Hundreds of years of architectural history were brought to new light in a series of walking tours held Sunday afternoon in Annville.
The “Splendid Stone Structures of Annville” tours, arranged by Friends of Old Annville (FOOA), were originally planned for Sunday, May 1, but got rescheduled due to rain.
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Although the forecast for this past Sunday seemed dicey at first, the weather turned out to be perfect for a stroll around Annville’s historic downtown to gaze at more than a dozen limestone structures dating back nearly a century or more.
The oldest building on the tour was the Fleischer Home and Livery, more recently known as Kettering Corner and today serving as the Annville outpost for Swatara Coffee Co. The youngest was Annville’s iconic “Greystone” school, today the Annville Elementary School.
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FOOA volunteers escorted about 80 individuals around Annville, some of whom came from as far as Valley Forge, drawing from an educational itinerary prepared by Dr. Owen Moe, a retired Lebanon Valley College professor whose knowledge of the township’s historic structures developed originally through his first-hand experience restoring an old 1860 brick home on Main Street.
Moe called it a “handyman special,” providing plenty of opportunities to learn restoration. He later helped found the FOOA organization and has served as its president for about a decade overall, through a couple different tenures.
“For the first time we used the online signup on our website, and that was just really successful,” he said.
Moe said it didn’t take him too long to decide on which buildings to include, but researching the historic information for the buildings took a lot longer. He took the other tour guides through the tour himself to help prepare them for the event. Although Sunday was the first time FOOA has given this particular tour, and its first in-person tour following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the group regularly does a couple programs a year.
‘Splendid Stone Structures of Annville’ itinerary
- The Biever House (1814)
- Arndt Home (ca. 1795)
- Seabold Home (pre-1860)
- Kreider Home (pre-1860)
- Batdorf Building (ca. 1790s)
- Abraham Shenk Home (mid-1800s)
- Washington House (pre-1789)
- Franz Gruber Home (1793)
- Lewis Gilbert Inn (ca. 1790)
- Fleischer Home and Livery (ca. 1780)
- Annville Elementary School (1926)
- 401 South White Oak Street (ca. 1797)
- Kreider Flouring Mill (1797)
- Raiguel Mansion (1793)
- Jerusalem Church (1804)
Tour guide Doug Nyce, originally of Paxtang, said his involvement with FOOA began in 1990 after graduating from Lebanon Valley College. Nyce said his favorite part of being a tour guide is meeting people and sharing Annville’s history and the beauty of its architecture.
Nyce also serves as FOOA’s coordinator for Historic Old Annville Day, the block party (or really, eight-block party) hosted by FOOA for the past 30+ years. More than 150 vendors will participate in Historic Old Annville Day, with food, drink, crafts, activities, and more all planned for the Saturday, June 11, event, set to run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“For Historic Old Annville Day, we’re pretty much ready now, and looking forward to June 11,” said Nyce.
Nyce says that his favorite part of the event, like so many of its attendees, would be the food, including a special (and officially blessed and permitted) beer garden setup in front of Rotunda Brewing Co.
On a more serious note, Nyce said events like Historic Old Annville Day and the historic building walking tour help people know what’s going on and available in Annville, and support FOOA’s primary goal of historic preservation in the community.
“As people understand more about the buildings, they might appreciate them more and take care of them more,” said Nyce.
Find the full “Splendid Stone Structures of Annville” walking tour guide and more information about Historic Old Annville Day on the Friends of Old Annville website.
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