What Has Lenape Hall Been Used For Since 1874?

I noticed the year "1874" appears both below the clock and on the cornerstone on the Main Street wall of Lenape Hall. I was wondering what the building was like when it was new, and what has been it used for in the 137 years since? - M.S., Doylestown

In 1874, the Doylestown Improvement Company paid $12,000 for the Ship Tavern, on the southeast corner of Main and State streets. The two-story tavern, built by Samuel and Joseph Flack in 1774, earlier was known as the "Bull's Head."

Demolition of the tavern began on April 1, 1874. "The stables and shedding to the eastward of the old tavern were first torn down, to make room for the excavation at that end of the new building," the Bucks County Intelligencer reported.

"Among the loose stones lying around the property was the upper part of the old mile-stone that used to stand on the corner of Main street, near the spot where the wooden pump stands. Apparently it was cut and placed there before the beginning of the present century," the article continued. The milestone was inscribed "Doylestown 26 Miles to Philade(lphia)."

During the construction of Lenape Hall, the milestone was embedded in the south wall, where it may be seen today from an alley off South Main Street. The hall was named for the Lenni Lenape Indians who once inhabited Bucks County and the Delaware Valley.

The foundation and some of the brick walls were already in place when a ceremony was held on June 26, 1874 to lay the cornerstone. Inside the marble stone was a tin box containing, among other things, the charter and bylaws of the Doylestown Improvement Company; lists of members of borough council and taxable properties in the borough; Doylestown newspapers as well as the Philadelphia Public Ledger and the New York Daily Tribune; Horsey's Directory of Bucks County; current postal cards and postage stamps; and a $100 Confederate note, the Intelligencer reported.

In his dedication address, the Rev. S.M. Andrews said Lenape Hall would benefit Doylestown by providing a greatly needed place for meetings and public events.

"In conclusion, he remarked that he looked upon this improvement as a decided step in the progress of the place, the town so long fixed and stationary is really moving, and after the building has stood one year our people will not like to exchange it for the money that it cost," the article stated.

When completed in December 1874, the three-story Lenape Hall cost an estimated $50,000 and was the largest commercial building in Doylestown. The first floor was divided into 53 market stalls of 12 to 14 square feet each. The annual rent was $25 for butchers and $15 for farmers, according to the Intelligencer. The market, held Wednesdays and Saturdays, replaced outdoor sales along Main Street.

On opening day, "Nearly all the stands were occupied, and the passages contained a throng of buyers and curious spectators...In one corner a coffee and oyster stand was in full blast, offering immediate comfort to the inner man," the newspaper reported.

The second floor featured a spacious hall for entertainment and public events, and the third floor offered space for offices and other uses.

The Taylor & Hulshizer pharmacy occupied the storefront with its entrance on the diagonal corner at Main and State, and later drugstores used the same location until the 1970s. Above the third-story window was a clock made by Doylestown clockmaker Louis Spellier, said to be the inventor of the electric clock, and donated by Elizabeth Chapman Lawrence, daughter of Judge Henry Chapman and aunt of Henry Chapman Mercer.

Three upcoming events at Lenape Hall were advertised in the Intelligencer of Jan. 12, 1875. Blind Tom, "the celebrated Negro boy pianist and vocalist," would perform (tickets, 50 cents; front seats, 75 cents). The Doylestown Cornet Band would present a concert and minstrel show (tickets, 20 cents; reserved seats, 35 cents). Professor George F. Barker, of the University of Pennsylvania, would deliver a lecture on "Light" for the benefit of the scientific department of the Doylestown English and Classical Seminary (tickets, 35 cents).

For the next 30 years, Lenape Hall was Doylestown's premier venue for plays, musical shows, lectures, church and fire company suppers, dances, high school commencements and other events.

The many performers included an actor-manager named Harry Stone who brought his troupe to town for a two-week engagement in the 1890s and put on a different play every night, among them "Hackshaw, the Detective," "The Black Flag" and "The Two Orphans," according to a 1925 column in the Doylestown Daily Intelligencer marking the hall's 50th anniversary. Another big attraction were Kickapoo Indian medicine shows, which ran for one to two weeks.

With the arrival of the silent film era, Otto Kolbe bought the hall for $30,000 in 1909 and opened a motion picture theater on the second floor in competition with the Princess Theatre, located a block away on Donaldson Street. Kolbe continued to book live performances.

An Intelligencer advertisement on July 18, 1913 promoted the De Costa Duo High-Class Musical Act. "Among the numbers will be the latest popular and classical closing with an exceptionally fine novelty selection introducting colored slides. The instruments used are a novelty in themselves, being manufactured of rare wooden blocks. They are the largest in the world of their kind and lovers of music will be surprised at their sweet tones." Admission was 10 cents.

The partnership of Hildinger and Papier, owners of a chain of theaters in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, leased the building from Kolbe and remodeled the second floor into the Strand Theatre, which opened Oct. 11, 1915.

"The hallways were more attractive and theatre-like, the floor of the theatre has been raised, the interior beautifully decorated and lighted by indirect electrical effects, the aisles have been carpeted, 600 handsome mahogany theatre chairs have been installed, a $3,500 organ furnishes music for performances, the staging has been overhauled, new picture machines [projectors] have been installed, and the addition of a gold fibre screen made a wonderful improvement in the brilliancy of the pictures which were the best to be found," the Intelligencer reported.

In September 1922, Easton businessman Jacob Kurlansik bought Lenape Hall from Kolbe for $70,000, but three weeks later resold it for $78,000 to Aquetong Lodge No. 193 of the International Order of Odd Fellows, of Doylestown.

Since new state fire regulations banned second-floor theaters for safety reasons, the Odd Fellows lodge bought the property on East State Street next to Lenape Hall and built the separate Strand Theatre in 1925. (The Strand Theatre was replaced by the in 1938.)

Meanwhile, the Doylestown post office moved from Lenape Hall to a building across East State Street at Printer's Alley. The Bell Telephone Company's Doylestown office also leased space in the hall for a number of years.

By the mid-1920s, many large events were being held in the Doylestown High School auditorium at Broad and Court streets or the National Guard Armory on Shewell Avenue. Lenape Hall was mostly empty except for the street-level shops.

In 1928, the lodge decided to turn the upper floors of Lenape Hall into a bowling alley and dance hall. "On the second floor will be six alleys, pool tables, refreshment counters, lounging rooms, lockers, wash rooms and shower bath, and on the third floor will be a large degree room and dance floor as well as the lodge club rooms. The bowling equipment will be sound-proof and the most modern," the Intelligencer reported.

The bowling alley remained until 1949, when the U.S. Army Reserve Corps leased the second floor for office space and the 803rd Signal Photographic Company leased the third floor.

Lenape Hall continued to house businesses and organizations. The 1969 Doylestown city directory, for example, listed Weisbard's Drug Store, the Gloria Shop, Vista Travel Agency, the Bucks County Ballet Co and the U.S. Department of Agriculture county office as tenants.

By the early 1980s, Lenape Hall was somewhat down at the heels. In addition to stores on the first floor and offices on the second, a karate club and a dance studio were located on the third floor.

A group of investors headed by J. Howard Brosius of Springfield Township, Montgomery County, bought the building in 1984 and undertook restoration of the exterior and renovation of the interior. The storefronts, which had been modernized with glass and chrome, were replaced to blend in with the original building. An elevator shaft was added along the south alley wall to provide convenient access to offices and apartments on the second and third floors.

Today, Lenape Hall is thriving and remains one of the foremost landmarks in Doylestown's historic district.