Remember When: Brave brick building at 320 E. Locust

Joyce Harvey
·4 min read

When “old and ordinary” buildings are not “important” or “attractive,” they often come down. Once they are gone, their history goes with the building. Such may be the case with the “ordinary” brick building at 320 E. Locust St. It caught the attention of this writer some years ago, but its history was unknown. As changes are coming to the neighborhood, it seemed this was the time to search and record its history.

An initial search uncovered an E-G article (20 March 1996) by Dwight Barnes about the earliest owners and businesses at this location including George Carter (1809-1895) and his son Henry (1836-1920). George had started a lumber yard on the east side of the canal by 1859. Later his son Henry operated a coal yard on the east side of the canal and sold it in 1873 to Kinney & Buechler. By 1893 he had moved his “coal, lime & fertilizer” business to E. Locust St. where he was located along the railroad. Henry was the father of six children and his daughter Adah E. Carter married Howard S. McCleneghan in 1894.

A sketch of the "new" brick building of the Lancaster Builders Supply Co. at 318-320 E. Locust St. appeared in the Daily Eagle, Feb. 28, 1922.
A sketch of the "new" brick building of the Lancaster Builders Supply Co. at 318-320 E. Locust St. appeared in the Daily Eagle, Feb. 28, 1922.

Henry Carter was ready to retire at nearly 78 in 1914. The Daily Eagle (1914 March 12) announced he had sold his business to the newly incorporated Lancaster Builders Supply Co. It would be a wholesale and retail business selling building supplies and coal. One of their early ads gave their address as 326 E. Locust and E. H. Rardin, Manager. “This company had the contracts for supplying building materials to local contracting firms who have buildings under way for the Godman Co., Lens Co., German Lutheran Church and the North, East, West and High Schools, and several residences” (1917 Oct 17 Daily Eagle).

By 1922 H. S. McClenaghan & Son were operating a building supply company at 326 E. Locust St., and the Lancaster Builders Supply Co. was located at 318-320 E. Locust St. with E. H. Rardin, Mgr. and Geo. C. Callahan, Asst. Manager. Two years later, May 17, 1924 the Lancaster Builders Supply Co. was placed under receivership and Geo. Callahan, a former employee, was appointed receiver. The property (Lot 552) was sold at public auction on July 26, 1924 to Roy M. Strickler for $5,900 to pay creditors. On the property were an office building, supply sheds and tenant house. In August Geo. Callahan leased the Lancaster Builders Supply from Strickler and planned to continue the builders supply and coal company.

The J. C. Lumber Co. is shown when it occupied 320 S. Locust St. in 1961. Photo from A Pictorial History published by the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette.
The J. C. Lumber Co. is shown when it occupied 320 S. Locust St. in 1961. Photo from A Pictorial History published by the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette.

George C. Callahan was featured in a Daily Eagle (13 Oct. 1926) article as sole owner and operator of the Callahan Builders Supply & Coal Yard. He purchased the property in Dec. 1926, and in Aug. 1927 he added 10,000 square feet of floor space to his warehouse in the rear of 320 E. Locust. He was then able to store 500 tons of coal under roof in addition to building materials.

Meanwhile, H. S. McClenaghan & Son were still operating their building materials and coal business next door…until Aug 1932. “After 15 years in the coal and builders supply business at the present location at 320 E. Locust St, George C. Callahan has sold out to H. S. McClenaghan & Son,” (2 Aug 1932 Daily Eagle). McClenaghan & Son moved their office to 320 E. Locust but also continued to use 326 E. Locust.

An article in the April 22, 1939 E-G announced H. S. McClenaghan & Son had added guaranteed termite extermination service to their building supply and coal business. They had become affiliated with the Extermital Chemical Co. of Dayton and incorporated as Fairfield Termite Control Co. They operated this business out of their home. McClenaghan died in 1951 and the business was then operated by Ben Kitchen.

The H. S. McClenaghan & Son building at 320 E. Locust. Photo appeared in the E-G June 3, 1940.
The H. S. McClenaghan & Son building at 320 E. Locust. Photo appeared in the E-G June 3, 1940.

The proud brick building at 320 E. Locust St. became home to the  Holland Furnace Co. in 1948, and in 1955 the J. C. Lumber Co. located there. They experienced a fire in 1961 that caused a $26,000 loss. J. C. Lumber was there until 1971 when Evans Precision, Inc. moved into the 320 E. Locust complex with five buildings. They were there until 1979, when the Lancaster Board of Education purchased the five building complex. School services had been scattered in buildings around town and were finally centralized here.

Fire struck the 300 block of E. Locust again in 1996. The Lancaster Farm Store at 340 E. Locust lost a storage building, and Lancaster City Schools lost two storage buildings. They had housed maintenance equipment, tools, carpentry shop, repair facilities and vehicles reported the E-G (1996 March 6).

This is the building standing today at 320 E. Locust St. Over 100 years old, it helped build the community in many different ways.
This is the building standing today at 320 E. Locust St. Over 100 years old, it helped build the community in many different ways.

The 100-year-old brave brick building at 320 E. Locust with its “stylish” brick front and roof line experienced a lot of wear and tear over the years as it sold countless building supplies used to build local buildings and tons of coal to keep homes warm.

Readers may contact Harvey at joycelancastereg@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Remember When: Brave brick building at 320 E. Locust