Today I'm going to spend a little time talking about a popular neighborhood in Lancaster Township called "Hamilton Park". Where'd the name come from? Well, a relative of Alexander Hamilton named James Hamilton was the founder of old Lancaster City, and the employees of the nearby Hamilton Watch Company (named after James) had a lot to do with the housing growth in what is known as Hamilton Park. Lancaster is a diverse Real Estate market and Hamilton Park brings a wonderful dimension with stately brick homes, neat rows of semi-detached homes that are wonderful for first-timers, tree lined streets and a family-friendly atmosphere.
Hamilton Park is situated south of Columbia Avenue and west of West End Avenue just on the outskirts of Lancaster City. The zip code is all 17603 here - if you're looking this will be a point to remember. The key streets are Elm, Atkins, Maple, South President, Abbeyville, Spencer & School Lane. 
Homes were built beginning in the 1920s and continued on up into the late 1940s. Most of the homes were of brick construction with hardwood floors - which of course is now back in vogue. As with it's cousin in the city's northeast corner, Grandview Heights, Hamilton Park Homes tend to be on the smaller side, less than 1,600 square feet. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. The style of homes runs the gamut from boxey to elegant, squared-off to spired. I've sold several homes in the area and am never disappointed in the "bones" of these well-built structures.
Today, the watch fatory is gone, replaced by a condominium development appropriately named "Clock Towers" (more on that in a future article). Hamilton Park, due largely to it's quiet beautiful streets and stately homes, has never gone out of style. Home prices cover a range from the low $100's to well over $500,000. For the first-time homebuyer who wants to be "in the city" without living downtown, a nice attached home can be had for $150,000 without much trouble. Speaking of currently available homes, as of today there are 13 listings ranging from $125,000 to $279,000. You can see them here. If you're interested in receiving instant updates by email when a new Hamilton Park home becomes available, contact me by email or at 717-799-0851. If you'd like to receive email updates of hot new listings in Hamilton Park, contact me at hamiltonpark@yourlancasterhome.com and give me your contact information.
Jeff:
Being from California (Northern) I can't believe what your prices are in PA. So low. The amount of house you get for 200k in unbelievable. Well, I'm very interested in the architecture of the area as the man who built our house came from Pittsburgh, PA and I'm trying to find out what style our home is. Here is a picture taken in 1927(i think) also, you can see a current picture posted on the blog "great historic home picture contest", down towards the bottom. Do you have any clues? This home is considered the oldest residence in Shasta County.
Jeff:
That's what we are thinking. When we bought it the Realtor said it was a Victorian but I've previewed a lot of vintage homes in my area it's it's definitely not Victorian. It's really an old farm house. We thought maybe the builder, Daniel P. Bystle grew up in the "barn raising" ceremony days and this is what it really is, with the additions of the wrap around porch and upstairs porch. If you take that away and the two additions on the side and back and the porches then it's really an old barn from back east, but who knows, I could be way off. This house was born in 1853 according to the assessors office but we really don't know, Daniel Bystle moved to the area in 1849 so we are not sure where he stayed, maybe a tent. There is another home that resembles it, called the Shurtleff House and it was built in 1851. I can't seem to find a picture of it right now though! It was burned down in the 1990's and maybe Daniel stayed there until his home was built, as it's just down the hill from the Shurtleff home site. Our home was built before electricity, kitchens and the civil war...that always brings me into perspective.
Thanks for your feedback...your hungry history student and Realtor of vintage homes, terri
Haha, did you take that class too? That was definitely a valuable one! The book alone was worth taking the class for. I lost it for a while and was going nuts trying to remember where I put it.
Yes, I agree, here is a picture, it's greek revival. This helps me a lot with the National Register. I've been in a down cycle, stuck on a question but now I'm motivated again. I'm going to get that book you suggested as well Jeannie, The Field Guide to American Houses.
OR I have learned something today. Seems to me like people out west don't have a clue about architecture or historic homes compared to back east, we don't have as many around out here. Anyway, thanks for the impute.