Stevens High School for Girls
355 West Chestnut Street Lancaster, PA
Became The Residences at Stevens School
Architect C. Emlen Urban designed the Stevens High School for Girls in 1904. This was considered the most elaborate school building between Philly and Pittsburg. It is Lancaster’s best example of Second Renaissance Revival style. The New Era newspaper praised the school as “one of the city’s chief ornaments, and a source of unbounded pride.” (Dec. 22, 1905).
It features purple brownstone, golden bricks, classical ornament, and copper cresting. The entry is hand-carved chestnut crowned with a bust of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom.
Today it is an apartment building. The former school auditorium is a luxurious ballroom for weddings etc. Pink dogwoods and weeping cherry trees flower here each April.