quick Index to All YorksPast Posts
