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Hartman Building Showing True Colors

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If you’ve been through Continental Square as of late, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the transformation of the Futer Bros. Building. The three-story building clad in white vertical siding has been a fixture for over forty years, but the building itself is almost 160 years old.
John Hartman purchased the property in 1824. (Refer to the image in the Centre Square, 1815 post – the building on the far right is the one that Hartman purchased.) It had been Gottlieb Ziegle’s tavern and Sign of the General Jackson inn. Hartman constructed a new six-story building in 1849. Jacob Dietz was the carpenter – he also built the 1841 courthouse and County Almshouse.


There is a popular local legend about Hartman being a jealous merchant. When William Goodridge constructed a 5-story building (4.5 stories) on the Square, Hartman allegedly decided that he wouldn’t be outdone by a black businessman, and soon thereafter began construction on his 6-story building. However, that legend seems to be another in a long line of popular local myths. A few years earlier, Hartman had actually sold to Goodridge another building located on the Square. And a few years later, the Goodridge Photography Studio relocated to the top floor of the Hartman Building. If there was any feud or bad blood between the two, it has certainly been blown out of proportion.
Check out the post, “Of Cupolas and Domes, Towers and Turrets” for a view of the Hartman Building in the mid-19th century.
The view depicted here is from the early 20th century, showing the building after the seventh story was added. The hipped roof and lantern from the original building are gone, replaced with a flat roof. The building maintained this appearance through the mid-20th century, when the upper floors fell into a state of disrepair and were removed.
Current plans call for the building to again rise to seven stories. Even if that plan doesn’t come to fruition, a renovation sensitive to the building’s original appearance will greatly benefit Continental Square.


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