623 - 625 West Chestnut Street Lancaster, PA
Lancaster’s most important homegrown architect, C. Emlen Urban, designed this double house ca. 1898 in an Italian Renaissance style. The building has terra cotta medallions, putti perching on lintels, recessed balconies, and projecting eaves.
In 1900 house number 623 (on the right) was home to milliner Charles A. Samuels and wife Hattie (Leopold) Samuels. Mr. Samuels was the owner of the Bon Ton Millinery Store, specializing in women’s bonnets and hats. The store’s primary hat designer was M. Louise Goodwin from New York. The Bon Ton store also sold the latest hats from Paris.
House number 625 (on the left) was home to banker David Stuart Griffitts and wife Mary A. (Wohlsen) Griffitts. Mr. Griffitts was with the Fulton National Bank and later with the Union Trust Company.