These photos were taken sometime in the 1960's by Joseph H. Ganse (1906-1976). Joe Ganse lived his entire life in Lancaster city and devoted countless hours to civic, political, government, and community activities. He and his wife Elizabeth (Libby) Ganse lived at 642 Fourth Street. He was actively involved in city and county democrat politics. He also served as city zoning officer during the Monaghan administrations.

It was during his time as zoning officer that he took his camera loaded with Kodachrome film and snapped the color slides which you see here. He loved the city and wanted to record for prosperity what Lancaster was losing. These photos, rediscovered by his grandson, and shared with the permission of his three children (all of whom still live in Lancaster), are offered so that others can see what historic downtown Lancaster city loses when we destroy beautiful structures such as the Watt and Shand building.

To view the full-size images, click on the pictures below.

The first picture below shows the intersection of Queen and Orange, facing west and slightly to the north. The large building is the old YMCA, designed by C. Emlen Urban. The building on the right is the Orange St. side of a once popular shoe store.

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The shoe store below at the far right shows the Queen St. side of the same shoe store from the previous picture. This is where the Hess Dept. Store/Bulova building is now. The Grand Theater on the left, and some of the buildings next to it, are now open space as a part of the east side of Lancaster Square. The YMCA (where Wachovia is now) is off the image to the left.

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The picture below shows the east side of the first block of North Queen St., taken facing southeast. The photographer appears to be standing in front of the former Zimmerman's restaurant at N. Queen St. and Orange St. All of these buildings are still standing, with the exception of the Woolworth's building, a small portion of which appears at the extreme right of this picture. Most of these buildings still appear very much like they did in this photograph.

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This photograph was taken near the intersection of E. Chestnut St. and N. Christian St., approximately where the driveway for the current Hotel Brunswick is located. The view is to the east-southeast. The large building in the center is the Bell Telephone (now Verizon) switching center, since expanded. The rear of Lancaster City Hall is to the right.

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The picture below was taken from near the corner of E. Chestnut St. and N. Christian St., facing east. It shows the buildings directly to the left (north) of img001.jpg, directly above. The rear of the Bell Telephone (Verizon) building is on the right; the former Lancaster City Police station - now offices - is on the left.

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The picture below was taken at the corner of W. Orange St. and N. Market St., facing almost due north. The YMCA is off the picture, immediately to the right. This is where the Prince St. parking garage now stands.

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This picture below shows the intersection of W. Orange St. and N. Market St., facing northwest. This is a wider view from a different angle of the same location as the picture above, img002.jpg. The YMCA is the large building on the right.

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This picture below was also taken from the intersection of W. Orange St. and N. Market St., this time facing northwest. The intersection in the background is N. Prince St. and W. Orange St. The gas station in the background is now a convenience store. This view is just to the left (west) of the buildings in img009.jpg. The Firestone store moved to the intersection of W. Orange St. and N. Water St., where it still stands today.

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The photograph below shows the intersection of N. Queen St. and Orange St., facing almost due east. Zimmerman's Restaurant is on the right; it has since been renovated and turned into Yorgo's. Across Queen St. on the right is Green's Department Store; the same building now houses a Rite-Aid pharmacy. To the left is the shoe store which was also seen in city12.jpg and city14.jpg. Two of the red brick buildings in the background are still standing; they house the Marion Court Room and a beauty shop. The church in the background was demolished, and is now the location of "Steeple House Square" condominiums.

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The picture below shows the Grand Theater on the east side of the 100 block of N. Queen St., where the vacant Lancaster Square space is now. This is also visible in city10.jpg, and city14.jpg. The "Cue and Cushion" next door is seen on the left of city2.jpg.

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