Technical High School & Old City Hall

Erected in 1910 and designed by noted Harrisburg architect Charles Howard Lloyd, this building served as the main boy's high school of the City of Harrisburg. Known as the Technical High School, the building replaced, on the same site, the Lancasterian School, later known as the DeWitt School, which was the oldest public school in Harrisburg having opened in 1830. "Old Tech" graduated many of Harrisburg's finest citizens who went on to form the "Tech Golden Legion" of devoted alumni. the building's use as a school ended in the mid 1920's when John Harris and William Penn High Schools were completed at the eastern and northern ends of the City respectively. "Old Tech" was subsequently sold to the City of Harrisburg for conversion to the first City Hall. Prior to that time, the City's offices were located in several buildings downtown and never under one roof. City Hall, with its marble-clad hallways and grand stairs, served city government until 1982 when the present City Government Center on Market Square was completed. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designed in the English Collegiate style, the building is preserved and continues to serve through its third generation use as the stylish Old City Hall apartments.

Top Photo

Pre-1904 view of the old Dewitt School, with Aberdeen Street at right, which was replaced by the Technical High School.

Bottom Photo

1923 view of the Technical High School with former buildings in foreground recently cleaned for the expansion of the Capitol Complex.

Marker is at the intersection of Walnut Street and Commonwealth Ave., on the left when traveling east on Walnut Street.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources:

HMDB