14 North Congress Street

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Photograph courtesy of Wanda Fowler, August 2015

The Senior Center was built about 1883. It has a prominent cornice at the top of the front wall, and the windows are crowned with bracketed cornices. From the 1880s to 1914 the first floor was George H. O’Leary Furniture and Harness Shop. Harnesses and saddles were made in the rear of the store. The second floor was boarding rooms, with a kitchen added to the first floor by 1889. In the 1930s it was “Mrs. Bowen’s” boardinghouse. The building has been a Western Auto Store, Meadows Supermarket, Ware’s Supermarket, Brakefield’s Used Furniture, and Dr. H. N. Parish’s office. The City of York bought and, along with the York County Council on Aging, restored it in 1983 for its current use as a Senior Center. The second floor is used for senior activities, quilting, and meetings. Our thanks to Wendy Duda, Executive Director, York County Council on Aging.